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The foundations were made out of rubble, the walls either of stones (Tell Mardikh, Tell Sukas, Amrit, Byblos, Sarafand, Makhmish, Lakhish) or of unbaked clay bricks (Tell Mardikh, al‐Mina, Ras‐Shamra, Tell Sukas, Tel Megadim, Tel Michal, Ashdod, Ashkelon). Typical of Phoenician architecture is ashlar masonry or bricks laid in headers and stretchers alternating with a fill of rubble. Rusticated stones can be seen in the temples of Byblos and Bustan esh‐Sheikh, dovetail joints in Amrit.

Whereas most of the sanctuaries of the Achaemenid period in the Levant are unspectacular, two are exceptional: Amrit, located 10 km south of Tartus and Bustan esh‐Sheikh, a few km north of Sidon.

The core building, the so‐called “Maabed” in Amrit, is a peristyle of 48–56 m per side (Figure 18.1). It encloses a water basin, in whose center a small niche in Egyptian style rose above the water level. The central cultic place of the sanctuary of Bustan esh‐Sheikh was a podium of 60 × 40.60 m and at least 10 m in height. It was probably built around 600 BCE and extended a century later. Scattered architectural elements may indicate the presence of sanctuaries on it. The first sanctuary was built on the first or on the extended podium in a local Assyrian‐Late Hittite style. This local temple was replaced about 390–360 BCE by an Attic temple with Ionic‐Karian‐Lycian elements. Achaemenid elements, such as taurine capitals, may have belonged to a third contemporary temple (Stucky 2005).

Figure 18.1 Reconstructed view of the Temple of Amrit (Nunn 2000a, p. 203).

A lot of other installations, such as pools and reliefs, were also part of this sanctuary, which was dedicated to the healing god Eshmun (see below, sculpture, temple boys). A second podium was located in Byblos. The temple on it was a pillar hall of 50 × 21 m. All the other temples were much smaller and of a very simple plan. A broad shrine can be found in Tell Sukas (level F), Mizpe Yammim and Lakhish (“Solar Shrine”), a long temple in Byblos (“Temple of Yehawmilk”), Tell Sukas (level G1) and probably Mount Gerizim.

The mention of a paradeisos in Sidon in Diod. 16.41.5 and several fragments of taurine capital protomes make it probable that the most famous Achaemenid palace in the Levant was the one in Sidon. Currently, everything, from its location to its plan, remains unknown. Small, sometimes fortified palaces were built according to the so‐called “open court plan,” which was adopted from Assyria (Tell Mardikh, Acco, Hazor, Tell es‐Saidiya, Tell el‐Mazar, Tel Michal/Makhmish, Tell Jemmeh). The “bâtiment I” in Byblos recalls the Late Hittite architecture. The “Residency” in Lakhish combines the Assyrian‐Achaemenid broad room and court with the Syrian entrance with steps and columns.

Most of the dwelling houses had a very simple plan. More sophisticated was a courtyard surrounded by rooms on three or four sides (al‐Mina, Ras‐Shamra, Tel Nahariya, Shiqmona, Megiddo, Ashkelon). Those houses could also be storerooms. The plan of the houses in Dor is inspired from the Palestinian “Four‐room” type.

Almost nothing is known about the external and interior furnishing and decoration of the buildings. A few stepped blocks probably adorned the roofs of the temples in Byblos and Amrit (Figure 18.1). Benches (Tel Michal) or platforms (“altar” in Tell Sukas and Lakhish, “bamah” in Mizpe Yammim) were placed along the walls. Amongst the widespread devotional objects are the small cubic incense burners, which sometimes bear pictures of men and animals. They probably came to Palestine under Assyrian influence. One of the bronze buckets found in the sanctuary of Mizpe Yammim bears a drawing of Isis and an inscription, according to which the donor made this offering to Astarte.

Large secular buildings in the Achaemenid core land were decorated with glazed bricks and stone reliefs. This was not the case in the western province, although three Phoenician stone reliefs from Arwad and Byblos may have adorned a secular building. They represent a sphinx, griffins, and a lion.

A typology of the architecture of the Achaemenid period in the Levant is difficult to develop. The sanctuaries of Amrit and Bustan esh‐Sheikh are unique. The other buildings either refer to different Near Eastern types or are typeless because of their simplicity.