The Great Temple of Bel, one of the latest victims of terrorist vandalism, was among of the most impressive edifices which were ever brought to light by archaeologists. In 2015, on the last day of August, the civilised world was shocked with the news of the destruction of it, by ISIS. Before blown up by jihadists, Temple of Bel was the most impressive and renowned building in Syria. It was the vestige with which Palmyra was associated.
The Great Temple of Bel was a remarkable example of the monumental architecture which blended the Greco-Roman architecture with Oriental art. It used to stand as a gigantic, quadrangular architectural complex in the south-eastern part of Palmyra. It was enclosed by the ancient city walls and surrounded by the grove of palm trees. This temple was consecrated to Bel, the most important god of Palmyra. It rose at the eastern-end of a long colonnade. At first sight, the architecture seemed familiar to the beholder, since it resembled all the other sanctuaries in the Greco-Roman world.Through its Corinthian style columns it displayed a silhouette which corresponded to the fashion of the AD IInd century. The hybrid elements of this temple demonstrated the numerous cultures that frequently overlapped and intermixed in Palmyra.
The defining feature of the devastation of this temple was the intentional targeting of the material evidence of Palmyra’s multi-cultural identity.
After Palmyra was rescued, it was obvious that the temple was lost forever. Satellite pictures showed that the entire structure collapsed in a heap of rubble. The only part which remained from the temple was the western doorway into the sanctuary building. With its destruction and disappearance, another irreplaceable treasure of the world cultural heritage was lost to posterity.
Temple of Bel was not only historically and culturally significant, but it was also beautiful. Hundreds of thousands of tourists who were visiting Palmyra every year used to be captivated by what they saw: The ruins of temple were remarkably well preserved and rose in splendour in the surrounding Syrian Desert. Regrettably, since the end of 2015 summer, that view of the Temple of Bel that tourists used to savour no longer exists. The temple had crumbled into obscurity in the surrounding desert. The objective of the work presented here is to revive in our memory this most imposing monument of the pillaged ancient city of Palmyra.The Great Temple of Bel is restored virtually to the condition it formerly was in the Roman times. By using information from ancient texts, lithographs and architectural drawings, virtual models of the temple are created showing how it used to look.
This reconstruction endeavour’s target is to provide some healing for the lost temple in memories. Its virtual rediscovery and visual recovery can never replace or totally remedy the loss of the temple, but it can visually wake the memories and provide some experience of the temple as in the past.
