Abstract
During their journey in the Near East, Damascius and his dialectics teacher Isidorus of Alexandria went through Emesa and Heliopolis. The account of their expedition can be found in the Life of Isidorus, also called the Philosophical History. Michel Tardieu has emphasized the importance of this report in a book entitled Les paysages reliques, but he focused on the passages dealing with Bostra and the Styx water, in southern Syria. Since he published his work in 1990, the fragments which concern Emesa and Heliopolis do not seem to have been commented on as much as they deserve. The present paper aims at investigating further in this direction. When Damascius visited the two cities, in 489-490 A D, paganism was only surviving on the fringe of society. However, the testimony of the philosopher keeps the memory of pagan cults actually practised in the area under the Roman Empire, especially that of Jupiter Heliopolitanus’ oracle.
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