Amrit is an ancient Phoenician site located on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Having settled the island of Arwad, a short distance offshore, the Phoenicians subsequently established a number of settlements on the mainland. Tartous and Amrit were two of the settlements located closest to the island. (...)
Amrit is an ancient Phoenician site located on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. Having settled the island of Arwad, a short distance offshore, the Phoenicians subsequently established a number of settlements on the mainland. Tartous and Amrit were two of the settlements located closest to the island. Amrit, known to the Greeks as Marathos, is thought to have been used as a suburb or religious center. Arwad and Tartous remain occupied today, but Amrit was destroyed in the third century B.C. and only a few physical remains survive. The most prominent is the temple, consisting of a small elevated cella in the middle of a large square court defined by a colonnade. This arrangement emphasizes open space, characteristic of the historic architecture of the region. Amrit was included in the 2004 and 2006 Watch lists to draw attention to the site’s accelerating deterioration and to its vulnerability to vandalism. The widening of a highway leading to Tartous from the south led to new archaeological discoveries, including decorated tombs, but has also jeopardized the site’s integrity.
