Amrit
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ʻAmrītSyria
The ancient site of Amrit was founded in the 3rd millennium BCE by the Amorites, and was developed by the Phoenicians as a religious center, with influence from the Achaemenid Persians. The site was virtually abandoned during the early 2nd century CE, and as such the site exists as a rare example of Phoenician ruins without extensive remodeling by later generations.
The site covers an area of approximately 3 km long by 2 km wide. The most important monument at the site is a late-4th century BCE temple compound (locally known as the al-Maabed) dedicated to the god Melqart, an early and less-elaborate predecessor to the Temple of Bel at Palmyra. The compound is built around a court which was flooded by a local spring and surrounded on three sides by a colonnaded arcade that was reconstructed in the early 21st century.
Traces of a stadium, 230 m by 30 m and possibly dating to the Hellenistic period, can be seen near the temple.
700 m south of the temple and stadium are two funerary towers, or spindles, known locally as Maghazel. The cylindrical spindles likely date to the 4th century BCE. One is 7 m high with four unfinished lion sculptures at the base (a Persian influence) and two burial chambers in a hypogeum. The second is 4 m high and ends in a five-sided pyramid, with a burial chamber below.
Another funerary monument - Burj al-Bezzaq, or "Snail Tower" - lies approximately 1 km to the south. It is a two-story cube made of massive blocks, formerly topped by a cornice and ending in a pyramid with two funerary chambers inside.
Sources:
Beattie, Andrew, and Timothy Pepper. Syria: the rough guide, 182-183. London: Rough Guides, 2001.
Associated Sites
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Variant Names
عمريت
Alternate
Amrith
Alternate transliteration
ʻAmrīt
Syria
The ancient site of Amrit was founded in the 3rd millennium BCE by the Amorites, and was developed by the Phoenicians as a religious center, with influence from the Achaemenid Persians. The site was virtually abandoned during the early 2nd century CE, and as such the site exists as a rare example of Phoenician ruins without extensive remodeling by later generations.
The site covers an area of approximately 3 km long by 2 km wide. The most important monument at the site is a late-4th century BCE temple compound (locally known as the al-Maabed) dedicated to the god Melqart, an early and less-elaborate predecessor to the Temple of Bel at Palmyra. The compound is built around a court which was flooded by a local spring and surrounded on three sides by a colonnaded arcade that was reconstructed in the early 21st century.
Traces of a stadium, 230 m by 30 m and possibly dating to the Hellenistic period, can be seen near the temple.
700 m south of the temple and stadium are two funerary towers, or spindles, known locally as Maghazel. The cylindrical spindles likely date to the 4th century BCE. One is 7 m high with four unfinished lion sculptures at the base (a Persian influence) and two burial chambers in a hypogeum. The second is 4 m high and ends in a five-sided pyramid, with a burial chamber below.
Another funerary monument - Burj al-Bezzaq, or "Snail Tower" - lies approximately 1 km to the south. It is a two-story cube made of massive blocks, formerly topped by a cornice and ending in a pyramid with two funerary chambers inside.
Sources:
Beattie, Andrew, and Timothy Pepper. Syria: the rough guide, 182-183. London: Rough Guides, 2001.
Associated Sites
Collections
Variant Names
عمريت
Alternate
Amrith
Alternate transliteration