Dumeir

Dumeir ضمير Dumayr
Temple of Zeus Hypsistos, Dumeir
Dumeir Location in Syria
Coordinates: 33°38′31″N 36°41′34″E / 33.64194°N 36.69278°E / 33.64194; 36.69278
Country	Syria
Governorate	Rif Dimashq Governorate
District	Duma District
Settled
Elevation	675 m (2,215 ft)
Population (2004)
– Total	24,223
Time zone	EET (UTC+3)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+2)

Dumeir, also Dumair and Dumayr (Arabic: ضمير or الضمير‎) is a city located 40 kilometers north-east of Damascus, Syria.

Archaeology

The Roman Temple of Dumeir lies in the center of the old town. It was dedicated to Zeus Hypsistos in 245 AD in the reign of the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab. However, there is an earlier reference to the building in a law suit in 216. An altar dedicated to the Semitic deity, Baal Shamin in 94 AD, now in the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, indicates that a Nabatean religious building previously stood on the site.

The shape is highly unusual, and construction may have commenced as a public fountain or staging post, but in its final form it is clearly a temple. It was fortified in the Arab period, the arch on the rear wall being filled in with stones and defensive devices.

The temple has been restored as the result of much research and reconstruction work.^[1]

External sites

• Syrian Tourism Encyclopedia, Temple of Dumeir

References

1. ^ Ross Burns, The Monuments of Syria, I. B. Taurus, 3rd edition, 2009, pp. 147-148.

Coordinates: 33°38′31″N 36°41′34″E / 33.64194°N 36.69278°E / 33.64194; 36.69278