Ancient Emesa (modern Homs, Syria) was the cult center of the god Elagabal. Emperor Elagabalus served as hereditary priest before bringing the cult to Rome. Mamoon Abdul Karim proposes the temple stood near the Great Mosque of al-Nuri after a Greek inscription surfaced in 2016 restoration work, while Alex Hajj favors the Citadel mound via GIS analysis. Neither inscription names the temple.
Search narrows possible site of Elagabal's lost temple at Emesa
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Key facts
- Ancient Emesa (modern Homs, Syria) was the cult center of the god Elagabal, represented by a sacred stone.
- Emperor Elagabalus (218 CE) was a hereditary priest of the cult before bringing it to Rome.
- Archaeologist Mamoon Abdul Karim proposes the temple stood beneath or near the Great Mosque of al-Nuri after a Greek inscription was found on a reused granite column base during 2016 restoration work.
- Archaeologist Alex Hajj used GIS comparisons with other ancient sites to propose the Citadel mound as the more likely location.
- Neither inscription names the temple of Elagabal, and the archaeological argument remains split pending excavation.
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