19 Chait, Kathmandu. An ancient Greek during the reconstruction of the ‘Great Mosque’ in the historic city of Homs, Syria Inscription found has fallen The discovery of the inscription has given a new twist to an archaeological debate that has been going on for decades.
Experts have said that after the discovery of the inscription, there is strong evidence that a famous ‘Temple of the Sun’ of the Roman Empire may have been buried under the mosque.
Professor Mamun Saleh Abdulkarim, an archaeologist at the University of Sharjah, said that this discovery presents an excellent example of the gradual transformation of a religious site.
According to him, it was originally a pagan temple, later became a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist and finally turned into a mosque after the Islamic conquest.
What is in the inscription?
Although this inscription found at the foot of a granite pillar of the mosque was discovered for the first time during excavations in 2016, it could not be studied in detail for a long time due to the ongoing war and instability in the area.
In this historical material, the glorious heroic saga of a ‘warrior king’ is described, where his royal power and victory are compared to the winds, storms and leopards.
In this inscription written in Greek, the grammatical influence of the local Aramaic language prevalent in Syria at that time is clearly reflected. Its style of writing is very formal and dignified, reflecting the special method followed when constructing a temple or monument in ancient times
Priests became Roman emperors
This temple is associated with the sun god sect called ‘Elagabalus’. An interesting aspect of history is that Elagabalus, the chief priest of this temple, became the emperor of the Roman Empire in 218 AD. During his reign, he also tried to make this sun god the supreme deity of the Roman Empire.
A pattern of religious continuity
According to Professor Abdulkarim, this latest discovery of the city of Emesa has made it clear that the religious change that took place there was not a sudden event but a very slow and gradual process.
Looking at the religious history of that city, it seems that the old structure was not completely destroyed but added to it according to the new faith.
It started with the magnificent Sun Temple of Elagabalus in the Roman period, and later in the fourth century, with the increase of the influence of Christianity, the same place was converted into a church.
This series of changes did not stop there, but in the 12th century, during the reign of ruler Nur ad-Din, this historical site was built as the ‘Great Mosque’.
This study has been published in an archaeological journal called ‘Sedet’. This confirms that the city of Homs was not only a commercial center but also a center of religious tolerance and cultural adaptation for two thousand years.
A complete analysis of this inscription is believed to be of great help in understanding the ancient religious history of the Middle East.