Ricerc@Sapienza

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).