The waters of the Bay of Naples may seem a far cry from the deserts of modern Jordan and Saudi Arabia, home of the ancient Nabataeans, a Semitic-speaking people who established a powerful kingdom in the second century b.c. Nonetheless, underwater archaeologists have discovered submerged remnants of a temple dedicated to the Nabataean god Dushara in the bay off the coast of the ancient Roman town of Puteoli, around 12 miles from Naples. Puteoli was one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean beginning in the first century b.c. For two centuries, enterprising Nabataean merchants, as well as traders from Egypt and Phoenicia in the Levant, established communities there to take advantage of the town’s burgeoning trade connections. Along with their business acumen, Nabataeans brought their religious traditions.
Archaeologists identified two submerged marble altars, two rooms with plastered walls, and a marble slab with the inscription “Dusari sacrum,” meaning “consecrated to Dushara.” These items all belong to the only known Nabataean temple outside their homeland. Although several altars and inscribed slabs related to the temple were found in Puteoli during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, its precise location remained unknown. “I’ve been looking for this building for twenty years,” says archaeologist Michele Stefanile of the Southern Graduate School. “It’s simply amazing, something that happens once in a lifetime.” He notes that among the most interesting aspects of the temple is that, despite continuing to honor Dushara, the Nabataeans made deliberate choices to assimilate to their new home. These include the simple Roman-style inscription written in Latin and the typically Roman shape of the altars.
