Pantheistic, his adherents worshipped Mother Nature while denying the existence of a creator. Mentioned more than 90 times in the Bible, most notably when Elijah defeated the priests of Ba’al, also known as Moloch, in a contest to bring down fire from heaven to burn a sacrifice, Ba’al became the archetypical form of idol worship. The arch stood at the entrance to the temple used to worship Bel, also known as Ba’al. It remained in use as a mosque until the 1920s. Converted into a Christian church during the Byzantine Era, parts of the structure were modified into a mosque by Muslims in 1132. The most recent of the temples were dedicated in 32 CE. The temple was built on the site of a prior pagan temple dating back to the third millennium BCE.

As such, it hosted many monumental projects including the Temple of Bel (or Ba’al). The earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BCE. The Temple of Palmyra was dedicated in 32 CE to the worship of Ba’al. The site, once a vital point on the Silk Road caravan route, has artifacts dating back to the Neolithic period.

The project will also be under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In 2019, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg announced plans to restore the site in conjunction with the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Syria’s Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM). Restoration work began this week after a memorandum of understanding was reached between the Syrian Ministry of Culture and the Association Stone Industry of Russia. The executive director of the Palmyra Restoration Fund, Sergei Tiglinov, said that specialists will make a 3D scan of all the elements, translate them into a virtual model, and then put them together in the restored monument. “The Syrian experts have put in place some plans, and there is no precise timetable for the completion of the work, but studies on restoration, rubble, and so on may be ready within six or eight months.” The coronavirus is affecting the progress of the restoration work with the Association Stone Industry of Russia, and the Directorate is in contact with UNESCO and other institutions.” “The necessary programs have been put in place to establish working groups concerned with documentation and preparation of documents as part of the restoration work and other teams to handle the rubble,” he added.Īwad points out that “the work did not actually start, but a working paper was drawn up from the Syrian side, with specific tasks prepared for teams, as this type of work follows global standards. They are in the process of documenting and studying in order to outline the restoration work.” Nazir Awad, director-general of the Syrian Antiquities and Museums Directorate, explained to Al-Ahed News that “meetings have taken place with Russian experts to discuss the work that will begin to restore and resurrect the Arch of Triumph. It is estimated that only 30-40% of the stones in the arch remain. The Monumental Arch, a centerpiece of the site that was mostly destroyed, was built during the reign of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus in about 200 CE. The temple and much of the site were destroyed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015. The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra located about 135 miles north of Damascus were a huge tourist attraction, drawing 105,000 visitors a year until the devastating civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Rebuilding the arch is predicted in the Talmud as preceding the Messiah. After six years of laying in ruin, the Russians have begun reconstructing the Triumphal Arch of Palmyra in Syria that served as a gateway to a major pagan temple to Ba’al.

Godus rebuilding treasure temples