Ancient Discoveries

On the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the Grain Mother, news of an archaeological discovery has hit the news:

In Sicily, a Temple of Demeter was found, along with artifacts from the temple! They found fragments of vases depicting offerings to Demeter and a flute made of bone. I'm very excited about the flute. I'm also excited that this particular search was led by someone from New York University. Aside from the university being my alma mater, they have a wonderful archaeology school and have presentations and lectures and curated shows. Here are some of their past offerings. Check out the programs at your local college or university- you might be surprised by what they offer to the public.

Dowsing

While out and about tonight I had to procure a bottle of water. The choice was limited, but let's say the brand I grabbed inspired the title of this post as well as the post itself. The label had some promo stuff about water dowsing in ancient Egypt and Rome and implied that their company used such classic methods to source the water in the bottle I was holding. I don't really believe they had someone out there water dowsing, but it was nice to see ancient methods being portrayed in a positive way.


As I'm short on time tonight I'm going to punt and start off with a few interesting links then revisit this topic as soon as possible!

Wiki is a nifty springboard to other sources on this vast topic.

A history of dowsing (with many links of interest!)

Archaeological Dowsing

The US Department of the Interior has an article on water dowsing. This link takes you tot he download of the pdf!

 

 

 

"Some Sorcerers do boast they have a Rod,

Gather'd with Vowes and Sacrifice,

And (borne about) will strangely nod

To hidden Treasure where it lies;

Mankind is (sure) that Rod divine,

For to the Wealthiest (ever) they incline." -by Samuel Sheppard

 

Etruscan Birth Goddess?!?

A few friends shared an article today about a recent find from an archaeological dig in Italy. The piece of pottery found is unique because it is from an Etruscan site which was a residence, a home, not a burial chamber, and depicts a woman giving birth. It also dates to 600 BCE. Totally worth the read! Highlights:

Poggio Colla is one of the few sites offering insight of the Etruscan life in a non-funerary context. It spans most of Etruscan history, being occupied from the seventh to the second century B.C.
Centering on the acropolis, a roughly rectangular plateau, the site was also home to a sanctuary: numerous votive deposits indicate that for some part of its history, it was a sacred spot to a divinity or divinities.

The abundance of weaving tools and a stunning deposit of gold jewelry discovered in previous excavations, have suggested that the patron divinity may have been female.

In this view, the ancient depiction of childbirth becomes even more interesting, according to Greg Warden, professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU and a director of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project.


"Might it have some connection to the cult, to the kind of worship that went on at the hilltop sanctuary?," Warden wondered.
Perkins speculated that the woman giving birth could be a representation of an Etruscan goddess, suggesting that Poggio Colla was the location of a cult-site for an Etruscan fertility goddess.

"She would represent a new Etruscan myth, as we know of no Etruscan goddess who gives birth in Etruscan mythology," Perkins said.

A few observations:

Of course they haven't found representations of women giving birth at burial sites. Those sites were set up as houses for the dead supplied with things as if they were still living. Very pyramid-like.

This doesn't necessarily imply an unknown Goddess. The shard could be from a votive piece, buried at the site of the temple asking for a healthy birth.

We know little of Etruscan lore, but what is out there labels Uni the Mother Goddess and the one to petition for Fertility. She is syncretized with Juno, aka Iuno. Iuno... Uni... Hmmm... Also, like Iuno/Hera, Uni is related to the hero the Romans call Heracles and alleged to be his Mother, not his step-mother. There is art depicting the relationship too.  So yeah, we might know of an Etruscan Goddess who gives birth ;)

Here's an interesting article on Uni, tho nothing is cited.

A link within the article above leads to a story from 2010 about the discovery of an Etruscan home, not a burial site. Also, religious sites have been discovered, including temples. Looks like the Etruscans are revealing their whereabouts as well!

Gabii

A new sarcophagus was unearthed by an archaeological team in Gabii. The pictures are really interesting. The articles I've seen on this are really thin at best, kinda like "oh look at the shiny" then they move on.

Gabii wasn't just some place near Rome or a mere rival. It was a member of the Latin League. It was said to be the home of the last Etruscan kings. It was also reputed to be the place where Romulus and Remus were schooled. On the edge of what used to be a lake stands a temple to Juno pictured here on the right. In the temple were shrines to Jupiter, Fortuna, and Diana.



Also found at the site was this statue of Diana, now called the Braschi Diana after the one who bought the statue from the excavators in the 1700s. 














Here's the picture of the sarcophagus, dating from Roman times:

Mercury, Apollo, and....? Who is that in the Phrygian cap top right? Attis? I wish there was a better picture. I haven't found one yet. The one above is the pic that's been attached to every article and I still can't find a proper credit for it.

If anyone has dug up more clues, please let me know!

Kalends of June

It's almost June, and the moon is almost dark. I spent time in the pool this evening, enjoying the sunset, trying to avoid the bugs. I'm in a contemplative mood, reevaluating things as they stand and preparing to excise that which does not serve. I won't bore you with the minutiae of my day, I'll give you some pretty:

 
Last week, a statue of a Goddess that has been looted from Sicily and illegally purchased by The Getty Museum was returned. She has been called Aphrodite, but many suggest that name is incorrect and was actually either a cover for what she really represents or the looters didn't have the knowledge and just named her whatever. It was stolen in the 1980s.


Here is an incantation to Diana, from The Secret History of Virgil. A friend reminded me of this work, which has an odd flavor to it: I don't know if it's the region of the writer, the Roman context it was shoved into, or if it's the translator causing the issue, but it's still pretty and I'm posting it here. You can find the Latin version at the link above:

Beautiful Goddess of the bow!
Beautiful Goddess of arrows,
of hunting and of dogs!
You watch with the stars
when the Sun has gone to sleep,
You with the Moon on Your forehead,
hunt by night better than by day
with Your Nymphs to the sound
of the horn - You Queen
of Hunters,
Queen of the Night!
You Yourself the huntress
most powerful of all
hunters - to You I pray
that You think a little on us!
Beautiful Goddess of the rainbow,
of stars and of the Moon!
Most powerful queen
of hunters and of the night.
To you we run
and seek Your help
that You might give us
good fortune always!
If ever our spell
You hear,
and will give us good fortune,
then give us a sign!


Pretty, but... Diana as Goddess of the Rainbow? Um.... what? The latin text of that line is actually:

Bella Dea arci caelestis

Which translates to:
Beautiful Goddess of the Heavenly Castle

In Latin, arcu is bow and arci is Castle.

Makes more sense now in the context of what we know about Diana and her worship. So before we all start freaking out on her associations with Iris, I'd say let's check our translations first. In the text provided the word arci is used in both places.

Off to bed, Back in June!