Column caps. Phoenicia

This column cap is testimony to the existence of an important building in the most north-western point of the former island of Cádiz, founded in the Phoenician period. Pliny the Elder points out that in this part of the city of Gades, there were two temples: one dedicated to Venus Marina and another to Chronos. While the underwater findings from the surrounding area of Punta del Nao and Castillo de Santa Catalina have been linked to the first divinity, this magnificent column cap would indicate the presence of the temple of Chronos in Punta del Sur or Castillo de San Sebastián. This god would be none other than the Romanised version of Baal who, together with Melqart and Astarte, make up the official triad of Tyre and, probably, of Gadir. This type of column caps, also called "proto-Ionic" or "proto-Aeolic", were quite common in Syria-Palestine in the constructions financed by various royal families, as can be seen in places such as the first temple of Jerusalem, Samaria and Megiddo. It is of great significance that in one of the most well known representations of Tyre, a relief of the Assyrian palace of Khorsabad (7th century BC), the large Phoenician metropolis appears crowned by a monumental building. which is most certainly the temple of Melqart, the door of which is flanked by two columns with this type of caps. Does this column cap of Castillo de San Sebastián indicate the presence in Gadir of sacred constructions promoted by the Kings of Tyre? As with the column caps from the relief of Khorsabad, the piece from Cádiz lacks an architectural function. It is purely a decorative column cap, since its domed abacus would prevent the positioning of a lintel on this.