The narrative follows a caravan to an inland Phœnician city where a young prince, Aziel, and a circle of traders and priests confront political intrigue, forbidden love, and religious conflict amid the ruins' temples and courts. Events move from arrival and courtship through acts of sacrilege, dreams and trials, the martyrdom of a loyal figure, and a woman's flight to sanctuary, leading to imprisonment and desperate peril. Interwoven scenes evoke ritual worship, power struggles, and cultural collision that presage the city's decline, while themes of faith, sacrifice, and doomed affection drive the characters toward tragic reckonings.