Un « arrière-goût » du Fer en Phénicie romaine
The sculpted divine reliefs of the Roman period in Lebanon bear witness to themes and motifs that often predate the 1st century BC and are clearly of regional inspiration. Yet Philo of Byblos insisted on the originality and antiquity of the local pantheons. In fact, the treatment of the façade of the temple of Chhîm (2nd century AD) can be compared to the Sidonian naiskoi dated to the 9th-5th century BC. The theme of the winged sun, found in Byblos, Chhîm or Baalbek, of Egyptian inspiration, attests to a long iconographic continuity between ancient Phoenicia and Roman sculpted decorations. The divinities flanked by animals, the so-called Astarte thrones or the figures of priests with conical caps performing on thymiaters confirm the rooting of the representations in an oriental substrate
Article, 2023
Anabases, 37, 2023, 127
2023