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Monumentum

Mithraeum of Kapıkaya

Mithras became the main deity worshipped in the sanctuary of Meter in Kapikaya, Turkey, in Roman times, at least until the fourth century.
Grotto and terrace, view from the east

Grotto and terrace, view from the east
E. Steiner, DAI Istanbul 71/70,9 

 
The New Mithraeum
4 Mar 2022

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The Meter sanctuary at Kapıkaya is located in the mountains 10 km northwest from Pergamon. At a height of over 60 m lies a grotto formed by a massive boulder which has fallen from a higher level on top of an open cavity in the rock (Conze and Garbrecht 1912: 128). In this already remarkable natural formation a spring lowed, too. Such a site was predestined for the cult of the Great Mother, goddess of the mountains and the wild nature who was said to have been born out of a stone and often was adored in the form of a rock (Hepding 1903: 118; Nohlen and Radt 1978: 70).

The rise of her cult
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