2,000-Year-Old Nabataean Temple Found off the Coast of Italy

A Nabataean temple was discovered off the coast of Pozzuoli, Italy, according to a study published in the journal Antiquity in September. The find is considered unusual, as most Nabataean architecture is located in the Middle East.

Puteoli, as the bustling port was then called, was a hub for ships carrying and trading goods across the Mediterranean under the Roman Republic. The city was home to storehouses filled with grain exported from Egypt and North Africa during the reign of emperor Augustus (31 BCE to 14 CE). Because of volcanic eruptions, the port ultimately fell into the sea.

In the sea, archaeologists discovered a 2,000-year-old temple erected not long after the Roman Empire was conquered and the Nabataean Kingdom was annexed, a move that led many residents to relocate to different parts of the empire.

The temple, which was dedicated to a Nabataean god Dushara, is the only example of its kind found outside the Middle East. Unlike most Nabatean temples, which are inscribed with text written in Aramaic script, this one has an inscription written in Latin. Its architectural style also reflects the influence of Rome. At 32 by 16 feet, the temple had two large rooms with marble altars decorated with sacred stones.

A collaboration between the University of Campania and the Italian culture ministry supported the survey of the structures and artifacts that were uncovered.

Under the reigns of Augustus and Trajan (98–117 CE), the Nabataeans were afforded freedom as a result of significant wealth from the trade of luxury goods from Jordan and Gaza that made their way through Puteoli.

After the Nabataean Kingdom lost control to Trajan’s legions in 106 CE, however, the Romans took control of the trade networks and the Nabataeans lost their source of wealth. It is still unclear whether the locals purposefully buried the temple during the 2nd century, before the town was submerged.