Last weekend we also went to Banias, another site which is on the slopes of Mt Hermon and is another source for the River Jordan. It has a natural cave carved out of a dramatic rock face. All this natural beauty made it logical that the site should be dedicated to the god Pan when the Ptolemies controlled the Upper Galilee. Pan was the Greek god of herds and wild spaces and was closely associated with Arcadia in Greece. It was usual to chose a cave or wild space in which to worship him, so this cave and rock face with the nearby spring was a natural space.
Above is a view of the spring at Banias.
View of the Temple Terrace at Banias which was built up in front of the cave which one can see in the background. The first temple was built right in front of the cave mouth by Herod the Great (at the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus 27 BCE - 14 CE) and later constructions expanded east across the terrace.
In this picture, Andrea Berlin, our fearless leader explains the excavations of the temple terrace which she participated in for four years during the late 1980's and for which she published the Hellenistic pottery.
Above is a view of the spring at Banias.
View of the Temple Terrace at Banias which was built up in front of the cave which one can see in the background. The first temple was built right in front of the cave mouth by Herod the Great (at the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus 27 BCE - 14 CE) and later constructions expanded east across the terrace.
In this picture, Andrea Berlin, our fearless leader explains the excavations of the temple terrace which she participated in for four years during the late 1980's and for which she published the Hellenistic pottery.
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