Location
A number of ancient texts mention the Eshmun Temple and its location. The Phoenician inscriptions on the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, a Sidonian king, commemorate the construction of a "house" for the "holy prince" Eshmun by the king and his mother, queen Amashtart, at the "Ydll source by the cistern". Dionysius Periegetes, an ancient Greek travel writer, identified the Eshmun temple by the Bostrenos River, and Antonin de Plaisance, a 6th-century Italian pilgrim recorded the shrine as near the river Asclepius fluvius.Strabo and other Sidonian sources describe the sanctuary and its surrounding "sacred forests" of Asclepius, the Hellenized name of Eshmun, in written texts.
Located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Beirut and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon, the Eshmun Temple sits on the southern bank of the modern Awali river, previously referred to as Bostrenos or Asclepius fluvius in ancient text. Citrus groves, known as Bustan el-Sheikh (Arabic: بستان الشيخ, the grove of the Sheikh), occupy the ancient "sacred forests" of Asclepius and are a favorite summer picnic location for locals.
Read more about this topic: Temple Of Eshmun