Researchers have found ancient altars and marble slabs under the sea near Naples, Italy. These discoveries are believed to be part of a 2,000-year-old Nabatean temple.
The temple was likely built by people from Nabataea, an ancient kingdom in the Arabian Peninsula. This kingdom is famous for its rock-carved buildings, like the “Treasury” shown in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Later, the temple was buried under concrete and broken pottery. Experts think this might have happened when foreign traders left the area. This information comes from a study published on September 12 in the journal Antiquity.
Michele Stefanile, a maritime archaeologist from the Southern Graduate School in Naples, described the discovery as “one of the most unexpected.” Stefanile shared this in an email to Live Science.
The temple was found off the coast of Pozzuoli, a town in the volcanic region of Campi Flegrei, about 10 miles east of Naples. In ancient Roman times, this town was called Puteoli and served as a major harbor. Ships from across the Roman Empire would arrive here, bringing in goods like grain for trade.
Over the centuries, volcanic activity has reshaped the coastline of Pozzuoli, submerging and preserving about 1.2 miles of Roman-era buildings, including warehouses from the ancient port. Artifacts pulled from the sea as early as the 18th century hinted at the existence of a buried temple. However, its exact location remained unknown until now.
Archaeologists have discovered ancient altars and inscribed marble slabs submerged along the Italian coast near Naples. The finds are likely the remains of a 2,000-year-old temple built by the Nabataeans, an ancient kingdom on the Arabian Peninsula whose rock-carved "Treasury"… pic.twitter.com/vhe9o6oMI4
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Two submerged rooms with Roman-style walls
In 2023, during a survey of the seafloor, researchers uncovered two submerged rooms featuring Roman-style walls. These walls, measuring approximately 32 feet by 16 feet, formed two sizable spaces.
Within one of the rooms, two white marble altars were discovered leaning against a wall. The altars had rectangular slots, possibly designed to hold sacred stones.
Additionally, each room contained a marble slab inscribed with the Latin phrase “Dusari sacrum,” meaning “dedicated to Dushara,” the chief deity of the Nabataean religion.
Stefanile noted, “It seems that we have a building dedicated to the Nabataean gods, but with Roman architecture and Latin inscription.”
The Nabataean Kingdom once stretched from northern Arabia to the eastern Mediterranean. During the fourth to second centuries B.C., the Nabataeans managed a thriving trade network that dealt in luxury goods like incense, gold, ivory, and perfumes.
By the late first century A.D., they had amassed great wealth. Around this time, the famous tomb known as “The Treasury” was constructed in their capital city, Petra.
Steven Tuck, a Roman historian from Miami University in Ohio, explained in an email to Live Science that it was logical for the Nabataeans to be present in Puteoli, as they were a community of traders.
