Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now: Exterior of the Temple of Bacchus

Agnosticism / Atheism: What's Hot Now These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week

Exterior of the Temple of Bacchus Jul 31st 2011, 10:01 Because of its size, the Temple of Jupiter Baal ("Heliopolitan Zeus") receives the most attention. A second massive temple is located on the site as well, though, the Temple of Bacchus. It was constructed in the late second century during the reign of emperor Antoninus Pius, much later than the Temple of Jupiter Baal. During the 18th and 19th century, European visitors referred to this as the Temple of the Sun. This was probably because the traditional Roman name for the site is Heliopolis, or "city of the sun," and this is the best-preserved temple here, though why this is the case is not clear. The Temple of Bacchus is smaller than the Temple of Jupiter, but it's still larger than even the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens. In front of the Temple of Jupiter Baal is a massive main court where public worship and ritual sacrifice occurred. The same is not true of the Temple of Bacchus, however. This may be because there were no large public rituals associated with this god and thus also no large public cultic following. Instead, the cult around Bacchus may have been a mystery cult which focused on the use of wine or other intoxicating substances in order to achieve a state of mystical insight rather than the usual sacrifices which encourage public, social unity. If this is the case, though, it's interesting that such a massive structure was built for the sake of a mystery cult with a relatively small following.

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