The monument is located in a picturesque valley dominated by the limestone relief of Monte Conca s'Omu, in the Fluminese area.
The temple, originally a Nuragic sanctuary, likely intercantonal, was also active in pre-colonial, Punic, and Roman times, but reveals no traces of a Phoenician phase.
From the beginning of the Iron Age, in the 9th century BC, the site had a funerary significance, perhaps linked to ancestor worship, as evidenced by a series of single-person shaft tombs discovered near the podium. One of the tombs yielded a bronze figurine, of Nuragic manufacture but clearly influenced by Levantine culture, depicting a nude male deity holding a spear in his left hand while raising his right hand in blessing. The figurine can be associated with the physiognomy and cult traits of the Punic god Sid, warrior and hunter, a transposition of the local deity Babai, who reappeared in the Roman era under the name Sardus Pater Bab(a)i.
During the Punic era, the sanctuary underwent two construction phases: the first around 500 BC, immediately after the Carthaginian conquest of the island; the second, of Punic-Hellenistic influence, around 300 BC. Faint traces of the two phases have been identified beneath the monumental Roman-era staircase.
The temple's considerable importance in the Punic era is evidenced by several architectural elements and numerous votive offerings found out of context. The fragmented state of the votive offerings has led scholars to hypothesize a deliberate destruction of the sanctuary. This may have occurred during the revolt of Carthaginian mercenaries stationed in Sardinia in the 3rd century BC, or perhaps by the early Christians.
The currently visible structure dates back to the Roman era: an initial structure dates back to the Augustan period, while a second phase of renovation, with the addition of the Caracalla inscription on the pediment, dates back to the 3rd century AD.
The epigraph reads: "Imperatori Caesari M. Aurelius Antoninus. Augustus Pius Felici templum dei Sardi Patris Babi vetustate conlapsum ... A ... restituendum curavit Q Coelius o Cocceius Proculus": in honor of the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Pius Felix restored the temple of the god Sardus Pater Babi, which had been ruined by antiquity, by Quintus Caelius (or Cocceius) Proculus.
The monument, constructed from local limestone, features an entrance staircase and a podium made of "opus quadratum." The staircase, of which only three steps remain, partially reconstructed, originally consisted of numerous tiers paved with cocciopesto; On the fourth level, corresponding to what must have been the sacred rock of the Punic temple, the sacrificial altar stood, according to Roman ritual canons.
The temple is divided longitudinally into a pronaos, naos, and a bipartite "adyton" (or penetralia). The pronaos, 6.6 meters deep, has four columns along the front and one on each side; the columns have smooth shafts (approximately 8 meters in height as reconstructed), Attic bases, and Ionic capitals. The naos, approximately 11 meters deep, has pilasters set against the walls, while the floor retains its entire white mosaic covering. In the rear wall of the naos, two doors lead into two tiny, almost square rooms (the bipartite "adyton") equipped with two quadrangular cisterns.
The sacred area around the temple, always considered an integral part of the previous Punic temple, has recently been interpreted as an additional part dating to after the time of Caracalla.

History of the Excavations
It was excavated between 1967 and 1968. Subsequent restorations partially restored it to its appearance during the reign of Caracalla (213-217 AD), when it was renovated. Between 1984 and 1994, excavations were carried out in the area in front of the structure.

Bibliography
Ricerche puniche ad Antas: rapporto preliminare della Missione archeologica dell'Universita di Roma e della Soprintendenza alle antichità di Cagliari, collana "Studi Semitici", 30, Roma, Istituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente, Università di Roma, 1969;
R. Zucca, Il tempio di Antas. Sassari, C. Delfino, 1989 (Sardegna archeologica. Guide e itinerari; 11);
P. Bernardini-L.I. Manfredi-G. Garbini, "Il santuario di Antas a Fluminimaggiore: nuovi dati", in Phoinikes b Shrdn. I Fenici in Sardegna: nuove acquisizioni, catalogo della mostra (Oristano, Antiquarium Arborense, luglio-dicembre 1997), a cura di P. Bernardini-R. D'Oriano-P.G. Spanu, Cagliari, La Memoria Storica, 1997, pp. 105-113.

Getting There
From Cagliari, take the SS 130 to Iglesias, then the SS 126 to Fluminimaggiore until km 54.100; a small asphalt road on the right, about 1.5 km long (passable by car or bus) and well-marked, leads to the archaeological site.