Category: Archaeology

Shrine to Jupiter Dolichenus

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
via the Journal
via the Journal

Very interesting find at Vindolanda of a large shrine to Jupiter Dolichenus with a Latin inscription; quotes from Andrew Birley have appeared in a number of newspapers:

What should have been part of the rampart mound near to the north gate of the fort has turned out to be an amazing religious shrine …There is a substantial and exceptionally well preserved altar dedicated by a prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Gauls to an important eastern god, Jupiter of Doliche. Major altars like this are very rare finds and to discover such a shrine inside the fort is highly unusual … The shrine also has evidence of animal sacrifice and possible religious feasting … It all adds to the excitement of the excavations and is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most excavators.

The inscription translates:

To Jupiter Best and Greatest of Doliche, Sulpicius Pudens, prefect of the Fourth Cohort of Gauls, fulfilled his vow gladly and deservedly.

Adrian Murdoch has a transcription of the Latin in his coverage of this find …

Patricia Birley noted:

Perhaps what the prefect had asked for had come to pass and he fulfilled his vow by paying out for this expensive stone … It would have cost him a bob or two.

Interestingly, Dr Birley notes that the Sulpicius Pudens is surely the same character who erected another altar which was later reused in a wall at Staward Pele sixty or so years ago (which a certain E. Birley wrote about in “A Roman altar from Staward Pele,” Archaeologia Aeliana [ser4] Vol28 p132-6 and 139-40.

Jupiter Dolichenus was really popular — especially among the military — during and after the principate of Septimius Severus …

UPDATE (09/23/09) — see now Adrian Murdoch’s followup post on the previous inscription ascribed to Suplicius  Pudens: New inscription at Vindolanda UPDATED

Golden ‘Mask’ From Ohrid

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Reports are just starting to come out of the discovery of 17 Hellenistic-period tombs from a site near Ohrid, FYROM/Macedonia. Plenty of items were found, of course (including some in amber), but the most interesting seems to be the burial of a young girl of apparently noble status.

Pasko Kuzman, head of the Macedonian Department for Cultural Heritage dixit:

“There is something here which, from a scientific point of view, is more important even than the golden mask [discovered in Ohrid earlier], since the personality buried in this tomb had a golden object in the shape of eye glasses, a rhomboid-shaped golden plate on the mouth and a golden plate with a sun with 16 rays in the area of the heart. The two objects that were placed on the eyes and the mouth mean the dead person was masked. This kind of combination of masking was unique on the Balkans. Until now, separate golden plates were discovered, especially in the Aegean, but this kind of combination was unknown until now.”

… haven’t been able to track down any photos.

Theatre Masks (re)Discovered

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment
Naples Archaeological Museum via Discovery News
Naples Archaeological Museum via Discovery News

Discovery News’ Rossella Lorenzi is reporting on the rediscovery of 15 life-size theatre masks from Pompeii which were originally excavated in 1749, then stored and forgotten in a Bourbon palace storage room. Mariarosaria Borriello, who made the rediscovery dixit:

“They ended up being totally forgotten, and indeed we do not have much information about them. We do not even know where they were unearthed in Pompeii. The 18th century dig journals only vaguely record that 15 masks were excavated … Two masks show letters in the space usually reserved to the mouth. While the meaning of one is incomprehensible, on the other we can clearly read the word ‘Buco’ … Not all of the masks belong to the fabula Atellana, but finding at least one evidence linked to it is very important. Indeed, no fragment of early Atellan farces has survived”

Another Arthur Link?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From a press release via Earthtimes:

Researcher David Xavier Kenney discovered the inscriptions on the 2nd to 3rd century artifact which was found on a hilltop in Norfolk County, England and is part of his collection.

Among the revelations on the lance head (or contos head) is that the real King Arthur may have been Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius, a 3rd century Belgic sailor from humble origins who rose up through the ranks to eventually become a Rogue Emperor of Rome.

The contos was a victory votive to the Romano Celtic war/sword god Mars Camulos and Carausius, who undoubtedly identified himself with this god, based on coins he minted and evidenced on the contos. The Roman settlement of Camulodunum (modern Colchester), named after Camulos, is widely thought to be the origin of Medieval writers’ Camelot.

Carausius strove to become a people’s hero of Britain and Northern Gaul when he rebelled against the co-Emperor Maximian, who ordered his execution after he was accused of keeping seized pirate booty. Backed by his Roman legions, he proclaimed himself another co-emperor. Three years later in 293 AD Carausius was assassinated by his finance minister.

The war/sword god Camulos’ primary center of Celtic worship was with the Remi, a Belgic tribe. Based on contos inscriptions Camulos appears to be connected to a previously unknown Belgic agricultural/fertility bear god of the northern constellations and its related symbols, including a pagan type grail cup, magical blade weapons, meteorites, magnetic north, and the seasons named Artor. The sword in the stone shown on the contos has a connection to an elite Roman Parazonium (ceremonial short sword).

According to Kenney, inscriptions show the primary aspect of Artor is a force associated with breaking through or beginnings, including spring and the dawn. Other artifacts show that this bear war/sword god in some form can be seen across ancient Europe and Asia as far east as ancient China, particularly in the northern regions.

… the author has more to say at his webpage … personally, I don’t see most of the stuff he’s seeing on this; your mileage may vary (but I doubt it) …

Lapis Niger ‘Open’ Soon

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 1 Comment

An update from Il Messaggerro tells of the restoration work going on in the efforts to open the area around the Lapis Niger to the public. An excerpt:

«Da un anno il solaio realizzato da Pietro Romanelli per coprire i resti dell’area sta cedendo a causa delle infiltrazioni d’acqua che marciscono il ferro – spiega nel corso di un primo sopralluogo la responsabile del cantiere e direttore dei lavori Pia Petrangeli – il solaio andava rimosso e al più presto». Per farlo si è scelta una soluzione mai utilizzata prima negli scavi archeologici. «Una struttura detta a “carro-ponte” che ci permette di tagliare in blocchi con una sega ad aria il solaio da eliminare e di trasportare i conci man mano che si tagliano fuori dal Foro» spiega il responsabile tecnico Alessandro Bozzetti.

Il “carro-ponte” è stato appena montato. Nei prossimi giorni si provvederà a testarlo e quindi si partirà con l’operazione di “scoperchiamento” che porterà finalmente agli occhi del mondo l’area sacra risalente al IX sec. a.C. «Tre settimane di lavori e poi, eliminato il soffitto, si potranno iniziare le indagini archeologiche. Nel frattempo lanceremo un concorso di idee internazionale per la futura copertura dell’area. Credo che la soluzione migliore sia un percorso che scenda fra i resti e che permetta di percepire la complessità stratigrafica del luogo» aggiunge la Petrangeli.

Ma non sarà necessario aspettare la fine dei lavori per poter immaginare qualcosa. «Tutta l’area d’intervento, circa 400 mq, sarà circondata da un recinto di pannelli trasparenti di policarbonato brunito – spiega ancora la Petrangeli – con l’obiettivo proprio di realizzare un cantiere quanto più possibile didattico. E la struttura verrà coperta da un telo che riprodurrà, grazie al rilievo al laser-scanner, l”area archeologica sotterranea. In modo che da sopra si abbia un’immagine precisa di cosa c’è li sotto».

The gist of all that is that a concrete structure put over the site by Pietro Romanelli was collapsing and a new ‘polished polycarbonate’ structure installed so people can see the site.