Israel, Northern District, Upper Galilee Regional Council, near Snir
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The conquests of Alexander the Great (3rd c. BCE) brought the Greeks to the East, and to Banyas. The Greeks were taken by the natural beauty of the site, touched particularly by the cave in which the springs welled. It is no wonder that they sanctified this cave, dedicating it to Pan, god of the forest and the shepherds. Thus came the name Panyas, later becoming "Banyas" in Arabic pronunciation.Towards the end of the first century BCE, the Romans incorporated Banyas into Herod's empire. To show his esteem, Herod built a temple near Banyas springs and named it for the Roman emperor Augustus. Herod's son, Philippus, established the seat of his rule here, calling the town Caesarea Philippi. However, the name Panyas caught on and Banyas it remains until today.
The sanctuary is located on an elevated terrace above the Banyas springs, enclosed on three sides by cliff walls. The Pan cave was special, due to the deep natural chasm in the floor, which led to ground water. Animal sacrifices were thrown into this chasm. During the Roman period, beginning from the first century BCE, temples with statues, including the temple of Augustus, as well as rock-carved niches and Greek inscriptions, appeared. These indicated worship of other gods in addition to Pan. The sanctuary continued its pagan activity well into the age of Christianity in the Byzantine era (4th to 6th c. CE), but in time, the temples near the cave were neglected or ruined. The date and circumstances of the sanctuary's destruction are not known.
The archaeological excavations conducted here by the Israel Antiquities Authority, under the direction of Dr. Zvi Uri Ma'oz, exposed the remains of temples and cult-courts, sculptures, altars and inscriptions. These findings indicate the performance of sacrificial rites and the bringing of offerings - mostly food, ceramic and glass vessels, altars and statuettes - to Pan and the Nymphs, as well as to other Greek gods such as Zeus, Asclepius, Athena, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Dionysus and Aris.
At the eastern end of the sanctuary, near the "Sacred Forest", two structures associated with a unique cult of dancing goats were exposed. One was their place of exhibition; the other, their burial site. According to Panias city coins, at the foot of the sanctuary there was a sacred pool of semicircular shape surrounded by a colonnade, where spring water collected. The pool served as the congregation place for worshipers and the location for the annual Pan festival. The integration of sacred architecture in the scenery of springs, mountain, forest and natural cave found here is singular in the Near-East and perhaps in the entire Greco-Roman world.
(Anthropology • Churches, Etc. • Labor Unions) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
The conquests of Alexander the Great (3rd c. BCE) brought the Greeks to the East, and to Banyas. The Greeks were taken by the natural beauty of the site, touched particularly by the cave in which the springs welled. It is no wonder that they sanctified this cave, dedicating it to Pan, god of the forest and the shepherds. Thus came the name Panyas, later becoming "Banyas" in Arabic pronunciation.Towards the end of the first century BCE, the Romans incorporated Banyas into Herod's empire. To show his esteem, Herod built a temple near Banyas springs and named it for the Roman emperor Augustus. Herod's son, Philippus, established the seat of his rule here, calling the town Caesarea Philippi. However, the name Panyas caught on and Banyas it remains until today.The sanctuary is located on an elevated terrace above the Banyas springs, enclosed on three sides by cliff walls. The Pan cave was special, due to the deep natural chasm in the floor, which led to ground water. Animal sacrifices were thrown into this chasm. During the Roman period, beginning from the first century BCE, temples with statues, including the temple of Augustus, as well as rock-carved niches and Greek inscriptions, appeared. These indicated worship of other gods in addition to Pan. The sanctuary continued its pagan activity well into the age of Christianity in the Byzantine era (4th to 6th c. CE), but in time, the temples near the cave were neglected or ruined. The date and circumstances of the sanctuary's destruction are not known.
The archaeological excavations conducted here by the Israel Antiquities Authority, under the direction of Dr. Zvi Uri Ma'oz, exposed the remains of temples and cult-courts, sculptures, altars and inscriptions. These findings indicate the performance of sacrificial rites and the bringing of offerings - mostly food, ceramic and glass vessels, altars and statuettes - to Pan and the Nymphs, as well as to other Greek gods such as Zeus, Asclepius, Athena, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Dionysus and Aris.
At the eastern end of the sanctuary, near the "Sacred Forest", two structures associated with a unique cult of dancing goats were exposed. One was their place of exhibition; the other, their burial site. According to Panias city coins, at the foot of the sanctuary there was a sacred pool of semicircular shape surrounded by a colonnade, where spring water collected. The pool served as the congregation place for worshipers and the location for the annual Pan festival. The integration of sacred architecture in the scenery of springs, mountain, forest and natural cave found here is singular in the Near-East and perhaps in the entire Greco-Roman world.
(Anthropology • Churches, Etc. • Labor Unions) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Built around 96 CE in the days of Emperor Trajan, for the city's 100th anniversary. A marble inscription found at the site implies that it was a temple for Pan and for Zeus of Heliopolis (the city of Ba'albek). Only the foundations of the temple survived. Originally it included a columnar portico behind which there stood a "cella" (hall) where rites were conducted. The splendid Corinthian capital seen nearby once crowned one of the four columns of the facade. The Panias city coin above shows the facade of a temple with the statue of Zeus in the hall.
By 1700 Comanches moved south from the northern Rockies onto the plains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. They raided the Apaches and Spanish settlements from the late 1600s until 1779 when the Governor of New Mexico, Don Juan Bautista de Anza, decisively defeated a large group, led by Cuerno Verde in a battle near the mountains to the southwest of here. The Comanches signed a peace treaty in 1786, and a year later the asked for Spanish assistance to build a permanent farm village. The Spanish provided workmen, tools, farming implements, seed and livestock to help found San Carlos de los Jupes, but Comanche religious beliefs caused abandonment of the village within a year because a member of the tribe died there. It is believed that San Carlos de los Jupes was built just west of here at the confluence of the Arkansas and San Carlos rivers. Although this early Spanish attempt to colonize Plains Indians failed, the Comanches were comparatively friendly towards the New Mexican settlements thereafter.
Nemesis was the goddess of vengeance and Roman imperial justice. Her long and narrow court was built in 178 CE in front of a great niche in which her statue was placed. A Greek inscription above the niche mentions the names of the goddess and of the donor. The pavers of the court were arranged in a checker pattern of white and reddish stones.
West Union Grammar School
West Union Graded School, also known as West Union Grammar School or West Union Elementary School, was built here in 1923-24. In 1922, trustees purchased 4 acres from Marvin Phinney for a new school to replace an earlier frame building. This two-story brick school was ready for the opening of the 1924-25 school year with Jerome Douglass as its principal and 5 teachers for about 100-150 students in grades 1-6.
To Honor All Combat
