Yesterday, I found myself with a little time to kill in Mainz.
Wandering about, I came across the Römerpassage shopping centre and the Isis Heiligtum - that is to say, the Roman Passage, and the Temple of Isis.
Did I check it out? What do you think?
Back in 2000, while they were building the underground carpark for the Römerpassage shopping centre, the remains of a 1st - 3rd century temple complex were found.
Soon enough, it was determined that it was a temple to two goddesses - Isis & Mater Magna.
'But Mike', I hear you say, 'Isis was an Egyptian goddess, and Mater Magna is kinda like Cybele - she's Greek!'
Very observant. Romans, especially soldiers, were world class god-appropriaters.
Mogontiacum (Mainz) being the home of legions, had temples to many deities.
Between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE, the temple of Isis and Mayer Magna was in perpetual use. Thousands of chicken bones, grains and seeds were found in and around the temple, suggesting that sacrifices were an everyday occurrence.
In addition, many statuettes were found, representing a number of different spirits and deities.
There were also votive offerings of statues. You might be noticing a theme here - big old penises were supposed to ward off evil.
No I'm not kidding.
As a temple that existed for a long time, we see a wide spectrum of rituals carried out at the temple.
My favourite are the defixiones - curse tablets. They were clay or lead tablets with either simply a name, or a request for a horrible punishment to be meted out.
Thousands of years after the temple collapsed due to neglect and disrepair, I find it fascinating that we can know so much about how these Romans lived and what they were thinking.
To learn more, this is a great Wiki article. /FIN en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary…
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