Amrit: A Pearl In A Necklace That Enhances The Tourist Appeal Of Syria
BY: Habeeb Salloum/Contributing writer
“One day Amrit will become famous. They have been talking about making it a tourist attraction for a long time.” Our driver Ibrahim, remarked as he stopped our car by the famous Temple among the ancient ruins. He continued, “Since the early 1990s I’ve heard about a huge tourist project that is to be built edging these ruins.” I looked around, “I can’t see any structure or construction work”, I remarked. Ibrahim smiled, “They’re still colouring the map.”
Yet, perhaps, the government is right in going slowly in approving the project and the bulldozers beginning their work. The area of the ruins of some ten square kilometres must be defined by archaeologists and any tourist project should complement the ruins – not destroy them.
Amrit is one of a kind. Even though excavation has barely scratched the surface, there is little doubt that this ancient city will one day shine among its peers the venerable city states of Ebla, Mari and Ugarit – as a pearl in a necklace that enhances the tourist appeal of Syria.
A Syrian national team of archaeologists is working on the site but as yet has only uncovered a very small fraction of Amrit’s hidden treasures. Raising a thin layer of debris and soil will, no doubt, reveal much more than what is known today. Without question, investing in rehabilitating this archaeological site will, in the future, become a worthwhile cultural tourist attraction.
Amrit
Located 8 km (5 mi) south of Tartous, Amrit (cAmrit), once labelled as a city of dreams and wine, was a colony of the kingdom of Aradus whose capital was on the nearby Island of Arwad. The city was founded by the Amorites in the 3rd millennium B.C. and later developed as a religious centre by the Canaanites. Amrit was referred to as ‘Mrt’ and ‘Amrat’ in 15th century B.C. Egyptian texts as well as ‘Marathus’ in classical scripts.
During its golden age Amrit ships crossed the seas carrying its trademark, purple, along with other goods to the far corners of the ancient world. Historical documents indicate that during this period Amrit had a population of some 600,000.
In the 2nd century B.C., it was abandoned and, strangely, was not rebuilt by later civilizations. Hence, the structures one sees in the ruins are of pure Canaanite origin. In Amrit, no Greek or Roman monuments cover or disfigure the original Canaanite remains.
Archaeological finds like axes and other tools, bronze jugs, marble capitals, mosaics and pottery, date back to between 1750 to 1350 B.C. – the time when Amrit flourished. However, by far, the largest part of the ruins has not been excavated.
The most important monument in the ruins, which was visited by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C., is the unique 6th century B.C. Amrit Temple, an earlier but simpler version of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra. By the 2nd century A.D., the temple had been abandoned and forgotten until in the early 20th century, French archaeologists began excavations and removed many of the artefacts found to the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The temple, once surrounded by water, shows Mesopotamia and Egyptian architectural influences and consists of a large court carved in the rock, about 8 m (26 ft) deep, 56 m (184 ft) long and 49 m (161 ft) wide. In the middle sits a well-preserved cella where once a statue of the god Melqart (Hercules in Greek mythology, associated with the Egyptian god of healing Echmoun) stood. The court was flooded by a local sulphur spring that had legendary healing powers, becoming a sacred pool that was surrounded by a colonnaded arcade, recently partially reconstructed.
From the top of a tell next door to the Temple one can see, 200 m (656 ft) away, the remains of a 16th century B.C. stadium which could seat some 11,000 spectators. The inhabitants used the stadium during the sport seasons – surpassing time-wise the stadium of Olympia in Greece by some 700 years. The stadium measures 225 m. long and 30 m. wide. Its topography is identical to that of the stadium at Olympia. Exploring the stadium, I was amazed by its size and what remains from the original structure
A short distance to the south of the Temple, we stopped to examine two strange funerary 4th century B.C. monuments that stand atop small tombs and other burial chambers. Called by the locals Maghazil (Spindles), one is pyramid-shaped and the other phallic. At the foot of these monuments and in the vicinity, there are many other monuments, sculptures and tombs carved out of rock. The largest of tombs probably belonged to the kings of Arwad and to the affluent families of Amrit
A little further south of the Maghazil stands the very large two-storey cube-shaped spectacular mausoleum tower, built of huge engraved stones of different sizes and crowned by a cornice blocks. Mysteriously known by the locals as Burj al-Bazzaq (Snail Tower), it was once topped by a pyramid, indicating Egyptian impact on Amrit architecture. The mausoleum, built between the 5th and 6th centuries B.C., contains two burial chambers, believed to have been the last resting places of two important families.
Leaving the ruins of Amrit which will, no doubt, one day become the 4th shining archaeological jewel in the necklace decorating Syria’s chest, we drove northward to explore Ugarit, one of mankind’s greatest fountainheads of knowledge. In it were invented the alphabet – the mother of all western scripts – written musical notes and much more. The Canaanites, built both Amrit and Ugarit and produced their renowned civilizations. When, in the future, the excavations in both ruins will be completed these two archaeological beads gleaming on Syria’s necklace will shine more spectacularly than ever.