Der Kult des Iuppiter Dolichenus und seine Ursprünge (original) (raw)
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Iuppiter Dolichenus. Vom Lokalkult zur Reichsreligion
Orientalische Religionen in der Antike (ORA) 8
Der Kult des Iuppiter Dolichenus, des lokalen Gottes der Kleinstadt Doliche in der heutigen Südosttürkei, verbreitete sich im 2. Jahrhundert n. Chr. mit großer Geschwindigkeit in weiten Teilen des Imperium Romanum. Die Debatte um „orientalische“ Kulte im römischen Reich, aber auch die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen im Hauptheiligtum von Doliche haben Anlass geboten, verschiedene Facetten des Kultes erneut in den Blick zu nehmen. Aus historischer wie archäologischer Perspektive beleuchten die Beiträge ein breites Spektrum von Fragen, das von der Bedeutung Doliches für den Kult im Westen, den Wegen seiner Verbreitung, seinem Status im römischen Heer bis zur Rolle von Frauen im Kult reicht. Außerdem wird die differenzierte Auswertung der bekannten Dolichenus-Heiligtümer und die Darstellung der Funde aus der Donauregion sowie eine ausführliche Vorlage des neu entdeckten Dolichenus-Heiligtums von Vindolanda thematisiert.
Kai Ruffing, Brigitte Truschnegg, Andreas Rudigier, Julian Degen, Sebastian Fink & Kordula Schnegg (eds.), Navigating the Worlds of History: Studies in Honor of Robert Rollinger on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday I-III, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2024, 73-86., 2024
The biggest temple of the Syrian Storm God Haddu was situated in Aleppo. It dates from the Early Bronze IV until Roman Times and was excavated by Kay Kohlmeyer in cooperation with the Syrian Antiquities Organisation. The temple is oriented in distance of 105 km towards the Dülük Baba Tepesi, the Doliche mountain which was where the the Jupiter Dolichenus cult was initiated and became popular. The cult statues of this god represent the Interpretation Romana of the Storm God, Jupiter is represented like him as standing on the weather bull. This newly discovered orientation of the temple of the Stormgod of Aleppo means not less that the Doliche mountain was already dedicated to the stormgod in the 3rd millennium BCE. Indeed, a team of the University of Münster surveyed the region of the Doliche mountain and was able to trace the cultic activity there, going back until the early 1st millnnium BCE. As the cult tradition has to go back according to the new evidence to the 3rd millennium BCE one expects earlier evidence of this cult at the Doliche mountain region to be discovered soon.
Navigating the Worlds of History: “Der Wettergott von Aleppo und der Doliche Berg: Zum Ursprung des Jupiter Dolichenus-Kultes”, in: Kai Ruffing, Brigitte Truschnegg, Andreas Rudigier, Julian Degen, Sebastian Fink & Kordula Schnegg (eds.), Navigating the Worlds of History: Studies in Honor of ..., 2024
The biggest Bronze Age temple in the Levant was the temple of the Storm God of Aleppo, situated on the citadel of Aleppo and excavated by Kay Kohlmeyer (Berlin). It was erected already oin the Early Bronze Age and lasted until Roman times. It was directed towards the Doliche mountain (Dülük Baba Tepesi) at a distance of 105 km to the North-North-East. This mountain was also dedicated to the stormgod and in Roman times to Jupiter Dolichenus who was the Interpretatio Romana of the stormgod. But the cult at this mountain must have existed already in the 3rd millennium BCE because of the orientation of the Aleppo temple and indeed, a team of the University of Münster found cultic evidence at the Doliche mountain already early in the 1st millennium BCE. The long distance vision of holy mountains must have influenced temple architecture in the Ancient Near East where tower temples were developed to enable long distance vision. This result is important and gives new perspectives in the exploration of religious landscapes in the Ancient Near East.