guy Posted March 17, 2022 Report Share Posted March 17, 2022 (edited) in the sky. Quote “The Phoenician island-city of Motya, off the west coast of Sicily, has long been a focus of archaeological research. Earlier excavations identified a large rectangular basin interpreted, by analogy with Carthage, as a ‘kothon’ or artificial inner harbour. Recent investigations of this feature, however, lead the author to a new interpretation. Rather than a harbour, the so-called ‘Kothon’ is revealed as a sacred freshwater pool at the centre of a monumental circular sanctuary hosting three large temples. The pool, watched over by a statue of Ba'al, also served as a surface for observing and mapping the movement of stars, as emphasised by the alignment of structures and features positioned around the sacred enclosure.“ The statue of the Phoenician god Ba’al stood more than 10 feet high. Its feet were reused in a later construction, and its torso was discovered in the lagoon; its head has never been found.Sapienza University of Rome Expedition to Motya/Antiquity Quote The Phoenicians were a seafaring and trading people from the eastern Mediterranean who’d founded a city on Motya in about 800 B.C., along with other colonies on Sicily. Motya became powerful enough to go to war for a time with Carthage, another Phoenician colony, and the basin was constructed in about 550 B.C. when the city was rebuilt after a Carthiginian raid. It was abandoned in Roman times. Quote It has been suggested that reflections in the surface of the pool were used to keep track of celestial movements, which were important for both religious holidays and for navigation — especially the prominent constellation of Orion, which was aligned at the midwinter solstice with the main temple. A sacred pool was built about 2,500 years ago when the island was the site of a Phoenician city. It was flanked by temples and had a statue of a god on a plinth in the center. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/sacred-pool-of-baal-a-reinterpretation-of-the-kothon-at-motya/329646E6561765FD30A9D6EC5FD5B6CB https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/sacred-pool-researchers-see-reflections-phoenicians-rcna20245 Edited March 17, 2022 by guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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