Baqirha

An ancient settlement in the Dead Cities area of northwest Syria's limestone massif, occupied from the 2nd to 7th centuries CE. Its oldest structure is a Corinthian tetrastyle prostyle temple built in 161 AD and dedicated to Zeus Bomos ("Zeus of the Altar"), a local name for the Syrian god Baal, comparable to the Baalshamin temple at Palmyra. Two Byzantine churches survive: the Western Church (416 CE) with a well-preserved baptistery, and the Eastern Church (546 CE). The settlement prospered from olive oil export.