The Temple of Nabu at Palmyra

One of Palmyra’s three great temples, alongside Bel and Baalshamin. It was dedicated to Nabu, the Babylonian god of wisdom and writing, and built in the 2nd century under Hadrian. The temples of Bel and Baalshamin were blown up in 2015. Of the Temple of Nabu, even before the war, only a high podium, a few columns and the outline of the courtyard around it remained.

Who Nabu was

Nabu came from Mesopotamia. In Babylon he was the god of writing and wisdom. The temple’s architecture mixes Roman, Hellenistic and Levantine elements. A building of the Roman period dedicated to a Babylonian god shows a caravan city looking in two directions at once.

Where it is

On the south side of the colonnaded street, opposite the Baths of Diocletian. It stands in the middle of raised, uneven ground. It faces north-north-east. To its north is the Great Colonnade, to its south the city’s main road. The Temple of Bel lies to the south-east and Baalshamin to the north. The three temples form a rough triangle, and the area is described as the city’s religious quarter.

What to see

The temple stood on a high podium in the middle of a courtyard. Photographs from 2010 show carved stone blocks along the edge of the podium, a few columns and a ceiling block resting on them. Houses found around it were dated by radiocarbon to a period later than the temple.

Present state

In March 2017 the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums reported, in its first assessment, no new damage at the Temple of Nabu. No later dated source was found, and the present state is unverified. The layout of the whole site is on the Palmyra ruins page; transport, permits and closed sectors are in how to get to Palmyra.

How long it takes and what most people miss

15 minutes is enough. Look closely at the carved blocks along the edge of the podium. After the granite columns of the baths, just cross the street.