The plan to build a replica of the arch of the Temple of Baal in New York City and London has been abandoned and instead, the Arch of Triumph of Palmyra will rise.
This was announced by the Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA), which promotes the use of digital imaging and 3D printing in archaeology and conservation.
A report in the New York Times last month said the Temple of Baal's entrance would be installed in New York and London as a tribute to the 2,000 year-old structure that was destroyed by the Islamic State last year in Palmyra, Syria.
However, many Christians opposed the plan.
Quoting the World Net Daily, CBN News said according to Matt Barber, Baal worship involved burning infants alive.
"Ritualistic Baal worship, in sum, looked a little like this: Adults would gather around the altar of Baal. Infants would then be burned alive as a sacrificial offering to the deity. Amid horrific screams and the stench of charred human flesh, congregants – men and women alike – would engage in bisexual orgies," Barber said.
"The ritual of convenience was intended to produce economic prosperity by prompting Baal to bring rain for the fertility of 'mother earth,'" he explained.
The Telegraph reported that the original plan to reproduce the Temple of Baal has been scrapped.
"There will be no simultaneous unveiling in New York – they may transport the London arch there later, or build another one – and the Palmyra arch that is being reconstructed is no longer the entrance to the Temple of Bel (which survived an attempt to blow it up in August 2015) but the Arch of Triumph (partially destroyed in October) formerly located at one end of the Great Colonnade," the report said.
Prof. Dr. Maamoun Abdulkarim, director-general of the Directorate General for Antiquities and Museums in Syria, said Palmyra is one of the most unique cultural heritage sites and its destruction underscored the importance of large-scale reconstruction.
"We know that the plans to restore Palmyra to its former glory are grand, but they can be realised if the task is treated as a global mission under the international criteria," he wrote in the IDA website. "The IDA's Arch of Triumph of Palmyra serves as a model for how, together, we will bring life back to Palmyra and restore the site as a message of peace against terrorism, and will further collaborate in this way on other heritage sites in Syria."
The arch will be built at Trafalgar Square in London.
Writing in Charisma News, Michael Snyder, founder of The Economic Collapse Blog, lauded the move to cancel the planned reconstruction of the entrance of the Temple of Baal.
"Of course let us not underestimate the prayers of God's people. Once this story went viral, Christians all over America started praying against this arch. From personal experience, I know that the prayers of righteous men and women are extremely powerful, and we may never know how much of an impact they had on this situation," he wrote.
