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The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya and Its Cultural Significance in the Mediterranean Realm

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The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya and Its Cultural Significance in the Mediterranean Realm See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342170872 The Temple of Astarte "Aglaia" at Motya and Its Cultural Significance in the Mediterranean Realm Article · January 2019 CITATIONS READS 0 329 1 author: Lorenzo Nigro Sapienza University of Rome 255 PUBLICATIONS 731 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: microbiology helps archeology View project PeMSea [PRIN2017] - Peoples of the Middle Sea. Innovation and Integration in Ancient Mediterranean (1600-500 BC) View project All content following this page was uploaded by Lorenzo Nigro on 15 June 2020. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Chapter 5 Lorenzo Nigro The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya and Its Cultural Significance in the Mediterranean Realm Abstract: Recent excavations at Motya by the Sapienza University of Rome and the Sicil- ian Superintendence of Trapani have expanded our information on the Phoenician goddess Astarte, her sacred places, and her role in the Phoenician expansion to the West during the first half of the first millennium BCE. Two previously unknown religious buildings dedicated to this deity have been discovered and excavated in the last decade. The present article discusses the oldest temple dedicated to the goddess, located in the Sacred Area of the Kothon in southwestern quadrant of the island (Zone C). The indigenous population worshipped a major goddess at the time of Phoenician arrival, so that the cult of Astarte was easily assimilated and transformed into a shared religious complex. Here, the finds that connect Astarte of Motya with her Mediterranean parallels are surveyed. These in sum, demonstrate the centrality of religious ideology in Levantine expansion to the West as a means for constructing an inclusive West Phoenician cultural identity. Keywords: Astarte, Motya, Kothon, Phoenicia, Baal, Eryx The Temple of Astarte in the Sacred Area of the Kothon he temple of Astarte was erected about eighty meters inland in the Tsouthern area of the natural pond, later transformed into a sacred pool, traditionally known as “kothon.” 1 The whole area was characterized by the presence of rushing freshwater due to the outcropping of the phreatic aquifer from the clayish-marl bedrock. Spilling of freshwater attracted the Phoenician settlers, who distinguished the site as a sacred place and erected two temples there, one dedicated to Baal—Shrine C14, later transformed into Temple C5, C1, C2 (Nigro 2011; Nigro and Spagnoli 2017, 8–9, 49–53)—near to the main spring (called “spring of the temple”) and with a sacred well inside; and another devoted to Astarte, located twenty meters further north of the former (fig. 1). 1. For the architectural structure, stratigraphy, chronology, and function of this pool, see Nigro 2014. 101 102 Lorenzo Nigro Figure 1. General view of the Area of the Kothon with the temple of Baal and temple of Astarte enclosed by the Circular Temenos, from the northeast. the from Temenos, Circular the by enclosed Astarte of temple and Baal of temple the with Kothon the of Area the of view General 1. Figure The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya 103 Figure 2. View of Shrine C12 in Area C North of Phases 8–7 cut through by Phase 5–4 Circular Temenos (Motya IVB, 750–550 BCE), from the northwest. The stratigraphy and construction sequence allowed us to distinguish at least three superimposed buildings: Shrine C12 in Zone C Phases 9–7 (Motya IV–V, 800–550 BCE), which ended in an extensive destruction layer (Phase 6, around 550 BCE); Temple C6 in Phase 5 (Motya VI, 550–470 BCE); and Temple C4 in Phase 4 (Motya VII, 470–397/6 BCE), which saw the final destruction of the city by the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius I, the Elder. The existence of an earlier temple beneath Shrine C12 (to be attributed to Phase 10; Motya IIIB, ca. 1100–900 BCE) is indicated by several traces; its structures and floors, however, have not yet been reached (Nigro 2018, 258, n. 20). Shrine C12 (Phases 8–7, Motya IVB-V, 750–550 BCE) The earliest building (Shrine C12) was oriented north-northeast–south-south- west, and was erected on a layer of sandy soil, pottery fragments, and ash.2 It originally consisted of a rectangular room (6.46 × 3.29 m) encircled by walls 0.52 m wide (fig. 2), made of riverbed stones (basically quartzite and limestone chops), with a superstructure made of light-brown bricks. The north wall M.4375b 2. Two soundings were sunk down to the earliest layers in squares CoVIII12 and CpVIII13. It seems possible that this layer resulted from the leveling of a preexisting structure. 104 Lorenzo Nigro Figure 3. Schematic plan of Shrine C12 (Phase 8, 750–675 BCE). incorporated a square cornerstone. The west wall M.2749b was partially overrun by later wall M.1743 of Phase 5, while the south wall M.2765b was partially concealed by its successor (fig. 3). Unfortunately, there was no evidence for roofing remains. The main entrance was on one long side of the building, near the northeast corner, looking east (fig. 4). It consisted of two flanking slabs serving as threshold, 0.25 The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya 105 Figure 4. View of the Temple of Astarte with the entrance to Shrine C12 on the left, from the east. m high and 1.57 m wide, framed by two big stones laid as headers into the wall and jutting 0.3 m out from it. This may suggest that a couple of pillars flanked the passage (Nigro 2015, 237). The focus of the cult was a rectangular podium/altar joined to the western wall of the room. It measured 1.04 × 0.52 m and was made by two superimposed courses of grayish mud bricks. The devotee entering the shrine therefore had to turn left (southwards) to see the altar and to orient himself towards the cella. Two low benches (0.26 × 2.08 m), also made of lined mud bricks and coated with a yellowish clay plaster, ran along both long sides of the cella. The floor of the temple was made of crushed and pressed lime layers with a thin clay coating. It was preserved only in the northern (L.5046b) and southern (L.5048b) halves of the cella, as the latter was cut through in the middle by 106 Lorenzo Nigro the round boundary wall of the sixth century BCE sacred area, the “Circular Temenos” (Nigro 2015, 234–35, 237, fig. 13). In the stratum just on the floor, a brown ashy soil with marl grits, a bronze crescent-like earring, and a miniature pine cone were found (fig. 5). Due to their small dimensions, these finds have tentatively been interpreted as ornaments or attributes of a bronze cult statuette (Nigro and Spagnoli 2017, 54), which one may reconstruct similar to the renowned Astarte of Carambolo (Navarro 2016). A handmade globular pot, a shape also labeled “inkbottle,” though actually made in the shape of a pomegranate (fig. 6), was found against the northern side of the western bench (Nigro and Spagnoli 2017, 55). Apparently, this vase was expressly produced for cult use only. Its content was examined through gas chromatography which revealed that it contained an organic ointment or perfume, perhaps to be poured in front of the cult simulacrum of the goddess. In Phase 7 (Motya V, 675–550 BCE) the cella was refurbished with new floorings (L.5046a, and L.5048a) and fitted with a second door (L.2798, 0.6 m wide), opened near the southwest corner just aside altar M.5050 (fig. 7) and pointing towards the open yard flanking the temple and connected with the pond and Temple C5. This Shrine C12 suffered a destruction at the end of Phase 7, and was then razed to an average height of 0.4 m towards the middle of the sixth century BCE (Phase 6, ca. 550 BCE). The floors inside it were badly damaged by later construction, as the building was buried under the foundation of a new temple (§ 1.2.) at the beginning of Phase 5 (Motya VIA, 550–520 BCE). Temple C6 (Phase 5, Motya VI, 550–470 BCE) Phase 5 marked a major reconstruction of the whole Sacred Area of the Kothon, which became the main cult complex in the reconstructed city of Motya. The area of the springs, the temples, and connected cult installations, as well as the intentionally buried remains of the earliest settlement of Motya IV, were encircled by the newly erected Circular Temenos, a boundary wall with a foundation width 0.7–1.5 m and a preserved maximum height of 1.5 m (south) with a diameter of 118 m and a centre coinciding with that of the rectangular pool excavated at the middle of the area to collect freshwaters, the so-called Kothon (Nigro 2014). The two main temples within the religious compound, the Temple of Baal (C1), and the Temple of Astarte (C6), were both reconstructed with new monumentalizing architecture. The Temple of Astarte (C6) was completely rebuilt some 3 m to the south of its original position in order to include it within the “Circular Temenos” (fig. 8). Moreover, it was reoriented to the south, with the entrance looking the spring of the Temple and the rear side pointing towards the mountain of Eryx, The Temple of Astarte “Aglaia” at Motya 107 Figure 5. Bronze crescent-like earring and miniature pine cone found in Shrine C12, possibly belonged to a cult statuette. Figure 6. Handmade globular unguentarium/“inkbottle” shaped as a pomegranate, found against the western bench of Shrine C12.
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