Omrit (), or Khirbat ‘Umayrī (Arabic name), is the site of an ancient

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Architecture of ancient Rome, Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete ...

. It stands where the western slopes of the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...

meet the Upper Jordan Valley, in the 1949 Israel–Syria demilitarised zone. It is believed that Omrit was built by

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

in honor of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

around 20 BCE. The site was destroyed in the

Galilee earthquake of 363 The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be X (''Very destructive'') on the European macroseismic sc ...

; a small

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was later built on its ruins in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period.

History

Omrit is situated atop a foothill of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( / ALA-LC: ('Mountain of the Sheikh', ), , ) is a mountain, mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the Lebanon–Syria border, border between Syria and Lebanon a ...

, overlooking

Hula Lake Hula () is a Hawaiian dance form expressing chant (''oli'') or song (Mele (Hawaiian language), ''mele''). It was developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Native Hawaiians who settled there. The hula dramatizes or portrays the words of the oli ...

. The site is located approximately 2.5 miles (c. 4 km) southwest of Banias, adjacent to a Roman road connecting Scythopolis and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. According to the first-century historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, in addition to reconstructing he

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

in Jerusalem, Herod built another three temples: one in

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea () also Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Palaestinae or Caesarea Stratonis, was an ancient and medieval port city on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, and later a small fishing village. It was the capital of Judaea (Roman province), ...

, one in Sebastia, and one near Banias. Given Omrit's proximity to Banias and the presence of an ancient temple adorned with

Corinthian capitals The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

, it is very likely that Omrit is the site of the fourth temple built by Herod. After a brushfire cleared the area in 1998, archaeological excavations began, being led by Professor

Andrew J. Overman Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

, with the assistance of nearby

Kfar Szold Kfar Szold () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Hula Valley in the Galilee Panhandle, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Kfar Szold was founded in the early 1940s ...

. The region was well trodden by Roman influence, and thus far excavations have yielded three phases of temple construction approximated at mid 1st century BCE, 20 BCE and 1st century CE. The temple compound, in the center of the hill, was connected to the road by way of a street lined with columns, as was customary in the eastern provinces of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. It continued to be used into the Byzantine period. The remains of shops and installations such as a wine press, were discovered there.Archaeology in Israel
Horbat Omrit
at Jewish Virtual Library. Reaccessed 14 Nov 2023.

Gallery

File:Khirbet Umeiri, Nabi Huda and Khirbet el Aziziyat, in the Survey of Palestine map 20-29-Metulla-19XX (cropped).jpg, Corinthian column at Omrit

Khirbet Umeiri (today known as Omrit), alongside Nabi Huda and Khirbet el Aziziyat, in a 1930s

Survey of Palestine The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the survey and mapping of Palestine during the British mandate period. The survey department was established in 1920 in Jaffa, and moved to the outskirts of Tel Aviv in 19 ...

map File:המקדש בעומרית 04.jpg, Horvat Omrit File:המקדש בעומרית 02.jpg, Horvat Omrit File:המקדש בעומרית והרחבה שלפניו 2.jpg, Horvat Omrit's courtyard File:Reconstruction of the Temple in Omrit, at the Israel Museum.jpg, Modern reconstruction of the temple in Omrit,

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

References

Bibliography

* J. Andrew Overman, Daniel N. Schowalter (eds.): ''The Roman Temple Complex at Horvat Omrit: An Interim Report.'' BAR International Series vol. 2205. Oxford: Archaeopress 2011. 978-1-4073-0763-3 * Michael C. Nelson (ed.): ''The Temple Complex at Horvat Omrit 1: The Architecture.'' The Brill Reference Library of Judaism vol. 45. Leiden/Boston: Brill 2015.

External links

Macalester Website

on http://www.biblewalks.com {{coord, 33, 13, 06, N, 35, 39, 47, E, type:city_scale:10000, display=title Archaeological sites in Israel Establishments in the Herodian kingdom Roman temples of the Imperial cult Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC 20 BC establishments

History

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links