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Two very rare statues of almost size almost in size were discovered during the excavation of a massive grave in Pompeii.
Archaeologists say that the marble funeral statues of a man dressed in Toga and a woman shed new light on the power held by priestesses in the ancient city, which was destroyed when Mont Vesuve broke out in 79 AD.
Decapped during the current excavations of the tomb just outside the entrance doors of Porto Sarno from the dead city, the statue of the woman is slightly larger than that of the man by his side.
She wears sumptuous jewelry, including earrings, bracelets and rings, as well as a necklace with a growing pendant like those worn by the priestesses of the cult of Ceres – a goddess of fertility, agriculture and maternal relations – the pompeii archaeological park said in a statement announcing the discovery.
The “lunula”, or pendant of Crescent Moon, was carried by priestesses to remove the perverse forces from birth to marriage. “The symbol of the crescent moon also had an atavic and primordial meaning, linked to the fertility of the earth, the abundance and the Renaissance, and influenced by the lunar cycles”, according to the research document on discovery, published online.
The woman’s tunic is covered with a cape and it holds what seems to be a papyrus roll and bay leaves – often used to purify and bless religious spaces by dispersing the smoke of ceremonial incense throughout the region.
The woman’s ornaments suggest that she was more important than man, according to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the pompeii archaeological park. This, he said, could mean that they were not married, but that the man was perhaps a priest or the son of the woman.
The city of Pompeii was buried under ashes and volcanic windows when the Vesuvius broke out, and archaeologists have discovered it since the 1700s, in a large in progress.
The current excavation, called the draft investigation into the archeology of death in Pompeii, began in July 2024 and was led by the Spanish archaeologist Llorenç Alapont, in collaboration with the University of Valence and the archaeological park.
The area was discovered in 1998 during the construction of a Naples train line. Until now, more than 50 cremation burial sites have been identified.
“This campaign is a precious opportunity to expand research and improvement activities in the region outside the Pompeii walls,” ZuChtriegel said in a press release sent to CNN.
Previous discoveries in the same area include mummified remains. They were found in 2021 at the necropolis of Porta Sarno, in a tomb bearing a commemorative inscription dedicated to Marcus Venerius Secundio, public slave and guardian of the Temple of Venus.
“Thanks to the collaboration with the University of Valence, to which we also owe the discovery a few years ago of the tomb of Marco Venerio Sendio in the same field, it was possible to work on a multidisciplinary project which saw the involvement of different professionals in the various phases, in particular archaeologists, architects, restaurants and anthropologists,” said Zuichtrie.
The sculptures belong to what archaeologists working on the excavation classify as a high class of funeral reliefs made between the first century BC and the first century AD, said Alapont.
These examples seem to date from the end of the Republic, between 133 and 31 BC, according to the research document.
“Nevertheless, these types of sculptures are very rare in the south of Italy. It is even more unusual to find reliefs of priestesses holding their religious objects,” said Alapont in the press release. “It is clear that there were priestesses of Ceres in Pompeii, but this statue provides new proofs of the importance of worship in the city.
“In addition, the cult of Ceres was linked to the popular classes. However, ostentation of women’s relief can suggest that priestess status was always reserved for women belonging to a relatively high social position. ”
The statues were transferred to La Palestra Grande, the largest open space in Pompeii, to be restored and will be presented in the exhibition “Being a woman in the old Pompeii”, which opens in the archaeological park on April 16.
