religion 199
consisted of a paved platform with a horned altar made of basalt. nearby
was a pit containing animal bones, ash, and pieces of pottery vessels.
in Damascus a temple complex of the weather-god was built upon a
raised platform south of the Barada river beginning in the 10th century
B.c.364 the old testament mentions a temple of the god (hadad) rim-
mon in Damascus (2 Kgs 5: 18).
one of the archaeological finds from this temple is an 80 × 70 cm
large basalt relief depicting a sphinx and dating to the 8th century B.c. it
was built into the temple’s northern wall during hellenistic times and is
therefore no longer in situ. the sphinx was probably one of a pair, which
framed the doorway or a central relief.365
the temple complex of Jupiter Damascenus included a 385 × 305 m
outer courtyard (peribolos) and a 150 × 100 m inner courtyard (temenos)
in the middle of which was the cella. at certain festivals a market could
be held in the outer courtyard. the temple was probably rebuilt during
augustan times and was heavily restored during the reign of septimius
severus (193–211 a.D.). parts of the building’s decoration, which survive
today, date from that period.
the temple’s cella is believed to lie beneath the courtyard of today’s
Umayyad Mosque and has not been excavated. the former walls of the
inner courtyard have been built into the mosque’s southwest wall. the
temple itself lasted until the end of the 4th century a.D.
some impressions of the cult statues of Zeus or Jupiter Damascenus
and his paredros, the goddess atargatis, can be gained from their repre-
sentations on coins of the 1st century a.D.366
coins from the time of antiochus xii (87–84 B.c.) show a god standing
on a two-tiered pedestal, which is flanked by two bulls. he wears a flowing
gown with a cloak and a polos crown. as a symbol of fertility he holds an
ear of grain in his left hand and wears a solar symbol on his chest as an
indication of his solar aspects. his resemblance to Jupiter heliopolitanus
of Baʿalbek is evident.367
364 cf. Watzinger – Wulzinger 1921: 3–42; Dussaud 1922: 225–234; Freyberger 1989; id.
2006: 158–167.
365 cf. abd el-Kader 1949; trokay 1986; caubet 1993.
366 cf. on these two deities’ iconography Dussaud 1922: 221f; Fleischer 1973: 263–269,
379f; id. 1986; haider 1996: 189–191; Freyberger 2006: 167–169.
367 see above.