Mozia

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Location in the west of Sicily
Location of San Pantaleo in the Isole dello Stagnone di Marsala archipelago
Map of the island with the ancient city of Mozia

Mozia ( it. Mozia or Mothia , siz. Mozzia ) is an ancient Phoenician city ​​on the island of San Pantaleo on the western edge of Sicily in the Lo Stagnone lagoon, about eight kilometers north of Marsala . The settlement on the small island is interesting because after the destruction by Dionysius I of Syracuse there was never a more extensive settlement and Mozia therefore offers archaeologists the rare opportunity to examine an undeveloped city of the Phoenicians .

history

The approximately 45 ha large island was an important Phoenician- Punic settlement, known to the Greeks under the name Motya ( ancient Greek : Μοτύα) or Motye ( Attic -gr .: Μοτύη). There are different interpretations of the city name (written Mtw or Hmtw ): One translation is "wool spinning", another current hypothesis connects the name with the Akkadian word metu , which means standing water.

Thucydides reports that Motya was one of the three cities to which the Phoenicians withdrew after the Greek colonization of Sicily, which spread further and further west . According to archaeological finds, the Phoenician settlement was founded in the first half of the 8th century BC. Founded. However, there have been local settlements since the Copper Age , of which the middle to late Bronze Age (Motya layer IIA - IIIB, approx. 1650–900 BC) have been partially explored. Motya was at the beginning of the Phoenician settlement (Motya IVA, approx. 800–750 BC) only a trading post. The main focus of the settlement was the north of the island. In the second half of the 7th century the settlement expanded south and in the 6th century it developed so far that Motya can be called a city. A paved road described by Diodorus and visible on satellite images still exists today in parts and led across the lagoon floor from the north side of the island to the main island of Sicily to Birgi Vecchioe. Archaeologists are currently still researching whether this road was just above or just below the surface of the water when it was in use at the time. Diodorus also tells us that the city was in 397 BC. By Dionysius I of Syracuse was conquered. Motya was then able to be recaptured by the Carthaginians, but the citizens preferred to settle in the newly founded and rapidly blossoming Lilybaion , which was considered impregnable. Only a few landlords remained on the island, who farmed there until the end of the First Punic War . The settlement was no longer of any importance, which is why it was no longer mentioned by ancient authors.

Current condition

Due to tectonic changes, the connection to the main island that existed at that time has sunk, but the previously existing road is still clearly visible in the shallow water of the lagoon. From the once mighty city, some fortifications as well as the Kothon (inland port), the sanctuary "Cappiddazzu", the tophet and foundation walls of some houses are still present. A small museum houses ceramics, small sculptures, coins and the like found during the excavations.

The city is a UNESCO cultural and natural heritage site in Sicily .

See also

photos

  • Reconstructed north side of Mozia

  • Porta north

  • Mozia necropolis

  • Capiddazzu shrine

  • House of the mosaics

  • "Kothon" by Mozia (reconstruction)

  • Kothon from Mozia

  • Young man from Mozia, Museum Mozia

literature

German literature on Motya is currently still rare. The excavation report from:

  • Joseph IS Whitaker: Motya. A Phoenician Colony in Sicily. G. Bell, London 1921.
  • Rossella Giglio : Mozia. Lilybaeum. An archaeological walk. Anselmo, Trapani 2003, ISBN 88-88216-03-0 .
  • Simona Modeo: Le iconografie femminili delle stele di Mozia. Caltanissetta, 2013. ISBN 978-88-8241-425-2 .

Web links

Commons : Mozia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.lasapienzamozia.it/Biblioteca/Mozia/2009_Archeo_2009.pdf
  2. ↑ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 6,2,6.
  3. ↑ Lorenzo Nigro: Mozia nella preistoria e le rotte levantine. I prodomi della colonizzazione Fenicia tra secondo e primo millennio aC , In: Alberto Cazzella, Alessandro Guidi, Federico Nomi (Eds.): Ubi minor… Le isole minori del Mediterraneo centrale dal Neolitico ai primi contatti coloniali. Convegno di Studi in ricordo di Giorgio Buchner, a 100 anni dalla nascita (1914-2014) Anacapri, 27 ottobre - Capri, 28 ottobre - Ischia / Lacco Ameno, 29 ottobre 2014. (= Scienze dell'Antichità 22-2, 2016) , Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome 2016, pp. 340, 356 f.
  4. ↑ in detail on this Lorenzo Nigro: Mozia nella preistoria e le rotte levantine. I prodomi della colonizzazione Fenicia tra secondo e primo millennio aC , In: Alberto Cazzella, Alessandro Guidi, Federico Nomi (Eds.): Ubi minor… Le isole minori del Mediterraneo centrale dal Neolitico ai primi contatti coloniali. Convegno di Studi in ricordo di Giorgio Buchner, a 100 anni dalla nascita (1914-2014) Anacapri, 27 ottobre - Capri, 28 ottobre - Ischia / Lacco Ameno, 29 ottobre 2014. (= Scienze dell'Antichità 22-2, 2016) , Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome 2016, pp. 339–365
  5. ^ Diodor, Bibliotheca historica 14, 48.
  6. ↑ Diodor, Bibliotheca historica 14, 47–54.

Coordinates: 37 ° 52 '  N , 12 ° 28'  E