Cult of Cybele

WHS related to the cult of Cybele. Originally an Anatolian mother goddess, the cult later also spread to the Ancient Greek and Roman world via returning colonists.

Religion and Belief

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Ephesus Historical accounts and archaeological remains of significant traditional and religious Anatolian cultures beginning with the cult of Cybele/Meter until the modern revival of Christianity are visible and traceable in Ephesus,... Two important Councils of the early Church were held at Ephesus…, initiating the veneration of Mary in Christianity, which can be seen as a reflection of the earlier veneration of Artemis and the Anatolian Cybele. (OUV Crit IV)
Gamzigrad-Romuliana Includes a temple to the cult goddess Kibela or Cybele
Gordion Painted House: "excavations revealed fragments of painted plaster and friezes decorated with human figures – mainly women but also athletes and birds. The friezes are rare depictions of Phrygian women. The building was probably a shrine of the goddess Matar." (AB ev) Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya is ancient Phrygia's only known goddess and the origin of the Cybele cult.
Olympia The Metroon, dedicated to the Mother of the Gods, sometimes called Cybele. (see link)
Pergamon The Kybele Sanctuary at Kapıkaya, with local Anatolian roots, represents the continual use, synthesis of cultures and interchange of human values through time. (OUV crit II)
Çatalhöyük Cybele "may have evolved from a statuary type found at Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, of a "corpulent and fertile" female figure accompanied by large felines, dated to the 6th millennium BC and identified by some as a mother goddess." (wiki)

Suggestions?

Do you know of another WHS we could connect to Cult of Cybele?

Send it to me!

A connection should:

  1. Not be "self evident"
  2. Link at least 3 different sites
  3. Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
  4. Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
  5. Be explained, with reference to a source