Mythical or Real? Part 4

This week, we look into a famous temple and an infamous labyrinth.

6. Ain Dara (Solomon’s Temple), Syria – 1000 BCE

Armed conflict destroyed Ain Dara in northwestern Syria in 2018. In the 1980s, some archaeologists had identified it as the 3,000-year-old temple mentioned as Solomon’s Temple in the Bible. The ancient site shared more features with the temple described in the Book of Kings than any site uncovered before or since. It included walls carved in reliefs of lions and cherubs, a courtyard paved in flagstones, a monumental staircase guarded by sphinxes, and a multistory hallway. Even its location—on a raised platform overlooking a city—echoes the temple’s depiction in the Bible.

Although the bombing and plundering of the site prevents archaeologists from finding any more evidence of its history, some of its most important artifacts can be seen at the National Museum of Aleppo.

 

7. Kastelli (Minotaur’s Labyrinth), Greece – 2000 BCE

While building a new airport on the island of Crete, workers uncovered something unexpected. With a central circular building surrounded by eight stone rings intersected by walls, the site resembled the style of tomb constructed by the Minoan civilization around 2000 to 1700 BCE. But to anyone familiar with Greek mythology, it also looked like the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

The Minotaur was a ferocious creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man who was trapped in a maze built by the Greek architect Daedalus. Every seven years, Athens sacrificed seven young men and seven young women to the monster until Theseus, a prince of the city, volunteered to kill the creature. Marking his route with a ball of thread, Theseus made his way through the labyrinth, murdered the beast, rescued the not-yet-dead victims, then followed the thread back to safety.

Although archaeologists are still studying Kastelli, its architectural similarities to the mythical maze, combined with evidence of ceremonial offerings and communal feasting that was found at the site, suggest that it was part of the story’s origin.

Kastelli is not open to the public, but Knossos, the ancient palace that was previously believed to be the site of the Minotaur’s labyrinth, is.