An ancient Greek altar for family worship dating back more than 2,000 years has been unearthed in the archaeological site of Segesta on the Italian island of Sicily. Sicily’s regional government said the altar was probably in use at the height of Hellenic cultural influence, just before the rise of the Roman empire in the first century before Christ (BC). A few centimeters of earth and vegetation had buried it for centuries.
The altar was found during work on a trench at the southern acropolis, or high temple, of the site in the province of Agrigento. It was found near the ruins of a building identified as Temple C. Temple C is thought to have been dedicated to Hermes, as an inscription reveals. But the altar was found in an unidentified position – a sign that it was not positioned along the central axis of the building but that it was part of an earlier structure.
In addition to the altar, archaeologists have found fragments of bronze animal figurines and sherds of LM IIIB-C pottery. Sherds of a wheel-made bull figure from the Late Minoan period were also found in the prehistoric burnt layer south of the altar.
The altar, shaped like a pyramid trunk and in excellent condition, was discovered in a trench dug for maintenance work at the site. It was in the process of being cleared of spontaneous vegetation. It still needs to be dated.
Sicily is dotted with ancient Greek temples and other remains. The earliest Greek colonization on the island began in the 6th century BCE and gradually spread through a mixture of direct political influence and trade with neighboring Punic cities such as Carthage. Initially, the local populations vigorously rebuffed the advances of the Greeks.
But eventually, the incoming cultures clashed, and the Greeks’ culture merged with the native Phoenicians. This is most clearly seen in the architecture of the great Doric temples erected on the island and in the adoption by the locals of various Greek cults.
These included a cult of the Chthonic divinities, gods more concerned with the land’s fertility than those who sat haughtily on Mount Olympus. The Sicilians had strong ties with the goddesses of the soil, such as Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
Death was a natural and painful experience for the people of Sicily. People visited the tombs of their loved ones to bring food and drink and to pray for their souls. It was not uncommon for sculptors to depict a goddess or a hero who could be invoked in the fight against death.
