Ricerc@Sapienza

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). The indigenous population worshipped a major goddess at the time of Phoenician arrival, so that the cult of Astarte was easily assimilated and transformed into a shared religious complex. Here, the finds that connect Astarte of Motya with her Mediterranean parallels are surveyed. These in sum, demonstrate the centrality of religious ideology in Levantine expansion to the West as a means for constructing an inclusive West Phoenician cultural identity.