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Libanius on the decline of Harran (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list) Harran 12 Assyrian Identity 12.03 Assyrian identity in Christian Era 12.03.02 Continuity of “Old Faith” beside Christianity 12.03.02.01 Harran Ziggurat 02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs 02.02 Cosmic symbols and imagery 02.02.02 Ziggurat	Keywords Harran temples
Period 4th century CE Byzantine Empire	Channel Byzantine philosophers and scholars

Text
Libanius, Orationes 30.7.8:
In Harran there was in the middle of the city a splendid temple considered by many to be equal of the Serapaeum in Alexandria. On this temple was a tower which was used as a military post and watchtower, since from its top one could overlook the entire plain of Harran. There were also powerful images in this temple. But when the praetorian prefect Cynegus ordered the pagan temples in Egypt and Syria to close, at which time most were destroyed, this temple in Harran was partially destroyed, and the idols which were in it also were taken away and in part destroyed.

Source (list of abbreviations)
Libanius, Orationes 30.7.8

Bibliography

Green 1992, 52

Green, Tamara. The City of the Moon God, Religious Traditions of Harran. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 114. Leiden, New York, Cologne: E. J. Brill 1992.

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000377.php

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