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.
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