José Martínez HernándezA shrine to the Roman goddess Minerva was found carved directly into the rock at a Spanish quarry.
When imagining religious shrines to Roman gods and goddesses, what likely comes to mind are temples, massive structures built in centralized locations where people can come to worship and bring offerings. That’s why archaeologists from the Polytechnic University of Madrid were surprised to find a tiny Roman shrine dedicated to the goddess Minerva carved into the wall of an ancient Spanish quarry.
This 1,900-year-old shrine, carved right into the sandstone, was found near Campos del Paraíso, around nine miles from the ancient Roman urban center of Segóbriga, according to El País.
The Ancient Roman Shrine To Minerva That Was Carved In A Spanish Quarry
Researchers describe the shrine as an aedicula, a small, ornate structure that resembles a temple. The carving is a little more than 24 inches wide and 20 inches tall, featuring two fluted columns half-embedded into the rock. The columns support a triangular pediment, which forms a typical facade of a classical temple.
José Martínez HernándezMinerva was depicted with an owl, a bird classically associated with the goddess.
A depiction of Minerva (known to the Greeks as Athena) sits at the center of the carving. The researchers said that, although the rock face has deteriorated from erosion, certain iconographic features of the carving point to the depicted deity indeed being Minerva.
Minerva is carved standing and facing forward, donning a long tunic and helmet, with a spear in her right hand. Her left hand is resting on an oval shield, and she bears the aegis, a divine shield that symbolized ultimate protection. Minerva is set beside an an owl, a bird classically associated with the goddess and the values of wisdom and intelligence that she represented.
Researchers also found a small horizontal slit carved into the rock to the left of the aedicula, which was likely intended as a shelf for holding offerings to Minerva.
José Martínez HernándezThe inscription below the aedicula revealed that the shrine was commissioned by Plotius Vigor.
Below the shrine, researchers identified an inscription, two lines that read: “To Minerva Domina, (dedicates) Plotius Vigor with his entourage.”
Plotius Vigor was a member of the prominent Plotius family, which included senators and other high-ranking officials scattered across Roman Hispania.
This inscription provides rare insight into the story of this important region during the second century C.E.
How The Discovery Of This Minerva Shrine Sheds Light On Ancient Roman Religious Practices
The Minerva shrine is particularly interesting to researchers due to its location in a quarry.
Romans opened up several quarries across central Hispania where they extracted stone blocks for construction. Meanwhile, Segóbriga was mined in ancient times for lapis specularis, a mineral used to make windows, and which brought the region great wealth for centuries.
“The site demonstrates how certain places linked to the extraction of stone resources could acquire, in Roman times, a symbolic and religious dimension in addition to their productive function,” the researchers wrote in the study.
The discovery underlines how economic activity and religious rites were closely intertwined in ancient Roman culture. Mining was the lifeblood of this community, as were the Roman deities, leaving the two inextricably linked.
Wikimedia CommonsA 19th-century mosaic depicting Minerva.
Furthermore, the shrine emphasizes the significance of Minerva in the contexts of trade, strategy, and commerce for the ancient Romans, who were fittingly using this shrine to call to her at the actual site of the region’s economic prosperity.
Similarly, an ancient ring depicting Minerva was recently found in a quarry on Mount Carmel in Israel. The ring likely belonged to a girl or a woman who lived during the Late Roman Period in the second or third century C.E., not long before Rome fell. The quarry was near a farm, so the ring likely belonged to a farm or quarry worker, again signifying Minerva’s relevance to commerce and industry.
Meanwhile, the new Minerva discovery in Spain certainly points to the fact that more quarry excavations might lead to important finds that shed unique light on life in ancient Rome.
After reading about the ancient Roman shrine to Minerva found in a Spanish quarry, discover the first century C.E. Roman sanctuary found in a Spanish cave. Then, learn about the real story of Medusa.
The post Archaeologists Just Discovered A Roman Shrine To The Goddess Minerva Inside An Ancient Quarry In Spain appeared first on All That's Interesting.
Source: Learn – allthatsinteresting
