Ricerc@Sapienza

During the seasons of excavation 2010-2011 carried out by Sapienza University of Rome Expedition to
Motya, in the South-Western sector of the Sacred Area of the Kothon, several pits were identified. Two
of them have been used for cult activities during the 5th century BC, as attested to by botanical and faunal
samples, votive offerings and sacred tools found inside. Such evidence suggests that sacrifices and libations
devoted to a divine couple connected to the underground waters, to the fertility and to the cycles of nature,

Pomegranate remains and representations found in the Phoenician site of Motya in Western Sicily give the cue for a summary study of this plant and its fortune in the Near East and the Mediterranean.

Sapienza University of Rome and the Superintendence of Trapani have
been carrying on a major research project on the island of Motya since year
2002. Renewed excavations, restorations and studies over 15 years produced
a flow of fresh data which substantially changed the narration of the history
of the island from a prominent prehistoric occupation in the first half of the
second millennium BC to the Phoenician landing and development of a
flourishing harbour city at the centre of the Mediterranean, until its final

Recent excavations at Motya by the Sapienza University of Rome and the Sicil-ian Superintendence of Trapani have expanded our information on the Phoenician goddess Astarte, her sacred places, and her role in the Phoenician expansion to the West during the first half of the first millennium BCE. Two previously unknown religious buildings dedicated to this deity have been discovered and excavated in the last decade. The present article discusses the oldest temple dedicated to the goddess, located in the Sacred Area of the Kothon in southwestern quadrant of the island (Zone C).

Recent excavations by Sapienza University of Rome and the Superintendency of Trapani in the Sanctuary of the Tophet at Motya allowed a full re-appraisal of this important monument of the Phoenician religious culture in the West. The western sector of the sanctuary with Temple T6, possibly devoted to Astarte, was re-excavated and its stratigraphy and plan reconstructed. Building T5 closing the urns field to the west in front of the wells was also re-explored, producing a complete reconstruction of its architecture and stratigraphy.