Talk:Al-Masmiyah

Was the temple modified to be used as a church?

 * "The Praetorium was transformed into a church during the Byzantine era and the structural plan makes it one of the oldest examples of Byzantine church architecture." [Ref: William Pitt Preble Longfellow]"

Nonsensical. Unless a reliable researcher is quoted saying that the temple was modified in order to accommodate the needs of the Byzantine clerus & rites, all we have is a repurposed pagan building, kept as they found it, which can only be an "example of Byzantine church architecture" if those early Christians created rituals, or adapted pre-existing ones, to fit the layout of the existing temple. That would indeed be epoch-making. But we don't know it! Longfellow only briefly states that the rooms inside the building correspond to the known layout of a Greek church. A. that doesn't address the egg/hen question, and B. how authoritative is this Mr. W.P.P. Longfellow and his over a century old cyclopaedia? (We have no article on him.) Either we do have here a phenomenally important building, or we have nothing but a misunderstanding. It must be clarified!

Any archaeology left, at least pre-civil war?
Article silent on this. Arminden (talk) 16:02, 28 March 2024 (UTC)