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Before excavation work began, there was little to indicate the existence of a large ancient building at this spot. There were no traces of antique architecture recognizable on the gently sloping, vine-covered field. Even before the campaign started, however, a geophysical survey \u2013 which makes subterranean structures visible \u2013 had provided indications of a large building complex hidden below the surface. Because of its scale and its location close to what we identified as the civic centre of Doliche we were quite confident to be dealing with some sort of public structure. Excavations have confirmed our suspicions. The building is a temple from the Roman period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe structure itself is of monumental size. The temple is orientated on an east-west axis and has a width of about 35 meters. On the west side, its interior concludes with an apse, a semi-circular space, which is about twelve metres wide. The laterally adjacent areas have not yet been fully examined, but we assume that small side-rooms are attached to them which would have been accessed from the apse. Due to its location on a slope with a slight gradient, a massive amount of soil has accumulated on top of the structure. This helped to preserve parts of it. Although many parts of the structure have been destroyed and looted over time, the size of the temple is still very much evident. In addition to remains of walls and the features of the building, we found a large array of architectural ornaments in the fill layers. Apart from pieces of capitals, we found finely decorated pieces of the entablature, which will facilitate the dating of the building. As of now, we sadly don’t know which deity was worshipped here. Finding out who was venerated will be an important question going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Our complete Team of the 2021 campaign within the semi-circular apse!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Even though we have only uncovered small parts of the building, it has become clear that this is a major discovery. The temple differs from the usual temple buildings in the eastern Mediterranean through the unconventional design of its interior, with a large apse. It is not alone in this, however. There are parallels in Palmyra and in southern Syria. This makes the temple of Doliche even more interesting to us, as it promises to deliver more information on the development of temple architecture in ancient Syria in the future. It also confirms that Doliche with its multiple religious sites was an important religious centre where the religious developments of the ancient Near East can be studied particularly well: in the past, the M\u00fcnster team already uncovered the Iron Age<\/a> sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichenus outside the town, a subterranean sanctuary of the god Mithras<\/a> and a large early Christian basilica<\/a>\u00a0dating from the 4th century CE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n