DOI article:
Nessel, Victoria: A domestic rural sanctuary of the 1st centuries AD near Tauric Chersonesos
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41866#0224
Victoria Nessel
Chersones
A DOMESTIC RURAL SANCTUARY
OF THE 1st CENTURIES AD NEAR TAURIC CHERSONESOS*
Important changes take place in the religious life of Chersonesos in the first
centuries AD: the role of official cults is reduced but at the same time the mean-
ing and number of private cults increase. New oriental cults appear in the town’s
pantheon. Some of the deities, which were official in earlier times, become do-
mestic patrons of families. The worship of these patron-deities takes place in
domestic sanctuaries. The private cults of the Maiden, Zeus, Hera, Herakles,
Dionysos, Apollo, Athena, Asclepius and Hygieia, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter
and Kora-Persephone, Cybele and some other deities existed in the city in the 1st
centuries AD [Kadeev 1996, 149-155; Zolotarev 1988, 49-59; Mescheryakov
1980, 9-11; Shevchenko 2000, 126-129].
The religions of the rural population of Chersonesos in this period are not yet
known so well. A small number of vessels with graffiti, some terracotta statuettes,
fragments of sculptures of deities, which date to this period, are found in the
agricultural territory. Thus the finds from the farmhouse of plot N° 32 are the
most interesting for the study of cults, which were common in the rural area in
the 1st centuries AD.
This farmhouse is situated in the western part of the Heraklean Peninsula on the
western coast of Kamyshovaya Bay. Excavations by the Heraklean Expedition of
the Archaeaological and Historical Museum of Chersonesos, Sevastopol (now called
the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos) in 1979/1982, led by T.Yu. Yashaeva,
show that this farmhouse was a multi-level complex, used in the Hellenistic, Roman
and medieval periods [Archive, 2236, 59-102]. A small room, dated to the 1st centuries
AD by ceramic material, was found in the northeastern part of the building.
Unfortunately, the building remains were so insignificant that they did not allow the
ascertainment of the sizes and plan of this room (fig. 1). Some interesting finds were
made here. First are 2 marble fragments of the sculpture of the goddess Cybele:
* I am very grateful to Tatyana Yu. Yashaeva for the possibility to study and publish material
from her excavation. All finds are preserved now in the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos.
Chersones
A DOMESTIC RURAL SANCTUARY
OF THE 1st CENTURIES AD NEAR TAURIC CHERSONESOS*
Important changes take place in the religious life of Chersonesos in the first
centuries AD: the role of official cults is reduced but at the same time the mean-
ing and number of private cults increase. New oriental cults appear in the town’s
pantheon. Some of the deities, which were official in earlier times, become do-
mestic patrons of families. The worship of these patron-deities takes place in
domestic sanctuaries. The private cults of the Maiden, Zeus, Hera, Herakles,
Dionysos, Apollo, Athena, Asclepius and Hygieia, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter
and Kora-Persephone, Cybele and some other deities existed in the city in the 1st
centuries AD [Kadeev 1996, 149-155; Zolotarev 1988, 49-59; Mescheryakov
1980, 9-11; Shevchenko 2000, 126-129].
The religions of the rural population of Chersonesos in this period are not yet
known so well. A small number of vessels with graffiti, some terracotta statuettes,
fragments of sculptures of deities, which date to this period, are found in the
agricultural territory. Thus the finds from the farmhouse of plot N° 32 are the
most interesting for the study of cults, which were common in the rural area in
the 1st centuries AD.
This farmhouse is situated in the western part of the Heraklean Peninsula on the
western coast of Kamyshovaya Bay. Excavations by the Heraklean Expedition of
the Archaeaological and Historical Museum of Chersonesos, Sevastopol (now called
the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos) in 1979/1982, led by T.Yu. Yashaeva,
show that this farmhouse was a multi-level complex, used in the Hellenistic, Roman
and medieval periods [Archive, 2236, 59-102]. A small room, dated to the 1st centuries
AD by ceramic material, was found in the northeastern part of the building.
Unfortunately, the building remains were so insignificant that they did not allow the
ascertainment of the sizes and plan of this room (fig. 1). Some interesting finds were
made here. First are 2 marble fragments of the sculpture of the goddess Cybele:
* I am very grateful to Tatyana Yu. Yashaeva for the possibility to study and publish material
from her excavation. All finds are preserved now in the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos.