Matron temple (Xanten)
The matron temple in Xanten was the third largest temple in the ancient Colonia Ulpia Traiana , the Roman predecessor city of today's Xanten . It stood in the middle of the residential development of Insula 20 of the city. It is a Gallo-Roman temple , consisting of an enclosed temple square with a small cella as the actual temple building. The temple complex, which was built around the beginning of the 2nd century AD, was used to worship the Aufan matrons .
Research history
The temple complex was first excavated in the winter of 1973/1974 as part of an emergency excavation. The archaeologists uncovered foundations made of greywacke and rising masonry in several layers. At the beginning of the 1990s, the excavated building remains were exposed again in order to integrate them into the Xanten Archaeological Park . Minor masonry work was carried out to make the remains of the building visible. In 1995 the excavation findings were extensively processed.
temple
The Matron Temple was surrounded by dense residential buildings and was accessible from the main street axis, the Cardo Maximus , through a three-meter-wide corridor. This means that its location differs fundamentally from that of the other two temples. The harbor temple and the capitol were located as individual structures on insulae (blocks of houses) surrounded by streets.
The area of the matron temple was 44 × 27 meters. It was surrounded by a double wall. Outside there was a walkway about three meters wide that was covered with a screed made of rammed earth . Since fragments of pillars were found, the dealership could have been an open portico on a pillar wall.
The cella as a temple building was not in the middle of the temple square, but was shifted slightly to the west. The cella had the dimensions of 4.4 × 3.8 meters and had a two meter wide gallery. The foundations of the temple building were 70 centimeters thick, those of the surrounding area were 60 cm thick. The fragments of plaster and marble slabs found during the excavations suggest that the interior decoration of the cella was sophisticated. The temple was at least partially painted. Fragments of two consecration altars provided evidence of the venerated deities . The inscription on a stone can be supplemented with Aufan matrons , which suggests that the temple was used to worship them. The matron cult appearing in the threefold of mothers is documented from 161 AD by a building inscription in a temple built in Bonn . The origin of the Rhenish matron cults is traced back to an uncertainty among the Roman population when the Bonn Legion was deployed in the Parthian campaign .
What is unusual about the temple complex is its self-contained location within residential buildings, which creates an intimate character. The oblique-angled floor plan of the complex is also strange because it deviates from the rectangular planning pattern of the city and adapts to the pattern of the pre-settlement.
Dating
Even before the temple was built, there was a pre-Roman settlement on the site. During the excavations, the remains of a building from the turn of the 1st to the 2nd century AD were found, the demolition of which is suspected for the construction of the temple.
With the help of an excavated waste pit that was filled with amphorae shards and tableware, the latest date of the construction of the temple could be dated. This term ante quem was after the middle of the 2nd century AD.
The remains of about 20 clay ovens were found on the temple area , which were probably built during the temple's construction and were used to prepare meals.
In the north-west corner of the temple, the archaeologists found a hoard with 300 coins and silver objects from around AD 260, although it is not clear whether the deposit was still in the use phase of the temple.
The laying down of the temple is dated to the late 3rd century AD, when, following the Frankish raids in 275/276, most of the urban area was abandoned and the settlement shrank to a smaller area in the center, the Tricensimae . An earlier moat of the fortress, which cuts a corner of the temple, attests to this.
literature
- Michael cell : The matron sanctuary on the Insula 20 , In: Tatort CUT, The trace leads to Xanten , Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-7927-1503-1 , 106-118
- Hans-Joachim Schalles : The matron temple in: Martin Müller , Hans-Joachim Schalles, Norbert Zieling (ed.): Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Xanten and its surroundings in Roman times (= history of the city of Xanten. Volume 1). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-8053-3953-7 , pp. 319-324.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 54 " N , 6 ° 26 ′ 41.8" E