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,
were performed in the sacred area of the Kothon. The main god has been identified with Baal (Poseidon) and
his companion can be now identified with Demetra, assimilated to the Phoenician goddess Astarte.