Archaeologists have uncovered ancient altars and inscribed marble slabs submerged along the Italian coast near Naples, likely remnants of a 2,000-year-old temple established by immigrants from Nabataea, an ancient Arabian kingdom. The findings, reported in a study published on September 12 in the journal Antiquity, suggest that the temple was later buried under concrete and pottery, possibly linked to the departure of foreign traders.
The site is located off the coast of Pozzuoli, a town in the volcanic Campi Flegrei region, approximately 10 miles east of Naples. Known as Puteoli in Roman times, it served as a major harbor for trade goods, including grain. Volcanic activity has altered the coastline, submerging around 1.2 miles of Roman-era structures associated with the ancient port. Artifacts retrieved from the sea since the 18th century hinted at a buried temple, but its exact location remained elusive.
In 2023, researchers mapping the seafloor identified two submerged rooms featuring Roman-style walls measuring about 32 by 16 feet. Within one room, two white marble altars were found leaning against the wall, each with rectangular recesses that likely once held sacred stones. Both rooms contained a marble slab inscribed with 'Dusari sacrum,' translating to 'consecrated to Dushara,' the principal deity of the Nabataean religion.
Michele Stefanile, the study's first author and a maritime archaeologist at the Southern Graduate School in Naples, noted, 'It seems that we have a building dedicated to the Nabataean gods, but with Roman architecture and Latin inscription.'
The Nabataean Kingdom, which thrived from northern Arabia to the eastern Mediterranean, controlled a lucrative trade network from the fourth to second centuries B.C. The community of traders likely settled in Puteoli, as the city was a significant harbor in Roman Italy, according to historian Steven Tuck.
Laurent Tholbecq, an archaeologist at Université libre de Bruxelles, remarked that the discovery of a temple dedicated to Dushara at Puteoli aligns with historical understanding of the Nabataeans’ presence in the region, especially after the Roman annexation of Nabataea in A.D. 106, which led to the collapse of their trade dominance. The temple's burial in the second century A.D. may reflect the challenges faced by the Nabataeans during this transitional period.