Karak Resources Project

The temple sits in the middle of a rectangular, man-made podium measuring 19.35 meters north-south and 14.35 meters east-west. This podium provided a level place on the knoll of the hill for the temple. The podium has at least three courses of ashlar stones. All three of these courses are visible only on the east side of the temple. The other sides have one or two courses exposed.

The exterior of the temple itself measures 13.90 meters north-south and 9.90 meters east-west and is built of limestone, ashlar stones. The building faces south with the north-south walls oriented exactly with magnetic north. The highest point remaining at the time of our visit in 2001 was the northeast corner that measured 8.75 meters.

The temple has three levels:

• ground level
• subterranean level
• attic

The temple has thick walls, measuring about 1.80 meters thick. [ Photo] The outer walls have a cornice, which extends around the temple on the eleventh course of stones from the ground or an estimated 6.70 meters high. Below the cornice is a frieze, decorated with three fillets.

Each corner of the exterior walls is decorated with a pilaster, including a base and capital. The base on each corner flairs out from the building and is .80 meters wide and about .43 meters high. The column façade is narrower than the base, measuring only .56 meters wide. On top of the pilaster is a capital, which flairs out like the base but less pronounced. Unfortunately, three of the four capitals are missing and the fourth is so badly worn that the design is very difficult to discern. [ Photo] However, the decoration is clear enough to discern its modified Corinthian or Foliate style.

The front of the temple, which is the south side, [ Photo] has a doorway in the center and is flanked on each side by a niche. These flat-backed, arched niches are 1.90 meters high, .95 meters wide, and .55 meters deep. The base of the niche is 1.63 meters above the ground. They have pilasters on each side of the inset, complete with a carved base and capital. A molded, arched pediment rests atop the pilasters, which contains an archivolt. The niches have an acroterion on each corner of the pediment.[ Photo] This decoration may represent a flame or a pomegranate but the carving is too weathered to determine its identity for certain.

The gate or doorway to the temple is in the center of the south wall. The right side of the door has a carved jamb whereas the left side does not. This difference is probably due to reconstruction of the left side in antiquity. The doorway measures a little less than 2 meters wide. The height is unknown but the entrance most certainly would have had a decorative entablature or lintel over the doorway. A small opening on the right side of the doorway and built into the wall allows access to the cistern.