Finally to the jewel of the Palmyrian crown, the Temple of Bel.Palmyra is an oasis in the desert, north-east of Damascus, and contains the monumental ruins of a great city that was one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. From the 1st to the 2nd century, the art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, married Greco-Roman techniques with local traditions and Persian influences.The temple, consecrated to the go Bel worshipped at Palmyra formed the centre of religious life in Palmyra and was dedicated in 32 AD.The temple is built on a hill with human occupation that goes back to the third millennium. It is magnificent.

The temple lies inside a large precinct lined by poticos, is rectangular in shape and is based on a paved court surrounded by a massive 205 x 210 metre wall 11 metres high.In the middle of the court is the actual temple building itself called the cella and is entirely surrounded by a Corinthian columns.It is unique in the fact that it has two inner sanctuaries on the far right and left of the entrance dedicated as the shrines of Bel and other local gods respectively.The left chamber has a wonderful bas-relief carving of the seven planets known at the time and is surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac and carvings of a procession of camels and veiled women. The right-hand sanctuary bears a script carving in multiple languages which essentially says that the temple is dedicated to all religions and was cleverly done to deter future conquerors from destroying the Temple as they would, in effect, be desecrating their own religion.Clearly it worked! The court also bears the remains of a basin, an altar, a dining hall, and a building with niches together with a ramp along which sacrificial animals were led into the temple area.If you look closely at the inner wall near the Bel sanctuary it is possible to make out the faded remnants of the original artwork that decorated the cella; St George on his horse fighting the dragon; Mary and Jesus (if my memory serves me correctly).

The skies had been looking increasing overcast as we travelled today and as we toured Bel Temple the black clouds and rumbles of thunder were a portent of what was to come.As the rain came down we all dashed for what cover we could find in the cordoned off temple in the middle of the desert; a small ledge of the ancient structure; a tour guide's 'follow me' umbrella; even a Lonely Planet Syria & Lebanon guide - b***** don't have one of those!I love the rain - it's only water!I love watching everyone scamper for cover and get miserable as they worry about their hair getting wet! I also love it because it emptied the Temple of Bel quicker than a turkey farm at Christmas.So there I was, enjoying the opportunity to capture these amazing ruins unhindered by the swathes of colour added by the tourists when I noticed that the camera was dirty.Then I noticed Maria's white t-shirt morphing itself to match the surrounding landscape and her sunglasses that looked liked they'd just been washed in a mud-bath; it was raining sand!We made a quick retreat to the hotel and arranged to meet Ahmad at 2000 for real Bedouin dinner and dancing at a nearby tent which was, according to Ahmad, very cheap.