(ANSA) - UDINE, 31 MAG - A pool of Italian-Croatian
researchers consisting of Nikola Cesarik, Inga Vilogorac Brčić,
David Caska Štrmelj, and Maja Grisonic has uncovered an altar
dating back to the early first century AD and dedicated to four
Egyptian gods, Isis, Serapis, Osiris, and Anubis on the island
of Pag (Croatia). The news was reported today by the Trieste
daily Il Piccolo.
The artwork, the article says, was commissioned by the wealthy
Roman noblewoman Calpurnia, owner of a splendid seaside villa
that stretched across the bay. The altar is unique because it
bears a dedication that until now had not been recorded in any
other Roman-era inscription.
"At the time when the Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD) banned
the cults of Egyptian gods," Maja Grisonic, an archaeologist
from Trieste, told the newspaper, "then very popular and
widespread throughout the Mediterranean, the powerful and
wealthy Roman Calpurnia dared to erect at least four altars to
Egyptian gods in a shrine she owned in Caska Bay on the island
of Pag. These monuments testify to a wealthy Roman woman's
defiance of the emperor, which caused her to lose two of her
closest family members: her father and uncle."
Since 2003, several archaeological campaigns have been conducted
in Caska on the island of Pag, both on the coast and in the
waters in front of the bay. So far, four altars have been found
that Calpurnia had erected in front of or inside her private
shrine consecrated to Isis and Egyptian gods. The discovery of
the most representative altar, which allowed the other three to
be decoded, occurred in 2020.
Piccolo points out that the findings from the Calpurnia villa in
Caska "are the oldest and most important attestation of Egyptian
cults in Croatia and the eastern Adriatic coast more generally."
The altar, which was discovered in the garden of a private
property and promptly reported to the Superintendency by
archaeologists Rok Humerca (University of Ljubljana) and
Katarina Batur (University of Zadar), is currently kept at the
Novalja Municipal Museum. (ANSA).
Leggi l'articolo completo su ANSA.it
Archaeologists discover a Roman altar for 4 Egyptian gods
In Pag (Croatia). Il Piccolo, reports.