Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb

Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb

معبد الخرايب الفينيقي
Illustrative reconstruction of the sanctuary
Shown within Lebanon Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb (Near East)
Location	Kharayeb, South Lebanon
Coordinates	33.3459°N 35.2815°E / 33.3459; 35.2815
History
Founded	Iron Age II
Abandoned	First century BC
Cultures	Phoenician, Hellenistic
Site notes
Excavation dates	1946 1969 2009–2013
Archaeologists	Maurice Chehab Brahim Kaoukabani Ida Oggiano and Wissam Khalil
Condition	Ruined
Public access	Yes

The Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb (Arabic: معبد الخرايب الفينيقي) is a historic temple in the hinterland of Tyre in Southern Lebanon. It was excavated in three stages. In 1946, Maurice Chehab, then head of Lebanon's Directorate General of Antiquities, led the first mission that revealed a Hellenistic period temple and thousands of clay figurines dating from the sixth to the first century BC. Subsequent excavations in 1969, by Lebanese archaeologist Brahim Kaoukabani, and in 2009, by the Italian government, yielded evidence of cultic practices and produced a detailed reconstruction of the sanctuary's architecture.

The sanctuary's origins date back to the 6th century BC, with the establishment of rural agricultural centers by the growing city of Tyre. Initially, a temple was likely constructed from perishable materials, with only fragments of stone cultic statues surviving from this phase. Around three centuries later, during the Hellenistic period, a new and larger building replaced the original structure. This Hellenistic temple was fronted by a paved courtyard and consisted of a square hall leading to a smaller rectangular room. The interior was embellished with stucco, a central mosaic flooring and gem-like glass paste wall decorations. The exterior featured a cavetto cornice, a lintel featuring a sun disk with two uraei (representations of a sacred snake used as a symbol of sovereignty and divinity in Ancient Egypt), and the entrance was flanked by two standing Egyptian-style male figure statues. The architecture followed pre-Classical Phoenician temple design, characterized by specific features such as a "bent-entry", and an east-west axis orientation.

The sanctuary yielded a collection of artifacts, including thousands of terracotta figurines and miniature vessels, and inscriptions, which provide insights into the religious practices of the local rural Phoenician population. The terracotta figurines from the Iron Age II and Persian periods depicted various subjects, including pregnant women, male figures, and deities. During the Hellenistic period, new molding techniques introduced Greek themes and images of deities like Aphrodite and Hermes. The religious practices observed at the sanctuary remained faithful to local Phoenician traditions, and were part of a wider cultic system within the Tyre hinterland, involving similar rituals across different sanctuaries in the region. The deity to whom the sanctuary was dedicated remains unidentified because the unearthed inscriptions lack specific god names. Numerous child figurines unearthed during the excavations suggest that the sanctuary served as a small rural religious site focused on healing and salvation deities, with rituals associated with childbearing and childhood. The discovery of around 8,000 terracotta figurines indicates intensive religious activity spanning centuries, ending when the site's religious activity ceased in the first century BC.

Location and history

The sanctuary is located on a hilly plateau at the entrance of the homonymous town, near the locality of Jemjim. The modern town of Kharayeb sits on the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, a short distance north of the Leontes River, 77 km (48 mi) south of Beirut, Lebanon. The Kharayeb sanctuary was within the territorial boundaries of the Phoenician city of Tyre, whose territory extended along the Levantine coast from Sarepta in the north to Sykaminon in the south during the Persian period, as documented in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax dating to c. 350 BC.

Relevant archeological periods

Prehistory
Middle Paleolithic	300–30 ka
Ancient Near East
Iron Age I	1200–1000 BC
Iron Age II	1000–539 BC
Persian period	539–330 BC
Hellenistic period	330–31 BC
Modern Period
Ottoman period	1516–1918

Historical background, foundation, and decline

Archaeological excavation in Kharayeb and its vicinity have revealed a complex settlement landscape spanning various chronological periods, from the Prehistoric to the Ottoman period. The region had been inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic, as evidenced by numerous discovered flint tools. The earliest signs of agricultural use of the area comes from the archaeological site of Jemjim, where excavations have revealed a rural settlement with a complex system of cisterns dating to the Iron Age, along with ceramics indicating occupation dating to the second millennium BC.

During the Persian period, when Phoenicia was under Achaemenid rule, the Phoenician economy flourished and the coastal cities' population grew, necessitating resource optimization in their respective territories. The Persians supported this development by promoting intensive agriculture and irrigation. The subsistence of the city of Tyre was ensured by the establishment of rural agricultural centers, extending from the Phoenician coast to Mount Carmel in Palestine (modern day Israel). These rural areas, especially those situated near rivers, played a crucial role in Tyre's economy and witnessed the emergence of a series of planned settlements. It is within this territorial organization context that the construction of a place of worship in Kharayeb was begun around the 6th century BC. The establishment of the sanctuary of Kharayeb along a river, and in a relatively isolated context occurred during a time when cults of deities of healing and salvation were emerging throughout the Levant.

Following Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire in 330 BC and his premature death, various Hellenistic kingdoms emerged across the conquered land, namely the Seleucid Empire in West Asia and Ptolemaic Egypt. Greek culture and language spread as far as modern-day India, resulting in a fusion of ancient Greek and local cultures. In Phoenicia, despite the prevailing use of the Phoenician language, the institutions and organizational structures of the coastal cities exhibited a pronounced Hellenistic influence. This influence is less detectable in the inland rural regions. During this period, the sanctuary was completely rebuilt. Concurrently, a surge in the utilization of Greek- and Ptolemaic Egypt-inspired imagery, subjects, and artistic motifs emerged in the heavily Hellenized coastal Phoenician cities.. Inscriptions in the sanctuary of Kharayeb, all written in Phoenician, indicate the rural population's persistent adherence to their native language, and traditional religious practices. The same conclusion could be drawn from the predominantly Phoenician inscriptions in the nearby sanctuary of Umm al-Amad. No archaeological evidence dating from later than the end of the Hellenistic period has been uncovered in the sanctuary area, suggesting that cultic activity at the sanctuary ceased, after a long period of prosperity and intensive use, in the first century BC.

Modern discovery

Sketch of the Jemjim relief, now in the Louvre

The region encompassing Kharayeb yielded a number of ancient artifacts, attracting the attention of scholars and explorers since the 19th century. In April 1863, a marble slab featuring intricate relief sculpture, believed to be a fragment of a door frame, was discovered among the construction materials of a house in Jemjim. The slab was acquired by local treasure hunter Alphonse Durighello. In the relief, a seated female figure is depicted wearing a pschent, an Ancient Egyptian double crown, and she holds an incense burner. The right edge of the slab is decorated with Phoenician palmette motifs. In his book Mission de Phénicie, French biblical scholar and orientalist Ernest Renan reported the discovery as being from the town of "Djamdjîne" (Jemjim). The locals of Kharayeb referred to the area where the Phoenician sanctuary was later discovered as Juret el-Khawatem ('the pit of the rings'); this name derives from the practice of collecting what they thought were beads unearthed on the premises. They then fashioned their finds into bracelets and various decorative accessories.

In 1946, the head of Lebanon's Directorate General of Antiquities Service Maurice Chehab, initiated excavations at Juret el-Khawatem, prompted by the discovery of a number of figurines made from terracotta. He unearthed the remains of a rectangular cultic building dating to the Hellenistic period. In front of the building, near a paved courtyard, he uncovered a favissa (a sacred underground deposit) containing thousands of clay figurines dating from the sixth to the first centuries BC. In 1969, Lebanese archaeologist Brahim Kaoukabani resumed excavations of the site. He unearthed various figurines, significant architectural elements, including a lintel adorned with uraei (representations of a sacred snake), and two large statues that exhibited an Egyptian style attire. Kaoukabani published his preliminary excavation report in 1973. In 2009, the Italian government funded the reexamination and study of the sanctuary's clay figurines in the collections of the General Directorate of Antiquities in Beirut, and in November 2013, a new excavation project in the Kharayeb sanctuary site and its vicinity. The mission team was led by archaeologists Ida Oggiano from Italy and Wissam Khalil from Lebanon. Several significant discoveries ensued, including a previously undiscovered section of the main rectangular cultic building. The Italian mission made a detailed reconstruction of the sanctuary, revealing the various developmental stages of the cultic building. The team digitally reconstructed original architectural embellishments of the Hellenistic structure, showcasing intricate designs featuring colored mosaic tesserae, stucco, and glass ornaments.

Architecture

Temple style

The sanctuary of Kharayeb follows the pre-Classical Phoenician temple design, the predominant temple type in Phoenicia and its dependencies. Iron Age Phoenician temples followed a similar plan, with distinct characteristics that set them apart from other cultic architecture in the region. The temples were rectangular, often with a smaller annex room, and were built along an east-west axis. The adyton (most sacred space) was located in the western part of the temple. One notable feature of these temples was the "bent-entry", where the main entrance was not centrally located. These temples were typically smaller in size compared to other cultic architecture in the southern Levant, a geographical region corresponding approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. The architecture and the humble proportions of such temples indicate that they were not meant for public use but rather for the clergy. Many of these elements were preserved in temple design during the late Persian period.

Description

Archaeological evidence indicates that the sanctuary was built in multiple phases. A temple was initially built between the Iron Age II and Persian period, but remains have not survived intact, indicating that it was likely constructed using perishable materials. In the initial phase, the sacred area housed at least one cultic statue, supported by the discovery of a fragment from a small-sized statue dating to the first half of the 6th century BC, found 20 m (66 ft) northwest of the sanctuary favissa. This statue resembles several examples of Cypriot cultic statues discovered among the materials of the favissa of the Phoenician temple in Amrit, but it remains uncertain whether the Kharayeb statue was imported from Cyprus or locally produced. The feet of another statue of a different iconographic type were found by Kaoukabani. Cultic artefacts dating from the Iron Age II or Persian period were also discovered, these included figurines, small and miniature vases and pottery, and miniature altars.

Header against stretcher ashlar construction technique used in the Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb

In a later phase, at the beginning of the Hellenistic period, the structures from the Iron Age II were replaced by a larger, completely new building. The surviving Hellenistic period temple's main chamber measures approximately 13 m × 11 m (43 ft × 36 ft). Significant foundation work was done to level the flooring due to the sloping rocky terrain, and walls were built directly on the bedrock. The sanctuary then consisted of a large paved courtyard leading to the southwest-facing temple façade. The temple consisted of a large square hall giving access to a smaller rectangular room in the west-northwest side. The walls of the sanctuary were constructed using stones of different sizes and large blocks to provide stability, employing a typical header-and-stretcher bond ashlar construction technique commonly seen in the Persian and Hellenistic period buildings in Phoenicia. Both interior and exterior walls were covered with lime plaster, and the interior plaster was polished.

The temple exterior was adorned with architectural design elements commonly found in sacred buildings in the Tyre region, including a cavetto cornice and a lintel decorated with a sun disk flanked by uraei. The design of the building and its decorations resembled the sanctuary of Umm al-Amad. The temple's main entrance on the southwest-facing façade was flanked by two male figure statues wearing an Egyptian-style loin cloth, the shendyt. Each statue has one advanced foot (one on the right, the other on the left), and the better-preserved of the two figures shows traces of an animal held under the left arm. Such sculptures are typical of Phoenicia and Cyprus. In Phoenicia, examples of this type were found in Sarepta, Amrit, Byblos, Sidon, Tyre, and Umm al-Amad. Scholars believe that these Egypt-inspired sculptural groups served as protective figures, and were stationed at the entrance of Phoenician temples. At a later stage during the Hellenistic period, the floor of the large square hall was paved with flat stone slabs. A group of multicolored mosaic tesserae was excavated, suggesting the presence of a simple geometric pattern mosaic in the center of the hall. The interior walls were embellished with stucco decoration, similar to the ornate houses of the coastal cities of the Levant during that period, featuring oval-shaped motifs some examples of which have been found on site by Kaoukabani. The interior decoration of the building, which included the scattered gem-like glass pastes collected by the locals to make jewelry, were also dated to the Hellenisitc period.

Artifacts and finds

In addition to the architectural, decorative, and cultic items, excavations have yielded a wealth of artifacts, including thousands of terracotta figurines, and miniature vessels that provide insight into the religious practices of the native population.

Votive terracotta figurines

Figurines of the Iron Age from Kharayeb and Tyre, at the National Museum of Beirut

Terracotta figurines from the Iron Age II or Persian period were found on site. They were made locally by artisans who produced images of a well-documented type found in Phoenicia (Sarepta, Tyre, Tell Keisan, Achziv, Dor), and Cyprus. The repertoire of votive figurines includes pregnant women, women with their hands placed on their breasts, seated male figurines wearing an atef crown or with a flat hairstyle, horse riders, tambourine players, and the god Bes, an ancient Egyptian deity worshipped as a protector of households, mothers, children, and childbirth.

In the Hellenistic period, a heavy influx of worshipers prompted local terracotta figurine makers to adopt the more efficient and cost-effective double molds technique. The new technique was introduced from prominent Hellenistic figurines production centers like Alexandria in Egypt. Original molds were acquired and modified to reflect local styles and context, and figurines were locally produced in Tyre as evidenced by clay ion-beam analysis, and the presence of incised Phoenician letters on the figurines before firing. The acquisition of molds with Greek iconography introduced the images of Hellenistic deities such as Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Dionysus, Eros, Heracles, and Hermes into the hinterland of Tyre. The number of figurines depicting deities is scarce compared to the total cataloged pieces, with the majority of the figurines depicting human subjects, and, most notably, children engaged in playful activities. The imagery portrays the rural and pastoral environment in which the users of these figurines lived. There were numerous figurines of schoolchildren and theater masks suggesting a diverse range of worshipers, including those from urban centers. The inclusion of these motifs reflects the cultural and educational aspects of Hellenistic city life, indicating that the sanctuary attracted devotees not only from rural areas but also from coastal cities where such themes were more prevalent in daily life. The influence of Alexandria is also apparent through a number of figurines depicting a breastfeeding Isis, Horus, and Harpocrates.

Other finds

Figurines of the Hellenistic period (330–31 BC) from Kharayeb and Tyre, showcasing Greek influence, displayed at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport

Miniature cultic pottery vessels were found in various places in the sanctuary, and were utilized in rituals throughout the sanctuary's periods of use. Small plates and bowls were found by the Italian mission under the temple's paving, in the Iron Age II and Persian period phase layers. Pottery from the Hellenistic phase include small and miniature unguentaria, miniature plates, and small jugs. Chéhab uncovered the remains of lamb and an ankle bone used for divination within one of the unearthed small plates. A number of miniature altars, dating to the Iron Age II and Persian period, and similar to ones found in Amrit, Sidon, and Tell el-Burak were also found on site.

The site yielded a few inscriptions: on votive figurines, and on a fragment of a limestone statue found by Chéhab at the bottom of the sanctuary favissa. The fragment consists of a statue base with both feet depicted in profile, with a Phoenician inscription carved between the legs. Chéhab translated the inscription in his 1952 excavation report as "Because he heard the word of his servants". In 1955, he revised his interpretation, presenting a slightly different translation: "...of them, because he heard their words (prayers), may he bless them". The inscription was dated to the 4th century BC, based on comparisons with the inscription of the Batnoam sarcophagus (KAI 11) and the Phoenician graffiti from Abydos (KAI 49).

Dedication and function

Terracotta figurine holding a duck from the Kharayeb sanctuary, in the collection of the National Museum of Beirut

Scholars have not identified the deity worshiped at the sanctuary as no specific god names are mentioned in the site inscriptions. Chéhab proposed that the sanctuary was a center for agrarian and initiatory cults, based on the figurines representing Demeter and Kore, the Greek goddesses of harvest and spring respectively. On the other hand, Kaoukabani suggested that the sanctuary was initially dedicated to Astarte. According to his interpretation, the building was a mammisi, a chapel-like building that serves as a place for rituals and ceremonies associated with the divine birth or infancy of a deity. He further proposed that the cult likely acquired characteristics related to Demeter and included mystical elements. The study of the terracotta figurines contributed to the understanding of the religious cult. A revised understanding was put forth by Italian historian Maria Grazia Lancellotti who characterizes the sanctuary as a smaller religious site that, like the temple of Eshmun in Bustan el-Sheikh at the outskirts of Sidon, centered around the veneration of deities of healing and salvation, with an emphasis on rituals associated with childbearing and childhood. This interpretation would explain the discovery of numerous child figurines on-site.

According to Oggiano, the religious practices observed at the Kharayeb sanctuary were part of the same cultic system that included the sanctuaries of Umm al-Amad, the temple of Sarepta, and possibly Tyre. These shared practices include the performance of comparable rituals, the dedication of stone and terracotta statues, and the use of a similar syntax of dedicatory inscriptions across the entire region of the Tyre hinterland. The Eastern Temple in Umm al-Amad yielded twelve terracotta figurines, with the majority retrieved from the "Throne Chapel". Notably, these figurines belong to the well-documented type associated with the Kharayeb sanctuary. In addition to the dedication of figurines, the rituals practiced at the Kharayeb sanctuary included pouring oils from unguentaria, and offering libations poured from miniature and medium-sized jugs. The great number of clay figurines discovered at the sanctuary is evidence of the intensive religious activity in the Phoenician sanctuary between the fourth and first centuries BC. The temple's small interior was periodically cleared of votive offerings to make space for new statuettes. As a result, around 8,000 terracotta figurines were collected and stored in a specially dug favissa. The Kharayeb figurines portrayed various aspects of local Phoenician society over many centuries, consistently emphasizing the significance of motherhood and childhood for the people frequenting the sanctuary. During the Persian period, a great number of figurines represented pregnant women, and in the Hellenistic period, numerous depictions of children engaged in playful activities with animals or music instruments were found. The small size of the cultic objects further indicates the potential involvement of children in the rituals.

See also

• Roman temple of Bziza – Cultural heritage building in Bziza, Lebanon
• Temple of Eshmun – Ancient temple to the Phoenician god of healing in Lebanon

References

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Further reading

• Aliquot, Julien (2004). "Aegyptiaca et Isiaca de la Phénicie et du Liban aux époques hellénistique et romaine" [Aegyptiaca and Isiaca from Phoenicia and Lebanon in the Hellenistic and Roman periods]. Syria (in French). 81: 201–228. ISSN 0039-7946. OCLC 784158609.
• Castiglione, Marianna (2020). "Pleasure before duty: Playing and studying in the cultic context of Kharayeb". Pallas. Revue d'études antiques (114): 97–126. doi:10.4000/pallas.18947. ISSN 0031-0387. S2CID 252891086.
• Castiglione, Marianna (2022). "The gods of the others: Images of foreign deities in the Hellenistic cult place of Kharayeb". In Galoppin, Thomas; Guillon, Elodie; Luaces, Max; Lätzer-Lasar, Asuman; Lebreton, Sylvain; Porzia, Fabio; Rüpke, Jörg; Urciuoli, Emiliano Rubens; Bonnet, Corinne (eds.). Naming and mapping the gods in the ancient Mediterranean. Berlin: de Gruyter. pp. 493–518. ISBN 9783110796490. OCLC 1346946818.
• Chéhab, Maurice (1983). "Découvertes phéniciennes au Liban" [Phoenician discoveries in Lebanon]. Atti del I Congresso Internazionale di Studi Fenici e Punici, 1979 (in French). Roma: Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche: 165–172. OCLC 85220069.
• Garbini, Giovanni (1975). "Studi di epigrafia fenicio-punica" [Studies in Phoenician-Punic epigraphy.]. AION - Annali dell'Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" (in Italian). 35: 433–441.
• Naster, P. (1961). "Les influences du style grec en Phénicie à l´époque achéménide" [Greek influences in Phoenicia during the Achaemenid period]. Atti 7 Congr.Intern.Archeol.Class. (in French). Roma: 30.
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• Wagner, Peter (1980). Der ägyptische Einfluss auf die phönizische Architektur [The Egyptian Influence on Phoenician Architecture] (in German). Bonn: R. Habelt. ISBN 9783774917729.

External links

• Image of the Jemjim stele (door frame fragment), now in the Louvre Museum