Images View of Palmyra from the citadel

Allat is the great Arab goddess, a warrior-goddess like Athena and Minerva. The ruins of the temple rise in the western part of the city, in the northern part of Diocletian's camp. The ruins date back to the period between103 and 164 AD. The courtyard opened onto a portico. The cell was enlarged in the II century AD. A sculpted lion of 3.5 meters high, holding an Oryx with an inscription asks " Allat to bless the one who does not spill blood against the temple", dated around the time of Jesus Christ; it was found in the temple and was later reconstructed and placed at the entrance of Palmyra Museum. In the II and the III century, the cult statue took on a much stronger Hellenistic aspect, for Phidias' Athena in the Parthenon provided the inspiration for a marble statue, pieces of which were found in the cell and later reconstructed in Palmyra Museum.