Santuario C, Il tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Santuario
di Dioniso-Liber.
Sanctuary C, Temple of Dionysus at Sant’Abbondio, Pompeii. Sanctuary of Dionysus-Liber.
Excavated 1947, 1973 and 2008.
Excavations
According to Kockel, the shrine was found south of the city on a hill overlooking the old course of the coast near the chapel of S. Abbondio.
A bomb in 1943 punched a crater, exposing the lapilli. Here, the owner soon encountered ancient remains.
At the end of 1947 these were excavated by the Soprintendenza and are still visible today.
A detailed publication was in preparation by O. Elia. but after her death only her unfinished manuscript was sent to press, edited by G. Pugliese Carratelli and enriched by a longer commentary on the cult.
See Kockel V., Archäologische Funde und Forschungen in den
Vesuvstädten 1, Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1985, pp. 568ff.
According to Garcia y Garcia the only consolation of the 1943 bombing was that it led to the finding of the temple and its eventual excavation in 1947.
See Garcia y
Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider, p. 26.
Wilhelmina Jashemski carried out an excavation in 1973 and found a total of sixteen vine root and post cavities adjacent to the two triclinia and the schola.
See Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 209.
A further archaeological campaign was carried out in the temple of S. Abbondio at Pompeii in 2008.
See W. Van Andringa et al, Archéologie et religion: le sanctuaire dionysiaque de S. Abbondio à Pompéi. MEFRA 125-1, 2013. http://mefra.revues.org/1165
Temple description
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. Antiquarium exhibition description of the temple.
According to the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, it is located just outside the city walls on top of a low hill overlooking the river Sarno.
A small temple was founded in the 3rd century BC with a cella preceded by a tufa colonnade (pronaos) and the low relied pediment.
Over time the large square was monumentalised, building an access ramp to the temple and an altar, both with Oscan dedicatory inscriptions.
Some triclinia were added in the Imperial period and the pronaos partly closed creating ritual ways connected to the celebration of feasts and assemblies.
The sanctuary was dedicated to Liber (Dionysus), usually associated with Venus.
The god of wine was particularly venerated in Pompeii especially in the private spaces.
His images and symbols marked daily life, being repeated in the precious pictorial and sculptural decorations of the domus, so as to create allusive symbols to fertility and the prosperity of the house. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Ruth Bielfeldt in 2007, the temple dates from the 2nd century B.C. and was converted to the cult of Libero and Libera, divine couple of Italic origin, who presided over the sphere of agrarian fertility, according to the Roman cult model. This was an adequate response to the scandal of the Bacchanalia of 186 B.C.
See Bielfeldt R.,
Der Liber-Tempel in Pompeji in
Sant’Abbondio. Oskisches Vorstadtheiligtum und kaiserzeitliches Kultlokal, dans
MDAI-Römische Abteilung, 113, 2007, p. 317-371.
According to Van Andringa, the aim of the 2008 excavations was to try to describe the phases and the history of the sanctuary at Pompeii dedicated to Loufir-Dionysos.
One question was the dating of the Doric temple located on a small hill, today eroded away, overlooking the Sarno valley.
The data collected seem to show that the hill had been occupied during the Bronze Age and in the Archaic period, but there is at the moment no evidence of an earlier cult place.
The construction of the temple took place in the middle of the third century BC.
Another important element is the dating of the ramp and the inscribed altar, which would be later than the temple.
There is, however, no trace of a thiasos (the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus) before the Imperial period.
The study is completed by an analysis of the archaeological material discovered in the ancient and new excavations: inscriptions, reliefs of the pediment, pottery, animal bones and plant remains.
See W. Van Andringa et al, Archéologie et religion: le sanctuaire dionysiaque de S. Abbondio à Pompéi. MEFRA 125-1, 2013. http://mefra.revues.org/1165
According to Small, the small temple of Dionysus was situated on the top of a low hill at S. Abbondio near what was then the mouth of the Sarno river.
It goes back to the pre-Roman period.
See Small A.M., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 185.
According to Rosenberg it could be a rustic temple.
See Rosenberg A. 2013. The Cult of Bacchus in ancient Pompeii http://prezi.com/p9tgbxdbfv16/the-cult-of-bacchus/
According to Amery and Curran it was a secret temple.
See Amery C and Curran B, 2002. The Lost World of Pompeii. Getty Publications, p. 68.
Bibliography
Van Andringa, W.,
Bibliographie générale du dossier «
Archéologie et religion : le sanctuaire dionysiaque de S. Abbondio à Pompéi »,
MEFRA 125-1, 2013: http://mefra.revues.org/1247
Van Andringa W. et al, Archéologie et religion: le sanctuaire dionysiaque de S. Abbondio à Pompéi. MEFRA 125-1, 2013. http://mefra.revues.org/1165
Amery C and Curran B, 2002. The Lost World of Pompeii. Getty Publications, p. 68.
Barnabei L., I culti di Pompei, in Contributi di
Archeologia Vesuviana, 3, Rome, 2007 (Studi della Soprintendenza
archeologica di Pompei, 21), p. 11-83.
Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, p. 11-2, fig. 1.3, A15-17.
De Caro S., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 80.
Elia O., Pugliese
Carratelli G., Il santuario dionisiaco di
S. Abbondio a Pompei, dans Orfismo in Magna Grecia. Atti del XIV convegno
di studi sulla Magna Grecia (1974), Naples, 1975, p. 139-154.
Elia O., Pugliese
Carratelli G., Il santuario dionisiaco di
Pompei, dans PP, 34, 1979, p. 442-481
Garcia y Garcia,
L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei.
Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider, p. 26.
Guzzo P., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 185.
Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 209.
Kockel V., Archäologische Funde und Forschungen in den
Vesuvstädten 1, Archäologischer Anzeiger, 1985, pp. 568ff.
Rosenberg A. 2013. The Cult of Bacchus in ancient Pompeii http://prezi.com/p9tgbxdbfv16/the-cult-of-bacchus/
Sironen T, 2013. Documentazione epigrafica osca del santuario suburbano delle divinità dionisiache a S. Abbondio, MEFRA, 125-1. See http://mefra.revues.org/1250
Small A.M., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 185.
Wolf M., “Der Tempel von S. Abbondio in Pompeji,” in Koldewey Gesellschaft, Bericht 41. Tagung f. Ausgrabungswissenschaft und Bauforschung, May–June 2000 (2002), p. 61.
Location
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Map with location of temple = A. Photo courtesy of Ruth Bielfeldt.
See Bielfeldt R.,
Der Liber-Tempel in Pompeji in
Sant’Abbondio. Oskisches Vorstadtheiligtum und kaiserzeitliches Kultlokal,
dans MDAI-Römische Abteilung, 113, 2007, p. 365, Abb. 24.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Temples Plan after Guzzo 2005, p. 12-13, amended to include the Sanctuary adjacent to the west wall of Pompeii.
The temple is about one mile south-east of the Pompeii city walls. No major roads link to it.
According to Small, the small temple goes back to the pre-Roman period.
See Small A.M., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 185.
According to Guzzo, between the third and second centuries BC, the Samnite magistrates administrated the roads that ran south from Pompeii.
There is epigraphic evidence for a “Stabian bridge,” which facilitated transit perhaps not only into town but also between the suburban sanctuaries of fondo Iozzino and S. Abbondio (dedicated to Bacchus), on opposite banks of the river Sarno.
The location of the saltpans, documented by Oscan and Latin inscriptions, is uncertain.
See Guzzo P., in Dobbins, J. J. and Foss, P. W., 2008. The World of Pompeii. Oxford: Routledge, p. 4.
Temple plan, 3D drawing, and model
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Temple Plan.
A= Altar
B= North and south triclinium
C= Ramp
D= Semi-circular bench
E= Temple cella
Between C and E is the Pronaos
See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, p. 12, fig. 1.3, A15.
See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, p. 16, fig. 1.2.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Drawing of sanctuary.
It was a Samnite temple, of Doric style, constructed around the late third or early second centuries B.C.
There were two triclinia, with tables, in front of the temple with an altar in between them.
According to Lorenza Barnabei, an Oscan an inscription on two sides of the altar honoured Maras Atinius an aedile of Samnite Pompeii.
A mosaic Oscan inscription on the floor of the ramp honoured Ovius Epidius and Trebius Mezius.
The ramp led up to the area under the portico (the pronaos) which then led to the temple cella.
A schola was behind one of the triclinia.
See Barnabei L.
in Contributi di Archeologia Vesuviana, 3,
Rome, 2007 (Studi della Soprintendenza archeologica di Pompei, 21), p. 39.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. Old undated photograph of reconstruction model of temple.
The walls and columns were covered in heavy coats of stucco.
The pronaos was enclosed by screen with attached benches.
It was damaged in the earthquake of 62AD and repaired by the time of the AD79
eruption.
According to Cooley, this is an indication of how deeply culture and society in Pompeii were influenced by
Hellenistic traditions during the second century BC.
Pompeii had continued to renovate the temple after the Rome Senate decree of 186BC, which banned the worship of Dionysus.
There is no evidence that the cult at Pompeii was interrupted. The temple was still in use in 79AD.
See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, p. 11.
See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2014. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, p. 15.
Temple views
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Looking south-east across the temple and pediment. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Looking south-east across the temple. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. View from south-west. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1947.
Temple, aedicula and schola from the south-west. Photo courtesy of Ruth Bielfeldt.
See Bielfeldt R.,
Der Liber-Tempel in Pompeji in
Sant’Abbondio. Oskisches Vorstadtheiligtum und kaiserzeitliches Kultlokal,
dans MDAI-Römische Abteilung, 113, 2007, pp. 348, Abb. 19.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. Masonry in south-west corner. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
South wall
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
South wall looking north-east from bench D. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Looking east along south end of temple. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. South side with remains of plaster. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. Masonry on south side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Column and plaster in south-west corner. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Remains of red and white plaster on south side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Remains of white plaster outside south-east corner of pronaos. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Remains of white plaster outside south wall of temple cella. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Masonry in south east corner of temple. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Red and white plaster on south wall and bench D. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. Masonry in south-west corner. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
West wall
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. West wall of temple.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
West wall looking east across temple and pediment. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
West wall looking towards inner south side of temple. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. South end of west side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. North end of west wall. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. North end of west wall. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Columns and plaster on south end of west wall. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. South end of west wall. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
West wall looking south-east across pronaos. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. South-west corner of temple. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking west. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0350
North wall
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking across to north wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0351
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. North side. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. North wall. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking north. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0348
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018.
Masonry on ground at north-east corner. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. May 2018. Carved masonry on ground. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
East wall
![Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking towards east wall.
Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0349
According to Jashemski, [in 1973] “it was cleaned for us, so we began work there. The temple, accidentally discovered on private property as a result of bombing in 1943 during World War II, was excavated in 1947 48. In front of the temple are two very large masonry triclinia, each with a large circular table, the scene of the sacral banquets of the Dionysiac mysteries. At the southwest corner was a large schola (elaborate stone bench). We were able to find a total of sixteen cavities adjacent to the two triclinia and the schola. Some were the cavities of posts that supported the pergola, others were of the roots of vines that shaded the pergola built over each triclinium. The original condition of the soil at the sides and the rear of the temple was completely ruined, for the site had been used as a dump. But Sicignano, who had helped in the original excavation of the temple, distinctly recalled that pronounced furrows were visible when the lapilli were removed, and that lapilli filled cavities could be seen. These, because of their appearance and the distances between them, he took to be grapevines. The temple of Dionysius, god of wine, quite appropriately was located in a vineyard.”
See Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 209.](SancCSAbbondio_files/image078.jpg)
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking towards east wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0349
According to Jashemski, [in 1973] “it was cleaned for us, so we began work there. The temple, accidentally discovered on private property as a result of bombing in 1943 during World War II, was excavated in 1947‑ 48. In front of the temple are two very large masonry triclinia, each with a large circular table, the scene of the sacral banquets of the Dionysiac mysteries. At the southwest corner was a large schola (elaborate stone bench). We were able to find a total of sixteen cavities adjacent to the two triclinia and the schola. Some were the cavities of posts that supported the pergola, others were of the roots of vines that shaded the pergola built over each triclinium. The original condition of the soil at the sides and the rear of the temple was completely ruined, for the site had been used as a dump. But Sicignano, who had helped in the original excavation of the temple, distinctly recalled that pronounced furrows were visible when the lapilli were removed, and that lapilli‑filled cavities could be seen. These, because of their appearance and the distances between them, he took to be grapevines. The temple of Dionysius, god of wine, quite appropriately was located in a vineyard.”
See Jashemski W. F., 2014. Discovering the Gardens of Pompeii: The Memoirs of a Garden Archaeologist 1955 – 2004, p. 209.
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking east. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0352
Tempio dionisiaco
in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1973. Looking east. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J73f0588
Tempio dionisiaco in località Sant’Abbondio di Pompei. 1948. Rear east wall of the temple. Photo courtesy of Ruth Bielfeldt.
See Bielfeldt R.,
Der Liber-Tempel in Pompeji in Sant’Abbondio. Oskisches Vorstadtheiligtum und
kaiserzeitliches Kultlokal, dans MDAI-Römische Abteilung, 113, 2007, pp. 357,
Abb. 23.