Recherche par auteur > Walther Angelika

The city-kingdom of Idalion was one of the few Iron Age polities situated not on the coast but in the centre of the Island of Cyprus. Today, more than twenty possible sanctuary sites can be attributed to its territory. The majority of these cult places is clustered inside of and around the ancient capital, which is a natural consequence of the intensive research conducted in this area. This continuous and ongoing research sheds light on the religious topography of Idalion and allows to inquire the relations between the sanctuaries and their surroundings as well as their attendees.

The city wall of the ancient city is rather well attested for and partially visible until today. The knowledge of the course of the wall allows to determine the limits of the city and therefore to distinguish between the urban and sub-urban/peri-urban spheres. The paper presented at the conference aims to investigate sanctuaries from both areas, with a special interest in ritual spaces located on the borders between the two.

In the centre of the question are two sanctuaries, which were both (partially) excavated by the German archaeologist Max Ohnefalsch-Richter in the late 19th century. The first sanctuary, the temenos of a female deity near the bank of the Gialias river is located in the sub-urban zone, the second one, the sanctuary of a goddess on the so-called eastern acropolis (Mouti tou Arvili), is an urban sanctuary enclosed by the city wall. The sanctuary of the eastern acropolis is currently investigated by the ongoing Berlin Idalion Project. Recent results from this excavation will be included in the discussion of the similarities and differences between the sanctuaries.

The questions discussed in the paper include types and themes represented in the votives found in the sanctuaries as well as chronological aspects of the dedications. Furthermore, the relationship between the cult places and their enviroment is examined. This includes topographical aspects as natural features of the landscape, but also man-made installations like roads, gates and similiar infrastructure.

For the sanctuaries of the sub-urban area, another important aspect is their proximity to the extensive necropoleis, which can also be found in this zone around the city. So far, no sanctuary with a clear connection to a chtonic deity has been identified in the surroundings of Idalion. This raises the interesting question, if such a type of cult even existed in Idalion, or if the evidence has not yet been identified.