New
archeological discoveries in Amrit, and its Olympic
stadium is the first in the world
Al-thawra newspaper 18/8/2005
The
archeological city of Amrit is to the south of
Tartous, about 7 km and now it is one of Tartous
suburbs, a small river is going through it known as
the Amrit river or the river of Martias, its area is
about 6 square kilometers, and considered one of the
most important cities of the Cannanite-phoenician
coast.
The excavations prove
that it was established and inhabited by the
Amorites at the end of the third millennium B.C, and
the beginning of the second millennium B.C.
It was under the rule of
Arwad and formed with it an alliance that contained
Paltos (Arab al mulk) , Palayna (Banyas) , and
Carna (al qarnien) , also it was an expansion to the
Arwadians on the coast ,they established in it their
houses, storerooms , factories and cemeteries as it
was known from the spread ruins in its area, and the
excavations refer that a port existed but was buried
as a result of the sands and other materials which
are gathered at firth of the stream.
Amrit was liberated from
the control of the mother Arwad in 219 B.C .
Amrit lost its importance
during the first Roman period, then it started to
build its glory at the end of the Byzantine period,
that’s what the basic results of 1992 excavations
showed, then it got neglected and crusaders started
to use the stones of its structures to make
immunizations to the cites of Tartous,Arwad and
others.
The antiquities of Amrit
exist in different museums of the world like: louver
in France, in Lebanon in the museum of the American
university and the Beirut museum, in Syria in
Damascus national museum and in Tartous museum.
The immortals of Amrit:
1- The temple:
Which is a yard that was dig in the rocks and it has
a hall and many pillars, also thresholds enhanced by
balconies and between them there are gutters made in
shape of lions heads in a Persian style. From them
comes the water from the roof of the hall to the
pool. In the middle of the building there is the
main temple, which is enhanced by balconies and a
curb of the Egyptian style that was built for the
god Malkat, the one who cures from diseases.

The rove around the temple used to be in the hall,
or by small boats in the pool around the temple.
The historian Lucian mentioned temple similar to
this one in the city of Manbej (Herapolis), and in
that temple were done a few excavations, in the
result fictile pottery like Bergami dishes, enhanced
jorums, sculptures, buttonholes of pots from Rodus ,
also pieces of glass , this temple is from the fifth
of forth century B.C .
2- The hill of Amrit: one of the most famous
hills in the Area, and considered the residency
area, near it there are two springs one known as the
drinking spring, and the other one is the spring of
life.
3- The storeroom of the sacred things: it’s
to the west of the temple nearby it, and it is a low
hill known as the quarry. In it Mr. Morris Dennin in
the year 1927 found a group of statues and parts of
sculptured statues of limestone that were influenced
by the Egyptian and Persian art…also the art of
Cyprus.
4- The rock house: it’s known amongst the
inhabitants as the church site, it is sculptured in
the rocks, formed of three rooms and the limits
between them are made from the same rock.
5- The stadium: it is about 300 meters from
the north and eastern north of the temple, made of
rocks and some of its parts are worn, even the
eastern part of some of them was deleted in the
shape of horseshoe that two paths pass through it to
allow the contestants to get out and get in. also
there is another path in the southern side in the
shape of a tunnel.
The length of the stadium is 230 meters and the
width of 30 meters. It has seven bleachers, it can
hold 1200 people and it looks like the stadium of
Alice city in Greece in its shape, but there are
little differences in size, and the Amrit stadium is
considered one of the most important Olympic
stadiums in the ancient world, in which sportive
games used to happen like (Running-bags-wagons
races).
The Cemeteries
A- The spindles (Maghazel):
Which are giant memorials or tombstones which held
the kings of Amrit and Arwad or their rich people
and they come from sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

B-the cemeteries of Azar:
They are in the flat land between Amrit and Tartous
on the western side of the road, they are covered
under sand masses and they belong to the Phoenician,
Roman and Greek periods.
New archeological discoveries
Considering the historical and archeological
importance of the Amrit site, because it’s
considered on of the most important sites on the
Mediterranean Sea, which belong the ancient
Phoenician periods. Amrit was registered as an
archeological site for the first time according to
ministry decision number 8 on 14/1/1959.
The decision contained the registration of the
temple, the bleachers, the cemeteries and the
excavations area, and prohibited building on this
area about 10 square meters around each building,
and building was prohibited absolutely in the
excavations site on the real estate area.
C-Amrit was registered as an entire
archeological site according the ministry decision
number 149 / for the year 1988 and the decision
determined the site of Amrit on a map that was
attached to the registration and contained the
temple, the stadium, the hill, the cemeteries, the
spindles (Maghazel), an underground graveyard, the
store room of sacred things, a graveyard with a cube
looking stone, the Buzaq tower, and a house made of
rocks.
The decision prohibited doing any changes or
planting without the permission of the archeological
authorities.
Then Amrit, the
Azar cemeteries and the Bayada cemetery were
registered according the decision 214/ of the year
2005.
In 1745 the explorer Pocol visited Amrit and wrote
down some of what he saw, also Ernest Rennin came to
it in the year 1860 and did archeological
investigations, and in the year 1926 Morris Dennin
did archeological searches in the storeroom of
sacred things and found a few statues.
The general principalship of museums and archeology
which was represented by Dr. Adnan al bunni and
Dr.Nasib Salibi , always was doing excavations ,then
the Tartous branch of archeology continued different
search operations in all Amrit and Azar cemeteries
where statues of marble were discovered representing
the god Bakhos , also found an ancient Phoenician
family graveyard digged in the rocks , inside it
were found a group of wooden and fictile coffins
with streamlined shapes and were well made ( showed
now in Tartous museum) in addition to a group of
Phoenician tombstones in the area of the Bayada
cemetery to the east of Amrit. Also a very important
communal graveyard was found in 2003 on the sides of
the road Tartous- Tripoli , where an interesting
group of tombs was discovered , consisting of three
stone coffins and two half-statues in a good
situation, and now it is showed in the museum of
Tartous with other group of archeological
discoveries.
Also an archeological floor was found with a single
tomb in the Azar cemeteries, added to other
important discoveries in the year 2004.
The archeological excavations of the year 2005:
The national expedition now is doing many
excavations like the following:
A- The camp of Amrit section 5:
Where some architectural landmarks were found, and
they are consisting of a channel made of stones
leads to rectangle shaped pools also made of stones
and covered by lime mud, these pools are for
layering maybe they belong to an industrial
structure for grapes, in addition to walls belonging
to this structure and a fireplace.
Also a stone formation covered by lime mud, from
outside it has a hole in cylinder shape in the
ceiling. And it is being discovered and studied now.
A few walls belonging to another to residential
structures were found in another part of the fifth
sector. Adding to them a group of important troves
like: bronze currencies, glass lachrymals, fictile
pieces in large amounts, a fictile imprint and
fictile lanterns, all of these were also found
there, and most likely they belong to the
Hellenistic period.
B- The area of Azar cemeteries:
A group of communal graveyards were found and each
one of them has its own character, some of them were
built of refined sand stones which is made of many
gutters that sometimes reach 33 gutters, they are
made of three floors and some times it’s possible to
get in through a door that can be locked in a
wonderful way and stairs that lead to a hall with
gutters spread around it, and others are made as a
hollow in the rocks and used as a cemetery.
A group of troves were found: fictile pieces, parts
of fictile coffins and lead coffins with plant
trappings, skeletons, leaves of gold, imprint of
glass, medical equipment of bronze, parts of fictile
and the excavations are still working to discover
more about these cemeteries which most likely belong
to the Roman period.
C- The temple and the stadium of Amrit:
They were cleaned of the intensive mass of grass
which covered all the architectural signposts and
the work is still going in all of the sites, where
the needed amount till then was prepared and reached
1800000 S.P.
The university of Damascus made a camp for the
archeology college in Amrit, where the students did
some excavations, which till now they are still in
progress by the intendance of the national
excavations expedition, and the branch of archeology
in Tartous.
The ministry of culture is holding in cooperation
and coordination with Tartous governorate, an annual
festival in the Amrit site in the period between 28
till 31 of this month. The festival was called
(Amrit festival for culture and arts) its now in its
second year.
Its purpose is to put Amrit in the spotlight and
show its important antiquities and archeological
sites, the events of the festival contain: poetry
contest, heritage colloquiums, evening of
literature, exhibitions of arts, theatre for adults
and children, cinema and artistic shows for
children, folkloric singing concerts, political
colloquiums for the big Syrian and Arab thinkers,
also folkloric exhibitions will be held in the old
city where the culture of the ancient past will hug
the glorious present and a literal from the
governorate will be honored .
Ayda Ayub
http://thawra.alwehda.gov.sy/_archive.asp?FileName=35282512420050817221332
(The following explanations
are not part of the original text):
The following pictures and comments are for some of
the archeological discoveries that were mentioned in
the article, from the part “the archeological
excavations for the year 2005”, the comments
about the pictures are taken literally from the
article.
 |
 |
"Rectangle
shaped pools also made of stones and covered by
lime , these pools are for layering maybe they
belong to an industrial structure for grapes." |
The fireplace “al tanoor” |
 |
 |
Few walls belonging to this
ground structure. |
A stone formation covered by lime mud, from
outside it has a hole in cylinder shape in the
ceiling. and it is being discovered and studied
now.
The local inhabitants call it the French safe, it
has a story we will tell it later. |
|
In Azar Cemetery |
 |
 |
Others are made as a hollow in the rocks and used
as a cemetery.
|
A family graveyard “built of
refined sand stones which is made of many gutters
that sometimes reach 33 gutters they are made of
three floors and some times it’s possible to get
in through a door that can be locked in a
wonderful way” |
Translated by:
Anas Abbas
|