In the depths of the Gulf of Pozzuoli, where the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea caress the shores of the ancient Roman city of Puteoli, a team of archaeologists discovered in 2023 the remains of a submerged Nabataean temple, the first of its kind ever found outside the traditional territories of this ancient Arab people.

The discovery, the result of collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Culture and the University of Campania, with the participation of the Scuola Superiore Meridionale for underwater areas, is part of the “Between Land and Sea” project, an ambitious initiative that seeks to shed light on the rich archaeological heritage lying beneath the waters off the Phlegraean coast. This region, shaped by millennia of volcanic activity and subjected to continuous processes of land uplift and subsidence, has preserved beneath the current sea level an extraordinary testimony to the port and commercial life of ancient Rome.

The ripa Puteolana, a strip of submerged Roman districts stretching over two kilometers between the port of Puteoli and Portus Iulius, is just one piece of a complex puzzle that spans the entire Gulf of Pozzuoli. This area, which reached its peak during the Augustan era (31 B.C. – 14 A.D.), represented the forefront of urban planning and architectural development in a bustling port district that played a crucial role in maritime trade, mainly in the distribution of grain. The coast was dominated by warehouses for storing goods, forming an urban landscape that reflected the strategic importance of Puteoli in the Mediterranean trade networks.

Nabataean temple: a) altar A1; b) altar A2; c) slab L1; d) slab L4
Nabataean temple: a) altar A1; b) altar A2; c) slab L1; d) slab L4. Credit: M. Stefanile

The Nabataean temple, discovered thanks to meticulous aerial photogrammetric documentation carried out in 2022, is in a surprisingly good state of preservation. So far, archaeologists have identified and documented two rooms (A and B) bordered by walls of opus reticulatum, a typically Roman construction technique consisting of a facing of small blocks of volcanic tuff arranged in a net-like pattern.

In room A, two white marble altars from Luni remain in situ, leaning against the southern perimeter wall. The larger altar, designated A1, measures 1.6 x 0.38 x 0.65 meters and features a mensa with eight rectangular cavities, probably intended to house anepigraphic betyls, small sacred stones characteristic of Nabataean worship. On its front, a dedicatory inscription reads Dusari sacrum, consecrated to Dushara, the chief deity of the Nabataean pantheon. The smaller altar, A2, has only three similar rectangular cavities.

The presence of these altars and the inscriptions dedicated to Dushara not only confirm the Nabataean nature of the temple but also shed light on the integration of this community of merchants into the social and economic fabric of Puteoli. The choice of Latin for the inscriptions and the use of local construction techniques and materials suggest a high degree of acculturation, while still preserving the essential elements of their faith and traditions.

The temple, which probably consisted of a rectangular floor plan with two rooms and a north-facing entrance, was linked to the internal routes of the vicus Lartidianus, one of the commercial neighborhoods of ancient Puteoli. Although the exact configuration of the roof has yet to be determined, the presence of the altars in room A suggests the possibility that it was an open-air sacellum, a not unusual feature in Nabataean places of worship.

Plan of the Nabataean temple excavated to date
Plan of the Nabataean temple excavated to date. Credit: M. Silani

The construction of the sanctuary dates back to a golden age for the Nabataeans, which spanned from the reign of Augustus to that of Trajan (98-117 A.D.). During this period, the Nabataeans enjoyed friendship with Rome and independence from their homeland, allowing them to accumulate enormous wealth thanks to their control of the traffic of luxury goods from the East. These precious goods traveled from the Indian Ocean, across the desert caravan routes, to the port of Gaza, and from there to Rome, likely passing through Alexandria and certainly through Puteoli.

However, the fate of the temple and, by extension, of the Nabataean community in Puteoli, changed dramatically with the creation of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea by Trajan in 106 A.D. This annexation marked the end of Nabataean independence and the absorption of their trade routes into the general network controlled by the Roman state, leaving little room for the initiatives of a people who had lost their autonomy.

The decline of Nabataean trade and the end of their small monopoly seem to be the most plausible explanations for the abandonment of the sanctuary. Researchers have determined that, probably in the early 2nd century A.D., the temple was filled with concrete, with no iconoclastic intent and with Rome’s typical superstitious respect for consecrated places. Instead of dismantling or destroying the sacred elements of Dushara, which would have required complicated desacralization rites, the temple was simply filled in, and a new transit surface was built over it. The strategic and central location of the area made it unthinkable that it would remain abandoned for long.

The materials found in the fill’s stratigraphy, with amphorae at the bottom and no material dating after the end of the 1st century A.D., confirm that the site’s obliteration occurred shortly after the creation of the province of Arabia in 106 A.D. This event seems to mark the end of the Nabataean presence in Puteoli, closing a fascinating chapter of cultural and economic exchange in the heart of the Roman Empire.

The presence of a sanctuary dedicated to an ancient Arab deity in the heart of a Roman port vividly illustrates the complexity and richness of the cultural interactions that characterized the ancient world.

SOURCES

Stefanile M, Silani M, Tardugno ML, The submerged Nabataean temple in Puteoli at Pozzuoli, Italy: first campaign of underwater research. Antiquity. 2024;98(400):e20. doi:10.15184/aqy.2024.107

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