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Marathos, a dependency of Arwad.
Several coastal towns served as "mainland suburbs" for the Acadians on
their island stronghold: Paltos (Arab al Mulaq, between Jabal and Banias),
Balanea (Banias), Carene (Al Qarniene, south of Banias), Antaradus (Tartous),
Enhydra (Tal Qamqa, near the present Lebanese frontiers).
The most prosperous, perhaps because closest to the
tiny, but beautiful metropolis, was Amrit-Marathos. In the 3rd century
B.C., under the Seleucides, the colony made an attempt to free itself
from the domination of the Aradians, but the people of Aradus had no
hesitation in destroying the town. Finely decorated cups, elegantly
shaped vases, bronze tools and, above all, admirable figurines, whose
smile expresses pleasure in life and untrammeled intelligence, testify
to the degree of civilization attained at Amrit-Marathos. These
souvenirs are assembled (apart from the showcase in the Tartous Museum)
in one of the rooms of the National Museum in Damascus. The collection
of coins with the head of Tyche stamped on one side, and a Phoenician
ship and Marathus’ name in Phoenician and Greek on the other, is
particularly interesting.
Outside the museum, a necropolis and a temple are all that appears to
remain of the vanishes town.
Seven kilometers south of Tartous (Homs-Tripoli road, then track
suitable for motor vehicles to the right), two strange monuments stand
on the summit of a tall, overgrown by the heath; they are sorts of
towers or landmarks, one of them pyramid-shaped, the other phallic. The
local people call them "Maghazel", the spindles. The cylindrical one
stands on a base flanked by four lions, unfortunately now rather
dilapidated. An intended double crown sits on the top. The other is
entirely without ornament. At the foot of these monuments and round
about, tombs and burial vaults have been carved out of the rock. Part of
the Amrit fort was discovered during recent excavations.
The temple that has been uncovered 1,500 meters or so to the north is no
less intriguing. The Al Maabad Temple is thought to date from the 5th
century B.C. It consists of a vast sunken area (about 50 meters by
40metres, and 3 meters deep) in the central part of the temple, resting
on a rock pedestal. The sanctuary was dedicated to some aquatic deity
and was surrounded by water from a sacred spring gushing from an open
grotto in the east side of the temple. |
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