Landscape and the Sacred: The Sanctuary Dedicated to Holy, Heavenly Zeus Baetocaece

Archaeology need not be invasive to be informative. In her discussion of the ruins at Baetocaece, a Roman sanctuary located near the coast in Syria, Ann Steinsapir offers a nuanced interpretation of the cult and cult practice at the site based on a careful evaluation of the configuration of its sacred spaces, its architectural and decorative features, and the physical setting in which it was placed. Starting from a description of the topographic setting of the site, the study moves on to review the preserved evidence of inscriptions, the large temple, the smaller precinct, and various features of the iconography, producing a reading that situates the site in ideological and social space. This innovative methodology, a type of landscape archaeology, shows its power to illuminate with a perspective that is novel in Near Eastern archaeology.