Archaeologists have discovered a temple that is two to seven hundred years old in Türkiye.
Discovered near the modern city of Denizli, this temple was built by the Frisians, who had a kingdom in the area between 1200 and 650 BC. She was known by several names, including “Mattan”, “Matar”, and “Sybele”. Other cultures such as the ancient Greeks and Romans also worshiped her, and her cult was known as Frisia and likely King Midas was King of Midas – and continued to flourish ever since the end of the Prignan Kingdom.
“The sacred sites include monuments of the rocks of Phrygia, sacred caves, and twin rock idols. [two] Structure,” Bilge Yılmaz Kolancı, Professor of Archaeology at Pamukkale University, one of the leaders of excavation, told Live Science in an email.
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The photo shows the rock idol being engraved on the rock face itself. The site also includes “many residential bowls and drainage channels,” Kolancı said. Residents containing liquid pouring were often used in ancient rituals. The investigation is ongoing and the team cannot release much information right now, Kolancı said. However, she confirmed the news reports that the site dates back about 2,800 to 2,600 years ago and may link to its mother’s goddess.
“From the photos, the site appears to coincide with other Phrygia sanctuaries we know,” said Davis, who is not involved in the excavation, said Lynn Lawler, professor emeritus of the Ancient Mediterranean Arts at the University of California. “The double idol carved into the rock is so worn out, we don’t know the details. But even in its current state it is reminiscent of a pair of idols found on Midas City and other Frisia sites,” Lawler told Live Science in an email.
Roller said they need to look up artifacts from the site to check the date. “However, the sanctuary appears to have been used during major periods of Phrygian culture and power, namely the 8th to 6th centuries. [B.C.]”The mountainous locations are typical of early Phrygia shrines,” he added.
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However, Lawler said, “Fertility and belonging to the harvest cult are striking me as being rather speculative – we really don’t have any good information about what God meant to her worshippers, either, about the Phrygian goddess Mathal, a ceremony praised for her mother.”
According to Roller, this type of temple is not endemic to the area.
“In fact, it’s not so surprising to find a Frigia shrine like this in the area near Denizli,” Lawler said. “Denizli is pretty close to the ancient Hierapolis, a modern Pamukkale, and the Italian archaeological mission that has worked in Hierapolis for many years has discovered the early Phrygian temple within the ancient city,” Roller said.
Research at the newly discovered temple is ongoing, and the team’s findings will be released in the future, Coranchi said.
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