Omrit
Horbat Omrit is on the western slopes of Mount Hermon on a low hill that overlooked the Hula Lake in the Roman period. The site is only a few hundred meters from the western edge of the Golan Heights and the 1967 border between Israel and Syria. It is located along side the Roman Scythopolis/Damascus road, one of the country’s main arteries. North of the site one can clearly observe the remains of the Roman road along side of which was built a guard tower and a sacred compound.
The temple compound, located in the center of the hill, was connected to the road by way of a street. In the beginning of the 2nd century A.D., it was adorned with a row of columns, as was customary on the city streets in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. The colonnaded street continued to serve the site in the Byzantine period also and the remains of shops and installations, including a wine press, were uncovered the length of it in the expedition’s excavations.
Enclosed by a stone wall in the center of the compound (the temenos) were the remains of the temple and the staircase that goes up to it from the east. Large, elaborately decorated architectural elements belonging to the structure were found fallen on all sides of the compound. These included bases, column drums, Corinthian capitals belonging to columns and engaged pillars, architraves, friezes and cornices decorated with floral designs.
Learn more about the Roman Temple at Omrit
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