Current Status of the Tell Ain Dara Temple

Summary

ASOR CHI geospatial analysis indicates that an attack damaged the Ain Dara temple in northwest

Syria on or before January 22, 2018. The Ain Dara temple is the best-preserved example of Syro-Hittite religious architecture from the late second and early first millennia BCE. It is elaborately decorated with basalt sculpture and reliefs. Larger-than-life human footprints carved into the temple’s stone thresholds are unique to the building. It is also considered to be a close parallel to the contemporary Temple of Solomon, which is known from descriptions in the Hebrew Bible.

The attack left two craters in the temple—one in the entrance to the building and the other in the entrance to the cella. Both craters are located where thresholds with carved footprints were situated. Due to their proximity to the explosions, the walls, floors, and decorations in the antecella, entrance portico, and southeastern facade of the building received the heaviest damage.

Cite this Record

Current Status of the Tell Ain Dara Temple. Michael D. Danti, Darren P. Ashby, Marina Gabriel, Susan Penacho. ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives Special Report. Boston, MA: ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiative. 2018 ( tDAR id: 447798) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8447798

Keywords

General
S-IZ-100-17-CA021

Geographic Keywords
Syria Tell Ain Dara

Spatial Coverage

min long: 36.823; min lat: 36.436 ; max long: 36.925; max lat: 36.493 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Prepared By(s): American Schools of Oriental Research

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
2018-ASOR-CHI_Ain-Dara-Special-Report_Updated-March-7.pdf 13.63mb Mar 7, 2018 Dec 17, 2018 11:00:58 AM Public