Geschichte u. Kultur Roms im Spiegel d. neueren Forschung ;2. Principat. Bd. 17. Religion [Reprint 2014 ed.] 3110102137, 9783110102130

Table of contents :
Inhalt
Religion (Heidentum: Römische Götterkulte, Orientalische Kulte in der Römischen Welt [Forts.])
The Known Isis — Sarapis Sanctuaries of the Roman Period
“Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?” Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt
Mithraism since Franz Cumont
La tipologia storica dei misteri di Mithra
Iupiter Dolichenus
Le culte de Deus Sol Invictus à Rome au 3e siècle après J.C.
Le culte de Dea Caelestis
Venus Victrix — Roman and Oriental
Hermetism. A Bibliographical Approach
Incorrect Apocalyptic: The Hermetic ‘Asclepius’ as an Improvement on the Greek Original
Les Oracles chaldaïques
Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852—2000

Citation preview

AUFSTIEG U N D N I E D E R G A N G DER R Ö M I S C H E N WELT

II. 17.4

AUFSTIEG UND NIEDERGANG DER RÖMISCHEN WELT GESCHICHTE UND KULTUR ROMS IM SPIEGEL DER N E U E R E N F O R S C H U N G

II HERAUSGEGEBEN VON

HILDEGARD T E M P O R I N I UND

WOLFGANG HAASE

W G DE

WALTER DE GRUYTER • B E R L I N • NEW YORK 1984

PRINCIPAT S I E B Z E H N T E R BAND (4. TEILBAND) RELIGION (HEIDENTUM: RÖMISCHE GÖTTERKULTE, ORIENTALISCHE KULTE IN DER RÖMISCHEN WELT [FORTS.]).

HERAUSGEGEBEN VON

WOLFGANG HAASE

W DE G WALTER DE GRUYTER • BERLIN • NEW YORK 1984

Herausgegeben mit Unterstützung der Robert Bosch Stiftung, Stuttgart

CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme

der Deutschen

Bibliothek

Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte u. Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung / hrsg. von Hildegard Temporini u. Wolfgang Haase. — Berlin, New York : de Gruyter. N E : Temporini, Hildegard [Hrsg.] 2. Principat. Bd. 17, Religion / Hrsg. von Wolfgang Haase. 4. Teilbd. - 1984. ISBN 3-11-010213-7 N E : Haase, Wolfgang [Hrsg.]

© 1984 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin 30 Alle Rechte, insbesondere das der Übersetzung in fremde Sprachen, vorbehalten. O h n e ausdrückliche Genehmigung des Verlages ist es auch nicht gestattet, dieses Buch oder Teile daraus auf photomechanischem Wege (Photokopie, Mikrokopie) zu vervielfältigen. Printed in Germany Satz und Druck: Arthur Collignon G m b H , Berlin 30 Einbandgestaltung und Schutzumschlag: Rudolf Hübler Buchbinder: Lüderitz & Bauer, Berlin 61 Reproduktionen: Terra-Klischee, Berlin

Inhalt RELIGION (HEIDENTUM: RÖMISCHE G Ö T T E R K U L T E , ORIENTALISCHE K U L T E IN DER R Ö M I S C H E N WELT) Band II. 17.4: WILD, R. A. (Milwaukee, Wise.) The Known Isis-Sarapis Sanctuaries from the Roman Period. . 1739 — 1851 K. A. D. (Utrecht) — H E M E L R I J K , E. A. (Amsterdam) "Who knows not what monsters demented Egypt worships?" Opinions on Egyptian animal worship in Antiquity as part of the ancient conception of Egypt 1852—2000 [Indices below, pp. 2337—2357]

SMELIK,

BECK, R . (Toronto)

Mithraism since Franz Cumont

2002—2115

U. (Roma) La tipologia storica dei misteri di Mithra

2116—2134

BIANCHI,

HÖRIG, M . (Münster/Westf.)

Iupiter Dolichenus

2136-2179

G. H . F (Borgerhout, Belgique) Le culte de Deus Sol Invictus à Rome au 3e siècle après J . C . . . . 2181—2201

HALSBERGHE,

G. H . F (Borgerhout, Belgique) Le culte de Dea Caelestis

HALSBERGHE,

M. (Honolulu) Venus Victrix — Roman and Oriental

SPEIDEL,

2203—2223

2225—2238

VI

INHALT

(Madrid) Hermetism. A Bibliographical Approach

GONZÁLEZ BLANCO, A .

2240-2281

WIGTIL, D. N . (Stillwater, Oklahoma) Incorrect Apocalyptic: The Hermetic 'Asclepius' as an Improvement on the Greek Original 2282-2297 (Rome) Les Oracles chaldaïques

2299-2335

K. A. D. (Utrecht) - H E M E L R I J K , E. A. (Amsterdam) Indices to the contribution above, pp. 1852-2000

2337-2357

DES P L A C E S , É D . , S . J .

SMELIK,

Band II. 17.1: Vorwort FEARS, J . R. (Bloomington, Indiana) The Cult of Jupiter and Roman Imperial Ideology (Liège), R E N A R D , M . (Bruxelles) Aperçu critique de travaux relatifs au culte de Junon

DURY-MOYAERS, G .

V 3 — 141 142—202

GIRARD, J . - L . (Strasbourg)

La place de Minerve dans la religion romaine au temps du principat 203—232

GIRARD, J . - L . (Strasbourg)

Domitien et Minerve: une prédilection impériale

233—245

(Amstelveen) Die Ideologie des Marskultes unter dem Principat und ihre Vorgeschichte 246—275

CROON, J. H .

(Berlin) Quirinus. Eine kritische Überprüfung der Uberlieferung und ein Versuch 276-299

RADKE, G .

PORTE, D . (Paris)

Romulus-Quirinus, prince et dieu, dieu des princes. Etude sur le personnage de Quirinus et sur son évolution, des origines à Auguste 300-342 (Berlin) Die dei penates und Vesta in Rom

RADKE, G .

343—373

INHALT TURCAN, R .

VII

(Lyon)

Janus à l'époque impériale

374—402

CHIRASSI C O L O M B O , I . ( T r i e s t e )

Funzioni politiche ed implicazioni culturali nell'ideologia religiosa di Ceres nell'impero romano 403—428 GESZTELYI, T .

(Debrecen)

Tellus—Terra Mater in der Zeit des Prinzipats C O M B E T FARNOUX, B .

429—456

(Nice)

Mercure romain, les 'Mercuriales' et l'institution du culte impérial sous le Principat augustéen 457—501 KAJANTO, I. (Helsinki) Fortuna

502-558

Band II. 17.2: GAGÉ, J . (Paris) Apollon impérial, Garant des «Fata Romana» JACZYNOWSKA, M .

561— 630

(Torun)

Le culte de l'Hercule romain au temps du Haut-Empire . . .

631— 661

GAGÉ, J . (Paris) La mystique impériale et l'épreuve des «jeux». CommodeHercule et 1'« anthropologie » héracléenne

662— 683

FOUCHER, L. (Tours) Le culte de Bacchus sous l'empire Romain

684— 702

PICCALUGA, G .

(Roma)

Fides nella religione romana di età imperiale

703— 735

FEARS, J . R . (Bloomington, Indiana) The Theology of Victory at Rome: Approaches and Problems .

736— 826

FEARS, J . R . (Bloomington, Indiana) The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology

827— 948

MELLOR, R . (Los Angeles, Cal.) The Goddess Roma . . . .

950-1030

VIII

INHALT

H E S B E R G , H . VON ( M ü n c h e n )

Archäologische Denkmäler zu den römischen Göttergestalten . 1 0 3 2 - 1 1 9 9

I n d i c e s t o C o n t r i b u t i o n s b y J . R U F U S FEARS i n

A N R W II. 17.1 and 2 (pp. 3 - 1 4 1 , 7 3 6 - 8 2 6 , and 8 2 7 - 9 4 8 ) 1 2 0 1 - 1 2 5 5

Band II. 17.3: Vorwort METZGER, B . (Princeton,

N.J.)

A Classified Bibliography of the Graeco-Roman Religions 1 9 2 4 - 1 9 7 3 with a Supplement 1 9 7 4 - 1 9 7 7

Mystery 1259-1423

STAUFFER, E . F ( E r l a n g e n )

Antike Madonnenreligion

1425—1499

THOMAS, G . (Ringwood, Victoria [Australia]) Magna Mater and Attis

1500-1535

HÖRIG, M . (Münster/Westf.) Dea Syria - Atargatis

1536-1581

JOHNSON, S. E . (Berkeley, C a l . )

The Present State of Sabazios Research

1583 — 1613

MALAISE, M . ( L i è g e )

L a diffusion des cultes égyptiens dans les provinces européennes de l'Empire romain 1615—1691 LECLANT, J . (Paris)

Aegyptiaca et milieux isiaques. Recherches sur la diffusion du matériel et des idées égyptiennes 1692 — 1709 TRAN TAM TINH, V . ( Q u é b e c , P . Q )

Etat des études iconographiques relatives à Isis, Sérapis et Sunnaoi Theoi 1710-1738

RELIGION ( H E I D E N T U M : R Ö M I S C H E GÖTTERKULTE, ORIENTALISCHE KULTE I N DER R Ö M I S C H E N WELT [FORTS.])

The Known Isis — Sarapis Sanctuaries of the Roman Period b y ROBERT A . W I L D , M i l w a u k e e ,

Wise.

Contents I. Past Research: T h r e e Phases

1740

II. T h e Scope of This Study

1744

III. Table of Sites

1745

IV. T h e Sites: Identity and Dating

1755

1. Alexandria

1755

2. A m p u r i a s

1758

3. A n t i n o o p o l i s

1760

4. Aquileia

1762

5. Bononia

1762

6. Carthage

1763

7. C e n c h r e a e

1764

8. C o r i n t h : South Stoa

1767

9. C y m e

1767

10. C y r e n e : Acropolis

1770

11. C y r e n e : A p o l l o Precinct

1772

12. E p h e s u s : State Agora

1775

13. Faesulae

1777

14. F r a u e n b e r g

1777

15. Gigthis: F o r u m

1779

16. G o r t y n

1781

17. Industria

1783

18. Lambaesis

1787

19. Leptis Magna

1787

20. L u x o r

1789

21. Miletus

1791

22. M o n s C l a u d i a n u s

1793

23. M o n s P o r p h y r i t e s : Eastern Iseum

1797

24. M o n s P o r p h y r i t e s : Western Iseum

1797

25. M o n s P o r p h y r i t e s : Serapeum 26. Ostia

!

1799 1801

1740

ROBERT

A.

WILD

2 7 . Pergamum

1805

28. Philippi

1807

29. Poetovio

1808

30. Pompeii

1809

31. Ras el Soda

1810

32. R o m e : C a m p u s Martius

1811

33. R o m e : R e g i o I I I

1813

34. R o m e : Santa Sabina

1814

35. Sabratha: East E n d

1817

36. Sabratha: F o r u m

1818

37. Savaria

1819

3 8 - 3 9 . Soli: T e m p l e D and T e m p l e E

1821

4 0 . Thessalonica

1824

4 1 . Thysdrus

1826

42. Timgad

1826

4 3 . Virunum

1827

44. Y o r k

1827

V . E r r o n e o u s Identifications

1829

1. E p h e s u s : C o m m e r c i a l Agora

1829

2. Hohenstein

1831

3. Panoias

1831

4. Stratonicea

1832

V I . Further Questions

1834

Addenda

1838

A . Additional Sites

1839

B . Supplements t o the Previous Listing

1843

List o f Illustrations

1847

I. Past Research: Three Phases

S t a n d a r d i n t r o d u c t i o n s t o a p a r t i c u l a r field o f r e s e a r c h t e n d v e r y o f t e n

to

i n f l u e n c e t h e a p p r o a c h e s a n d q u e s t i o n s t h a t a r e d e e m e d a p p r o p r i a t e in t h a t a r e a . M a n y present investigators o f the Isis-Sarapis cult p r o b a b l y w e r e initiated into this r e a l m o f k n o w l e d g e t h r o u g h t h e p a g e s o f CUMONT'S ' L e s religions o r i e n t a l e s General N o t e s : D a t i n g : Dates not otherwise indicated are o f the present era ( A . D . ) . A b b r e v i a t i o n s : T h o s e utilized for journals follow generally the system found in 'Archäologische Bibliographie 1972' (Beilage zum J a h r b u c h des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 88 [1973]). In addition, the following appear: DREXLER, Beiträge

WILHELM DREXLER, M y t h o l o g i s c h e Beiträge, vol. 1: D e r Cultus der ägyptischen Gottheiten in den Donauländern, Leipzig, 1890

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1741

dans le paganisme romain' 1 and through pertinent sections in NILSSON'S 'Geschichte der griechischen Religion'. 2 Perhaps they also read GEORGES LAFAYE'S 'Histoire du culte des divinités d'Alexandrie en dehors de l ' E g y p t e ' . 3 N o dramatic differences mark the general picture of the cult presented by each of these scholars. Where they d o differ, however, is in their relative evaluation of the various available sources of information. CUMONT favors primarily the literary texts and the pertinent epigraphical sources. Archaeological data is of less interest to him; he mentions in passing three or four of the major sanctuary sites but only to illustrate broader concerns deriving f r o m his preferred sources. NILSSON is somewhat more catholic in his approach — along with discussions of literary texts and inscriptions, he is also careful to provide brief notices for at least s o m e of the major sites. H e too, however, normally finds literary and epigraphical analysis a more congenial terrain. LAFAYE is different. In constructing his presentation he not only made extensive use of literary and epigraphical materials but also devoted no less than one-sixth of his w o r k to a detailed examination of evidence f r o m Pompeii and the other k n o w n cult sites in Italy. Granted, this g r o u p of sites is geographically and temporally confined, a factor which helps, I believe, to explain why the portraits of the cult drawn in these three introductions d o not differ all that much. N o n e theless, LAFAYE did manage to include all the important sites outside of E g y p t known at that time. 4 The more fundamental issue, however, is one of appropriate m e t h o d o l o g y . F o r LAFAYE, if a person hoped to learn the nature of this cult and its development, a part of the process involved studying the complexes of evidence from the cult sites. 5 DUN AND, C u l t e

MALAISE, Inventaire

SALDITT-TRAPPMANN , Tempel SIRIS

1 2

3 4

5

FRANÇOISE DUNAND, L e culte d'Isis dans le bassin oriental de la M é d i terranée, vol. I: L e culte d'Isis et les P t o l é m é e s ; vol. II: L e culte d'Isis en G r è c e ; vol. I I I : L e culte d'Isis en A s i e mineure ( E t . prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 26), Leiden, 1973 MICHEL MALAISE, Inventaire préliminaire des d o c u m e n t s égyptiens découverts en Italie (Et. prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 21), Leiden, 1972 REGINA SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, T e m p e l der ägyptischen G ö t t e r in Griechenland und an der W e s t k ü s t e Kleinasiens ( E t . prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 15), L e i d e n , 1970 LADISLAV VIDMAN, ed., S y l l o g e inscriptionum religionis Isiacae et Sarapiacae (Religionsgeschichtl. Vers. u. V o r a r b . 28), Berlin, 1969

FRANZ CUMONT, L e s religions orientales dans le p a g a n i s m e r o m a i n , 4th e d . , Paris, 1929. MARTIN P. NILSSON, Geschichte der griechischen Religion, vol. II ( H a n d b . d. Altertumswiss. V 2,2), 2nd e d . , M u n i c h , 1961, p p . 6 2 2 - 3 9 , 1 1 9 - 3 1 , and p p . 3 2 7 - 4 5 p a s s i m . G . LAFAYE, H i s t o i r e du culte des divinités d'Alexandrie en d e h o r s d e l ' E g y p t e , Paris, 1884. S o m e w h a t surprisingly, LAFAYE seems not to have k n o w n of the " I s i s meeting p l a c e " discovered in 1855 near the C h u r c h of Santa Sabina at R o m e . T h e other sites then k n o w n but omitted in his s u r v e y , Aquileia, B o n o n i a , C a r t h a g e , V i r u n u m , and Y o r k , all had been very p o o r l y reported and s o o f f e r e d little i n f o r m a t i o n . LAFAYE d o e s note briefly the evidence f o u n d at Alexandria and at M e m p h i s ( p p . 174 — 76). L e s s h a p p y in this respect is LAFAYE'S s u m m a r y article published in 1900: Isis, Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines, ed. C . DAREMBERG and E . SAGLIO, vol. III,

1742

R O B E R T A.

WILD

Scholars w h o wrote on various aspects of the cult in the years immediately following the appearance of LAFAYE'S book generally shared this viewpoint. O n e of the chief efforts undertaken by various individuals was to expand the rather restricted catalogue of monumental material offered by LAFAYE. Invariably such expansions took account of the various temple sites. WILHELM DREXLER ferreted out and included in his survey of materials from the Danube region several relatively obscure sites. 6 Further, in his general survey of the cult of Isis, he is careful to note not only the sites mentioned by LAFAYE but several discovered in the intervening ten years. 7 In his book on the Isis-Sarapis cult in Greece and western Asia Minor A D O L F RUSCH devoted lengthy sections to the three sites then k n o w n in this area (Délos C, Priene, and Thera). 8 PIERRE ROUSSEL, w h o had investigated extensively the three sanctuaries discovered on Delos, recognized the importance of such studies for the understanding of new finds. N o t only did he provide material on eight of the older major sites in his publication of the Delos sanctuaries 9 but he also undertook his own comparative analysis of the Delos finds and the new discoveries at Eretria on the island of Euboea. 1 0 In this latter article he remarked that what was important f r o m his perspective was not a long list of places in which the Egyptian gods had been honored but the careful study of actual sanctuaries and assemblages of monumental evidence. 1 1 In the years following World War I, however, these sentiments of ROUSSEL met with limited enthusiasm. Several factors seem to account for this shift. For one thing, the task of analyzing such archaeological data was rapidly enlarging. Between 1650 and 1900 approximately a dozen Isis-Sarapis sanctuaries had been discovered outside of Egypt. However, between 1900 and 1930 another dozen were uncovered, while in the thirty years between 1930 and 1960 fourteen further sites were added to the growing list. This increasing volume of evidence perhaps tended to discourage potential investigators. Beyond this, within the discipline new questions were being posed. Scholars were increasingly concerned to determine w h o had propagated this cult, w h o had accepted it, and to which social classes they belonged. Such questions were not new but they were being asked with more pressing intensity. Perhaps the decisive moment in this shifting concern

6

7

8

9

10

11

Paris, 1900, p p . 577—86. H e r e he is content t o m e n t i o n the sites previously discussed in his b o o k w i t h o u t averting to a n y of the n e w sanctuaries discovered in the m e a n t i m e (e.g., Delos C , T a u r o m e n i u m , Thera). DREXLER, Beiträge (1890): Aquileia (pp. 7—8), B o n o n i a (p. 6), and V i r u n u m (p. 16). H e also supplies bibliography f o r Delos C (pp. 4—5). Sublavio (p. 12) and H o h e n s t e i n (p. 17) are not sites. W . DREXLER, Isis, A u s f ü h r l i c h e s Lexicon der griechischen u n d römischen M y t h o l o g i e , ed. W . H . ROSCHER, Leipzig, 1 8 9 0 - 9 7 , vol. II, cols. 3 7 3 - 5 4 8 : Fiesole (col. 411) and T a u r o m e n i u m (col. 397). ADOLF RUSCH, D e Serapide et Iside in Graecia cultis, Diss. Berlin, 1906, p p . 38 — 57, 74-76, 59-61. P. ROUSSEL, Les cultes égyptiens à Délos du l i l e au 1er siècle av. J . - C . , P a r i s — N a n c y , 1916, p p . 3 0 - 3 1 ; 68, n. 3; 295. P. ROUSSEL, Les sanctuaires égyptiens de Délos et d'Erétrie, Revue égyptologique, N S 1 (1919), pp. 8 1 - 9 2 . Ibid. 81.

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1743

was the publication of the second volume of J. TOUTAIN'S 'Les cultes païens dans l'empire romain' (Paris, 1911). In speaking of the Egyptian cults he bluntly called Isis, Sarapis, and the other Nilotic gods «divinités exotiques» as far as their impact on the Roman West. For him they had never succeeded in gaining entrance into the real religious life of the mass of the people. 1 2 This assessment was at once vigorously challenged by FRANZ C U M O N T and by others, and the battle was joined. It is not my purpose here to review this debate 1 3 but simply to note that a resolution of this particular problem did not require any detailed concern with "sanctuaries and assemblages of monumental evidence". A scholar only needed to k n o w whether a sanctuary existed in a given place and, if so, what sort of individuals made offerings to it. Because of this growing volume of technical data and because of this shift in approach, the more general studies of the cult published between 1920 and, say, 1960 tend to show a quite limited interest in archaeological evidence. Of course the question of w h a t was diffused, what sort of religion was spread over the Mediterranean world, continued to be asked all during this period. O n l y in the late 1950s and 1960s does a new consensus begin to emerge, an agreement that LAFAYE had in fact properly described the scope of the investigation. To determine what religious practices were carried on (and where and when), the monumental evidence and the cult sites would have to be examined along with the other traditional sources of information. A harbinger of this new phase was a dissertation done at Basel under ANDREAS ALFÔLDI in the late 1950s. The author, PETER T S C H U D I N , set for himself the task of studying the Isis-Sarapis cult specifically f r o m the perspective of the cult buildings. While he arrived at a typology for these structures in an altogether too hasty fashion, he nonetheless succeeded in demonstrating that an extensive analysis of these sites — he examines twenty-one of them — could bring to the surface a variety of new questions. 1 4 Shortly after this, VINCENT T R A N T A M T I N H published his 'Essai sur le culte d'Isis à Pompéi' (Paris, 1964). His intention was to study the entire assemblage of Isis-Sarapis evidence found at Pompeii. In the three or four years before this, various regional studies of the evidence for this cult had already begun to appear in the 'Etudes préliminaires' series edited by M. J. VERMASEREN. 1 5 T R A N T A M T I N H ' S own work was in actuality an attempt to utilize this approach in order to determine the religious life and practice of Isis worshippers in a single town. A third work which is representative of this new phase of research is REGINA SAL16 DITT-TRAPPMANN'S study of the sanctuaries found in Greece and Asia M i n o r . Although her treatment of several of the sites is quite incomplete and at times her speculative flights are too venturesome, she not only manages to provide valuable

12 13

14 15 16

TOUTAIN, II, 3 0 - 3 4 . F o r the literature cf. MICHEL MALAISE, La d i f f u s i o n des cultes égyptiens dans les p r o vinces e u r o p é e n n e s de l'empire r o m a i n , in this v o l u m e ( A N R W II 17,3), p p . 1 6 1 5 - 9 1 . P. F. TSCHUDIN, Isis in R o m , A a r a u , 1962. É t u d e s préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l ' e m p i r e r o m a i n , Leiden 1 9 6 1 - . SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, T e m p e l (1970).

1744

ROBERT

A.

WILD

new evidence for several of the sanctuaries but she also raises several interesting issues of more general concern for the study of the cult. 1 7 This renewed interest in the archaeological evidence has started to have its impact on more general scholarship. FRANÇOISE DUNAND, for example, in her study of the cult of Isis in the northeastern Mediterranean area provides short accounts of most of the sites presently known in that region. 1 8 Similarly, although his own interest is centered on the epigraphical evidence, LADISLAV VIDMAN provides a very useful list of some thirty sites along with basic bibliographies for each. This was the first such systematic list published in some thirty years. 1 9 FRANCE LE CORSU'S recent volume on Isis-Sarapis worship, a work relatively popular in scope but of generally high quality, takes at least some account of most of the known sanctuaries. 19a

II. The Scope of This Study

Because of the renewed interest in this type of evidence, I thought it useful to provide a detailed survey of those Isis-Sarapis sanctuaries from the Roman period that are presently known. I include in this those sites either founded or extensively remodeled and/or rebuilt during that time. Those of Hellenistic origin for which evidence of a Roman reconstruction is lacking have been excluded. 2 0 I also excluded all those locations for which architectural remains are entirely absent. As will be seen, some border-line cases are encountered. However, for a 'site' to exist in terms of this survey, some in situ architectural remains had to have been discovered at some time. 2 1

17

18

19

19A 20

21

An important but rather critical review of this work was published by L . CASTIGLIONE in G n o m o n 45 (1973), pp. 5 2 1 - 2 4 . DUNAND, Culte, II —III (1973). She does not mention the small shrine in the A g o r a at Corinth, the finds at Cenchreae, and the temple discovered in the State A g o r a at Ephesus. The latter two are, however, recent discoveries which she may not have had an o p p o r t unity to study. S I R I S , p. 359. A n earlier partial listing is f o u n d in T . BRADY, T h e Reception of the Egyptian Cults by the Greeks ( 3 3 0 - 3 0 B . C . ) , C o l u m b i a , M o . , 1935, p p . 4 4 - 4 5 . BRADY included s o m e of the sites in E g y p t while VIDMAN did not. FRANCE LE CORSU, Isis: Mythe et mystères (Coll. d'ét. mythol.), Paris, 1977. These are A r g o s , Delos A , Delos B , Delos C , Eritrea, Priene, T a u r o m e n i u m and Thera as well as Memphis in E g y p t . Bibliographies: for all but Memphis cf. S I R I S under the various cities. O n M e m p h i s : MAX GUILMOT, L e Sarapieion de M e m p h i s : E t u d e topographique, C h r E g 37 (1962), pp. 359 — 81; he provides additional bibliography. For a report on a Doric temple of Hellenistic date found at Seleucia Pieria which may possibly have had s o m e association with the cult of Isis see R . STILLWELL, ed., Antioch-on-theO r o n t e s , vol. I l l : The Excavations, 1 9 3 7 - 1 9 3 9 , Princeton, N J , 1941, pp. 3 2 - 3 4 , 260, and PI. 16, nr. 365. This decision eliminated, for example, the complexes of evidence f o u n d at Beneventum, C a n o p u s , and Reggio since in none of these cases has a definite location for a sanctuary

ISIS -

SARAPIS SANCTUARIES

OF THE

ROMAN

PERIOD

1745

T h e division often made between the f o r m s of the cult f o u n d in E g y p t and those f o u n d elsewhere seems, at least for the R o m a n period, somewhat arbitrary and inappropriate. A n u m b e r of sanctuaries constructed largely or entirely in G r a e c o - R o m a n style and sharing m a n y features in c o m m o n with Isis-Sarapis cult buildings elsewhere have been discovered in various parts of E g y p t . Of these, all but Alexandria were f o u n d e d in R o m a n times. Temples in traditional style also continued to be built in R o m a n E g y p t as centers in which Isis received p r o m i n e n t cultic h o n o r s . These shrines, h o w e v e r , reveal quite a different grouping of divinities, different iconographic f o r m s , different facilities, and so f o r t h f r o m those included here. T h e y appear to be manifestations of late Egyptian religion rather than of the G r a e c o - R o m a n cult. 2 2 I first present the various sites in tabular f o r m for convenient comparison and cross-reference. Following this, detailed bibliographies for each site are provided and questions of dating and identification are explored. It is n o t m y intention in discussing such points simply to repeat conventional w i s d o m . Rather, with a view to establishing a firmer base for the study of these sanctuaries, I have attempted to investigate these p r o b l e m s anew w h e r e this seemed necessary. Solutions to such problems and the very survey itself are intended to be propaedeutic to a richer understanding of the Isis-Sarapis cult. I have myself begun t o explore certain broader issues but will not have the space here to present these findings. Rather, I will attempt at the end of this study to pose a few of the larger questions raised by the evidence f r o m these sanctuaries.

III.

Table of Sites

A w o r d is in order to explain the various categories which appear in the tabular listing. C o l u m n 2, 'Identification', refers to the degree of certainty that a particular sanctuary did relate to the worship of Isis a n d / o r Sarapis. T h e divinity accorded principal h o n o r s is indicated in C o l u m n 3. I have here indicated in code the type of evidence which s u p p o r t s the attribution to a particular

22

or sanctuaries yet been determined. On the other hand, even though the precise locations for the sanctuaries at Aquileia and Carthage are now unknown, they are included in the listing since architectural remains were probably uncovered at some earlier date. Among these are the sanctuaries found at Contralatopolis (El Hilla), Deir el Shelwit, Dendera (the small Isis temple), Maharaqah, Meroe, Philae (Roman additions), Qasr Dush, Qurta, and Shanhur. It should be observed, however, that Greek speakers did worship at some of these centers (notably at Philae) and left behind their inscriptions and graffiti. For bibliographies on these sanctuaries cf. BERTHA PORTER and R. L. B. Moss, Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, Reliefs, and Paintings, 9 vols., Oxford, 1927-72 and W. HELCK and E. OTTO, eds., Lexikon der Ägyptologie, Wiesbaden, 1975-.

LIÉ ANRW II 17.4

1746

R O B E R T A. W I L D

deity or deities: A = architectural design, DI = dedicatory inscription for the site, I = other types of inscriptions, L = literary evidence, and SF = small finds. Columns 4—6 should be self-explanatory. Of these various dates, certainly the most difficult to determine is that for the termination of cultic activities at a given site. Most of the dates given under Column 6 are rather hypothetical unless the excavators carried out a careful stratigraphie analysis and this produced sufficient data to determine the matter. Major reconstructions (Column 5) are important to note since they often provide evidence for the religious vitality of a particular sanctuary. In Column 7 I provide the dates of any excavations and the names of the chief individuals associated with these efforts. Finally, Columns 8 — 10 aim at providing the reader with some idea of the relative worth of the various sites as sources of information. While the general rule of thumb is that high number ratings are good, low number ratings bad, the reader is urged to consult the interpretations of these ratings given below. 23 It is possible, for example, that a site survived in fairly good condition (a high 'State of Site' rating) but was poorly excavated and/or poorly reported and so is now largely inaccessible to further investigation (e.g., Aquileia, Carthage, and Cyme). It is also possible that a site was not very well

23

Interpretation of the numerical ratings used in C o l u m n s 8 — 10 ( P O B = partially overbuilt; T O B = totally overbuilt; P R = partially restored): C o l u m n 8: State of Site 6 — foundations and some lower walls preserved 7 — lower walls substantially preserved 8 — some upper walls preserved 9 — site buildings substantially preserved 10 — site buildings substantially preserved; many small finds recovered in situ

1 — general location of site k n o w n 2 — precise location k n o w n 3 — scattered fragments of the architecture f o u n d in situ 4 — foundations partially preserved 5 — foundations substantially or entirely preserved

1

2

3

4

5

SITE

IDENTIFICATION

CHIEF DEITY

FOUNDED

REMODELED/ REBUILT

Alexandria

Certain

Sarapis (DI, L)

246-21 B.C.

Ampurias

Possible

Isis & Sarapis (I)

1st cen. B.C. (prop.)

(?)

Antinoopolis

Probable

Sarapis (I)

prob. after 130

(?)

late 2nd cen.

ISIS - SARAPIS S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

1747

PERIOD

p r e s e r v e d b u t w a s e x c a v a t e d a n d p u b l i s h e d w i t h great care. U s u a l l y s u c h a site w i l l p r o v i d e q u i t e v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n d e s p i t e its c o n d i t i o n . T h e s h r i n e in t h e A g o r a at C o r i n t h a n d t h e t w o sanctuaries at Soli illustrate t h i s s i t u a t i o n v e r y w e l l . Column 9: Excavation(s) 1 — most or all of site impossible to excavate — some random finds 2 — chance discovery - no record of any systematic exploration 3 — site probed by scattered trenches 4 — site sufficiently excavated to determine most of its overall plan 5 — entire site surveyed in detail but not yet cleared

6 — central temple of site substantially or entirely cleared 7 — precinct substantially or entirely cleared 8 — entire precinct systematically excavated 9 — site systematically excavated with attention given to minor finds 10 — site systematically excavated with attention also to stratigraphie analysis

Column 10: Report(s) 1 — scattered notices only; no actual report 2 — report primarily limited to small finds 3 — notices only, but with more details given 4 — highlights among the discoveries reported; no plan of the site provided 5 — highlights among the discoveries reported; plan of site included

6

7

CEASED

EXCAVATED

6 — more systematic general report published 7 — still more systematic and more detailed general report 8 — very systematic report provides detailed dimensions and other information on architecture and major small finds 9 — very systematic report provides detailed information on architecture and all small finds. Find spots generally or always indicated 10 — in addition, report offers analyses of pottery finds and stratigraphie

8

9

10

STATE

EXCAVA-

REPORT(S)

OF 391

A.D.

SITE

T I O N (S)

4 (POB)

7

5

1 9 0 7 - 8 (PUIG Y CADAFALCH)

5

7

6

1 8 9 6 - 9 7 (GAYET)

5

3

3

1 8 6 5 (MAHMOUD EL-FALAKI); 1896 ( B o r r i ) ; 1 9 0 5 - 6 (BRECCIA); 1942-49 (Rows)

n o t later t h a n 3rd c e n .

(?)

116«

1748

ROBERT A. WILD

1

2

SITE

IDENTIFICATION

3 CHIEF DEITY

4 5 FOUNDED REMODELED/ REBUILT

Aquileia

Possible

Isis (?) or Isis & Sarapis (I)

2nd cen.

(?)

Bononia

Doubtful

Isis (I, SF)

1st or 2nd cen.(?)

(?)

Carthage

Probable

Sarapis (I, SF)

2nd cen.(?)

(?)

Cenchreae

Doubtful

Isis (SF, L)

2nd cen.(?)

early 4th cen.

Corinth: South Stoa

Certain

Sarapis (SF)

late 2nd cen.

Cyme

Probable

Aphrodite; later: Isis (I)

c. 4th cen. B.C.

Cyrene: Acropolis

Possible

Isis & Sarapis (I, SF)

Temple: late 1st cen.(?); Rooms: mid 4th cen.

Cyrene: Apollo Precinct

Certain

Isis (DI)

117—38 (?)

211-17

Ephesus: State Agora

Possible

Isis(?) (A, SF)

2nd half of 1st cen. B.C.

c. 200 A.D.

Faesulae

Possible

Isis(?)

1st or 2nd cen.

(?)

Frauenberg

Possible

Isis (I ?)

late 1st early 2nd cen.

(?)

Gigthis: Forum:

Doubtful

Sarapis (SF)

2nd cen.

(?)

Gortyn

Certain

Isis & Sarapis (DI, SF)

c. 2nd cen. B.C.

1st or 2nd cen. — for Isis worship (?)

1st or 2nd cen.

1749

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

6

7

8

9

10

CEASED

EXCAVATED

STATE O F SITE

EXCAVATION^)

REPORT(S)

8 -> 1

3

1

4 (TOB)

3

3

1

3

2

7

10

10

6

10

10

3rd cen.(?)

1862 and 1876 (GREGORUTTI)

(?)

1878

(GOZZADINI)

(?)

1 8 7 4 (SAINTEMARIE)

(?)

1963-67 (SCRANTON)

267 A . D .

1936-37 (BRONEER)

3rd cen.(?)

1 9 2 5 (SALAC)

5

7

2

Temple: early 4th cen. Rooms: late 4th or 5th cen.

1916

5

7

1916: 6 1935: 3

8 (PR)

7

1

5

6

8

4-6(?)

2

2

(MODRIJAN)

5 (POB)

7

6

(GAUCKLER

6

7

5

7

6

5

(?)

no later than c. 380 A . D . (?)

c. 400 A . D .

(?)

1935 (OLIVERIO?)

c. 1925 (PERNIER?)

1970 (ALZINGER

cen. (?)

&

KARWIESE)

1883 (chance find) 1951

1901 &

3rd or 4th

(GHISLAN-

ZONI);

SADOUX)

1913-14 (OLIVERIO)

ROBERT A. WILD

1750 1

2

SITE

IDENTIFICATION

3 CHIEF DEITY

4

5

FOUNDED REMODELED/ REBUILT 3rd cen.(?)

Industria

Probable

Isis (?) (A, SF)

2nd cen.

Lambaesis

Possible

Isis (?)

early 2nd cen.(?)

(?)

Leptis Magna

Probable

Sarapis (I, SF)

2nd cen.

(?)

Luxor

Certain

Sarapis (DI)

(?)

Miletus

Certain

Sarapis (DI)

1st or 2nd cen.

3rd cen.

Möns Claudianus

Certain

Sarapis (DI)

118 A.D.

(1—2 new additions built)

Möns Porphyrites: E. Iseum

Certain

Isis (DI)

113 A.D.

(?)

Möns Porphyrites: W. Iseum

Doubtful

Isis (I)

117—38 (?)

(?)

Möns Porphyrites: Serapeum

Certain

Sarapis (DI)

117-19

(?)

Ostia

Certain

Sarapis (DI, SF, I)

Jan. 24, 127 A.D.

Pergamum

Probable

Isis (SF)

early 2nd cen.

(?)

Philippi

Certain

Isis & Sarapis (I)

2nd cen. (?)

(?)

Poetovio

Doubtful

Isis & Sarapis (SF, A)

1st or early 2nd cen.

3rd cen.

Pompeii

Certain

Isis (DI, SF)

2nd cen. B.C.

c. 63 A.D.

Ras el Soda

Certain

Isis (SF)

after 150 A.D.

Rome: Campus Martius

Certain

Isis (& Sarapis) (SF, L)

early 1st cen.

Jan. 24, 126 A.D.

late 3rd early 4th cen.

—

89 A . D . ; c. 230 A . D . ; c. 300 A.D.

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

1751

6

7

8

9

10

CEASED

EXCAVATED

STATE O F SITE

EXCAVATION(S)

REPORT(S)

5

7

9+

(?)

(?)

(?)

6

7

4

c. 350

1 8 1 1 - 1 2 (MORRA); 1 9 6 1 - 6 3 (GULLINL) (?)

c. 1955(?)

late 4th cen.

1960 (VERGARACAFFARELLI)

3rd or 4th cen.

1 9 5 0 - 5 1 (ZAKARIA GHONEIM)

5 (PR)

7

5

(?)

1 9 0 8 - 9 (WLEGAND & KNACKFUSS)

6 (PR)

8

8

(?)

Survey: 1961 & 1964 (T. KRAUS et al.)

8

5

6

(?)

Survey: 1823 (WILKINSON)

6

5

5

(?)

Survey: 1964 (T. KRAUS et al.)

6

5

5

(?)

Survey: 1964 (T. KRAUS et al.)

5

5

6

(?)

1 9 3 9 - 4 0 (CALZA); 1953 —54(?)

8 (PR)

7

5

(?)

1934-35; 1938(?)

9 (POB)

6

1938: 1 1970: 7

3rd cen. or later

1920-21 (RENAUDIN)

5

7

6

4th cen.

1935 (W. SCHMIDT)

5

7

5

79 A . D .

1764-66

10

9

7

1936 (ADRIANI?)

8

7

6

3 (TOB)

3

5

(?) 4th or 5th cen. (?)

various dates

1752

ROBERT A. WILD

1 SITE

2 IDENTIFICATION

3 CHIEF DEITY

4

5

FOUNDED REMODELED/ REBUILT

Rome: Regio III

Possible

Isis & Sarapis (I, SF)

before 3rd cen.

Rome: Santa Sabina

Certain

Isis (I, SF)

late 2nd cen. (?)

Sabratha: East End

Certain

Sarapis & Isis (SF, I)

2nd or 3rd cen.

Sabratha: Forum

Possible

Sarapis (SF)

1st cen. B.C.

"late Roman period"

Savaria

Certain

Isis (SF)

late 2nd cen.

mid 3rd cen.

Soli: Temple D

Probable

Isis (SF, L)

1st cen. B.C.

Soli: Tempie E

Certain

Isis or Isis & Sarapis (SF)

late 2nd cen.

after 250 A.D.

Thessalonica

Certain

Sarapis & Isis (I)

3rd cen. B.C.

"Roman period"

Thysdrus

Possible

Sarapis (SF)

Timgad

Probable

Sarapis (SF)

Virunum

Possible

"Sarapis"(?)

York

Probable

Sarapis (DI)

(?)

2nd cen.

(?)

—

—

(?)

213 A.D.

(?)

(?)

late 2nd — early 3rd cen.

(?)

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F THE ROMAN PERIOD

6

7

CEASED

EXCAVATED

8

9

10

STATE

EXCAVA-

REPORT(S)

OF

(?) mid 3rd cen.

1653 (unknown) 1 8 5 5 - 5 7 (BASSON);

1753

SITE

TION^)

8 (TOB)

2

1

9

7

5

8 (PR)

9

9

7

7

1

4 (PR)

10

6

5 (TOB)

10

10

1 9 3 6 - 3 9 (DARSY)

4th cen.(?)

1 9 3 4 - 4 0 (GUIDI & CAPUTO); 1943-44; 1 9 4 6 - 4 7 (PESCE)

(?) 4th cen.

1934 (GUIDI); 1 9 4 8 (CATANUSO) 1955-58 (SZENTLÉLEKY)

late 1st cen.

1930-31 (WESTHOLM)

4th cen.(?)

1930-31 (WESTHOLM)

6

10

10

3rd or 4th cen.

1 9 2 1 - 2 4 ; 1939

4 (TOB)

3

1

4-5(?)

3-4(?)

1

7(?)

7(?)

3

(PELEKIDES)

(?)

1958-59

(?)

1 9 3 9 - 5 5 (LESCHI,

(FOUCHER) C . GODET, and R . GODET)

(?)

c. 1784 (unknown)

5(?)

6(?)

1

(?)

1770 (chance find)

4 (TOB)

2

2

The following have been incorrectly identified by some as Isis-Sarapis sanctuaries: Ephesus: Commercial Agora Hohenstein Panoias Stratonicea My reasons for rejecting these sites will be presented in section V (below, pp. 1 8 2 9 - 3 4 ) .

1754

ROBERT A. WILD I%

c

Ì o c u H SD E

ISIS -

SARAPIS

IV.

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

The Sites: Identity and

ROMAN

1755

PERIOD

Dating

(cf. Fig. 1)

This portion of the study is designed to achieve three ends. First, I have aimed at providing detailed critical bibliographies for each of the forty-four sites listed in the table above. Secondly, I have re-investigated the identification of each site — a task not without problems. Determining to which Egyptian god a given sanctuary was dedicated or even whether it belonged to the Isis-Sarapis circle at all can at times be a very complex matter. Occasionally, abundant and unambiguous evidence at once solves the question. M o r e often fragmentary materials must be pieced together to arrive at a determination. O n e complicating factor is the general horror vacui felt by many archaeologists when they uncover a temple or other major structure. It must at once be given a name. T h e data used to justify that name can at times be extraordinarily meager. N o matter, the name is given and the site then passes into more general literature as a 'Serapeum' or a 'sanctuary of Isis' or whatever. If, however, this present study is to be a useful corpus of Isis-Sarapis sites, these various identifications must be examined with rigor. Thirdly, I propose where necessary to re-examine the evidence for the dating of the sanctuaries. M y special concern is to determine when these sanctuaries were founded and, if they underwent alteration, when this took place. Such questions will be discussed insofar as the data allow some resolution. Some sites, for example, may have undergone a remodeling or rebuilding which was not apparent to the excavators. O n e such case is the sanctuary at Pompeii. A hundred years passed by after its excavation before actual archaeological evidence 'was produced to prove that the precinct had been expanded in 63 A . D . Here, as in so many other cases, the quality of work done by the archaeologists is a strictly limiting factor on the questions that can be asked of a given site.

1. Alexandria 2 4 (Figs. 2 - 3 ) Aside from Strabo's ambiguous statement that "within the Canal are the Serapeum and other ancient precincts which have been somewhat abandoned due

24

A . ADRIANI, w h o o f f e r s t h e m o s t u s e f u l s h o r t a s s e s s m e n t o f t h e site ( R e p e r t o r i o dell'Egitto

greco-romano,

Series

C,

vol.

I,

Palermo,

1966,

pp. 9 0 - 1 0 0 ) ,

d'arte

underscored

t h e c o n f u s e d state o f t h e p u b l i c a t i o n s f o r t h i s site a n d c a l l e d f o r a c o m p l e t e r e - e x a m i n a t i o n o f it ( p . 9 3 ) .

Reports

by

the various

excavators:

MAHMOUD

EL-FALAKI r e c o u n t e d

the

r e s u l t s o f his 1 8 6 2 s u r v e y a n d t r e n c h i n g o p e r a t i o n s i n : M e m o i r e s u r l ' a n t i q u e A l e x a n d r i e , Copenhagen,

1872.

More

important

excavations

were conducted

by

G.

BOTTI

in

the

1 8 9 0 s . H e reported these with s o m e care — although he was also given to s o m e

rather

f a n c i f u l r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s — i n : L ' a c r o p o l e d ' A l e x a n d r i e et le S e r a p e u m , A l e x a n d r i a ,

1895;

I D . , F o u i l l e s a la C o l o n n e T h e o d o s i e n n e ( 1 8 9 6 ) , A l e x a n d r i a , 1 8 9 7 ( s u m m a r i z e d i n : F o u i l l e s

1756

I I I I I I I I I I I Ì Ì

ROBERT A. WILD

M i l l i

P I T OF UNDERGROUND SYSTEM

SECRET

PASSAGE

MODER 5TAIRW

COLONNADE URCHEO)

WATER PlI 1 I900M DEEP

UpTOLtMAiC

MAUSOLEUM(?) on

CENOTAPHIM

COLONNADE [iH ROIK 1 tREfCM

FOUNDATION PI A QUE 5

NILOMETtP(?l

F i g . 3. A l e x a n d r i a : t h e S e r a p e u m ( d e t a i l ) . D r a w n a f t e r t h e 194

WER

TERRACE

•

•

M ^

= PTOLEMAIC = ROMAN

=REST0RED = OTHE R

OLEMAlC FAIRWAY

ENCLOSURE

ENCLOSURE

WALLS.

WALLS.

FROM M A N M O U D

EL-FALAKI.

RESTORATIONS.

- = U N D E R G R O U N D OR N O T EXCAVATED. „ » — = L I M I T S OF E X C A V A T I O N R = T R A C E S of ROMAN BUILDING.

STAIRWAY -IAN)

[ campaign. For "Iseum (?)" read "Serapis Temple'

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

1757

t o the c o n s t r u c t i o n of the new sanctuaries in the N i c o p o l i s " , 2 5 there is no indication that devotional life slackened at this sanctuary during R o m a n times. Indeed, frequent mention in the papyri o f pious visits t o the shrine suggest quite the opposite. C o n s e q u e n t l y , the reconstruction almost a. fundamento

which t o o k

place sometime during the Imperial period was not the revival of a previously abandoned place of worship. Until recently this reconstruction was associated with H a d r i a n ' s reign. WACE not very convincingly argued that this rebuilding was

d'Alexandrie en 1896, BIE, ser. 3, 8 [1897], pp. 2 9 - 4 7 ) ; and ID., L'Apis de l'empereur Adrien trouvé dans le Sérapéum d'Alexandrie, BArchAlex 2 (1899), pp. 27—36. This last was on the black granite statue of a bull dedicated for the sôtèria of Hadrian. In 1 9 0 5 - 6 EVARISTO BRECCIA made further soundings on the site. His report, Les fouilles dans le Sérapéum d'Alexandrie en 1905-1906, ASAntEg 8 (1907), pp. 6 2 - 7 6 , concentrated on small finds. He also includes inscriptions from the site: Iscrizioni greche e latine (Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée d'Alexandrie 57), Cairo, 1911, nrs. 6, 13, 68, 85, 150, 155, 186. In ID., Alexandrea ad Aegyptum, Bergamo, 1914, pp. 95 — 103 (French éd.), there is a guide book survey of the site. By far the most extensive and best-known explorations were carried on by ALAN ROWE; his published reports, however, though extensive, are in tumultuous disarray: Short Report on Excavations of the Graeco-Roman Museum Made during the Season 1942 at 'Pompey's Pillar', BArchAlex 35 (1942), pp. 124—61 and ID., Discovery of the Famous Temple and Enclosure of Serapis at Alexandria, ASAntEg, Suppl. 2, Cairo, 1946, pp. 1—94. Summary accounts of ROWE'S work were published by PIERRE JOUGUET (Les dépôts de fondation du temple de Sarapis à Alexandrie, CRAcInscr 1946, pp. 6 8 0 - 8 6 ) , by CHARLES PICARD (Le Serapeion ptolémaique d'Alexandrie, RA 28 [1947], II, pp. 7 1 - 7 2 ) , and by A. J. B. WACE (Recent Ptolemaic Finds in Egypt, JHS 65 [1945], pp. 1 0 6 - 9 ) . ROWE himself later published (with B. R. REES) an important summation of his findings: A Contribution to the Archaeology of the Western Desert: IV. The Great Serapeum of Alexandria, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 39 (1956-57), pp. 4 8 5 - 5 2 0 . On the Column of Diocletian: ÉTIENNE COMBE, De la Colonne Pompée au Phare d'Alexandrie, BArchAlex 34 (1941), pp. 1 0 4 - 2 2 . Notes on various small finds were published by A. J . B. WACE: An Altar from the Serapeum, BArchAlex 36 (1943—44), pp. 83—97 and pis. v i i - i x and ID., Greek Inscriptions from the Serapeum, Bulletin of the Faculty of Arts, Farouk I University 2 (1944), pp. 17—26. For a list of the numerous ancient texts which refer to the Serapeum cf. ARISTIDE CALDERINI, Dizionario dei nomi geografici e topografici dell'Egitto greco-romano, vol. I, Cairo, 1935, pp. 140—41. To this can be added P. Cairo Zen. I I I . 5 9 3 5 5 . 1 0 2 - 3 and P. Oxy. 3094. Many papyri refer to acts of supplication performed at Alexandria "before the Lord Sarapis" — e.g., P. Amh. 136, B G U 1680, P. Mich. 492 and 513, P. Ryl. 230. The most important ancient physical descriptions of the (late Roman) sanctuary are: Amm. Marcell. 22.16.12—13, Aphthonius, Progym. (ed. RABE), pp. 38ff., and Rufinus, Hist. eccl. 2.23. Studies on the history of the sanctuary: SUSAN HANDLER, Architecture on the Roman Coins of Alexandria, AJA 75 (1971), pp. 57—74 (on the date of the Roman reconstruction) and A. BAUER and J. STRZYGOWSKI, Eine alexandrinische Weltchronik (Denkschriften der k. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse 51), Wien 1906, pt. 2, pp. 6 9 - 7 5 , 122, and Taf. vi (on the destruction of the Serapeum in the late 4th cen.); and P. M. FRASER, Ptolemaic Alexandria, vol. I, Oxford, 1972 (3 vols.), pp. 2 7 - 2 8 , 228, 236, 2 6 5 - 7 0 , 2 7 4 - 7 5 (various aspects). 25

Strabo 17.1.10: êvxôç ôè xfjç ôiœQuyoç xô XE SapcuiEiov icai âXka XEHEVT) ÙQyaia ÈKXEXeiHHÉva Jtwç ÔIÀ tf)v xûv véaiv icaxaoK£vr|V xwv èv NIKOJIÔXEI. The Serapeum need not be included among the temenê ekleleimmena.

1758

ROBERT

A.

WILD

necessitated by the devastation caused in the Jewish revolt of 1 1 6 — 1 7 . 2 6 R O W E appealed for proof of a Hadrianic date to the Alexandrian coin series which depicts the Serapeum facade and to a large black granite bull dedicated in the sanctuary during Hadrian's reign. 2 7 This latter point is quite irrelevant. As for the former, H A N D L E R has convincingly demonstrated that this coin series, which continues to the eleventh year of Marcus Aurelius, neither proves a Hadrianic reconstruction nor any rebuilding before 171 A . D . 2 8 She herself suggests (p. 68) the reign of Caracalla (211 — 17) as a more probable date since coins found under the four corners of the great piscina on the east side of the sanctuary courtyard prove that this huge basin was built during his reign. However, Cassius D i o , unless he is merely being malicious and depicting Caracalla as dishonoring the gods, indicates ( 7 8 . 2 3 . 2 ) that this emperor used the Serapeum as a base of operations against the rebellious Alexandrians. A n open and unfinished sanctuary area would hardly have served such a purpose. Since the archaeological evidence does not provide a precise date, 2 9 a determination can only be made on other grounds. Several ancient writers refer to a cataclysmic fire at the Serapeum in 181 A . D . 3 0 It is more likely that the reconstruction detected by R O W E was the result of this fire. It would have offered the opportunity not simply to restore the sanctuary as of old but to enlarge and enrich it.

2. A m p u r i a s 3 1 (Fig. 4) The habitual identification of this sanctuary as a Serapeum is certainly open to question. It is based entirely on two inscriptions, SIRIS 767 and 768.

26

C i t e d in ROWE, A S A n t E g , S u p p l . 2 , (cit. n. 2 4 , a b o v e ) , p p . 63 — 6 4 .

27

I b i d . 6 2 ; cf. R O W E - R E E S , B u l l . J o h n R y l . L i b . 3 9 ( 1 9 5 6 - 5 7 ) , p p . 4 9 5 - 9 6 .

28

HANDLER, A J A 75 (1971), p p .

29

ROWE indicates o n l y that the c o m p r e s s e d m a s o n r y u s e d b y the R o m a n s is f r o m the 2 n d

30

C l e m e n t o f A l e x a n d r i a , P r o t r e p . 4 . 5 1 ; E u s e b i u s , C h r o n i c a ( é d . SCHOENE, p p . 172 — 7 3 ) ;

31

The

64-68.

c e n . or later ( A S A n t E g , S u p p l . 2 [cit. n. 24, a b o v e ] , p . 24, n. 1 a n d p . 3 3 , n. 2). a n d p o s s i b l y A r n o b i u s , A d v . nat. 6 . 2 3 . finds

excavator, (Les

JOSEPH

excavations

PUIG

Y CADAFALCH,

d'Empuries,

Anuari

published

del

Institut

short

annual

d'Estudis

reports

Catalans

2

of

his

[1908],

p p . 190—93 a n d ID., C r ó n i c a d e les e x c a v a c i o n s d ' E m p u r i e s , I b i d . 3 [ 1 9 0 9 — 1 0 ] , p . 708) a n d a m o r e l e n g t h y s u m m a r y article, the single m o s t u s e f u l r e p o r t ( E l s t e m p l e s d ' E m p u ries, I b i d . 4 [ 1 9 1 1 - 1 2 ] , p p . 3 0 3 - 2 2 ) . C f . a l s o ID., L ' a r q u i t e c t u r a r o m a n a a C a t a l u n y a , 2 n d e d . , B a r c e l o n a , 1 9 3 4 , p p . 8 7 - 9 4 . E . GANDÍA c o m p i l e d a ' D i a r i o d e e x c a v a c i o n e s '

-

this m a n u s c r i p t w a s r e p o r t e d t o b e in t h e l i b r a r y of the M u s e u m of B a r c e l o n a ( n o t seen b y m e ) . M o r e recently ANTONIO GARCÍA Y BELLIDO has r e - e x a m i n e d the e v i d e n c e f r o m this site in several p u b l i c a t i o n s : H i s p a n i a g r a e c a , v o l . I I , B a r c e l o n a , 1 9 4 8 , p p . 36 — 38 a n d , of m u c h greater i m p o r t a n c e , ID., El c u l t o a S á r a p i s en la p e n i s u l a ibérica, B o l e t í n d e la R e a l A c a d e m i a d e la H i s t o r i a 139 ( 1 9 5 6 ) , p p . 3 1 3 - 2 1 . T h e first p a r t o f this latter s t u d y is r e p r i n t e d in a b b r e v i a t e d f o r m in ID., L e s r e l i g i o n s o r i e n t a l e s d a n s l ' E s p a g n e r o m a i n e ( É t . p r é l i m i n . aux relig. o r i e n t , d a n s l ' e m p i r e r o m . 5), L e i d e n , 1967, p p . 125—27. A l s o i m p o r t a n t : MARTÍN ALMAGRO, L a s i n s c r i p c i o n e s a m p u r i t a n a s g r i e g a s , ibéricas y latinas,

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

1759

PERIOD

' • C . .V.Ä - i r«,

F-ferìsii-/ *j O1

«ssscrßcsr

Fig. 4. Ampurias. The sanctuary in question is marked " V " on the plan. The city wall was partially dismantled to accomodate this structure. Surviving portions of it appear above the sanctuary

1760

R O B E R T A. W I L D

N o collaborative small finds were reported and what remains of the sanctuary reveals nothing that would point with assurance to the Isis-Sarapis cult. SIRIS 767, found in fragmentary condition near the city wall in the neighborhood of the temple, may possibly mention Sarapis. 32 However, if H Ü B N E R and SALA6 are correct in their restoration of line 3 as meni f(ilius), the inscription extended ten or twelve letters to the left. 3 3 Therefore, if ¡Serajpi is to be read at the right end of line 1, Isis' name very probably preceded it. SIRIS 768, found near the temple site during the 1908 excavations, reads [SJarapi at the end of line 2 but again has room to the left for another divine name. 3 4 If the temple is to be identified on the basis of these two inscriptions, it more probably was a temple of Isis and Sarapis. There is something of a scholarly consensus that the Ampurias precinct was constructed in the 1st cen. B . C . While GARCÍA Y BELLIDO argues for this century (with the early 1st cen. A.D. as a less likely possibility), P U I G Y CADAFALCH and ALMAGRO preferred a date in the late 2nd or the 1st cen. B . C . 3 5 The stratigraphy supports this range of dates without allowing further refinement.

3. Antinoopolis 36 (Fig. 5) GAYET identified a structure that he found here as a sanctuary of Sarapis because he discovered on the site various fragments of votive inscriptions to this

32

33 34

35

Barcelona, 1952 (cf. Greek nr. 2, p. 18; Latin nrs. 2, p. 89 and 5, p. 94); F I D E L F I T A , SJ, El templo de Sérapis en Ampurias, Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 3 (1883), pp. 124—29 (on the inscriptions); and M. C A Z U R R O and E. G A N D Í A , La estratificación de la cerámica en Ampurias y la época de sus restos, Anuari del Institut d'Estudis Catalans 5 (1913-14), pp. 6 5 7 - 8 6 (quite important for determining the date of the structure). M A R T Í N A L M A G R O provides a street plan of the ancient town (fig. 21), a photograph of a model of the (reconstructed) sanctuary (fig. 22), and a brief survey of the site in: A m p u rias: historia de la ciudad y guía de las excavaciones, Barcelona, 1951, pp. 92—94. SIRIS 767 (1stcen. A . D . ) : [Serajpi aedem fsedilija, porticus —meni f(ilius) ius O n this proposed restoration cf. V I D M A N , S I R I S , p. 3 2 4 . SIRIS 768 (1st or 2nd cen.A.D.): us. AC1V ANA [ - riuQiA?]ávjiou M a ç [oaXif|xr|ç? ]avíou ['A]Xe [|av?]0QEii5 e|3eç èjTOEi G A R C Í A Y B E L L I D O , Boletín 1 3 9 ( 1 9 5 6 ) , p. 3 1 5 ; P U I G Y C A D A F A L C H , Anuari 4 ( 1 9 1 1 - 1 2 ) , p p . 3 1 9 - 2 2 ; ALMAGRO, A m p u r i a s , p . 94.

36

The archaeologist, ALBERT GAYET, was content to report the results of his sondages in a mere two pages: C o m p t e rendu des fouilles effectuées a Antinoe au cours de l'hiver

ISIS -

SARAPIS SANCTUARIES

OF THE

ROMAN

PERIOD

1761

g o d . 3 7 W h i l e G A Y E T ' S investigation of the ruins w a s n o t all that t h o r o u g h , the apparent quantity o f these texts adds w e i g h t t o the s u g g e s t e d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . 3 8 GAYET a d v a n c e d n o v i e w s as to w h e n this sanctuary had b e e n c o n s t r u c t e d . Since A n t i n o o p o l i s w a s f o u n d e d in 130 A . D . , the c o n s t r u c t i o n of this b u i l d i n g likely occurred s o m e t i m e after t h i s . 3 9

37

38

39

1896-97, Annales du Musée Guimet 26, pt. 3 (1897), pp. 5 5 - 5 6 . Line drawings of this sanctuary and of the site he called an "Iseum" are found in ID., Antinoe et les sépultures de Thais et Sérapion, Paris, 1902, pp. 9—17; these, however, are not very informative. For a sketch map of the Antinoopolis area showing the location of the Sarapis temple see A. GAYET, L'exploration des nécropoles gréco-byzantines d'Antinoe, Annales du Musée Guimet 30, pt. 2 (1901), pl. xx. A useful summary of the state of the site is found in ERNST KÜHN, Antinoopolis, Diss. Göttingen, 1913, pp. 58—59. An Italian expedition re-examined various sites at Antinoopolis in 1966 but apparently did not uncover any new information about the Serapeum (S. DONADONI, Antinooupolis, Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. I, Wiesbaden, 1975, p. 324). GAYET, Ann. Mus. Guimet 26 (1897), p. 56. I have not been able to locate any publication of these texts. DONADONI (Lexikon, vol. I, p. 324) stresses the hasty character of GAYET'S identifications. GAYET also believed that he had discovered the remains of a temple dedicated to Isis. The Italian expedition of 1966 discovered that this supposed "temple" was actually "a monumental entrance of Roman times and a church leaning upon it" (DONADONI, Ibid.).

117 ANRW II 17.4

1762

ROBERT

A.

WILD

4. Aquileia 4 0 C . GREGORUTTI reported that he had uncovered significant remains of a temple to Isis with columns still upright. It was situated a few hundred meters northeast of the walls of ancient Aquileia near the 15th cen. church of S. Andrea in Monastero. 4 1 The site is referred to in older reports as the vineyard of Baron Ritter. Many inscriptions were found in the area, including twelve which mention or depict Isis (SIRIS 6 0 0 - 8 , 6 1 0 - 1 1 , 614), one Anubis dedication (SIRIS 599), and one text which seemingly refers to a city district named after Isis and Sarapis (SIRIS 6 1 6 ) . 4 2 O f these only SIRIS 610 and 614 (a relief of Isis but dedicated to M. M. Fortis Fortuna) are reported to have been found on the temple site. However, dedications to Jupiter Sol, to "all the gods and goddesses", and perhaps also to Feronia were also found here ( C I L V. 8233, 8215, and 8218). Consequently, despite the large number of dedications to the Egyptian gods recovered in the general area, the identification of this once fairly well-preserved sanctuary is by no means certain. 4 3 If an Iseum, its floruit was in the 2nd and 3rd centuries since the various Isis inscriptions date from that period. 4 4

5. Bononia 4 5 COUNT GOZZADINI m a y actually have discovered the cella of the I s e u m

which is supposed to have stood in the Piazza di S. Stefano at Bologna. Nothing 40

CARLO GREGORUTTI, the 19th century excavator of the site, published a brief account of his finds in: Le antiche lapidi di Aquileja, Trieste, 1877, pp. vii—viii (not seen by me). ERNESTO MAJONICA reported the discoveries briefly: Trieste — Pola — Aquileja, Archäologisch-epigraphische Mittheilungen aus Österreich 1 (1877), p. 49 and ID., Fundkarte von Aquileja, Xenia austriaca, vol. I, Vienna, 1893, p. 3 0 2 . C f . also ID., Aquileia zur R ö m e r z e i t , Gorizia, 1881. Since the very location of the sanctuary described by GREGORUTTI seems now to be unknown, all later reports were on the inscriptions and small finds. It is not always clear whether these were found in the sanctuary area or elsewhere: GIOVANNI BRUSIN, Aquileia: guida storica e artistica, Udine, 1929, pp. 92—93, 137, 156 — 57, 173, 212 (various small finds); ARISTIDE CALDERINI, Aquileia romana, Milan, 1930, pp. 134—37 (list of inscriptions and other finds from Aquileia relating to the Egyptian gods); G . BRUSIN, Gli scavi di Aquileia, Udine, 1934, p. 108 (on a small head of Sarapis); and CLAUDIA DOLZANI, Oggetti egiziani del Museo di Aquileia, Aquileia nostra 24—25 (1953—54), cols. 1 — 10 (four objects in Egyptian or Egyptianizing style — the find spots mentioned do not appear to relate these discoveries to the Monastero site).

41

MAJONICA, Xenia austriaca, I, p. 302. O t h e r inscriptions found: C I L V . 7 6 7 - 70, 8209, 8 2 1 5 - 1 6 , 8218 , 8 2 2 0 , 8 2 3 0 , 8234, 8237, 8250, 8 2 5 5 - 5 6 , 8 2 5 8 - 6 0 , 8264, 8306. MAJONICA ( A r c h . - e p . Mittheilungen 1 [1877], p. 49) already reported the site to have been reduced to low hills of rubble. VIDMAN, S I R I S , p. 272. T h e only serious excavation was conducted by COUNT GOZZADINI in 1878. H e provided, however, only a very brief report: Bologna, N S c 1878, p. 2 2 6 . M o d e r n summaries of the findings from this site: PERICLE DUCATI, Storia di Bologna, vol. I, Bologna, 1928, pp.

42

43

44 45

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

1763

PERIOD

in his r e p o r t , h o w e v e r , o f f e r s a n y d i r e c t l i n k w i t h t h e c u l t o f I s i s . R a t h e r ,

he

a p p e a l e d t o e a r l y d i s c o v e r i e s m a d e in t h e s u r r o u n d i n g a r e a : S I R I S 5 8 8 (a d e d i c a t i o n f r o m t h e l a t e 1st o r t h e 2 n d c e n . t o Dominae

Isidi

Victrici)46

and a frag-

m e n t a r y h i e r o g l y p h i c i n s c r i p t i o n f o u n d in 1 6 6 4 . W h i l e t h e s e f i n d s s u g g e s t e d t h e p o s s i b l e p r e s e n c e o f a s a n c t u a r y o f Isis in t h i s a r e a , t h e r e is n o p a r t i c u l a r r e a s o n t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e e x c a v a t i o n in 1 8 7 8 s u c c e e d e d in d i s c o v e r i n g it.

6.

Carthage47 SAINTE-MARIE'S c r y p t i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e s t r u c t u r e h e f o u n d m a y r e c o u n t ,

as CAGNAT a n d G A U C K L E R s u g g e s t e d , t h e d i s c o v e r y o f a t e m p l e p r e c e d e d b y a courtyard.48

T h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t S A I N T E - M A R I E d i d f i n d w i t h i n

this

area

five Sarapis i n s c r i p t i o n s , t w o h e a d s o f this s a m e g o d , a n d a seated statue, also o f S a r a p i s . 4 9 T h i s large q u a n t i t y o f e v i d e n c e suggests t h a t SAINTE-MARIE had indeed s t u m b l e d u p o n a cult building o f this g o d . A t p r e s e n t t h e l o c a t i o n o f this site c a n o n l y b e a p p r o x i m a t e d ; it is d e s c r i b e d as b e i n g c l o s e t o t h e c i s t e r n s o n t h e s e a coast and to the A n t o n i n e b a t h s . 5 0 T o judge by the epigraphical remains,

this

s a n c t u a r y p e r h a p s b e g a n a n d c e r t a i n l y f l o u r i s h e d in t h e 2 n d c e n .

403—4, 4 1 5 - 1 7 and GIANCARLO SUSINI, Il lapidario greco e romano di Bologna e supplementum bononiense ad C I L X I , Bologna, 1960, pp. 1 0 3 - 5 , nr. 116. See also ID., I culti orientali nella Cispadana, in: Hommages à Maarten J . Vermaseren, vol. I l l (Et. prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 68), Leiden, 1978, pp. 1205 — 6, and M . MALAISE, Inventaire, p. 25. See also J . GRIMOD, C h r E g 12 (1937), p. 239 and J . GY«N GRIFFITHS, C h r E g 39 (1964), p. 6 7 . O n e of the major small finds, a fragmentary hieroglyphic inscription (now lost), is published in CARLO CAKSARE MAI.VASIA, Marmora Felsinea, Bologna, 1690, pp. 33 — 36 and 607—9. H e also has a few things to say about the supposed Iseum: pp. 1—3 and 3 7 - 3 9 . 46 47

Date discussed in DUCATI, Bologna, p. 4 0 3 . This inscription was found in 1299. In late 1874 E . DE SAINTE-MARIE, who had been hunting for Punic inscriptions in the ruins of Carthage, uncovered, or so it seems, a sanctuary of Sarapis along with a variety of small finds. His discoveries are recorded in a hopelessly confused and vague report: Mission à Carthage, Paris, 1884, pp. 15—25, 114—15, and p. 2 0 6 . Five inscriptions from the site ( S I R I S 770, 7 7 2 - 7 5 ) had been edited shortly before this by A. HÉRON DE VILLEFOSSE, Séance du 8 D é c e m b r e , B A n t F r 1880, pp. 2 8 4 - 8 7 and in ID., Séance du 19 O c t o bre, B A n t F r 1881, p. 2 6 5 ; S I R I S 771 and 776 only first appear in SAINTE-MARIE'S work (pp. 2 0 - 2 2 ) . AUGUSTE AUDOLLENT provides a valuable summary of the discoveries in: Carthage romaine, Paris, 1901, pp. 2 3 8 - 4 0 and 402 — 8. Short accounts are found in RENÉ CAGNAT and PAUL GAUCKLER,

Les monuments

historiques

d e la T u n i s i e , v o l .

I:

Les monuments antiques, Paris, 1898, p. 92; STÉPHANE GSELL, Les cultes égyptiens dans le nord-ouest de l'Afrique, R H R e l 59 (1909), pp. 1 4 9 - 5 0 ; and R . OEHLER, Karthago, R E X , 2 (1919), cols. 2 2 0 0 - 1 . 48

SAINTE-MARIE,

49

AUDOLLENT, Carthage, pp. 403—4, lists the statuary finds. O t h e r materials were also recovered by the excavators. I b i d . , pp. 2 3 9 - 4 0 ; SAINTE-MARIE, Mission, p. 13; GSELL, R H R e l 59 (1909), pp. 1 4 9 - 5 0 . T h e approximate location is marked on the map given by OEHLER, R E X , 2 (1919), col. 2161.

50

117*

M i s s i o n , p. 2 5 ; CAGNAT a n d GAUCKLER, M o n u m e n t s ,

p.

92.

1764

R O B E R T A. W I L D

7. C e n c h r e a e 5 1 (Figs. 6 — 7 ) In the c o u r s e of underwater investigations in the h a r b o r area,

ROBERT

SCRANTON and his team discovered an apsidal r o o m with a mosaic floor of geometric design. In the center of the apse was a fountain. A l o n g the walls of this r o o m w e r e stacked nine crates of opus sectile glass panels; these date t o the early 4th cen. and seemed t o have been placed here prior t o the completion of a rec o n s t r u c t i o n ( c o n s t r u c t i o n ? ) of this building. A variety of other small finds were also recovered but these have only partially been published. While SCRANTON remained s o m e w h a t tentative in his identification of the building as a t e m p l e 5 2 and tentative as well in relating it t o the Isis c u l t , 5 3 others were quite definite that this was n o t only an Iseum but the very sanctuary described in Apuleius, M e t a m . I I . 5 4 I myself find it difficult t o believe, at least on the basis of the evidence so far published, that this structure was a temple of any sort, m u c h less an Iseum. T h o s e w h o call it such appeal almost entirely t o the " N i l o t i c t h e m e s " found in the opus sectile panels. These, h o w e v e r , are n o t cultic in character and m a y have served here as elsewhere t o o r n a m e n t rather secular surroundings.

Not

all

E g y p t i a n items found in the W e s t have religious significance! 5 5 H e r e at this site no inscriptions were recovered, n o cultic o r religious objects , not even a base

51

The principal report on this site remains the 1967 article by ROBERT SCRANTON and EDWIN RAMAGE: Investigations at Corinthian Kenchreai, Hesperia 36 (1967), pp. 138—52 and pis. 33, 3 7 - 4 5 . Cf. also the plans on pp. 126, 128, 131, and 142. The same year SCRANTON also published a more popular presentation of his findings: Glass Pictures from the Sea, Archaeology 20 (1967), pp. 163 — 73. This included several useful photographs. (These glass panels, certainly a find of major importance, have now been published by SCRANTON in: Kenchreai: Eastern Port of Corinth: Results of Investigations, vol. II: The Panels of Opus Sectile in Glass, Leiden, 1967). JOHN HAWTHORNE had earlier reported briefly on the discoveries: Cenchreae, Port of Corinth, Archaeology 18 (1965), pp. 197—99. Other brief accounts: MIRIAM ERWIN, News Letter from Greece, AJA 71 (1967), p. 298 and pi. 91; RANUCCIO BIANCHI BANDINELLI, Rome: The Late Empire, New York, 1971, pp. 3 2 8 - 2 9

and figs. 3 1 1 - 1 2 ;

Alexandria,

AJA

75

(1971),

SUSAN HANDLER, A r c h i t e c t u r e o n t h e R o m a n p. 6 2 ,

and

DENNIS

E.

SMITH,

The

Coins

of

Cults

at

Egyptian

Corinth, HTR 70 (1977), pp. 201—210. A possible correlation between Pausanias' description of the harbor of Cenchreae and its temples (2.2.3) and the discoveries made by SCRANTON is e x p l o r e d

by

ROBERT HOHLFELDER,

Pausanias

II,

2,

3:

A

Collation

of

Archaeological and Numismatic Evidence, Hesperia 39 (1970), pp. 326—31. (I have not yet had the opportunity to examine the recently published final report on the excavations by the American team at Cenchreae: ROBERT SCRANTON etal., Kenchreai, vol. I: Topography and Architecture, Leiden 1978.) 52

SCRANTON, H e s p e r i a 3 6 ( 1 9 6 7 ) , p . 1 4 6 ; I D . , A r c h a e o l o g y 2 0 ( 1 9 6 7 ) , p p . 1 7 2 - 7 3 .

SCRAN-

TON did not find any roofing tiles, etc. Consequently, he considered it still an open possibility that this building had no roof (Hesperia 36, p. 141). 53

SCRANTON, A r c h a e o l o g y 2 0 ( 1 9 6 7 ) , p .

54

HAWTHORNE, A r c h a e o l o g y 18 ( 1 9 6 5 ) , p . 1 9 9 ; HANDLER, A J A 7 5 ( 1 9 7 1 ) , p . 6 2 .

173.

55

This point is insisted upon by J . LECLANT, Histoire de la diffusion des cultes égyptiens, in: Problèmes et méthodes d'histoire des religions, Paris, 1968, p. 95.

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

>

\

ff

I /

X\

v

¡g

;

x

V

a

1765

1766

ROBERT A. WILD

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

1767

PERIOD

f o r a c u l t s t a t u e . N o t h i n g r e n d e r s it e v e n p r o b a b l e t h a t t h i s b u i l d i n g w a s

an

Iseum.56

8. C o r i n t h : S o u t h S t o a 5 7 (Figs.

8-9)

This s a n c t u a r y w a s f o u n d e d in the latter part of the 2 n d cen., a date indicated b o t h b y its r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t h e s u r r o u n d i n g a r c h i t e c t u r e a n d b y t h e d a t e o f t h e Sarapis head f o u n d b y the cult p l a t f o r m . 5 8 W h e n the Herulians invaded

Corinth

i n 2 6 7 , it w a s d e s t r o y e d b y f i r e a n d w a s n o t r e b u i l t . 5 9 T h e s m a l l a n n e x a r e a t o t h e w e s t w i t h its f l o o r s l o p i n g a t a n i n e d e g r e e a n g l e t o w a r d t h e s a n c t u a r y h a s a drain w h i c h led o u t u n d e r the shrine to the A g o r a . H o w e v e r ,

there was

an o p e n i n g b e t w e e n the annex and the shrine, w h i c h a l l o w e d those w i t h i n cultic area to m a k e use of the w a t e r f o r their o w n

9. C y m e 6 1 (Fig.

also the

purposes.60

10)

S o m e Isis i n s c r i p t i o n s a n d o t h e r o b j e c t s w e r e f o u n d c a r e f u l l y s t a c k e d i n a b u i l d i n g w h i c h S A L A C c h r i s t e n e d " t h e m e e t i n g p l a c e o f t h e mystoi".62

56

57

W h i l e the publication of the remaining small finds could conceivably alter this judgment, any objects of cultic significance very likely would have received attention in the earlier reports if they had been found. Seventeen years after the excavation of the South Stoa OSCAR BRONEER published a detailed account of his finds including the small shrine to Sarapis: C o r i n t h , vol. I, pt. 4 : The South Stoa and Its Roman Successors, Princeton, 1954, pp. 132 — 39 and pis. iv and xviii. For a very useful discussion of the evidence f r o m the shrine cf. D. E. SMITH, HTR 70 (1977), pp.

59 60

61

Perhaps

212-16.

Date of the Sarapis head: after 150 (SMITH, HTR 70 [ 1 9 7 7 J , p. 2 1 5 ) . The head seems to have been made to fit into a (wooden) statue frame or herm. Probably, therefore, it was made expressly f o r the shrine to serve as its cult image. For a photograph of this head cf. BRONEER, Corinth, vol. I, pi. 4 4 . 2 . Ibid. p. 138. BRONEER (p. 136) did not find clear evidence f o r any sort of barrier across this opening, but there must have been one or every rainfall w o u l d have brought water pouring off the surrounding roofs and into the shrine area. The water contained in this annex structure cannot have been too "sacred" since it subsequently f l o w e d out into the Agora area. A temple to A p h r o d i t e , which later appears to have become (or to have encompassed in its precinct) an Isis shrine, was excavated by ANTONIN SALAC. He managed only to publish some of the major small finds and a f e w brief notes describing the overall site. His most lengthy description is found in B C H 4 9 ( 1 9 2 5 ) , pp. 476—78. (Summary of this in A . M . W O O D W A R D ,

Archaeology

in G r e e c e ,

1925-26,

J H S 4 6 [ 1 9 2 6 ] , p. 2 4 9 . )

His

'Hymnus na pocest b o h y n e Isidy z malasijske K y m e ' (LF 56 [ 1 9 2 9 ] , pp. 76—80) concentrates almost entirely on the Isis aretalogy inscription found on the site but also o f f e r s a few additional bits of information regarding the sanctuary (p. 77). SALAC discusses the aretalogy and three other inscriptions f r o m the site in: Inscriptions de K y m e d'Eolide, de Phocee, de Tralles et de quelques autres villes d'Asie Mineure, B C H 51 ( 1 9 2 7 ) , pp. 374—86. The aretalogy, as one of the finest examples of this genre, at once

I. 5C0UB.Btl.03

-

Gv.PtSCHKt:

LEGENDE Agora ( S a l a i ) Séulanbau Mula Tdpfarhaua ( S a l a i ) Isiahailigtum ( S a l a i ) Rbmiach» Halla ( S a l a i )

Paul Knoblauch

1977/7)

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

ROMAN

1769

PERIOD

this structure served in late R o m a n times as a sacred treasury for the offerings of the faithful. 6 3 SALAC himself believed that already in the 2 n d cen. B . C . Isis was receiving cultic h o n o r s

at w h a t had been a sanctuary

to Aphrodite.64

He

apparently arrived at this date because he had concluded that the Isis aretalogy found here dated t o that c e n t u r y . This date for the aretalogy has not received general acceptance. Instead m o s t scholars n o w refer this stone to the 1st o r 2nd cen A . D . 6 5 C o n s e q u e n t l y , L . CASTIGLIONE rightly questioned the h y p o thesis that the E g y p t i a n gods had taken up their dwelling in this G r e e k temple as early as the 2 n d . cen. B . C . 6 6 F o r if the aretalogy is of R o m a n date, there remains n o k n o w n Isis material f r o m the site which is earlier than the 1st o r 2nd cen. A . D . 6 7 It is m y o w n belief that Isis did n o t replace the earlier cult but, as at the received a great deal of scholarly attention. Major works include: P. ROUSSEL, Un nouvel hymne a Isis, R E G 42 (1929), pp. 1 3 7 - 6 8 ; W. PEEK, Der Isishymnus von Andros und verwandte Texte, Berlin, 1930; RICHARD HARDER, Karpokrates von Chalkis und die memphitische Isispropaganda (AbhBerlin 1943, nr. 14), Berlin 1944; A.-J. FESTUGIERE, A p r o p o s des a r e t a l o g i e s d ' I s i s , H T R 4 2 ( 1 9 4 9 ) , p p . 2 0 9 - 3 4 ; D I E T E R M Ü L L E R , Ä g y p t e n

und die griechischen Isis-Aretalogien (AbhLeipzig 53, 1), Berlin 1961; JAN BERGMAN, Ich bin Isis: Studien zum memphitischen Hintergrund der ägyptischen Isisaretalogien (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Historia religionum 3), Uppsala, 1968; V. F. VANDERLIP, The Four Greek Hymns of Isidorus and the Cult of Isis, Toronto, 1972, pp. 85 — 96 and pi. xv; and YVES GRANDJEAN, Une nouvelle aretalogie d'Isis Ä Maronee (Et. prelim, aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 49), Leiden, 1975. A further inscription from the Cyme discoveries was edited by ROMAN HAKEN: Bronze Votive Ears dedicated to Isis, in: Studia antiqua Antonio Salac septuagenario oblata, Prague, 1955, p. 170—72 and pis. xi—xiii. All of the inscriptions have recently been republished by HELMUT ENGELMANN: Die Inschriften von Kyme (Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien 5), Bonn, 1976,

pp. 9 7 - 1 1 0 ,

nrs. 4 1 - 4 4

and Taf.

11-14.

See also S I R I S

308-10.

Neither

the

ground survey of ancient Cyme (JÖRG SCHÄFER and HELMUT SCHLÄGER, Zur Seeseite von Kyme in der Äolis, AA 1962, cols. 4 0 - 5 7 ) nor SALDITT-TRAPPMANN'S examination of the site (Tempel, pp. 37—38) clarified the outlines or even the location of the sanctuary. SALDITT-TRAI'I'MANN tried without success to locate the small finds in the Izmir Museum. The HAKEN article (p. 170) suggests that they are at the Charles University in Prague. PAUL KNOBLAUCH, however, has not only seen SALAC'S own plan of the sanctuary — a tiny, almost illegible version appears on his topographic map of the city — but also his notes and other papers (Eine neue topographische Aufnahme des Stadtgebietes von Kyme in der Äolis, AA [1974], pp. 2 8 5 - 9 1 , cf. p. 285 and Abb. 1). KNOBLAUCH indicates that this material left by SALAC will at long last be published. 62 63

SALAC, LF 56 (1929), p. 77. So HAKEN, Studia antiqua, p. 170.

64

SALAC, B C H

65

ROUSSEL, R E G

49 (1925), p. 478. 4 2 ( 1 9 2 9 ) , p . 1 4 1 , n . 2 ; F . H I L L E R VON GAERTRINGEN, I G X I I ,

Suppl.

(1939), pp. 9 8 - 9 9 ; A.-J. FESTUGIERE, HTR 42 (1949), p. 233; MÜLLER, Ägypten, p. 11; GRANDJEAN, Aretalogie, pp. 8—9. NILSSON (Geschichte der griechischen Religion, vol. II 2 , p. 626, n. 5) continues to accept the earlier date. 66

L . CASTIGLIONE, r e v . o f R . SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, T e m p e l , G n o m o n 4 5 ( 1 9 3 7 ) , p . 5 2 3 .

67

SIRIS 308 apparently belongs to the 2nd cen. A.D. and 310 to the early 3rd cen. SIRIS 309 (undated) is very fragmentary and its relation to the cult is very questionable. The imported Egyptian uschebti found on the site was made in the Saite period (SALAC, B C H 51 [1927], pp. 384 — 86) but may well have been brought to Cyme only in Roman times.

1770

R O B E R T A. W I L D

C y r e n e A p o l l o Precinct site, found a place in the A p h r o d i t e sanctuary s o m e t i m e during the early Imperial period. A final decision on this must await the publication of S A L A C ' S papers.

10. C y r e n e : A c r o p o l i s 6 8 (Figs. 11 — 12) A l o n g with S. FERRI I am not convinced that the r o o m u n c o v e r e d by GHISLANZONI served primarily for the Isis-Sarapis cult. O n l y four of the small finds, the painted Isis statue (PARIBENI nr. 4 1 1 ) , the aretalogy fragment dedicated t o Isis and Sarapis (SIRIS 8 0 3 ) , and t w o garlanded statues of priestesses o f Isis (GHISLANZONI, pp. 1 6 6 - 6 7 and 2 0 1 - 2 ) , relate directly t o the E g y p t i a n gods. M o s t of the other objects (statues of A p h r o d i t e , the G r a c e s , E r o s ,

Cybele,

D e m e t e r , H e c a t e , Mithras, and Zeus) c o u l d fit into an Isis-Sarapis sanctuary but do n o t of themselves point t o this identification. 6 9 T h e fact that Isis materials are not in the p r e p o n d e r a n c e and that a civic inscription, a dedication by the ephebes of 2 2 4 A . D . t o H e r m e s and H e r a c l e s , was found close t o the painted Isis s t a t u e 7 0 argue for a different interpretation of the r o o m . O n e of its m o s t striking features, a sealed pit oriented on the cardinal points of the c o m p a s s and containing chicken eggs, clay lamps, burnt bones f r o m a bird, and s o m e coins f r o m the mid 4 t h c e n . ,

68

A portion of this site was excavated by E. GHISLANZONI in 1916. He provided a lengthy report of his findings which, however, concentrated on the small finds and devoted but two pages to the architecture: Il santuario delle divinità allessandone, Notiziario archeologico 4 (1927), pp. 1 4 9 - 2 0 6 . Summaries of his findings in R. VALLOIS, Bulletin archéologique, R E G

4 2 ( 1 9 2 9 ) , p . 6 2 a n d in P I E T R O R O M A N E L L I , L a C i r e n a i c a r o m a n a ,

Ver-

bania, 1943, pp. 223 — 25. Brief descriptions and photographs of all but five of the sculptural finds are found in ENRICO PARIBENI, Catalogo delle sculture di Cirene: Statue e rilievi di carattere religioso, Rome, 1959, nrs. 78, 92, 168, 170, 191, 232, 233, 258, 300, 302, 310, 411, 432. A further discussion of the best-known find, a painted statue of Isis or an Isis priestess: FRANZ CUMONT, Nouvelles découvertes à Cyrène: le temple d'Isis, JSav

1927,

pp. 3 1 8 - 2 2 .

Shortly

after

GHISLANZONI

wrote

his

report,

SILVIO

FERRI

published an interesting but somewhat confused examination of the findings in which, among other things, he questioned whether the structure found was actually an Iseum: Il telesterio isiaco di Cirene, SteMat 3 (1927), pp. 233—46. (This was republished under the same title and in almost identical form four decades later: StCO 12 [1963], pp. 5 — 15.) Italian archaeologists excavated the surrounding area in 1935 but never published a report of their work — a serious deficiency in terms of evaluating this site. R. G. GOODCHILD, who published a few notes on this excavation and a plan of the entire site (Kyrene und Apollonia [Ruinenstädte Nordafrikas 4], Zürich, 1971, pp. 1 0 5 - 7 ) , does not seem to have abandoned hope that a more detailed publication will be forthcoming. Apparently there were not many small finds recovered. PARIBENI, Catalogo, nr. 479, published one of these, a small bust of Sarapis. 69

70

L. VIDMAN (Die Isis- und Sarapisverehrung im 3. Jahrhundert u.Z. [Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte der Alten Welt 2], Berlin, 1956, p. 394) notes that "many objects having nothing to do with the Isis cult were found". This statue, while found in association with a pedestal, apparently did not serve in any formal cultic capacity. It was placed not against the rear wall of the room but off to one side in such a way as to suggest that it was secondary to whatever cult was carried on here.

Fig. 11. Cyrene. Topographical map of the ancient city. The Acropolis site is the building midway betwe of number 26

^n n u m b e r 18 and n u m b e r 19 while the Iseum in the Apollo precinct is just to the east

ISIS - SARAPIS S A N C T U A R I E S OF THE R O M A N PERIOD

1771

'//////A VÄ \7Z2ZZZZZZZ% Y/////A>////\

VZ77ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ22Ì

àzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz2zzzz^

7Z7ZZ77ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZA / / / / / / / / / /

V / / / / ] MAUERN USER OEM GEGENWÄRTIGEN V / / / A NIVEAU

10

n

12 METER

I |

1 FUNDAMENTE UND ANDERE STRUKTUREN | ( j B E R D E M GEGENWÄRTIGEN NIVEAU

Fig. 12. Cyrene: Acropolis. Steps (A) lead down from the Acropolis to a small temple which may have honored Isis and Sarapis (B). The room used in the 4th cen. as a shrine of the "old gods" (D) forms part of a larger complex (C) whose function has not yet been clarified

1772

R O B E R T A. WILD

seems rather clear evidence that the room served some cultic p u r p o s e . 7 1 It probably functioned in the 4th cen. as a place for the worship of the " o l d g o d s " , one of w h o m was Isis. 7 2 However, that there was a nearby temple dedicated well before these tumultuous times to Isis and Sarapis seems possible. The 1935 expedition uncovered just to the south of the room spoken of above a small distyle in antis temple situated just below the walls of the acropolis and reached by a flight of stairs cut down through them. GOODCHILD reported (p. 167) that a small bust of Sarapis was found here and that two hieroglyphic signs, now rather battered, appear on one of the stones (reused?) serving to support a base for the twin cult statues. All of this points, though not conclusively, to an Isis-Sarapis cult. If the aretalogy found by GHISLANZONI also came from this temple, it would suggest by its own date (103 A . D . ) an approximate terminus a quo for the entire structure (late 1st cen.). It is also possible, however, that the ephebic inscription came from this shrine and that the pair of gods honored was instead Hermes and Heracles. A definite determination cannot be made until the site is published in more complete form.

11. Cyrene: Apollo Precinct 7 3 (Figs. 11 and 13) SIRIS 804, an inscription from the reign of Hadrian, apparently preserves the original dedicatory inscription for this small shrine although a gap in the text leaves open the slight possibility that the priest of Apollo making this offering used funds from the revenues of Apollo to r e p a i r the structure. A new roof and general renovations were required during the reign of Caracalla (SIRIS

71

72

73

The pit and its various objects are described by GHISLANZONI, N o t . arch. 4 (1927), pp. 1 5 1 - 5 3 . Christian persecution of pagans seems to have been quite strong at Cyrene — many of the ancient temples were "purified by f i r e " during this period (GOODCHILD, Kyrene, P- 107). The shrine has never received any formal publication. LUIGI PERNIER, who may have directed its excavation, has a few paragraphs of description in: C a m p a g n a di scavi a Cirene nell'estate del 1925, Africa italiana 1 (1927), pp. 1 3 2 - 3 4 . A large map of the Apollo precinct published by him (II tempio e l'altare di Apollo a Cirene, Bergamo, 1935, Tav. iv — cf. also Tav. i) includes a detailed ground plan of the Isis shrine. PIETRO ROMANELLI has a short notice in: La Cirenaica romana, Verbania, 1943, p. 223 — his fig. 26 is a view of the facade. VIDMAN, S I R I S , p. 336, does not make it entirely clear that this is a different temple from that found on the acropolis. S I R I S 804—6 come from this site while 803 does not. OLIVERIO suggests that 806 may have been an architrave block over the cella door ( G . OLIVERIO e t a l . , Supplemento cirenaico, ASAtene, N S 2 3 - 2 4 [ 1 9 6 1 - 6 2 ] , p. 260, nr. 73). In the same work he also has a photograph (fig. 66) which shows the interior of the shrine and several objects which m a y have been found there: an altar inscribed LUNAE and another altar insciribed MARTIS. A standing statue of Isis with the child H o r u s depicted in ENRICO PARIBENI, Catalogo delle sculture di Cirene: statue e rilievi di carattere religioso, R o m e , 1959, nr. 418, probably came originally from this site (OLIVERIO, ASAtene, N S 2 3 - 2 4 [ 1 9 6 1 - 6 2 ] , p. 260).

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES OF THE ROMAN PERIOD

TEMPLE

0

1

2

3

OF

APOLLO

4M.

Fig. 13. C y r e n e : A p o l l o Precinct. G r o u n d plan of the Iseum

1773

1774

R O B E R T A. W I L D

35 oo_ MOO. 33-ÒO 3100_ 3-IOO_ 30 OC 100 »

1

> 4 5 BCT" I I I I I I ' I ' I

—-

10 5 M 1 1 1 1

. .1.T1 1 I ' I

?

ilio

75 F - 50 £

Fig. 14. Ephesus: State Agora. Cross section of the remains of the temple (a) and reconstructed ground plan (b)

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1775

8 0 5 ) . 7 4 O t h e r features to be o b s e r v e d in this small " s i d e c h a p e l " : l o w benches o n either side of the p r o n a o s and a drain which runs f r o m the f r o n t center of the cult p l a t f o r m a r o u n d o n e side to the rear wall of the t e m p l e . 7 5

12. E p h e s u s : State A g o r a 7 6 ( F i g s . 1 4 - 1 5 ) All that remains of this small peripteral (6 X 10) temple f o u n d at the west end of the u p p e r A g o r a are the f o u n d a t i o n s . T h o s e w h o have investigated the remains of the structure have been very tentative in p r o p o s i n g to identify it as a sanctuary of the E g y p t i a n g o d s . Such hesitancy is quite correct, f o r the evidence thus far u n c o v e r e d is tantalizing but inconclusive. T h e small finds discovered in the r u b b l e a b o v e the f o u n d a t i o n s (i.e., a " s m a l l b r o n z e b e l l " which " p o s s i b l y " belonged to a s i s t r u m , a terracotta statuette of Alexandrian origin which was t o o battered to allow identification, and the head f r o m a small i m p o r t e d statue of A m o n - R e ) o f f e r n o clear s u p p o r t i n g e v i d e n c e . 7 7 T h e i m a g e of A m o n - R e , the only object with assured cultic links, m a y indeed have served to give an E g y p t i a n tone to a sanctuary of Isis or Sarapis but m a y also have been a votive o f f e r i n g to s o m e other g o d . E q u a l l y , it m a y have derived f r o m elsewhere and so have been o n l y an accidental deposit in the rubble. A l o w and almost s q u a r e basin f o r water constructed o n the main axis of the temple and 1 2 . 5 m in f r o n t of it p e r h a p s served as an ablution facility f o r t h o s e w h o entered the sacred area. It w a s c o n s t r u c t e d c. 200 A . D . and n o evidence f o r any earlier basin was u n c o v e r e d . H o w e v e r , only near the S e r a p e u m at L u x o r is a similar t y p e of basin f o u n d and there it is not clear that that facility had any actual connection with the sanctuary. M o s t interesting is a " p i t filled with f r a g m e n t s of a m p h o r a e " f o u n d at the northwest exterior corner of the E p h e s u s temple (i.e., at the right rear). A t sanctuaries

74

S I R I S 805: 'YJIEQ t a g avxOKQäxoooq / K a i o a p o g M. AiiQryaio 'Avxiuveiv[a)] / S t ß a o x ü )

rtxa?

75 76

77

Kai veiicac; / Kai öia^ovag Kai x[w a]ü[|iJtav]//xog ai>x(I> OIKCD TI. KXat>/6iog

ßäxxog iaQEiTEijcüv / xöv vaöv trig E i a i ö o g EJTE/CTKEIJAOEV Kai EcrteyaoEv EK XCÜV / ttgoaööcuv TOI) 'AjtöXXarvog, // avöimaxeüovxog No|xioioi) / MaoKE/J.iavoü tot) KQaxioxou / ¿tvÖujräxou. The M . Aurelius Antoninus referred to is Caracalla rather than the earlier M . Aurelius according to GROAG ( N u m i s i u s Marcellianus, R E X V I I , 2 [1937], col. 1400) and VIDMAN ( S I R I S , p. 336). PERNIER, II tempio, Tav. iv. The principal report on this site has been published by WILHELM ALZINGER: D a s Regierungsviertel, Ö J h 50 ( 1 9 7 2 - 7 5 ) Beibl., cols. 2 8 3 - 9 4 . G . HÖLBL (Zeugnisse ägyptischer Religionsvorstellungen für Ephesus [Et. prelimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 73], Leiden, 1978, 27—32 and 57 — 58) provides no additional archaeological data but does present some useful reflections. Brief notes: W. ALZINGER, N a c h t r ä g e : E p h e s o s B , R E , Suppl. X I I (1970), col. 1601 and M . J . MELLINK, Archaeology in Asia Minor, A J A 75 (1971), p. 175. For a detailed study of the architectural finds see E . FOSSEL, Zum Tempel auf dem Staatsmarkt in E p h e s o s , Ö J h 50 ( 1 9 7 2 - 7 5 ) , pp. 2 1 2 - 1 9 . T h e bell is now lost and the terracotta statuette has not yet been published. O n the sculptured head see ALZINGER, Ö J h 50 (1972 - 75), Beibl., cols. 2 8 7 - 8 8 and A b b . 28 and HÖLBL, Zeugnisse, pp. 5 7 - 5 8 and Taf. VI. This object, 7.75 cm high, would have belonged to a statue c. 0.40 m in height.

1776

R O B E R T A. W I L D

of Isis and Sarapis raised "temple basins" are often found at this precise location; they apparently served for priestly ablution rituals. 78 But what the archaeologists described only as a Schacht is not itself such an elevated basin nor do the reports provide any indication that this pit held water. I suspect it may be no more than a place to deposit broken ritual vessels. In short, this temple, built in the last half of the 1st cen. B.C., cannot yet be identified with any certainty. The small finds are too meager and no assured architectural correspondences have yet been established. 79

.hnisj

Fig. 15. Ephesus: State Agora. G r o u n d plan of the site (actual state). N o t shown is the basin to the southeast

78

79

O n this type of basin see R. A. WILD, Water in the Cultic Worship of Isis and Sarapis ( £ t . prelimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 87), l.ciden, 1981, pp. 130—34. G . HOLBL (Zeugnisse, p p . 3 0 - 3 1 ) and S. KARWIESE (ibid.) stress the very Hellenic design of the temple building and ask whether the site was originally dedicated to a Greek deity. Because a large head of (possibly) Mark A n t h o n y was f o u n d near the site, HOLBL suggests that Dionysus may have been that deity. H e then supposes that Osiris and the Egyptian deities associated with him f o u n d a place in the sanctuary and that after 200 A . D . , the time when the ablution basin in f r o n t of the temple was constructed, the cult of these gods became d o m i n a n t here.

ISIS -

13.

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

ROMAN

1777

PERIOD

Faesulae80 T h e s i t e is d e s c r i b e d as l o c a t e d b e t w e e n t h e a n c i e n t c h u r c h o f S. A l e s s a n d r o

d i F i e s o l e 8 1 a n d t h e S e m i n a r y . M A C C I O , p . 7 5 , a d d s t h a t it is s i t u a t e d " n e x t the

old

convent

of

S. G i r o l a m o " .

Remains

of

walls

and

two

pieces

of

to the

a r c h i t e c t u r e w e r e f o u n d b u t a r e n o w h e r e d e s c r i b e d . T h e d a t e g i v e n in t h e t a b l e o f s i t e s is b a s e d l a r g e l y o n a p u r e a c t o f f a i t h in BARNABEI'S e s t i m a t e . 8 2

Some

s u p p o r t f o r it is d e r i v e d f r o m G A M U R R I N I ' S a s s e s s m e n t o f t h e d a t e o f t h e

Isis

T a p o s i r i s a n d t h e f r a g m e n t a r y O s i r i s statues. O n t h e basis o f sculptural t y p o l o g y and the lettering of the inscriptions, he assigned t h e m to the 2 n d cen.

14.

Frauenberg83 (Fig.

16)

T h e t e m p l e f o u n d h e r e h a s a n a p s e a t t h e r e a r o f its c e l l a , a n a l t a r j u s t in f r o n t o f the steps t o the p r o n a o s , and a large w a t e r basin outside and t o the right r e a r o f t h e c e l l a . T h e e n t i r e s a n c t u a r y w a s d e m o l i s h e d d o w n t o its f o u n d a t i o n s in l a t e a n t i q u i t y a n d w a s f u r t h e r d i s t u r b e d e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n

of

t h e ' O l d S c h o o l h o u s e ' in 1 7 3 0 . C o n s e q u e n t l y , i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e d i v i n i t y w o r s h i p p e d h e r e p o s e s a g e n u i n e p r o b l e m . M O D R I J A N ' S c o n c l u s i o n t h a t it w a s I s i s

80

T h i s site was discovered when a local farmer u n d e r t o o k to plant a new vineyard. Because of the very chance nature o f this find, n o real report of it exists. T h e available information was collected by G . F . GAMURRINI and published in a short note ( N S c 1883, pp. 75—76). H e apparently had little data on the architectural remains — perhaps by then the farmer had destroyed the walls he had uncovered. T h e notice therefore concentrated on the t w o statues f o u n d in the ruins. An a c c o u n t of the discoveries also appeared in a F l o r e n c e newspaper: D . MACCIO, Fiesole: recenti scoperti archeologiche, A r t e e storia 2 , nr. 10 ( 3 / 1 1 / 1 8 8 3 ) , pp. 75 — 7 6 . It is this notice which seems to have been picked up and added to by F . BARNABEI in order to m a k e the discoveries k n o w n to English-speakers:

The

W o r s h i p o f Isis and O s i r i s at Faesulae, T h e A c a d e m y 2 3 , nr. 569 ( 3 / 3 1 / 1 8 8 3 ) , pp. 2 2 8 - 2 9 . P h o t o g r a p h s and short descriptions o f the t w o statues are found in EDOARDO GALLI, e d . , F i e s o l e : gli scavi, il M u s e o C i v i c o , M i l a n , n . d . (c. 1920), pp. 7 7 — 8 0 . T h e inscriptions on the t w o statues are found in S I R I S 5 6 3 — 6 4 . 81

GAMURRINI says that this church was built in all probability to replace a temple to D i o n y s u s (p. 75).

82

BARNABEI, Acad. 23 ( 1 8 8 3 ) , p. 2 2 8 .

83

W . MODRIJAN published his discoveries first in 1953 (Frauenberg bei L e i b n i t z — seit alters ein 'Heiliger B e r g ' , Blatter für H e i m a t k u n d e [ G r a z ] 2 7 [ 1 9 5 3 ] , pp. 56—68) and then later in a b o o k l e t (Frauenberg bei L e i b n i t z : D i e frühgeschichtlichen Ruinen und das H e i m a t m u s e u m , L e i b n i t z , 1955). T h e b o o k l e t supplements but does not replace the article. A brief a c c o u n t is found in HEDWIG KENNER, Les fouilles c e l t o - r o m a i n e s en Autriche depuis 1945, O g a m 9 ( 1 9 5 7 ) , pp. 1 9 5 - 2 0 2 . Useful also is EDUARD STAUDINGER, 2 0 0 0 J a h r e Frauenberg bei L e i b n i t z (Wegweiser), L e i b n i t z , n . d . (after 1955). WERVIER KNAPP, B u c h k o g e l — W i l d o n — K o g e l b e r g — Seggau: E i n e K u l t u r w a n d e r u n g in Südsteierm a r k , Mitteilungen

des steirischen Burgenvereins 3 ( 1 9 5 4 ) , p. 19 tried to argue that

what MODRIJAN had discovered was an 8th or 9th cen. c h u r c h . H i s analysis is quite unconvincing. 118

ANRW II 17.4

1778

ROBERT A. WILD

ISIS -

SARAPIS SANCTUARIES

OF THE ROMAN

1779

PERIOD

is based upon a convergence of evidence: the fragmentary inscription S I R I S 650, perhaps a dedication to I s i s ; 8 4 a fragmentary relief of a seated female figure (perhaps Isis nursing H o r u s ) ; 8 5 and the water facility, probably a N i l e water container. 8 6 F r o m his analysis of the stratigraphy and from other factors, MODRIJAN finds that the temple was built no earlier than the late 1st or early 2nd cen. and that it was destroyed with s o m e considerable violence c. 4 0 0 . 8 7

15. Gigthis : F o r u m 8 8 (Fig. 17) Three different finds led CONSTANS to conclude that this was a temple to Jupiter Sol Sarapis: a large head of Sarapis, 0.50 m high, found reused in a wall just to the north of the F o r u m temple; the figure of a crocodile and other fragments f r o m a relief which adorned the large platform on the front steps of the temple, and the remnants of a sundial at the south end of these same s t e p s . 8 9 H e did not, however, argue that the Sarapis head came originally from the temple. Rather, he believed it to have been a part of a large seated statue once located on a base still to be seen in the F o r u m just to the north of the temple s t e p s . 9 0 Since the identification of the relief as " E g y p t i a n " hinges entirely on the supposed association of the crocodile figure with the Isis-Sarapis cult and since sundials are not, in fact, a feature verified at known Sarapis cult centers, CONSTANS' identification is dubious. Perhaps the seated Sarapis statue was associated with a civic cult of Jupiter carried on in this temple. T h e placement of this building with respect to the total arrangement of the F o r u m suggests that it was the local Capitolium.

84

S I R I S 6 5 0 , w h i c h is b r o k e n o n the right s i d e and is p e r h a p s m i s s i n g as well a f u r t h e r

ISIJDI]

s e c t i o n o n the left, r e a d s :

/

C. PRO

. (VIDMAN p r e s e n t s a m o r e

certain text than is actually o n the s t o n e . ) 85

MODRIJAN, F r a u e n b e r g , p . 23 a n d f i g . 15; Blatter 27 ( 1 9 5 3 ) , p . 6 5 .

86

MODRIJAN, F r a u e n b e r g , p p . 2 6 - 2 7 ;

B l a t t e r 27 ( 1 9 5 3 ) , p p . 6 1 - 6 2 ;

STAUDINGER,

J a h r e , p . 3. E l s e w h e r e I u r g e that this b a s i n d i d serve as a c o n t a i n e r f o r N i l e

2000 water.

S e e WILD, W a t e r in the C u l t i c W o r s h i p (cit. n. 78, a b o v e ) , p p . 5 9 — 6 0 . 87

MODRIJAN, F r a u e n b e r g , p p . 2 2 - 2 3 ; Blätter 2 7 ( 1 9 5 3 ) , p p . 6 2 - 6 3 , 6 7 .

88

P r i n c i p a l r e p o r t : L . - A . CONSTANS, R a p p o r t sur u n e m i s s i o n a r c h é o l o g i q u e à B o u - G h a r a (Gigthis),

Nouvelles

archives

des

missions

scientifiques

et littéraires,

NS

14

(1916),

p p . 26 — 34 and p l . ii. T h i s o f f e r s a detailed d e s c r i p t i o n of the site, p h o t o g r a p h s , and a b i b l i o g r a p h y ( p p . 9—11) o n the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n s c o n d u c t e d at G i g t h i s b e f o r e 1916.

Brief

notices:

ID.,

Séance

du

16 O c t o b r e ,

CRAcInscr

1903,

pp. 4 6 2 - 6 3 ;

P.

GAUCKLER, R a p p o r t s u r les i n s c r i p t i o n s latines d é c o u v e r t e s en T u n i s i e d e 1900—05, N o u velles archives d e s m i s s i o n s s c i e n t i f i q u e s et littéraires, N S 5 ( 1 9 0 7 ) , p. 2 8 5 a n d pis. i a n d v. O n the large head of S a r a p i s f o u n d near this s t r u c t u r e cf. a l s o P. GAUCKLER, L e s fouilles d e T u n i s i e , R A 1 9 0 2 , II, p . 4 0 1 ; ID., B A 1903, p . c x x v i ; and ID., C a t a l o g u e d e s m u s é e s et c o l l e c t i o n s a r c h é o l o g i q u e s de l ' A l g é r i e et d e la T u n i s i e : M u s é e A l a o u i

(Supplement),

P a r i s , 1907, p . 5 9 , nr. 1031. 89

CONSTANS, N o u v . a r c h . 14 ( 1 9 1 6 ) , p p . 2 8 — 3 0 . F o r the v a r i o u s f r a g m e n t s f r o m the relief cf. his p i s . iv a n d v.

90

118»

Ibid. 31.

1780

ROBERT A. WILD

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

ROMAN

1781

PERIOD

16. G o r t y n 9 1 (Fig. 18a) T h e dedicatory inscription found near the front of the temple, SIRIS 170, provides solid evidence that the sanctuary was dedicated t o Isis and S a r a p i s . 9 2 A l t h o u g h Isis enjoyed pre-eminence, her cult statue did n o t stand in the center of the cult platform but at the left with Sarapis in the center and H e r m a n u b i s on the r i g h t . 9 3 This disposition for the cult statue of the principal deity is observed elsewhere ( e . g . , R a s el Soda). SIRIS 170 also indicates that at least the central temple was rather t h o r o u g h l y reconstructed in the early Imperial period. That Flavia Filyra was n o t simply indulging in rhetorical excess w h e n she said that her r e c o n s t r u c t i o n was ek themelion

is seen in the remains o f the c r y p t just to

the right of the temple. B o t h its upper walls and its stairway reveal signs of this r e b u i l d i n g . 9 4 It is not generally realized that only the central temple and a portion of the p o r t i c o in front of it have been excavated; a large p o r t i o n of the precinct is still buried under several meters of s o i l . 9 5 F u r t h e r investigation of this m o s t important site might well yield significant dividends.

91

Brief reports by the excavator, GASPARE OLIVERIO, were published after each year of work: Scoperta del santuario delle divinità egizie in Gortina, ASAtene 1 (1914), pp. 376— 377 and ID., Santuario delle divinità egizie in Gortina (Creta), ASAtene 2 (1916), pp. 309—11.

R . SALDITT-TRAPPMANN'S o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d p h o t o g r a p h s ( T e m p e l , p p . 5 4 — 6 6 ,

Abb. 47—51, and Plan 6) are also of considerable help for the understanding of this site. Brief reports: WILLIAM N. BATES, ed., Archaeological News: Gortyn, AJA 18 (1914), p p . 9 6 - 9 7 ; G . KARO, A r c h ä o l o g i s c h e F u n d e im J a h r e 1 9 1 3 , A A 2 9 ( 1 9 1 4 ) , cols.

147-49;

LUIGI PERNIER, Les travaux de l'Ecole Italienne d'Archéologie d'Athènes en 1913, JSav, NS 12 (1914), pp. 3 7 - 3 9 ; L. PERNIER, Gortina, capitale della 'Provincia Cretae et C y r e n a r u m ' , A e R 18 ( 1 9 1 5 ) , p p . 6 0 — 6 1 , 6 4 ; B I A G I O PACE, T r e n t ' a n n i di r i c e r c h e a r c h e o -

logiche italiane in Creta, Bollettino della Reale Società Geografica Italiana 56 (1919), p. 169; L. PERNIER and LUISA BANTI, Guida degli scavi italiani in Creta, Rome, 1947, pp. 2 3 - 2 4

92

a n d T a v . 3 0 ; DUNAND, C u l t e , I I , 7 3 - 7 9

and 2 0 5 - 6 . T h e inscriptions

from

the site were edited with care by MARGARITA GUARDUCCI, Inscriptiones Creticae, vol. IV: Tituli Gortynii, Rome, 1950, nrs. 2 4 3 - 4 9 ( = SIRIS 164-70), 290, 342, 362, 391, 501(?), 554, 558, and 571. An important find, previously unpublished, is reported by L. CASTIGLIONE, Fragment einer thronenden Sarapis-Statue in dem Sarapieion von Gortyn, Acta archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 23 (1971), pp. 229 — 30. SIRIS 170: Eïoiôi Kai Sapójtiòi Kai BËOÎÇ auwâoiç 4>Xaßia 4>iXûça (lexà twv / TÉKVWV T. METQOIVÎOU M a ç i [ ( i o v J OKEuâaaa[a]

K a i «JHXÛQaç K a i A L ' a i d a ; r ô v OIKOV ÈK BEHEXÎOJV /

Ka[0IÔÇ>t)]a£v EÌ>XT|V K a i X A 6 L O T R J L ° V -

Kara-

D a t e d b y GUARDUCCI ( n r . 2 4 9 )

to

the 1st or 2nd cen. Three other inscriptions also mention Isis before Sarapis: SIRIS 1 6 6 168. 93

O L I V E R I O , A S A t e n e 1 ( 1 9 1 4 ) , p . 3 7 6 ; PERNIER a n d BANTI, G u i d a , T a v .

30.

'M GUARDUCCI nr. 342, a fragmentary inscription from about the 1st cen. B . C . , was found reused as one of the steps leading down to the crypt. OLIVERIO (ASAtene 1 [1914], p. 377) reported that the crypt had been rebuilt. Evidence of this is visible in a photograph provided by SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, Tempel, Abb. 50. The ashlar construction of the lower portions of the walls gives way to opus incertum in the surviving upper portions. 95

T h i s w a s p o i n t e d o u t b y PERNIER a n d BANTI, G u i d a , p . 2 3 . P l a n 6 in SALDITT-TRAPP-

MANN, Tempel, has an error with respect to the stylobate for the front portico. OLIVERIO discovered several more column bases than she accounts for (ASAtene 2 [1916], p. 311).

1782

R O B E R T A. W I L D

Fig. 18a. Gortyn. This temple, dedicated to Isis and Sarapis, had a portico directly in front, a water crypt (A), a corridor (?) leading to this water crypt (C), and an additional water basin (B)

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

R O M A N

PERIOD

1783

17. Industria 9 5 1 (Figs. 18b—18c) Early in the nineteenth century this site in Liguria was excavated by MORRA DI LAURIANO. Although all of the small finds which relate to the Isis cult were recovered at that time by him, the curved foundations seemed to suggest the remains of the cavea of a theater and he so designated the structure. The Italian team which explored the site anew in the nineteen-sixties demonstrated that the architectural remains do not correspond to those required fof a theater and argued that MORRA had actually discovered a sanctuary. They noted first of all the small finds he had uncovered there: a bronze sistrum, a marble tablet dedicated by a certain Avilia Ambilis and ornamented with two footprints and a sistrum (SIRIS 645), and a bronze statuette of Isis-Tyche. 9 5 b Such a cluster of evidence at one place seems more than fortuitous. In addition, the architectural evidence, they believed, reveals correspondences with certain known sanctuaries of Isis and with features described by Apuleius in Met. l l . 9 5 c Some of their arguments here are not compelling. For example, the stairways on either side of the cella do not lead to "side entrances" on the model of that found at the Iseum at Pompeii but to small temples set an ninety-degree angles to the main cella. Nonetheless, the overall plan of the site does show significant agreement with the portion of the Iseum in the Campus Martius at Rome visible on the 'Forma Urbis' map. 9511 Quarters for the priests (?) and a well were uncovered in the southwest corner of the site. This area, originally separate from the precinct proper, was attached to it in the course of a later re-modeling. 9 S e Coin evidence and other stratigraphie data suggest that the sanctuary was constructed in the early 2nd cen. A . D . and remained active until about the time of Constantine. 9 5 ' 95A

95B

9Sc 95d

95E 95f

B. MORRA DI LAURIANO carried out excavations in 1811 — 12 and reported their results in: Rovine délia città di Industria presso Monteu da P o (Torino), Turin, 1843. For a s u m m a r y of this see G . CASALIS, M o n t e u da Po, Dizionario geografico degli Stati di S . M . il R e di Sardegna, vol. II, Turin, 1843, p. 294. The excavations of 1961—63 are reported with considerable care by MARCELLA BARRA BAGNASCO e t a l . , Scavi nell'area dell'antica Industria (Memorie dell'Accademia delle Scienze di T o r i n o , CI. di Sc. M o r . , Stor., e Fil., 4.13), Turin, 1967; this also provides information on and photographs of most of the major small finds. F o r a brief s u m m a r y of this more recent work cf. M . MALAISE, D o c u ments nouveaux et points de vue récents sur les cultes isiaques en Italie, in: H o m m a g e s à Maarten J . Vermaseren, vol. II (Et. prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 68), Leiden, 1978, pp. 6 3 2 - 3 3 . BARRA BAGNASCO et. al., Scavi, pp. 23—24, 71 f f . , and Tav. xvi. Other finds which they mention, a dancing infant which they equate with Harpocrates (Tav. xviii, fig. 40) and various images of bulls (Tav. xxvi, fig. 58), are less certainly to be linked with the Isis cult. Ibid., 2 4 - 2 8 . F o r convenient drawings of the pertinent portion of the ' F o r m a U r b i s ' , see MALAISE, Inventaire, plans 1—2. BARRA BAGNASCO e t a l . , Scavi, pp. 2 6 - 2 8 and T a v . vii, fig. 9. Ibid., 38—39. The Italian team argued (Ibid., 2 9 - 3 0 and 3 7 - 3 8 ) that prior to the Iseum of the 2nd cen., there had been on the same site temples to Isis and Sarapis. H o w e v e r , from the information that they provide, that there even were temples is quite uncertain, to say nothing of the problem of whether they were dedicated to the two Egyptian gods.

1784

ed. S T

TORRE

RADA CAMPESTR

Barbato

956

Sirena 705 S C A R I C O Barbaro 5643 ; Pugnale Palmetta Tridente

Ptéryges

1041

998-999-1001

1087 3166

ossa di animali

$

G a m b a 906

\\ 0

Donna

1

panneggiata

\ \ Danzatrice velata

'-ACRO

AD

904 902

EMI

Iscrizione di A v i ! a

P u t t o 905

Mano

907

Gamba

Toi2

l ^ a t o r 711 C o r n i c e 988

Fig. 18 b. Industria. G r o u n d plan of the site with indications where some of the small finds made b y MORRA DI LAURIANO were recovered

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

1785

Fig. 18c. Industria. Detailed ground plan showing the portion of the site re-excavated in 1961-63

1786

ROBERT A. WILD

-Q

E e 3

-D

-o c

J3

H

E

ISIS 18.

SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N

1787

PERIOD

Lambaesis T h e R o m a n t o w n has been extensively excavated but very p o o r l y r e p o r t e d . 9 6

C o n s e q u e n t l y , it is n o s u r p r i s e t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t t h e I s i s t e m p l e s u p p o s e d l y d i s c o v e r e d h e r e is a l m o s t e n t i r e l y l a c k i n g . L E G L A Y ' S r e m a r k , t h a t a n Isis s a n c t u a r y w a s d i s c o v e r e d in t h e t o w n " i f o n e c a n j u d g e b y t h e s t a t u e a n d h e a d f o u n d in t h e v i c i n i t y " o f the s t r u c t u r e , a p p a r e n t l y exhausts w h a t has been r e p o r t e d t o d a t e . 9 7 I t is p o s s i b l e t h a t S I R I S 7 8 5 d e r i v e s f r o m t h i s s a n c t u a r y , b u t h e r e , as i n all e l s e , u n c e r t a i n t y r e i g n s . 9 8 I f it d o e s , t h e p r e c i n c t v e r y l i k e l y w a s f o u n d e d i n t h e e a r l y 2nd

19.

cen.99

Leptis M a g n a 1 0 0 (Figs. 1 9 - 2 0 a . b [Pl. I]) A

donor

who

gave

statues

of

Sarapis

to

the

sanctuary

was

allowed

to

r e c o r d his b e n e f a c t i o n o n b o t h w i n g s o f the staircase leading t o t h e p r o n a o s a n d c e l l a . 1 0 1 T h e p r o m i n e n t p o s i t i o n a c c o r d e d t h e s e i n s c r i p t i o n s is p e r h a p s t h e b e s t 96

T h i s situation was admitted b y JEAN LASSUS, R a p p o r t du directeur des antiquités de l'Algérie, C R A c I n s c r 1956, pp. 5 6 - 7 . It was reported ten years later in F A 2 0 ( 1 9 6 5 ) , nr. 4 8 6 9 that M . JANON is w o r k i n g with unpublished materials f r o m previous excavations. H i s reports are still awaited.

97

MARCEL LEGLAY, Les religions orientales dans l'Afrique ancienne, Algers, 1956, p. 2 4 , n. 4 2 . H e also mentions this find in: L a vie religieuse a L a m b è s e d'après de nouveaux d o c u m e n t s , Antiquités africaines 5 ( 1 9 7 1 ) , p. 125.

98

SIRIS

tore),

7 8 5 : [Is]idi

aedem

¡suis i]nstitutam sua pecurtia 99

et [SJerapi

cum

Volteia exaltatam

positis

/ ¡L.

Cornificia et adiecto

MJatuccius uxore

Fusanus,

/ [et Majtuccia

/ pronao

leg(atus) Fuscina

per leg(ionem)

III

Aug(usti) filia

/ Ipro

p]r(ae-

ab antecessoribus

Aug(ustam)

/

//

/columjnis

exomavit.

T h e fact that Matuccius Fuscinus provided c o l u m n s f o r the facade o f the central temple is p r o b a b l y an indication that this building had been constructed by his m o r e immediate predecessors.

100 Because the investigator o f this site, ERNESTO VERGARA CAFFARELLI, died in 1 9 6 1 , it has yet to receive any formal publication. In addition to placing a short notice in ' C o r r i e r e di Tripoli', Sept. 8, 1960, he also joined with R . BIANCHI BANDINHI I I and G . CAPUTO to provide a somewhat m o r e lengthy account in R . B . B , et al., 'Leptis M a g n a ' , R o m e , 1963, p p . 8 9 - 9 0 a n d f i g s . 1 0 2 - 5 . A l s o i m p o r t a n t is t h e s e c t i o n i n M A R I A F L O R I A N I S Q U A R C I A P I N O ,

Leptis M a g n a (Ruinenstädte N o r d a f r i k a s 2), Z ü r i c h , 1966, pp. 116 — 18 and fig. 88. Short n o t i c e s : PIETRO ROMANELLI, Leptis M a g n a , Enciclopedia dell'arte antica, vol. I V , R o m e , 1961, p. 5 7 9 ; HELLMUT SICHTERMANN, A r c h ä o l o g i s c h e F u n d e und F o r s c h u n g e n in L i b y e n , AA

1962, cols. 5 0 1 - 2 ;

and WILHELM HORNBOSTEL, Sarapis. Studien

zur

Oberliefe-

rungsgeschichte, den E r s c h e i n u n g s f o r m e n und Wandlungen der Gestalt eines G o t t e s ( E t . prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 3 2 ) , Leiden, 1973, p. 2 4 5 . N o n e of the above reports offer a g r o u n d plan of this sanctuary. T h e statue of an e m p e r o r in a r m o r (Marcus Aurelius?) found at the site received its initial publication in HANS GEORG NIEMEYER, Studien zur statuarischen Darstellung der römischen Kaiser ( M o n u m e n t a artis romanae 7), B e r l i n , 1968, p. 3 0 . A variety of inscriptions, all in G r e e k , apparently have n o t yet been published 101

cf. BIANCHI BANDINELLI e t a l . , Leptis M a g n a , p. 9 0 .

N o t yet published. A summary f o u n d in FLORIANI SQUARCIAPINO, Leptis M a g n a , p. 118 indicates that the d o n o r of these texts made his offering because he had been healed by Sarapis, w h o had appeared to him in a dream.

1788

ROBERT A. WILD

1789

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

argument that this sanctuary h o n o r e d Sarapis as its chief d e i t y . 1 0 2 In that respect, it is striking h o w closely this precinct resembles the Serapeum found at Ostia. T h e various sculptural finds all date t o the 2nd c e n . , a fact which offers a probable

terminus

a

quo

for

the site.

T h e various

inscriptions,

however,

apparently belong to the early 3rd cen.

2 0 . L u x o r 1 0 3 (Fig. 2 1 ) T h e identification of this small temple, which is situated in the o u t e r m o s t c o u r t y a r d of the L u x o r T e m p l e just before the beginning of the sacred w a y t o K a r n a k , is assured by its dedicatory inscription which was recovered on the site. This text also gives a precise date for the dedication of the temple after it had been r e c o n s t r u c t e d : J a n u a r y 2 4 ( =

H a d r i a n ' s birthday), 126 A . D . 1 0 4 N o cult

statue of Sarapis was found. LECLANT mentions the discovery of a large statue of Isis, a large Osiris in hydria

( C a n o p u s ) statue, t w o statues of bulls, a p o r t i o n

of a Sarapis (?) image which had been o n c e placed in a niche on the outside wall

102 T w o large statues of Sarapis were recovered. One of these, a seated statue of the god in black marble with head, arms, and feet in white marble, appeared from its situation when uncovered to have been hurled outside the temple. It may well have been the cult statue. A large statue of Isis was also found as well as several portrait statues, etc. These are described most completely in FLORIANI SQUARCIAPINO, Leptis Magna, pp. 1 1 6 - 1 7 . Cf. also BIANCHI BANDINELLI et. al., Leptis Magna, p. 90 and figs. 103 and 105. 103

ZACHARIA G H O N E I M ' S

discovery

was

first c o m m u n i c a t e d

b y JEAN

LECLANT,

Fouilles

et travaux en Égypte, 1950-51, I, Orientalia 20 (1951), pp. 4 5 4 - 5 6 and Tab. xlv—xlvii. LECLANT also reported in Orientalia 30 (1961), p. 183 and Tab. xxxvi—vii that the columns and cella walls of the structure had been restored. Largely the same information as that originally provided by LECLANT is repeated by THEODOR KRAUS (Archäologische Zeugnisse der alexandrinischen Kulte aus Mittel- und Oberägypten, in: Christentum am Nil. Internationale Arbeitstagung zur Ausstellung Koptische Kunst, Essen Villa Hügel, 23.— 25. Juli

1963,

ed.

KLAUS W E S S E L ,

Recklinghausen,

1964,

pp. 1 0 3 - 4

and pis.

52-53)

and by M. ABDUL-QADER MUHAMMAD, Preliminary Report on the Excavations Carried Out in the Temple of Luxor, Seasons 1958-1959 and 1959-1960, ASAntEg 60 (1968), pp. 238—40 and pis. v and cvi. The latter author provides for the first time a plan of the site. The dedicatory inscription from over the doorway of the rebuilt temple has received much scholarly attention: A. MERLIN, Revue des publications épigraphiques, RA, Ser. 6, 40 (1952), p. 2 0 5 - 6 ,

nr.

1 5 9 ( t h e t e x t ) ; JACQUES SCHWARTZ, U n p r é f e t d ' É g v p t e

frappé

de damnatio memoriae sous le règne d'Hadrien, ChrEg 2 7 ( 1 9 5 2 ) , pp. 2 5 4 — 5 6 (date of inscription corrected); P. M. FRASER, Bibliography: Graeco-Roman Egypt: Greek Inscriptions 104

(1952-53),

JEA

40

(1954),

pp. 1 2 5 - 2 6 ,

1 2 9 ; JEAN LECLANT,

Fouilles

et

travaux en Egypte et au Soudan, 1967—68, Orientalia 38 (1969), p. 265; etc. The dedicatory inscription: 'YJIEQ AÛTOKpâTOQOÇ K a î a a ç o ç Tpaiavoû 'Aôgiavov ZeßaoTot) / Kai xoû jtavxôç OÏKOU a t k o i Aù 'HXûp HEYXT|V Kai xfj yXuKVTGIT[T| JtajtQCöi TÖ j t g ö v a o v a v v n a v x i TÖ> KÖAJIU) EIC xä>v iöituv. CASTIGLIONE ( G n o m o n 4 5 [ 1 9 4 3 ] , pp. 5 2 2 — 2 3 ) also notes against SALDITT-TRAPPMANN that o n l y a p r o n a o s was given at this time. H o w e v e r , his further idea that S I R I S 2 8 6 gives the proper date f o r the construction o f the sanctuary is incorrect. T h i s d o o r lintel with its inscription recounting t w o oracles c o n n e c t e d with Sarapis was n o t f o u n d on the site and is in any case the w r o n g size and shape to have fitted into the f r o n t wall o f this building. It is p r o b a b l y f r o m an older sanctuary w h o s e site has n o t yet been found — cf. REHM, Milet 1 . 7 , p. 3 0 3 .

110

Milet 1 . 7 , nr. 2 8 2 .

1792

R O B E R T A. WILD

Fig. 22. Miletus. Reconstructed ground plan and cross section of the Sarapis building

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

1793

type normally f o u n d . 1 1 1 In addition, the platform at the n o r t h end does not appear t o have supported a cult statue. T h e off-center m a s o n r y c o l u m n found in the otherwise largely hollow area under this platform perhaps supported an altar in front of a cult niche high on the back w a l l . 1 1 2 W h a t w e k n o w of the interior arrangement gives the impression that the cultic area was pushed back as far as possible against the back waH in o r d e r t o leave the floor space open. O n the outside, when Julius Aurelius Menecles dedicated his p r o n a o s with its ceiling reliefs, he did n o t order carvings o f the E g y p t i a n gods. R a t h e r , the surviving stone panels f r o m the ceiling depict busts of A p o l l o D i d y m a i o s , A r t e m i s , H e r m e s , P o s e i d o n , and six M u s e s . 1 1 3 W h e r e normally at the Isis-Sarapis sanctuaries a small circle of gods is accorded rather intense religious devotion, here the religious atmosphere is quite subdued. O n l y the dedicatory inscription reveals that Sarapis has a shrine in this place. In the light of this peculiar situation, I offer the suggestion that some g r o u p , perhaps merchants from Alexandria, used this building for a combination of cultic and c o m m e r c i a l p u r p o s e s . 1 1 4

2 2 . M o n s C l a u d i a n u s 1 1 5 (Figs. 2 3 - 2 4 ) T h e survival of the inscribed architrave f r o m over the main entrance makes it certain that the main portions of the site were dedicated on April 2 3 , 118 t o

111

112 113

114

115

119

This was noted by WIEGAND, Milet und Didyma, p. 22 and again by KNACKFUSS, Südmarkt, p. 184. Ibid. 1 8 4 - 8 5 . Ibid. 197—205. Most of the ceiling panels do survive. Perhaps on their own the workmen added the two small figures of Heracles and Athena that are also to be seen. According to SIRIS 287, the pronaos was dedicated to Sarapis and to "the most sweet fatherland". This phrase is normally taken to refer to Miletus (e.g., by A. REHM, Milet 1.7, p. 286). The patris, however, as a rather famous and somewhat parallel verse in the 'Odyssey' makes clear, may very well be a person's distant homeland — Od. 9.34: otJösv YXVKIOV f|5 jtaxgiöog OTJÖE xoKfjajv. Until this site is actually excavated, the reports published by THEODOR KRAUS, JOSEF RÖDER, et al. will remain primary: Voruntersuchungen am Mons Claudianus im März 1961, AA 1962, cols. 7 0 6 - 1 6 and Abb. 8—16; Mons Claudianus: Bericht über eine erste Erkundungsfahrt im März 1961, MDIK 18 (1962), pp. 8 2 - 8 5 (critical bibliography on previous investigations of the area), 91—97 (the site); Mons Claudianus — Mons Porphyrites: Bericht über die zweite Forschungsreise, 1964, MDIK 22 (1967), pp. 114, 143—35 (several very important observations and reconsiderations). For the inscriptions cf. DAVID MEREDITH, Eastern Desert of Egypt: Notes on Inscriptions, ChrEg 29 (1954), pp. 103—9 and 115, nrs. 22—26 and 35. This sanctuary and its surface finds have been known and described since the early 19th cen. The most important accounts are the following: J. GARDNER WILKINSON, Notes on a Part of the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 2 (1831-32), pp. 5 3 - 5 5 ; ARTHUR E. P. WEIGALL, Travels in the Upper Egyptian Deserts, Edinburgh, 1909, pp. 1 2 6 - 2 7 and pis. x x - x x i i ; and GEORG SCHWEINFURTH, Auf unbetretenen Wegen in Ägypten, 1922, pp. 2 4 0 - 4 9 . ANRW II 17.4

1794

R O B E R T A. W I L D

staircase; L = central room or inner courtyard; M = cella; N = corridor around the cella; O —P = side chapels; Q = room connecting to P

ISIS - SARAPIS S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1795

" Z e u s H e l i o s S a r a p i s t h e G r e a t a n d the g o d s s h a r i n g the t e m p l e w i t h h i m " . 1 1 6 L a t e r t h i s s a n c t u a r y w a s r e m o d e l e d at least o n c e a n d p e r h a p s t w i c e . 1 1 7 O r i g i n a l l y a s i m p l e cella s u r r o u n d e d b y a p r e c i n c t w a l l p r o v e d s u f f i c i e n t . A t s o m e later s t a g e o r s t a g e s ( d a t i n g still u n c e r t a i n ) t h i s G r a e c o - R o m a n

arrangement

was

m a d e t o c o n f o r m m o r e closely to traditional E g y p t i a n p a t t e r n s . 1 1 8 T h e central d o o r w a y t o t h e cella w a s b l o c k e d o f f a n d thé c o u r t y a r d in f r o n t o f it w a s t u r n e d i n t o a n i n n e r c o u r t p r e c e d e d b y a p r o n a o s a n d an o u t e r c o u r t . In a d d i t i o n , s e v e r a l s i d e c h a p e l s as well as w h a t a p p e a r t o b e r o o m s f o r r e s i d e n t p r i e s t s w e r e

Fig. 24. Möns Claudianus. Plan of the Serapeum showing various stages of construction. The earliest period is indicated by crosshatching, the second period by simple hatching, and what is possibly from a third period by outlining 116

117 118

119"

M e r e d i t h , ChrEg 29, nr. 22: "Yjieq owxTjgiag Kai auoviou veikt]5 Avx0KQ&i0Q0q K a i oaQoc, TgaiavoO 'AÖQiavo-ü S e ß a a r o ö Kai t o i auvjiavxog atiioü oikou / Kai xfj; twv iijto aiixoü fejuxavEvxwv igyuiv eiuruxia? / Ali 'HXiwi fiEvaXwi Z a p a m ö i Kai xoig a u w ä o i g ÖEoig töv vaöv Kai xä jieq'i xöv v a ö v j t ä v t a / 'EjtacpQÖÖEixog öoüXog ZeiVT)QiavÖ5 nia0CDtf|5 twv (tExäXXwv KaTEOKEtiaaEV // Eni Pamnwi MagxiäXEi E3täQx w l Aiyüjtxov ¿iciTQÖJtoi) twv ufixaXXwv Xg^aiftotJ Xsßaozov änekevdegov / ovzog JiQÖq t o 15 xov K X a u S i a v o i 697015 'Aovixov (fcKaxovtäQXOv) oheCqt); jxqwttic; Xaouia5 KiXCkiov LitJiiKfi5 / |_ß AtjxoKßdxogog K a i a a g o g T o a i a v o ü 'AÖQtavoü 2eßaaxoü aQnoi!0i kt|. T w o inscribed altars found on the site are dated to the reign of Trajan ( M e r e d i t h , Ibid, nrs. 23—25 and 26). Since these do not mention Sarapis they need not have come from an earlier Serapeum. K r a u s etal., M D I K 22 (1967), pp. 132-34 and Abb. 7. E m i l K i e s s l i n g , Die Götter von Memphis in griechisch-römischer Zeit, Archiv für Papyrusforschung 15 (1953), pp. 8—9 concisely articulates the fundamental patterns which distinguish traditional Egyptian from Graeco-Roman temple design.

1796

R O B E R T A. W I L D

Fig. 25. Mons Porphy rites. Overview of the Wadi Abu Ma'amel showing the location of the three sites found here

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N PERIOD

1797

a d d e d . Since fallen debris still covers p o r t i o n s of the site, an actual excavation w o u l d p r o b a b l y n o t o n l y p r o d u c e data that w o u l d clarify these p r o b l e m s but m u c h additional evidence as well.

23. M ö n s P o r p h y r i t e s : Eastern I s e u m 1 1 9 ( F i g s . 25 — 26) T h i s s a n c t u a r y , oriented to the N — N W , is located on- a steep s l o p e across f r o m the fortified e n c a m p m e n t of the q u a r r y s u p e r v i s o r s . It is a p p r o a c h e d b y a wide staircase of eleven s t e p s ; these are n o w in very p o o r c o n d i t i o n . A n inscribed lintel of great size (2.6 m long) f o u n d on these steps m a k e s it clear that Isis received cultic h o n o r s at this s h r i n e . 1 2 0 T h e builders of the sanctuary f o r m e d the back wall of its rectangular cella partially out of the r o c k face of the s l o p e . Several small structures set against the east outer wall of the temple date to a later p e r i o d . Whether these ever had any connection with the cultic activities carried o n here is u n c e r t a i n . 1 2 1 In back of the t e m p l e investigators f o u n d a tiny cave which m a y have served s o m e f u n c t i o n with respect to the sanctuary. Walls had been constructed at the o p e n i n g to this cave in order to f o r m a regularized doorway.

24. M ö n s P o r p h y r i t e s : Western I s e u m 1 2 2 ( F i g s . 25 and 27) T h e structure in q u e s t i o n w a s described b y WILKINSON (p. 44) as " a small ruin, consisting of a walled area, f r o m which leads a flight of steps to a p l a t f o r m , 119

120

121 122

The discoverer of the site and its dedicatory inscription, JULES COUYAT, provided only the briefest of descriptions: La route de Myos-Hormos et les carrières de porphyre rouge, BIFAO 7 (1910), p. 27. More useful accounts are found in C. H. O. SCAIFE, A Note on Certain Inscriptions at Gebel Dokhan, Bulletin of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Egypt 2, pt. T (1934), pp. 106—7 and in THEODOR KRAUS et al., Möns Claudianus — Möns Porphyrites: Bericht über die zweite Forschungsreise, 1964, MDIK 22 (1967), pp. 171—72. The latter article also offers a small plan of the site (Abb. 16). For the dedicatory inscription cf. DAVID MEREDITH, Eastern Desert of Egypt: Notes on Inscriptions, ChrEg 28 (1953), pp. 128-29, nr. 2. MEREDITH, Ibid., nr. 2: 'Yitèg AÙTOKQCITOQOÇ Kaioapoç Néçova TQaiavoti Zeßaatoü reQiiaviKoü AaKiKO-ö / TÛXTIÇ Kai toü aivjiavtoç avxov OÎKOU TOIÔI 0EQI HEY£OTT)I T ° LEQOV èjtoiEi / élit MâQKOu 'PoimXiou Aotmoxj inâQX 0 V Aîyujtxot) MâçKoç IlajiEÎQioç KÉXEQ / ÔEKAÔÂÇKTIÇ EÔOIÇ BOUKOVTÎWV eiouç IÇ Tpaiavoû TOO KUQCOTJ NE/EI-O TQÎTT|I. KRAUS et al., MDIK 22 (1967), p. 172. The site was discovered in 1823 by J. GARDNER WILKINSON: Notes on a Part of the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt, Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 2 (1831-32), p. 44. The only known plan was published along with a brief description of the site by GEORG SCHWEINFURTH in OSKAR SCHNEIDER, Über den roten Porphyr der Alten, in: ID., Naturwissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Geographie und Kulturgeschichte, Dresden, 1883, pp. 107—8; SCHWEINFURTH thought it was perhaps a bathing installation. A further brief description is found in THEODOR KRAUS et. al., MDIK 22 (1967), p. 181; the authors provide as well a useful critical bibliography of previous investigations of the Möns Porphyrites area (pp. 157—63). Both the inscription which led to the identification of

1798

R O B E R T A. W I L D

Fig. 26. M ö n s Porphyrites: Eastern Iseum. The southernmost building is the Iseum. T o the north of it lies a structure of u n k n o w n function and the large central camp

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

ROMAN

PERIOD

1799

uniting it to an adytum, which is nearly square, — a colonnade leading up the center supported the roof, on each side of which was a raised bench; near it, in the bed of a torrent" was the Isis inscription. The plan in S C H N E I D E R ' S work in general is in accordance with this description. However, the benches do not appear and the "colonnade" is reduced to a single upright „Steinbalken".123 The 1964 Expedition found the structure in a quite ruined state and spoke of it only as a square room approached from the northwest by a wide staircase. 1 2 4 S C A I F E (p. I L L ) and M E R E D I T H (p. 1 3 1 ) pointed out that the inscription upon which the attribution of this structure is based was found on the slope a b o v e it. Since this text, a simple dedication to Isis Myrionyma, 1 2 5 does not of itself

% W .

Fig. 27. M o n s Porphyrites: Western Iseum. G r o u n d plan of this supposed site sketched in the 19th c e n . b y G E O R G

SCHWEINFURTH

imply the existence of a sanctuary and since it is carved on a round stone which may have rolled down from higher up the slope, the structure described here is only doubtfully at best a sanctuary of Isis. 1 2 6

25. Mons Porphyrites: Serapeum 1 2 7 (Figs. 25 and 28) The same individual who dedicated the Serapeum at Mons Claudianus also dedicated at almost the same time (117—19 A . D . ) this sanctuary to Zeus Helios the site and its find spot are discussed in JULES COUYAT, L a route de M y o s - H o r m o s et les carrières de p o r p h y r e rouge, B I F A O 7 (1910), p. 27, in: C . H . O . SCAIFE, A N o t e on Certain Inscriptions at Gebel D o k h a n , Bulletin of the Faculty of Arts of the University of E g y p t 2, pt. 1 (1934), p p . 111 — 13; and especially in DAVID MEREDITH, Eastern Desert of E g y p t : N o t e s on Inscriptions, C h r E g 28 (1953), p p . 129—31, nr. 3. 123

SCHNEIDER, p.

124

K R A U S et a l . , M D I K 2 2 ( 1 9 6 7 ) , p .

125

MEREDITH, C h r E g 28 (1953), nr. 3: E î a i ô i Mugico/vûncp < M v / i o ç ZEW](X>/Ç (EKCTCOVTCIQXOÇ) à v é 6 r | K £ / .K. 'Aôpeiavo-0 T O Î Kupiou èjieltp... This d o u b t is also shared by KRAUS e t a l . , M D l k " 2 2 (1953), p. 181, n. 5. The most detailed report on this sanctuary is certainly that of THEODOR KRAUS et al., M D I K 22 (1967), pp. 157—63 (critical bibliography of previous investigations of the site), pp. 172 —81

126 127

108. 181.

1800

ani96t

R O B E R T A. WILD

M ZUGANG GROSS. NEBENRAUH

GEPFLASTERTER

HOF

CELLA

190»

Fig. 28. Möns Porphyrites: Serapeum. Ground plan of the site

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

R O M A N

1801

PERIOD

Sarapis the Great and the gods with him. 1 2 8 A striking feature of this site must have been the rather carefully fashioned Ionic facade of the central temple. 1 2 9 Beyond the pronaos is a cella at the rear of which are the remains of a cult platform. Apparently the top of it was reached by several steps constructed across its whole front face. At either end are large masonry blocks which may have supported a vaulted niche over the cult statue. Prominent in the courtyard in front of this temple is a horned altar 1.09 m high. A chapel in which a base for a statue was found is situated in the southeast corner of the precinct.

26. Ostia 1 3 0 (Figs. 2 9 - 3 0 ) The dedication of this sanctuary to Sarapis is proven by the reference to this event found in the 'Fasti ostienses' 131 and by the inscriptions from the site. (the site), and p p . 197—98 (the dedicatory inscription). Earlier reports are all rather brief: G . B. BROCCHI, Giornale delle osservazioni fatte ne'viaggi in Egitto, nella Siria e nella N u b i a , vol. II, Bassano, 1841, p p . 195ff. (BROCCHI visited the site in 1823); J . GARDNER WILKINSON, N o t e s on a Part of the Eastern Desert of U p p e r E g y p t , Journal of the Royal G e o g r a p h i c a l S o c i e t y 2 ( 1 8 3 1 - 3 2 ) , p . 4 3 ; G E O R G SCHWEINFURTH in OSKAR

128

129 130

SCHNEIDER,

U b e r den roten P o r p h y r der Alten, D r e s d e n , 1883, p p . 108 — 10; T . BARRON and W . F. HUME, T o p o g r a p h y and Geology of the Eastern Desert of E g y p t , Central P o r t i o n , Cairo, 1902, p. 27 and plate opposite; and KARL RICHARD LEPSIUS, D e n k m ä l e r aus Ägypten und Äthiopien, Text, ed. E. NAVILLE e t a l . , vol. V , Leipzig, 1913, p p . 367ff. T h e dedicatory inscription is published in DAVID MEREDITH, C h r E g 28 (1953), p p . 126— 128, nr. 1. MEREDITH, Ibid., nr. 1: 'YJIEQ oa>xr]Qiag Kai aicovCot) V£KT)5 xoii KUQIOU F||xü>v AivtoKQatoQog K a i o a g o g T p a i a v o v 'AÖQiavoO / Zeßaoxot) icai tot) jiavxög a v x o ü OÜKOU, Ali 'HXiuu (iEväXcui S a Q ä j u ö i Kai xoig o v v v ä o i g öeoig, xöv v a ö v Kai x ä JIEQI xöv v a ö v / ' E j i a q j ß ö ö i x o g K a i o a p o g ZiyriQiavög, EJII ' P a n n i t ü MagxicxXi EJtäpxV A l y ü j r r o u , MCXQKOU O I I / J U O U XQT)oi|ioi) EJtixQOJiEiiovxog x ü v (iExäXXwv Eni (EKaxovxae/ou) r i Q O KOuVpiavoü. Described in detail in KRAUS e t a l . , M D I K 22 (1967), p p . 1 7 3 - 7 8 . This site was hastily excavated right before W o r l d W a r II and was again explored in 1953 — 54. N o formal report exists for these excavations. The chief sources of information, consequently, are a brief account in MARIA FLORIANI SQUARCIAPINO, I culti orientali ad Ostia (Et. prelimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire r o m . 3), Leiden, 1962, p p . 19—22 and an examination of a variety of specific problems relating to dating, reconstructions, etc. in GIOVANNI BECATTI, Scavi di O s t i a , vol. IV, pts. 1—2: Mosaici e pavimenti marmorei, Rome, brief

1961, p p .

accounts:

1 4 3 - 5 3 and t a w . M.

FLORIANI

18, 39, 64, 74, 79, 101, 1 0 3 - 4 ,

SQUARCIAPINO,

FA

8 (1953),

p.

117, 1 1 9 - 2 1 .

272,

nr.

3680

Other

(on

the

1953 excavations); GUIDO CALZA e t a l . , Scavi di O s t i a , vol I: Topografia generale, R o m e , 1953, p p .

138 a n d 2 2 5 ; G . CALZA a n d G . BECATTI, O s t i a , R o m e ,

1 9 5 4 , p . 3 3 ; RUSSELL

MEIGGS, R o m a n O s t i a , O x f o r d , 1960, p p . 3 6 6 - 7 0 . T h e text f r o m the 'Fasti Ostienses' on the dedication of this Serapeum was published in ATTILIO DEGRASSI, ed., Inscriptiones Italiae, vol. X I I I : Fasti et elogia, fasc. 1: Fasti consulares et triumphales, R o m e , 1947, p p . 205 a n d 234. C f . L . VIDMAN, S I R I S , p . 2 4 5 f o r f u r t h e r references. HERBERT BLOCH

confirmed this dating in his n o w w e l l - k n o w n study of the brickstamps at the sanctuary: T h e Serapeum of Ostia and the Brickstamps of 123 A . D . : A N e w L a n d m a r k in the H i s t o r y of R o m a n Architecture, AJA 63 (1959), p p . 2 2 5 - 4 0 and 329. O n the history

1802

R O B E R T A. W I L D

V I A

Fig. 29. Ostia. G r o u n d plan of the Serapeum as it existed in its last phase. The H o u s e of Bacchus and Ariadne is to the right (5) while the H o u s e of the Serapeum stood to the left

ISIS - SARAPIS S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1803

Fig. 30. Ostia. Plan of the H o u s e of the Serapeum. From the early 2nd cen. to the late 3rd or early 4th cen. this area f o r m e d part of the Serapeum complex. R o o m C may have been used as a gathering place for a collegium. The Serapeum proper was connected on the north side of this structure (cf. Fig. 29)

1804

R O B E R T A. W I L D

Fig. 31. Pergamum. Overview of the sanctuary. The Selinus River passes underneath it through two long tunnels

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

O F

T H E

R O M A N

PERIOD

1805

Originally the precinct also included the so-called 'Domus accanto al Serapeo', a complex immediately to the south of the temple area and once connected to i t . 1 3 2 The large triclinium located here and the rooms around it served a collegium as a place for gathering and for sharing meals t o g e t h e r . 1 3 3 In the late 3rd or early 4th cen. the doorway into this southern annex was blocked off and the whole of this section was converted into a spacious h o u s e . 1 3 4 The remaining precinct appears much the same as that found at Leptis Magna. H o w e v e r , perhaps at the time when the southern facilities were given up, the cella of the temple was enlarged by enclosing the sides of the p r o n a o s . 1 3 5 This suggests that more space was now needed in the cella for a group of priests and/or worshippers to gather (privately?) in front of the cult s t a t u e . 1 3 6 O n e earlier renovation should also be noted. The mosaic of the 'Apis bull' at the street entrance — the bull lacks all of the usual symbols of Apis — is not original but was added at the end of the 2nd c e n . 1 3 7

27. P e r g a m u m 1 3 8 (Figs. 31—32) The 'Red Hall', it is generally agreed, was constructed during the reign of Trajan or that of H a d r i a n . 1 3 9 But quite another matter is determining to whom

131

132

of this site prior to the building of the Serapeum see WILHELM VON SYDOW, A A 1976, p. 385. T h e inscriptions, not yet formally edited, are found in S I R I S : 533, 533a—c, 533i and 549; 5 3 3 d and 5 3 3 e were found nearby but not within the Serapeum. WERNER HERMANN (Römische Götteraltäre, Kallmünz, 1961, pp. 121 — 22) provides additional information on the main altar of the sanctuary. D E G R A S S I , Fasti, p. 2 0 5 : Villi K. Febr. Templum Sarapi quod[.] Caltilius P[? ] / sua pecunia extruxit, dedication [es]t. That this notice in the 'Fasti ostienses' related to this temple was given forceful confirmation through BLOCH'S study of the brickstamps. Contrary to FLORIANI SQUARCIAPINO, I culti, p. 21, the House of Bacchus and Ariadne just to the north was never a part of the Serapeum. T h e mosaics on the floor of that house are not from the 4th cen. but date to the time of the original construction of the building, 120—130 A . D . (BECATTI, Scavi di Ostia, IV. 153). The modifications indicated on the plan for the north side of the Serapeum were not carried out to sever it from this northern section but to add several small rooms, a move probably necessitated by the loss of the space to the south.

133

Ibid. 143.

134

FLORIANI SQUARCIAPINO,

135

BECATTI, Scavi di Ostia, IV. 151. N o t shown on the plan of the site are steps leading up to the top of the cult platform. BECATTI, Scavi di Ostia, IV. 150 and 152; Tav. 101. The great 'Red Hall' in the lower town evoked the interest of various 19th cen. travelers, some of whom wrote descriptions of what they had seen. O f particular interest: CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER, COMTE DE, Voyage pittoresque dans l'empire O t t o m a n , 2nd ed., Paris, 1842 and CHARLES TLXIER, Description de l'Asie Mineure, vol. II, Paris, 1849, pp. 2 2 4 237 and plates. O n e of the early projects of the German archaeological team investigating ancient Pergamum was a topographical survey. In reporting this, ALEXANDER CONZE and his associates offered a few observations and hypotheses about the Red Hall site: Stadt und Landschaft (Altertümer von Pergamon, 1, pt. 2), Berlin, 1913, p. 284. A partial ex-

136 137 138

I culti, p.

22.

1806

R O B E R T A. W I L D

it was dedicated. 140 Evidence from the site pertinent to this question is quite limited. 1 4 1 First, there are the fragments of several double atlantid figures found in the south portico. These have Egyptian klaft headdresses and other Egyptianizing features and must have been meant to evoke some sort of "Nilotic atmosphere". 1 4 2 Secondly, a small terracotta head having what appears to be a klaft headdress was found somewhere in the courtyard. 143 Finally, in 1968 in this same courtyard a small head of Isis, 0.06 m high, was discovered apparently as a chance find. 1 4 4 That is all. Other evidence cited by SALDITT-TRAPPMANN (pp. 22—24) is not from the site and therefore of limited relevance here. Why, given this situation, SALDITT-TRAPPMANN then concludes that the structure was a Serapeum is rather unclear. The small head is a head of I s i s and the Egyptianizing materials, while found at several Roman-period Isis temples outside of Egypt (Cyme; Pompeii; Rome: Campus Martius; Rome: Regio III; Soli: Temple D), have not been discovered at Serapeums except at those in the Nile valley. 1 4 5 The atlantids especially offer some assurance that this sanctuary cavation of the site was u n d e r t a k e n in the 1930s but n o r e p o r t s of this w o r k w e r e published. T h e r e were, h o w e v e r , a f e w brief notices: W . ZSCHIETZSCHMANN, N a c h t r ä g e (Perg a m o n ) , R E X I X , 1 (1937), cols. 1242 and 1245; OTFRIED DEUBNER, D a s ägyptische H e i l i g t u m in P e r g a m o n , in: Bericht über d e n VI. internationalen Kongress f ü r A r c h ä o logie, Berlin, 2 1 . - 2 6 . A u g u s t 1939, Berlin, 1940, p p . 477—78 (arguments presented f o r the first time that this was a sanctuary of t h e Egyptian gods); and ERWIN OHLEMUTZ, Die Kulte u n d H e i l i g t ü m e r der G ö t t e r in P e r g a m o n , W ü r z b u r g , 1940, p p . 273 — 76 (survey of Isis-Sarapis material f o u n d at P e r g a m u m — very little on the actual site). S o m e w h a t later ERICH BÖHRINGER p u t together a m o r e lengthy description of the remains f o u n d here: P e r g a m o n , in: N e u e deutsche A u s g r a b u n g e n im Mittelmeergebiet u n d im V o r d e r e n O r i e n t , ed. D e u t s c h e s A r c h . Institut, Berlin, 1959, p p . 1 3 4 - 3 8 . C r e d i t m u s t be given t o REGINA SALDITT-TRAPPMANN w h o , after so m a n y years, finally p u t together a fairly complete and quite useful study of the site: T e m p e l , p p . 1—25. (Cf. L. CASTIGLIONE'S review, G n o m o n 45 [1973], p . 522.) O n the date of c o n s t r u c t i o n of this site: WOLFDIETER HEILMEYER, Korinthische N o r m a l k a p i t e l l e , R M , E r g ä n z u n g s h e f t 16, Heidelberg, 1970, p p . 8 8 - 8 9 , 92. 139

140

141

142 143 144 145

C O N Z E , p . 2 8 4 ; HEILMEYER, p p . 8 9 a n d 9 2 ; SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, p . 1. W h e t h e r t h e site

was subseqently remodelled and h o w long it served as a sanctuary cannot presently be determined. T h e excavations in the 1930s, while little m o r e than an unscientific clearing away of " d e b r i s " , at least served t o m a k e clear that this was not a " l i b r a r y " or "basilica" o r " p u b l i c b a t h s " - CONZE, p . 284, relates all of these older h y p o t h e s e s — but a sanctuary. P r o b a b l y a certain a m o u n t of smaller material was simply lost w h e n the central temple was cleared. T h e r e is still h o p e of obtaining better data, h o w e v e r . SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, T e m p e l , p. 20, n . 57 noted the presence of architectural f r a g m e n t s and o t h e r ancient materials in unexcavated p o r t i o n s of the tunnel system. This material was p r o b a b l y t h r o w n as fill into those p o r t i o n s of the u n d e r g r o u n d system over which walls w e r e built in the course of B y z a n t i n e - p e r i o d renovations. In addition, m u c h of the vast c o u r t y a r d has never been p r o b e d . SALDITT-TRAPPMANN, T e m p e l , p p . 1 3 - 1 4 and A b b . 1 8 - 2 0 . I b i d . , p . 24 and A b b . 25. I b i d . , p . 24 and A b b . 24. At the O s t i a Serapeum, a mosaic in t h e c o u r t y a r d which survives in f r a g m e n t a r y c o n d i t i o n depicted h i p p o p o t a m i , crocodiles, water-lilies, ibises, and turtles (BECATTI, Scavi di

römisch unterirdisch byzantinisch

Fig. 32. Pergamum. The central tempie and related buildings. Vari< indicated in outline. In the Byzantine period walls were constr

'ous underground rooms and a connecting tunnel system are rue ted to form a narthex and a nave with two side aisles

Fig. 33. Philippi. G r o u n

f ^ A i i L

¿ U P L ^ I L U ^ L V«/ri l'ose r Tiforjiui

id plan of the sanctuary

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

O F

T H E

R O M A N

1807

PERIOD

w a s d e d i c a t e d t o a n E g y p t i a n d i v i n i t y , f o r it is h a r d t o i m a g i n e t h a t t h e b u i l d e r s of a 2 n d cen. sanctuary to s o m e other god w o u l d have used such motifs. t h i s d i v i n i t y w a s Isis r a t h e r t h a n S a r a p i s a p p e a r s t o m e m o r e p r o b a b l e ,

That

although

I w o u l d stress the limited data g r o u n d i n g this h y p o t h e s i s .

28.

Philippi146 (Fig. 33) While

it is c e r t a i n

that

this

sanctuary

was

built

sometime

during

the

I m p e r i a l p e r i o d , arriving at a p r e c i s e date offers s o m e difficulties. C o i n s

from

t h e 1st c e n . w e r e f o u n d o n t h e s i t e b u t t h e c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h t h e y

were

d i s c o v e r e d w e r e n o t r e c o r d e d . So also the descriptions of the small finds offer n o h e l p . O n l y t h e five i n s c r i p t i o n s f r o m t h e site ( S I R I S 1 1 5 — 1 8 a n d 1 2 2 ) o f f e r a n y real a v e n u e t o w a r d a s o l u t i o n . 1 4 7 S i n c e all o f t h e m d a t e f r o m t h e 2 n d o r 3 r d c e n . , t h e 2 n d c e n . is a p r o b a b l e terminus

a

quo.

Ostia, IV. 1 5 0 - 5 1 and T a w . 117, 1 1 9 - 2 1 ) . While this is evocative of the Nile valley, there is no directly religious imagery. ANNE ROULLET believes that two other Egyptian objects are to be connected to this sanctuary (The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments of Imperial R o m e [Et. prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 20], Leiden, 1972, pp. 38 and 1 1 8 - 1 9 ) . O n e of these, a stelophorus (ROULLET, nr. 215), was found in 1941 "near the Serapeum". T h e other, simply " a fragment of a leg in black ' b a s a l t ' " (ROULLET, nr. 217), is said to have been found "near the entrance to the Serapeum". These objects may have come from the sanctuary but could just as well have come from somewhere else in the city. At Thessalonica, dedicated as will be seen to Sarapis and Isis, a small sphinx was found ( A A 1922, col. 2 4 2 ; B C H 45 [1921], p. 540). T h e fact that Isis was also honored here m a y explain the presence of this object. Serapeum C on the island of Delos, a Hellenistic site, produced a number of Egyptian artifacts. Perhaps their presence at this sanctuary also had something to do with the fact that an older shrine to Isis was included in the precinct. (I will argue below that Sanctuary E at Soli, a building constructed with a pylon gateway, was dedicated to Isis rather than to Sarapis. However, the argument in part devolves upon the use of this Egyptian feature.) 146

T h e excavation work done here at Philippi was rather unsystematic and leaves a variety of questions unanswered. This failure to investigate fully the evidence at hand (e.g., to explore the full length of the pipe found under a portion of the sanctuary) is reflected in the main report which concentrates more on the overall context at Philippi rather than on the specifics of the site: PAUL COLLART, Le sanctuaire des dieux égyptiens à Philippes, B C H 53 (1929), pp. 7 0 - 1 0 0 . Earlier notices: B C H 44 (1920), p. 4 0 7 ; Ibid. 45 (1921), pp. 544—45. C f . also P. COLLART, Philippes, ville de Macédoine, depuis ses origines jusqu'à la fin de l'époque romaine, vol. I, Paris, 1937, pp. 443 — 54; vol. II, plates. SALDITT-TRAPPMANN (Tempel, pp. 5 2 - 5 3 ) has little to add but stresses the present poor condition of the site and notes that the small finds have disappeared. F o r a recent summary of the discoveries cf. DUNAND, Culte, II, 1 9 1 - 9 8 . A number of reliefs which apparently, but not certainly, depict Isis have been found carved on the natural rock of the acropolis. Several are in the vicinity of the sanctuary. O n these cf. CHARLES PICARD, Les dieux de la colonie de Philippes, R H R e l 86 (1922), pp. 119, 1 7 3 - 7 8 (a further note on the sanctuary is found on p. 180) and P. DUCREY, Philippes. Reliefs rupestres, B C H 94 (1970), pp. 809—11 (indicates that two more 'Isis' reliefs were found in 1969). Also pertinent: COLLART, Philippes, vol. II, pi. lxxx.

147

S I R I S 119 (2nd or 3rd cen.) was found carved into the natural rock about 4 m from the stairs leading up the acropolis to the precinct.

1808

R O B E R T A.

WILD

This precinct has at its east end five cellae in a row. Various rather speculative hypotheses have been advanced as to which god was honored in each of these. 1 4 8 Once again, the inscriptions provide the best evidence. T w o of the texts are dedications by a "priest of Isis" (SIRIS 115 and 119). However, a further dedication offered by the same individual w h o dedicated SIRIS 115 gives this donor his full title: ó L8Qeí)g xfjg Eíoióog Kai S a g á j u ó o g (SIRIS 116). W h y this oscillation with respect to the title of the priest? I believe "priest of Isis" to be a short-hand version of the proper formal title and one which reflected the de facto devotional situation. That is, although SIRIS 122 was set up by the cultores deor(um) Serapis Isidis, normally Isis evoked the greater piety and enthusiasm at Philippi. Formally, however, Sarapis enjoyed honors second only to those of Isis. 1 4 9

29. Poetovio 1 5 0 (Fig. 34) S A R I A noted that many of the inscriptions and monuments seem to have come f r o m one part of Poetovio, so-called Section 1077, perhaps the center of the ancient t o w n . 1 5 1 A sanctuary to the Egyptian gods very likely, therefore, was situated somewhere in this area. However, S A R I A ' S further assertion that the sanctuary identified by S C H M I D T as a shrine to Jupiter O p t i m u s Maximus is this Isis-Sarapis precinct is not very convincing. 1 5 2 Since none of the small finds seem to have come from the proposed site, S A R I A is reduced to arguing that the architectural design, said by him to be that of a simple cella surrounded by an outer wall, is typical of the sanctuaries of these gods. 1 5 3 But this is hardly convincing! 1 5 4 S A R I A ' S suggestion must be treated as purely hypothetical.

148

149

150

COLLART,

BCH

Culte, II,

193-95.

53 (1929),

pp. 8 7 - 8 9 ;

PICARD,

RHRel

86

(1922),

p. 180;

DUNAND,

T h e r e p o r t s ( B C H 45 [1921], p . 545 and COLLART, B C H 53 [1929], p p . 7 2 - 7 4 ) indicate that the chief deity at Philippi was h o n o r e d in the second cella f r o m the left. Just as certainly at G o r t y n and p r o b a b l y at Ras el Soda and at Soli: T e m p l e E , so here Isis in her status as principal deity was given not the center position b u t a place t o the left of center. T h e site in question was excavated by WALTER SCHMIDT; his r e p o r t is therefore p r i m a r y : P o e t o v i o : Raziskavanja muzejskega drustva v P t u j u jeseni 1935, Casopis za z g o d o v i n o in n a r o d o p i s j e 30 (1935), pp. 135 — 38 and 141. Better k n o w n in this context is BALDUIN SARIA'S survey of materials f r o m P o e t o v i o related t o the E g y p t i a n cults: " S p o m e n i k i egiptovskih bozanstev v P o e t o v i j u " , Ibid. 32 (1927), p p . 20—28. Brief notice: P. SELEM, Egipatski bogovi u r i m s k o m Iliriku, G o d i s n j a k 9 (1972), p p . 30—31 and 96. O t h e r lists of Isis-Sarapis material f r o m this area: P. LAKATOS, Beiträge z u r V e r b r e i t u n g der ägyptischen Kulte in P a n n o n i e n , Acta Universitatis Szegedinensis, Acta A n t i q u a 4 (1961), p . 6 and J. LECLANT, Découvertes de m o n u m e n t s égyptiens ou égyptisants hors de la vallée d u N i l , 1 9 5 5 - 1 9 6 0 , Orientalia 30 (1961), p . 401, n. 1.

151

SARIA, p . 2 4 .

152

SCHMIDT (cit. n.

153

SARIA, p . 2 6 .

154

SCHMIDT himself (p. 141) reconstructs the remains as a central temple s u r r o u n d e d on three sides by an outer p o r c h .

1 5 0 , a b o v e ) , p . 1 3 5 ; SARIA ( c i t . n . 1 5 0 , a b o v e ) , p p . 2 5 — 2 6 .

Fig. 34. Poetovio. Ground plan of the supposed sanctuary to the Egyptian gods ( W ) . The cella are;

ng. 35. Pompeii. Ground plan of the sanctuary. I = portico; II = pronaos; III = V I I - I X = rooms

cella; IV = water crypt; V = "sacristy"; VI = "assembly r o o m " (Ecclesiasterion) for resident clergy

ISIS -

SARAPIS

SANCTUARIES

OF

THE

R O M A N

1809

PERIOD

30. Pompeii 1 5 5 (Fig. 35) The basic facts about this sanctuary need no extended discussion. The dedicatory inscription placed over the street door indicates that the aedes Isidis 155

Essential for the understanding of this site is the remarkably well-done diary of the day-today work of excavation kept by the 18th cen. archaeologists and finally published in: Pompeianarum antiquitatum historia, ed. GIUSEPPE FIORELLI, vol. I, pt. 1, Naples, 1860, pp. 164—94 and 226; vol. I, pt. 4, pp. 149—51. Using this report it is possible to locate the find spots for most of the materials recovered in the 1764—66 excavations. Nonetheless, a variety of questions remain, so much so that a whole new study of this site should probably be undertaken. For example, the various plans published often show differences, architectural dimensions are almost never given, objects originally on the site have been destroyed by later tourists, etc. In this situation the reports written by early visitors often take on a special significance: DOMENICO MIGLIACCI, Riflessioni sopra il tempio d'lside in Pompei, Naples, 1765 (not seen by me); WILLIAM HAMILTON, Account of the Discoveries at Pompeii, Archaeologia 4 (1776), pp. 160 — 75 (gives earliest k n o w n plan of the site); GIOVANNI-BATTISTA and FRANCESCO PIRANESI, Antiquités de la G r a n d e Grèce, vol. II, Paris, 1804, pis. lviii—lxxii (plan of site, detailed drawings of selected features, and several m o r e 'romantic' drawings); THOMAS L.

DONALDSON a n d

WILLIAM B .

COOKE,

Pompeii,

vol.

I, L o n d o n ,

1827, p p .

42 — 44

and plates; ANDRÉ DE JORIO, Plan de Pompéi, Naples, 1828, pp. 1 2 6 - 3 1 ; CHARLES BONUCCI, Pompéi, French trans, of the 3rd Italian ed., Naples, 1830, p. 200; FRANÇOIS M A Z O I S a n d

FRANÇOIS

CHRÉTIEN

GAU,

Les

ruines

de

Pompéi,

vol.

IV,

Paris,

1838, pp. 24—36 and pis. vii—xi (several important drawings); and FAUSTO and FELICE NICCOLINI, Le case ed i m o n u m e n t i di Pompei disegnati e descritti, vol. I, pt. 2: Il tempio d'lside, Naples, 1854 (detailed description and plates). Pictures and comments on the various small finds, some of which have since disappeared, are f o u n d in some of the above works. Cf. also: Real Museo Borbonico (16 vols., Naples, 1 8 2 4 - 5 7 ) , vol. VII, frontispiece (the ablution basin) and vol. IX, pi. xi (statue of Dionysus). A fundamental study of the wall paintings is OLGA ELIA, Le pitture del tempio di Iside (Monumenti della pittura antica scoperti in Italia, Sez. 3, fasc. 3—4), R o m e , 1942; she provides a n u m b e r of excellent color reproductions. Also on these paintings: K. SCHEFOLD, Die W ä n d e P o m pejis. Topographisches Verzeichnis der Bildmotive, Berlin, 1957, pp. 38 and 231—32. Many other accounts of this sanctuary have been published in the last one hundred and twenty-five years but most simply summarize the reports mentioned above. The m o r e important of these are: C . REICHEL, D e Isidis apud Romanos cultu, Berlin, 1849, pp. 42—45; THOMAS H . DYER, Pompeii: Its H i s t o r y , Buildings, and Antiquities, L o n d o n , 1867, pp. 1 4 0 - 4 3 ; ERNEST BRETON, Pompeia décrite et dessinée, 3rd ed., Paris, 1870, p. 46—52; GIUSEPPE FIORELLI, Descrizione di Pompei, Naples, 1875, pp. 358—62 and ID., Guida di Pompei, R o m e , 1877, pp. 8 3 - 8 4 ; GEORGES LAFAYE, Histoire du culte des divinités d'Alexandrie en dehors de l'Egypte, Paris, 1884, pp. 178—99; JOHANNES OVERBECK and AUGUST MAU, Pompeii in seinen G e b ä u d e n , Altertümern und Kunstwerken, 4th ed., Leipzig, 1884, pp. 1 0 4 - 1 0 ; PIERRE GUSMAN, Pompéi, la ville, les m œ u r s , les arts, Paris, 1899, p p . 8 5 - 1 0 1 ; AUGUST MAU, Pompeii in Leben und Kunst, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1908, pp. 1 7 4 - 8 7 (English trans, of 1st ed. by F. KELSEY, N e w York, 1902, pp. 1 6 2 - 7 6 ) ; Ibid.: Anhang, Leipzig, 1913, pp. 3 1 - 3 3 ; and H . THÉDENAT, Pompéi: Vie publique, Paris, 1916, pp. 70—77. HEINRICH NISSEN re-examined the evidence f r o m the site with great care and was able to determine to some degree how the sanctuary looked before the earthquake in 62 A . D . : Pompeianische Studien zur Städtekunde des Altertums, Leipzig, 1877, pp. 158—61 and 170 — 75 — cf. also pp. 346—49. The best k n o w n study done in recent years, V. TRAN TAM TINH, Essai sur le culte d'Isis à Pompéi, Paris, 120 ANRW II 17.4

1810

ROBERT

A.

WILD

which had collapsed in the earthquake of 62 A.D. was rebuilt, presumably shortly afterwards, a fundamento.156 This was more than a mere restoration. H. NISSEN demonstrated long ago that the Iseum was expanded to the west at the expense of the old Palaestra. The so-called 'Assembly Room' (Ecclesiasterion) and the 'Sacristy' date only from this later period. 157 In addition, the 1st cen. builders rearranged the portico colonnade and constructed a suite of rooms for resident priests between the theater and the south wall of the precinct. 158 The underground crypt had survived from the earlier Hellenistic sanctuary but its upper housing shows signs of having been partially reconstructed. 159 In short, a very active Isis community not only rapidly replaced their destroyed sanctuary but even had the political power to be able to enlarge it.

31. Ras el Soda 160 (Fig. 36) This rather well-preserved podium temple of Roman type was perhaps a private shrine belonging to a wealthy individual. 161 If so, he was probably the Isidoros who dedicated a votive foot to "the Blessed One" who had saved him. 1 6 2 Whether either the rooms found on a higher level behind this temple or those rather hastily excavated on its east side formed part of a larger precinct appears very doubtful. The identification of this temple is based on the size and relative position of the five cult statues. These were found in situ,163 From left to right on the 1964, does not provide any new information on the sanctuary itself but, in attempting to catalogue and study all of the Isis-Sarapis evidence from Pompeii, provides a new understanding of the milieu in which it existed. On the altars of the sanctuary see WERNER HERMANN, Rómische Gótteraltare, Kallmünz, 1961, pp. 43 and 101—2. Several motifs attested at the Iseum are explored by REINHOLD MERKELBACH in his 'Der Isiskult in Pompeii',

Latomus 24 (1965),

pp. 1 4 4 — 4 9 .

I w a s u n a b l e t o o b t a i n GIUSEPPE SPANO'S

Tecularità architettoniche del tempio pompeiano d'Iside', in: Studi di antichità classica offerti a E. Ciaceri, Naples, 1940, pp. 288 — 315 but suspect that it deserves attention. 156

SIRIS 482: N. Popidius N(umeri) f(ilius) Celsinus / aedem Isidis terrae motu conlapsam / a fundamento p(ecunia) s(ua) restituit. Hunc decuriones ob liberalitatem, / cum esset annorum sexs, ordini suo gratis adlegerunt. This benefaction was in the name of the sixyear-old son of N . Popidius Ampliatus. This gentleman and his family donated other objects to the Iseum (SIRIS 4 8 3 - 8 4 ) .

157

H . NISSEN, P o m p e i a n i s c h e S t u d i e n , p p . 1 5 9 - 6 1 ;

158

Ibid., 1 7 1 - 7 2 . Ibid., 174. NISSEN dates the founding of the earlier structure to the 2nd cen. B . C . The only publication on this site is that by A. ADRIANI, Sanctuaire de l'époque romaine a Ras el Soda, Annuaire du Musée Gréco-Romain ( 1 9 3 5 - 3 9 ) , Alexandria, 1940, pp. 136—48 and pis. 1—lix. He reported the sculptural finds in detail while giving far less attention to the architecture, especially that of the structures to the east of the shrine. ADRIANI, Annuaire (1940), p. 148. The inscription (ADRIANI, p. 146):

159 160

161 162

173.

'PwpGeiç è | ÏJtJtcov oui' ô/FINATOÇ Ê v 6 ' IOÎÔCOQOÇ 163

OÛ)6EIÇ àvxi jtoówv 9f|KEV 'iyyoç, ixcucaQi. Cf. ADRIANI, Annuaire (1940), pl. lix. 1.

-a c

"B^OI Ol:

_C bß j3

H.

io

5 ¿Ii

C -C O « a.

a, -o c 3 o -a G

O ti U -o o

ISIS -

SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E

ROMAN

PERIOD

1811

cult p l a t f o r m s t o o d an Isis s t a t u e , t h e largest of t h e f i v e ; an O s i r i s in bydria ( C a n o p u s ) , T y p e A ; 1 6 4 an O s i r i s in hydria, T y p e B; a H e r m a n o u b i s , and a H a r p o c r a t e s . J u s t as at G o r t y n a n d P h i l i p p i , s o in this c a s e t h e s t a t u e t o t h e left w o u l d appear t o r e p r e s e n t t h e p r i n c i p a l d e i t y h o n o r e d h e r e . T h e s e s t a t u e s a n d t h e s i n g l e i n s c r i p t i o n date n o earlier t h a n t h e s e c o n d half o f t h e 2 n d c e n . T h e terminus a quo, t h e r e f o r e , is v e r y p r o b a b l y t o b e set as c. 150 A . D . 1 6 5

32. R o m e : C a m p u s M a r t i u s 1 6 6 (Figs. 3 7 - 3 8 ) L i t e r a r y s o u r c e s p r o v i d e all t h e e v i d e n c e f o r d a t i n g t h e o r i g i n a l c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d s u b s e q u e n t r e n o v a t i o n s of t h i s s a n c t u a r y . T h i s material is familiar a n d n e e d 164

The typology roughly follows that proposed by WILHELM WEBER, Drei Untersuchungen zur ägyptisch-griechischen Religion (Progr. G y m n . Heidelberg), Heidelberg, 1911, pp. 3 2 - 3 3 .

165

ADRIANI, Annuaire (1940), pp. 1 4 7 - 4 8 . 166 A systematic excavation of this site, which is entirely buried under a large area in the heart of Rome, has never been possible. Consequently, investigators have concentrated on three avenues of approach. First, on the classification and analysis of architectural members and small finds recovered accidentally or otherwise in the last four hundred years. M. MALAISE, Inventaire, pp. 187—214, provides an invaluable summary of this material as well as a useful account of what is known of the general character of the sanctuary. I will not repeat here the bibliographies for the various finds which he so thoroughly has furnished. O n the finds which are Egyptian in type cf. ANNE ROULLET, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments of Imperial Rome (cit. n. 145, above), pp. 2 3 - 3 5 , e t c . MALAISE'S w o r k n o w r e p l a c e s t h e p i o n e e r i n g s t u d y of RODOLFO LANCIANI,

L'Iseum et Serapeum della Reg. IX, BullCom, N S 2 (1883), pp. 3 3 - 6 0 . A second approach pursued with solid results especially by GUGLIEMO GATTI (Topografia delPIseo Campense, RendPontAcc 20 [1943—44], pp. 1 1 7 - 6 3 ) has been to attempt reconstructions of portions of the precinct on the basis of architectural remains known in modern times. Linked to this approach are the various studies of the coin issued during Vespasian's reign (71 A . D . ) which apparently depicts the facade of the pre-80 A . D . central temple at the Iseum: H . DRESSEL, Das Iseum Campense auf einer Münze des Vespasianus (SB B e r l i n 1 9 0 9 ) , B e r l i n , 1 9 0 9 , p p . 6 4 0 - 4 8 a n d WILHELM WEBER, E i n H e r m e s - T e m p e l

des

Kaisers Marcus (SB Heidelberg, 1910, nr. 7), Heidelberg, 1910, pp. 1 1 - 1 3 . Thirdly, various scholars have utilized literary sources and other evidence to determine the general topography of this part of ancient Rome, a task made considerably easier with the discovery of fragments of the 'Forma Urbis', a map of Rome carved on a thin marble slab during the reign of Septimius Severus: OTTO GILBERT, Geschichte und Topographie der Stadt R o m im Altertum, vol. III, Leipzig, 1890, pp. 1 1 0 - 1 1 ; CH. HÜLSEN, Porticus Divorum et Serapeum im Marsfelde, RM 18 (1903), pp. 3 2 - 4 7 and 5 4 - 5 7 (important study of the 'Forma Urbis' fragments); H . JORDAN and CH. HÜLSEN, Topographie der Stadt R o m im Altertum, vol. I, pt. 3, Berlin, 1907, p p . 567—72 (largely repeats the findings given in 1903); S. PLATNER and T . ASHBY, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London, 1929, pp. 283 — 85; V. LUNDSTRÖM, Undersökningar i Roms topografi, Göteborg, 1929, pp. 110—28 (provides important corrections to HÜLSEN'S work). More general studies on this site: L. CANINA, Tempio d'Iside nella regione IX fra i Septi e le Terme di Caracalla, Annali dell'Istituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica 24 (1852), pp. 348 — 53; G. LAFAYE, Histoire du culte des divinités d'Alexandrie en dehors de l'Egypte, Paris, 1884, pp. 216—26; GEORG WISSOWA, Religion und Kultus der Römer (Handb. d. 120»

1812

ROBERT

A.

WILD

not be repeated here. It is also clear both from these sources and from the 'Forma Urbis' as reconstructed by V. L U N D S T R Ö M that Isis was the principal divinity throughout the life of the sanctuary. However, although the writers who speak of this cult center in the 1st and 2nd centuries speak only of Isis, 1 6 7 beginning with the 'Forma Urbis' map and with Cassius Dio it is regularly designated as the Iseum et Serapeum.168 H o w much can be made of this is not clear. I am tempted,

showing the ground plan of the southern half of this sanctuary

167

168

Altertumswiss. IV 5), 2nd ed., Munich, 1912 (repr. 1971), p. 353. Inscriptions found in the area of the sanctuary: S I R I S 3 8 2 - 8 7 . References in ancient texts (cf. T . HOPFNER, Fontes historiae religionis aegyptiacae, B o n n , 1922—25): J o s e p h u s , B e l l . J u d . 7.123; Martial 2 . 1 4 . 7 ; Juvenal 6 . 5 2 8 - 2 9 ; Apuleius, Metam. 11.26; Cassius D i o 6 6 . 2 4 . 2 , 79. 10.1; Eusebius, Chronica: versio lat. Hieronymi (ed. HELM), p. 191; Chronicon anni p . C h r . 334 (ed. FRICK), p p . 116—17, 121; E u t r o p i u s , Brev. 7 . 2 3 . 5 ; Notitia de regionibus, reg. I X ; C u r i o s u m urbis R o m a e , reg. I X ; H i s t . A u g . , Alex. Sever. 26. Martial in his reference ( 2 . 1 4 . 7 ) to the Memphitica templa is probably only employing a poetic phrase and not referring specifically to the Memphis sanctuary as a Serapeum. In 6 6 . 2 4 . 2 Cassius D i o lists the Serapeum before the Iseum, the only reference in which the Serapeum enjoys this precedence.

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

1813

however, in the light of the apparent enthusiasm of Septimius Severus for the cult of Sarapis, to believe that it was only during his reign that this god joined Isis as a full partner in the Campus Martius precincts. 1 6 9 Perhaps such an elevation of Sarapis had something to do with the renovation which took place during the reign of Alexander Severus. Lampridius, however, gives no clue one way or the other that such was or was not the case. 1 7 0

33. R o m e : Regio III 1 7 1 The anonymous report published in 1664 is worth reproducing since so very little else is k n o w n : " T h e chapel of the goddess Isis was discovered in 1653 in a garden below the Caelian Hill close to the church of Sts. Peter and Marcellinus. In it were discovered very beautiful paintings of Egyptian figures. H o w ever, the humidity was so great that the colors dissolved. Consequently, it was impossible to detach these figures f r o m the wall. A m o n g them were idols and winged animals, ibises and sphinxes, priests standing and other priests kneeling in front of crowned and winged monsters, (priests?) with baskets of grain and of flowers. All of these figures were very finely formed in plaster. Some were painted in different colors while others were left in white plaster. Some of these latter were with some difficulty detached by the knight Cassiano del P o z z o . " This same individual is k n o w n to have sketched the finds. However, a search of his papers carried out by G E O R G E S L A F A Y E turned up nothing. 1 7 2 Even the 169

170

171

Hist. Aug., Sept. Sever. 17: iucundam sibi Alexandrinam peregrinationem propter religionem dei Sarapidis et propter rerum antiquarum cognitionem et propter novitatem animalium vel locorum fuisse Severus ipse postea ostendit. Hist. Aug., Alex. Sever. 26: Alexander Severus Isium et Serapium decenter ornavit additis signis et deliacis et omnibus mysticis. An anonymous report published at the end of the Rome edition of GIROLAMO LUNADORO, Relatione della corte di Roma, Rome, 1664 constitutes the chief source of evidence for this site: 'Delle vestige delle pitture antiche del buon secolo dei Romani', p. 62. It is not found in the editions of LUNADORO published the same year at Venice and Viterbo. H . JORDAN and CH. HÜLSEN (Topographie der Stadt Rom im Altertum, vol. I, pt. 3, Berlin, 1907, pp. 304 — 5, n. 49) provide an extended citation. A second, much briefer report which goes back to PIETRO SANTI BARTOLI is given in CARLO FEA, Memorie di varie escavazioni fatte in Roma e nei luoghi suburbani vivente Pietro Santi Bartoli, in: Miscellanea filologica, critica et antiquaria, vol. I, Rome, 1790, p. ccxxii. Other than these two notices, nothing else is known of the excavations of 1653. A later wall located close to this site yielded in 1887 a large number of sculptural fragments related to the Isis-Sarapis cult: C. L. VISCONTI, Trovamenti di oggetti d'arte e di antichità figurata, BuIlCom 15 (1887), pp. 132-36. A further find and its possible relation to the site is discussed in GIORGIO SCHNEIDER GRAZIOSI, Di un bassorilievo egizio di imitazione proveniente dall'Tseum' della Regione Terza, BullCom 43 (1915), pp. 115—22. Other discussions of the site and surveys of possibly related evidence: GEORGES LAFAYE, Histoire du eulte des divinités d'Alexandrie en dehors de l'Egypte, Paris, 1884, pp. 207—8; RODOLFO LANCIANI, The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome, Boston, 1897, p . 3 5 8 ; JORDAN a n d HÜLSEN, I b i d . , p p . 3 0 4 - 5 ; MALAISE, I n v e n t a i r e , p p . 1 7 1 - 7 5 ,

ANNE ROULLET, The Egyptian and Egyptianizing Monuments, pp. 35 — 36.

and

1814

ROBERT

A.

WILD

precise location of the site is now a matter of guesswork. 1 7 3 Regio III was known in Imperial times as Isis Serapis.174 It is possible but by no means certain that the structure found in 1653 was at least a part of the sanctuary to Isis and Sarapis after which the district apparently was named. Various small finds were recovered in the surrounding area. They include a small head of Sarapis, five life-sized heads or upper portions from Isis statues; heads of Apollo, Hermes, and Flora (?); portrait heads, etc. 1 7 5 The Isis-Sarapis materials may have once belonged to the area later probed in the 17th cen. but it is difficult to be very certain about this.

34. Rome: Santa Sabina 176 (Fig. 39) A certain Cosmus, a freedman in the imperial service of Marcus Aurelius, had his house on the lower slopes of the Aventine close to the Tiber. Here in the late 2nd cen. 1 7 7 the walls of one of the rooms — Room IV according to DESCEMET'S notation — were replastered and painted with scenes relating to the cult of Isis. 1 7 8 Portions of these walls were then covered with a variety of

172

LANCIANI, p. 3 5 8 , reported that the drawings done b y Cassiano del P o z z o were in E n g l a n d . H o w e v e r , LAFAYE made a search of his papers both at O x f o r d and at M o n t pellier in F r a n c e and turned up nothing ( H i s t o i r e , p . 2 0 7 , n. 5).

173

LANCIANI, R u i n s and Excavations, p. 3 5 8 ; SCHNEIDER GRAZIOSI, B u l l C o m 4 3 p.

174

Cf. SIRIS

175

VISCONTI, B u l l C o m 15 ( 1 8 8 7 ) , pp. 1 3 3 - 3 6 .

176

(1915),

115.

372-73.

A variety o f reports exist f o r the w o r k done in 1855—57. O f these the m o s t important are t w o publications b y C H . DESCEMET: M é m o i r e sur les fouilles exécutées à Sainte-Sabine ( 1 8 5 5 — 57), Paris, 1863 and ID., M é m o i r e sur les fouilles exécutées à Sainte-Sabine, 1855 — 1857, M é m A c I n s c r , Ser. 1: Sujets divers d'érudition, 6 pt. 2 ( 1 8 6 4 ) , pp. 165—81 and plan iii. Earlier DESCEMET had also published T o u i l l e s de S. S a b i n e ' , Annali dell'Istituto di C o r r i s p o n d e n z a Archeologica 2 9 ( 1 8 7 5 ) , pp. 6 2 — 6 7 ( n o t very useful) and ID., ' N o t e sur les fouilles

exécutées à Santa-Sabina',

CRAcInscr

3 (1859),

pp. 104—9

(a

short

preview of his later reports). Also o f s o m e use is G . B . DE ROSSI, Scavi n e l l ' o r t o di Santa Sabina, M o n u m e n t i , Annali e Bullettini pubblicati dall'Istituto di C o r r i s p o n d e n z a A r c h e o logica 1855, fasc. 1, pp. xlviii—liv. FÉLIX DARSY completed his re-examination of the area in 1939 but did not p r o d u c e a full report until 1968: R e c h e r c h e s archéologiques à Sainte-Sabine, Vatican C i t y , 1968, pp. 3 0 — 5 5 . T h i s is the primary publication f o r understanding all of the discoveries. P r i o r to this, short accounts o f these investigations had been provided by DARSY ( U n sanctuaire d'Isis sur l'Aventin, R e n d P o n t A c c 21 [ 1 9 4 5 — 4 6 ] , pp. 8—9 and ID., Santa Sabina, R o m e , 1961, pp. 5 2 — 5 3 ) and b y FRANZ CUMONT ( R a p p o r t sur une mission à R o m e , C R A c I n s c r 1945, pp. 3 9 6 — 9 9 ) . F o r a s u m m a r y o f the discoveries cf. MALAISE, Inventaire, pp. 2 2 5 - 2 7 .

Inscriptions: VIDMAN lists s o m e o f the graffiti

under S I R I S 3 9 0 . F o r a m o r e c o m p l e t e and definitive publication cf. DARSY, R e c h e r c h e s , pp. 177

178

30-45.

DARSY ( R e c h e r c h e s , p. 4 5 ) believes that Isis worshippers assembled here as early as Republican times, but no p r o o f whatever exists f o r this hypothesis. DARSY (Ibid. 4 9 ) dates these paintings on stylistic grounds to the late 2 n d cen. O n e of the walls covered b y these paintings was thought b y DE R o s s i ( M o n u m e n t i 1855, p. xlviii) to be " p e r h a p s n o t earlier than the time of H a d r i a n " .

ISIS - S A R A P I S S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E R O M A N

PERIOD

1815

graffiti, many of which manifest devotion to Isis. 1 7 9 Five specifically mention the name of the goddess (Laus Isidis; Mystes IsidisL—; Epaphra (a personal name interwoven with that of Isis); Tfj[I] OOLT|[L] "lot 1 8 0 ; and Pamphiliuls] Isidi et salus ad tuos) while others seem to refer to rites of initiation. Jupiter is mentioned in a single graffito: [Laetitjia, salus es Jovis. In addition, a statue of this god with an eagle by his feet was found in the area. 1 8 1 Room IV, where all of these finds were discovered, appears to have been an ante-chamber to Room III. This

Fig 39. R o m e : Santa Sabina. G r o u n d plan of the area. T h e frescoes and graffiti were found in R o o m IV. R o o m III was probably the actual meeting place for this group of worshippers

179 180 181

These also date to the end of the 2nd cen. (DARSY, Recherches, p. 41). T h e first two w o r d s of this graffito are read as nominatives by DARSY (Ibid. 42). DE R o s s i , Monumenti 1955, p. xlviii.

1816

ROBERT A. WILD

ISIS - SARAPIS SANCTUARIES O F T H E R O M A N P E R I O D

1817

latter was perhaps the gathering place for a " n e i g h b o r h o o d c o n f r a t e r n i t y " 1 8 2 but its original f o r m does n o t survive. In the m i d - 3 r d cen. the Isis worshippers were u p r o o t e d and this r o o m was transformed into part of a bathing establishment.183

3 5 . Sabratha: E a s t E n d 1 8 4 (Figs. 4 0 - 4 1 ) G . PESCE was convinced that he had discovered an Iseum built in the 1st cen. A . D . 1 8 5 H o w e v e r , both elements in his assertion are n o w open t o question. T h e terminus

a quo he provided was based primarily on his belief that SIRIS 7 9 5

was the dedicatory inscription for the sanctuary. Several years later further portions of this same inscription were recovered, and with these H . BENARIO was able to d e m o n s t r a t e that the text was actually a lengthy dedication

to

Vespasian. T h e various stones had probably c o m e originally f r o m a nearby triumphal arch rather than f r o m the s a n c t u a r y . 1 8 6 PESCE also appealed t o the style of the architecture in support of his 1st cen. date. H e admitted, h o w e v e r , that these f o r m s were c o m m o n enough in the 2nd cen. and later; his point seemed t o be, rather, that the style did n o t militate a g a i n s t a 1st cen. d a t e . 1 8 7

182 183 184

DARSY, Santa Sabina, p. 53. DARSY, Recherches, p. 54. Work was carried on intermittently at this site from 1934—47. However, the death of one of the chief archaeologists, GIACOMO GUIDI, and the onset of World War II helped to prevent any effective publication of the many discoveries. Only brief reports appeared: OTTO BRENDEL, Archäologische Funde in Italien, Tripolitanien, der Kyrenaika und Albanien von Oktober 1934 bis Oktober 1935, AA 1935, col. 593; RUDOLF HORN, Archäologische Funde . . . von Oktober 1936 bis Oktober 1937, AA 1937, col. 461; BullCom 66 (1938), fasc. 4, p. 135; and ID., The Organization and Work, 1 9 4 3 - 4 8 , Reports and Monographs of the Department of Antiquities in Tripolitania 2 (1949), p. 12. In the light of this situation GENNARO PESCE decided to re-examine all of the finds. The result was his Tl tempio d'Iside in Sabratha' (Rome, 1953), a work of great ability. On the subsequent restoration work carried out at this sanctuary cf. HELLMUT SICHTERMANN, Archäologische Funde und Forschungen in Libyen, AA 1962, cols. 513 — 14. On the altars see WERNER HERMANN, Römische Götteraltäre, Kallmünz, 1961, pp. 43 and 116. Inscriptions: PESCE, II tempio, pp. 4 7 - 4 8 ; SIRIS 7 9 5 - 9 6 . SIRIS 795 has attracted c o n s i d e r a b l e a t t e n t i o n : JOYCE M .

185

186 187

REYNOLDS a n d J . B . W A R D PERKINS, I n s c r i p t i o n s

of

Roman Tripolitania, Rome—London, 1952, nr. 15; GINETTE DI VITA-EVRARD, La dédicace du temple d'Isis à Sabratha: une nouvelle inscription africaine à l'actif de C. Paccius Africanus, Libya antiqua 3—4 (1966—67), pp. 1 3 - 2 0 and plates; HERBERT BENARIO, C. Paccius Africanus et Sabratha, Epigraphica 28 (1966), pp. 135—39. For that matter, PESCE believed that he had discovered two Iseums (PESCE, II tempio, pp. 62 — 64)! But in this belief he was certainly mistaken. Although he had uncovered an older podium or base under the floor of the west portico, an object which he dated to the Augustan period or the early 1st cen. A.D. (pp. 1 3 - 1 5 ; 63), he offered not one shred of evidence that this so-called "temple" was dedicated to Isis, (DI VITA-EVRARD, p. 13, earlier noted the very hypothetical character of this identification.) VIDMAN, SIRIS, p. 333, concurs with BENARIO. PESCE, II tempio, pp. 64—65. Cf. also p. 70 on the dating for the capitals.

1818

R O B E R T A. W I L D

This argument, that is, reverts back to the argument from the inscription. It is my opinion that the sanctuary originated much later, in the 2nd or even the 3rd cen. From PESCE'S own remarks, the architectural forms employed seem more at home in this later period. Further, the datable statues are virtually all from the 3rd cen. 1 8 8 Finally, the ornate podium or base found buried under the west portico provides probable confirmation for a later date. If, as P E S C E suggested, it was built about the beginning of the present era and if, as I believe, it was n o t related to the Isis cult, 1 8 9 it is unlikely that such a finely made object would have been destroyed and buried only a few years after having been built. Isis was certainly one of the gods honored in this precinct but perhaps was not the main divinity. P E S C E found what was probably her cult statue buried in the debris which had fallen into the north crypt directly under the cella. 1 9 0 Every indication suggests that the cult platform and the floor, etc., from the cella collapsed at some time into the rooms directly below, the so-called north and south crypts. Under these circumstances, it is noteworthy that the Isis statue was found in the north (i.e., right-hand) crypt and that fragments of a large seated figure which P E S C E identified as a cult statue of Sarapis were found in the south or left-hand crypt. 1 9 1 This Sarapis figure probably stood originally on the left side of the cult platform and the tall Isis statue on the right. Consequently, the sanctuary must actually have been dedicated to Sarapis and Isis. 1 9 2

36. Sabratha: F o r u m 1 9 3 (Fig. 40) T w o heads of Sarapis appear to have been discovered here, one in the courtyard (size unknown) and a second, small in size, which was found in the course of a deep probe made in the cella area. This latter is reported to have a turreted crown in place of a kalathos, certainly an unusual feature for a Sarapis 188

189 190 191 192

193

Ibid. 4 9 - 5 2 . A fragment of a Harpocrates statue, dated by PESCE to the 1st cen. A . D . , is an isolated exception. C f . note 185. PESCE, Il tempio, pp. 4 9 - 5 0 and fig. 28. Ibid. 49. SIRIS 796, possibly of the 3rd cen., is a dedication to Isis which was found in the fill of the crypt area. It provides no evidence for the official character of the sanctuary but only reveals that Isis inspired religious devotion in some particular individual. F o r this site I have been able to locate only a few brief notices: GIACOMO GUIDI (the excavator — he died in 1936), I monumenti della Tripolitania romana, in: Africa romana, Milan, 1935, p. 249; RENATO BARTOCCINI, La necropoli punica di Sabratha e il culto delle divinità egiziane in Tripolitania, Annali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale di N a p o l i , N S 3 (1949), p. 52; and GENNARO PESCE, Il tempio d'Iside in Sabratha, R o m e , 1953, pp. 62—63. Neither head of Sarapis found in the precinct is mentioned in G . J . F. KATERSIBBES' inventory (Preliminary Catalogue of Sarapis Monuments [Et. prélimin. aux relig. orient, dans l'empire rom. 36], Leiden, 1973). The maps of Sabratha found in D . E. L. HAYNES, The Antiquities of Tripolitania, Tripoli, 1955 and in ID., Sabratha, Enciclopedia dell'arte antica, classica e orientale, vol. VI, R o m e , 1965, fig. 1154 include a sketchy ground plan of this sanctuary.

, , , , , i i • r , ortheastern corner has been eroded away by the action or the sea

fllMO

Dl>e