Marble Temple In Caesarea Philippi For Agustus

About 50 years before jesus visited herod the great built a temple of white marble at the grotto.

Marble temple in caesarea philippi for agustus.

Caesarea philippi literally philip s caesarea. He rebuilt and beautified the town calling it caesarea as a compliment to augustus and adding his own name to distinguish it from caesarea on the coast of sharon ant. Herod the great was given the area of paneion later to be known as caesarea philippi by caesar augustus in 20 bc. Augustus had been emperor when jesus was born and was hailed as.

It became the capital of his large kingdom which spread across the golan and the hauran. The new testament as caesarea philippi. καισαρεία φιλίππεια kaisareía philíppeia was an ancient roman city located at the southwestern base of mount hermon it was adjacent to a spring grotto and related shrines dedicated to the greek god pan now nearly uninhabited. As pan the greek god of pastoralism was often worshipped in caves it was perhaps natural that the first reference to this location around 200 bce calls it.

In the year 2 bce herod philip founded a pagan city and named it caesarea philippi in honor of augustus caesar. The district was given by augustus to herod the great 20 bc by whom a temple of white marble was built in honor of the emperor. Caesarea philippi ˌ s ɛ s ə ˈ r iː ə f ɪ ˈ l ɪ p aɪ. The temple at caesarea philippi would have been built in a similar style.

The temple of augustus at caesarea philippi this drawing shows an illustration of a temple of augustus. They were located in caesarea by the sea samaria sebaste and near paneon. Augustus was fascinated with the site of ancient paneas because of the flow of water from the cave of pan the bottomless pit and the belief that this was the gate of hades. Herod senior created the artificial port of caesarea maritima on the mediterranean coast and built the temples to his patron augustus at both sites as well as at sebaste near today s nablus in the pagan mindset the limestone cave at caesarea philippi was literally a gate to the underworld where fertility gods spent the winter.

Herod the great s temple to caesar augustus. But on an immediate level my understanding is that herod the great was given what became caesarea philippi by the emperor caesar augustus and that herod gratefully built a marble temple to augustus there that would have been standing when jesus took the disciples there. This was one of three temples herod constructed to honor caesar augustus in israel caesarea maritima by the mediterranean sea samaria sebaste in the south and caesarea philippi. In honor of augustus visit to the area herod the great built three temples to augustus called augusteums.

The temple sat in front of the cave that was believed to be the gateway to the underworld and where the greek god pan lived. In ad 14 he named the city caesarea philippi in honour of himself and the emperor caesar augustus. Contemporary sources refer to the city as caesarea panias.