Temple of Saturn

Near the ancient Numidian Wall at Dougga, which once protected the city in pre-Roman days, you can find the great Temple of Saturn installed on a platform facing east over the Valley of Oued Kalled. The building was erected on the site of an earlier temple to Baal Hammon, the chief Punic deity, who became Saturn in Roman times. Its date of completion goes back to AD 195 and it has a great religious value as it signals the importance of the cult. The temple was dedicated to the worship of Saturn (or Saturnus), the Roman god of harvest, agriculture, justice and strength. Saturn was the father of Ceres, Jupiter,Veritas, Pluto, and Neptune, among others. He was sometimes identified with the Greek deity Cronus. In depiction, he appears with a sickle in his left hand and a bundle of wheat in his...Read More