2,000-year-old altars found under water in Italy belong to ancient kingdom, experts say
About 2,000 years ago, during the Roman empire, Pozzuoli was a bustling, commercial city equipped with a port that facilitated international trade.
The city ultimately declined with the fall of the Roman empire at the end of the fifth century, according to Britannica. Since then, parts of the once-thriving cosmopolitan center have been overtaken by the Gulf of Naples, leaving ruins of the people who once lived in the city submerged in the water.
Since the 1800s, the port’s seabed has been a rich site for unearthing Roman ruins and artifacts, including slabs with inscribed dedications to deities, according to a news release from Italy’s Ministry of Culture.
The latest discovery in the city includes a temple and two marble altars that once belonged to the Nabataean people, the ministry said. Experts dated the altars to the first half of the first century.
Researchers said they knew of the temple previously, but recent developments and new technology allowed them to pinpoint its exact location.
The Nabataean was a kingdom in the Arabian peninsula with an established base in Pozzuoli, where it oversaw trade between civilizations in Asia and Rome, the ministry said.
The ministry said several warehouses and imperial buildings were also discovered off the port. These finds give experts greater insight into life during the Roman empire in Pozzuoli, they said.
Pozzuoli is on Italy’s western shore, just outside of Naples.
Google Translate was used to translate a news release from the Ministry of Culture.
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