Skip to content
Little girl looking Dear readers, Catholic Online was de-platformed by Shopify for our pro-life beliefs. They shut down our Catholic Online, Catholic Online School, Prayer Candles, and Catholic Online Learning Resources—essential faith tools serving over 1.4 million students and millions of families worldwide. Our founders, now in their 70's, just gave their entire life savings to protect this mission. But fewer than 2% of readers donate. If everyone gave just $5, the cost of a coffee, we could rebuild stronger and keep Catholic education free for all. Stand with us in faith. Thank you. Help Now >

ISIS releases photos of only remains of Palmyra's 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
ISIS completely destroyed the ancient World Heritage Site.

Shocking photos of how ISIS destroyed the 2,000-year old temple in the Syrian city of Palmyra have circulated the Internet.

Highlights

By Nikky Andres (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
9/11/2015 (9 years ago)

Published in Middle East

Keywords: ISIS, Palmyra, Ancient Syrian city, Syria, Islamic State, Terrorists

The photos were published in the Islamic State's English language magazine, Dabiq, and showed the first aftermaths of the destruction, as reported on Daily Mail.

You can see only a single arch of Temple of Bel left standing after ISIS filled the temple with explosives and razed it to the ground. The Temple of Bel was designated by UNESCO as one of the world's heritage sites. The whole of Palmyra, including four cemeteries outside the walls of the ancient city, have also been listed by UNESCO.

The terrorist group has already blown up numerous ancient sites in its neighboring country, Iraq, destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin and eventually bombed the Temple of Bel by the end of August.


The Islamic State which follows a rather barbaric interpretation of Islamic Law claims that the ancient relics promote idolatry.

The ancient Temple of Bel, dated back to 32AD, displayed a unique mixture of ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman architecture. It is dedicated to the Semitic god Bel and is considered one of the most important religious buildings of the first century.

The temple is composed of a central shrine within a colonnaded courtyard with a large gateway, within a complex that has other ruins, including an amphitheater and some tombs.

It stood out among the ruins not far from the colonnades of Palmyra, which is known by Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert." The city of Palmyra was an important caravan city of the Roman Empire, linking it to India, China and Persia. It was one of the most popular UNESCO tourist destinations in the Middle East.

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Advent / Christmas 2024

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.