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PHOTO BY HANAN SHAFIR

TEMPTING TEMPLE REMAINS. In the first century C.E., Philip, Herod’s son, remodeled the Astarte Temple at etTell to create a new temple in honor of the Roman imperial cult. Although this temple has not survived intact, archaeologists have been able to identify some of its remains, including a lintel decorated with rosettes and meander, a decorative stone cluster of grapes, and a Doric column capital. The stone cluster of grapes from et-Tell (held here) bears a strong resemblance to some decorative stone elements from the Byzantine synagogue at Chorazin, north of the Sea of Galilee and about 4 miles west of et-Tell.