The Mother of Gods from Right Here: the Goddess Meter in Her Central Anatolian Contexts
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THE MOTHER OF GODS FROM RIGHT HERE: THE GODDESS METER IN HER CENTRAL ANATOLIAN CONTEXTS A Master’s Thesis by JOSEPH SALVATORE AVERSANO Department of Archaeology İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara August 2019 For Asu THE MOTHER OF GODS FROM RIGHT HERE: THE GODDESS METER IN HER CENTRAL ANATOLIAN CONTEXTS The Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by JOSEPH SALVATORE AVERSANO In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ARCHAEOLOGY THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNİVERSİTY ANKARA August 201 vi ABSTRACT THE MOTHER OF GODS FROM RIGHT HERE: THE GODDESS METER IN HER CENTRAL ANATOLIAN CONTEXTS Aversano, Joseph Salvatore M.A., Department of Archaeology Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Charles Gates August 2019 There are upwards of sixty different cult epithets for the Phrygian goddess Meter in Central Anatolia alone during the Roman Imperial period. Considering that only three or four of her epithets are known from the Hellenistic period, the contrast is striking. Moreover, many of the epithets tend to be epichoric, so that in essence, her names can change from one valley to the next. In some cases, merely hearing an epithet is enough to bring a certain part of central Anatolia to mind. From this, a natural question arises. Why was there a need for so many local Meter cults in Asia Minor? The goddess Meter, called Magna Mater by the Romans, had been adopted into the Roman Pantheon in 204 BC; but could she, although indigenous to Phrygia, no longer meet the religious needs of her homeland’s people? This thesis approaches these questions by two primary means. By utilizing its own accompanying catalogue of Meter epithets collected from inscriptions, it looks at patterns in the geographic distribution of epithets and in the semantics of recurring epithet types. The spatial distribution of cult epithets reflects the geopolitical situation in Roman Imperial Asia Minor where there appears to have been a lack of strong imperial centers in the uplands, and where local communities could create their own localized, albeit modest, centers at the state’s peripheries. Meanwhile, the semantics of recurring vii epithet types offer clues regarding the local concerns and core values of those living in these very peripheries. Keywords: Cult Epithets, Graeco-Roman Anatolia, Kybele, Phrygian Cults, Roman Phrygia viii ÖZET TANRILARIN ANASI TAM DA BURADAN: İÇ ANADOLU’DA ANA TANRIÇA METER Aversano, Joseph Salvatore Yüksek Lisans, Archaeoloji Bölümü Tez Danışmanı: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Charles Gates August 2019 Roma İmparatorluk döneminde, Frigya Ana Tanrıçası Meter’in yalnızca Orta Anadolu'da altmıştan fazla farklı kültleşmiş sıfatı vardır. Helenistik döneme ait sıfatların sadece üç veya dördünün bilindiği düşünülürse, aradaki zıtlık dikkat çekicidir. Dahası, sıfatların çoğu yöresel olma eğilimindedir, bu yüzden özünde isimleri bir vadiden diğerine değişebilir. Bazı durumlarda, yalnızca bir sıfat duymak, İç Anadolu’nun belirli bir bölümünü akla getirmek için yeterlidir. Bu durumdan doğal bir soru ortaya çıkmaktadır. Küçük Asya’da neden bu kadar çok yerel Meter kültüne ihtiyaç duyuldu? Romalılar tarafından Magna Mater adı verilen Ana Tanrıça Meter, MÖ 204'te Roma Panteonuna kabul edildi; fakat Frigya'ya özgü olmasına rağmen, artık vatanının dini ihtiyaçlarını karşılayamıyor muydu? Bu tez bu soruları iki ana yoldan ele alıyor. Ekindeki yazıtlardan derlenen Meter Sıfatları kataloğunu kullanarak, sıfatların coğrafi dağılımındaki ve tekrar eden sıfat türlerinin semantiğindeki kalıplara bakar. Kült sıfatların mekânsal dağılımı, yüksek arazilerde güçlü emperyalist merkezlerin bulunmadığı ve yerel toplulukların çevre bölgelerde mütevazı olsa da kendi yerel merkezlerini yaratabilecekleri Roma İmparatorluğu Küçük Asya'daki jeopolitik durumu yansıtmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, tekrar eden sıfat türlerinin semantiği, bu çevrelerde yaşayanların yerel kaygıları ve temel değerleri hakkında ipuçları sunar. ix Anahtar Kelimeler: Grekoromen Anadolu’su, Frigya Kültleri, Kibele, Kült Sıfatlar, Roma Frigya’sı x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would never have come to fruition without the many wonderful people who have helped me along the way. Firstly, I wish to thank my Advisor Charles Gates, who had faith in the project all throughout, even in its more nebulous and inchoate stages. When conditions demanded that I move to another city in another part of the country, he was accommodating enough to have weekly video conference sessions, and even on Saturdays. He would attentively pore over my drafts, always helping the paper to improve over the course of time. I am deeply moved by his infinite patience and interest which spanned and encompassed the ups and downs that come with the territory of putting this sort of project together. I am also much indebted to my gifted, dedicated, and inspiring instructors from the Bilkent Department of Archaeology, Dominique Kassab Tezgör, Asuman Abuagla, Julian Bennett, Marie-Henriette Gates, İlgi Gerçek, Jacques Morin, İlknur Özgen, and Thomas Zimmermann. Additionally, I am still glowing with appreciation for Ergün Laflı and Julien Bennett, who both enthusiastically agreed to serving as jury members in the holiday season and in the middle of summer. Their insight has also been of much help. xi I would especially like to thank Lynn Roller for her encouragement and resource recommendations. Roller’s astounding body of work on the Great Mother and ancient Anatolia resonated with me to the extent that I wanted to further investigate the worlds of the Mountain Mother’s cults. I also thank the remarkable Isabelle Hasselin-Rous at the Louvre for taking me under her wing during my internship, and for the staff of the Louvre’s Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities for making me feel at home. Another immensely formidable experience, in addition to my time at the Louvre, was the week of stimulating international workshops and lectures held at the University of Göttingen in 2018 titled, "The Material Dimension of Religions: Transcultural Approaches to Epigraphical and Archaeological Sources from Antiquity to the Middle Ages". There Nicole Belayche raised a potent question, having picked up on my bias for rugged and remote landscapes. Would I be giving rural and urban settlements equal weight? The question haunted me throughout this project until I realized it encapsulated its very core. I also greatly appreciate the friendship, support, and assistance of Elif Denel at the American Research Institute at Ankara and the company of her adopted street feline Kubaba. Additionally, I would like to extend my thanks to Burçak Delikan and Nihal Uzun at the British Institute at Ankara, and to the helpful and kind library staff of both Bilkent University and at the National Austrian Library. I must add that I have throughout been inspired by my colorful fellow colleagues Umut Dulun, Zeynep Akkuzu, Şakir Can, Çağdaş Özdoğan, Emre Dalkılıç, Andrew Beard, Rida Arif, Tuğçe Köseoğlu, Roslyn Sorensen, Eda Doğa Aras, Humberto xii Cesar Hugo, Elif Nurcan Aktaş, Nurcan Küçükarslan, Hande Köpürlüoğlu, Emrah Dinç, and many, many, more. I also thank my wife’s dear aunts Sevinç and Alev in Ankara who prepared tasty and filling meals for me whenever I had to stay and conduct research in the city. Finally, my main strength overall came from my partner in life, Asu. With the understanding, support, and patience of a saint, it was she who made the most difficult sacrifices of all, and it is to her this work is dedicated. xiii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... vi ÖZET ..................................................................................................................... ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................... xi TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................xiv LIST OF MAPS .....................................................................................................xvi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 CHAPTER 2: EARLIER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ORGANIZATION OF EPITHETS AND INFLUENTIAL WORKS ............................................................5 2.1. Pioneer Epithet Compilations .........................................................................5 2.2. Works Providing Approaches to the Study of Epithets ....................................7 CHAPTER 3: A USER’S GUIDE TO THE CATALOGUE ......................................9 3.1. The Lay of the Land ..................................................................................... 11 3.2. The Epithet Tables and Appendix ................................................................. 12 3.3. Exclusions .................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 4: MANY METERS OR ONE .............................................................. 16 4.1. Many Meters or One: A Mixed Message ....................................................... 16 4.2. Arguments for Many, One, or Neither........................................................... 21 4.3. An Approach to Ambiguity and Inconsistency .............................................. 23 CHAPTER 5: THE PHRYGIAN MOTHER’S EARLIER EPITHETS AND THE EPITHET “BOOM” OF THE ROMAN IMPERIAL PERIOD ...............................