The ruins of Hierapolis are probably some of the biggest we visited in Turkey. At a high end of 100,00 souls, it encompassed a lot of land.
The Temple of Apollo. The Theater is in the background.
The Theater closer up:
The Plutonion (Temple of Pluto, the god of the underworld) is unique in my travels. Being in a geologically active area (as evidenced by the hot springs), there was a least one cave from which gases escaped as part of a hot spring (similar to the temple of Apollo at Delphi). The gasses would kill living creatures. This came to be seen as the Gateway to the Underworld, the land of the god Pluto and his wife Persephone.. The priests of the Mother Goddess Cybele (eunuchs, as it turns out) discovered over time that they could hold their breath, enter the area in front of the cave, and and then emerge unscathed, demonstrating their power.
A chamber and hot spring of the Plutonion. Here worshippers would bath and spend the night; the god Pluto would appear to them in a dream.
At one time a statue of Pluto sat over a pit which had been built in front of the cave, covered by a temple and a small amphitheater, where worshippers could observe (also graced at one time by a statue of Cerebus, the three headed hound and guardian of the Underworld. Sacrifices (bulls) would be driven into the pit where they would succumb to the gases. The priests would emerge unscathed.
Plaques about the Plutonion:
For the inhabitants of Hierapolis, the entrance to Hell (literally).
Fascinating.....a good sized city, lots of customers for the temple, a good gig for the priests of that temple eh?
ReplyDeleteIt was a really good gig, Nylon12 - other than the fact of being a eunuch, of course.
DeleteHonestly, this was the first time I had heard of this particular cult or their manner of sacrifice. Seeing this (and perhaps the apostle Paul did see it), imagine how different Christianity would sound, just alone in the idea that one had direct access to the Creator of the universe.
I'm going to echo Nylon12 - fascinating. Religion with economic value. Even centuries later, for the tourist trade.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, Hierapolis is one of the sites I really wish we had all day (and slightly cooler weather) at, because there was so much to see.
DeleteAs I think on your words, it strikes me that many ancient religious sites were monetized. Delphi particularly comes to mind.