Leucothea as Mater Matuta at Colonia Berytus. A note on local mythology in the Levant and the Hellenisation of a Phoenician city

Abstract

Cet article défend l’idée que Mater Matuta qui, selon une inscription latine de Deir el-Qal’a, reçut un culte sur le territoire de Berytus n’était pas une importation romaine, étrangère dans l’univers religieux de la colonie, mais l’interpretatio romana de Leucothéa, la déesse avec laquelle elle est identifiée dans le monde gréco-romain et qui reçut souvent un culte au Proche-Orient, en particulier en Phénicie à l’époque romaine. Suivant la thèse que la mythologie doit être considérée comme un élément essentiel de la renégociation continuelle de la culture religieuse gréco-romaine, des inscriptions de la ville sont replacées dans le contexte de l’histoire de Leucothéa. Cet exemple peut encourager d’autres chercheurs à observer davantage l’hellénisation de Bérytus au-delà de l’habillage romain.

Mater Matuta, ‘Fertility Cults’ and the Integration of Women in Religious Life in Italy in the Fourth to First Centuries Bc

“…This blending or conflation of the Greek goddess Ino/Leukothea and the Latin deity Matuta, however, may be a late phenomenon, possibly of the second or first century BC (Coarelli, 1988: 244–53; Bouma, 1996: 251–2). Another late phenomenon might be the association of Mater Matuta with the sea or seafaring, perhaps on account of the maritime flight of Leukothea (Becatti, 1970–1: 43–50; Castagnoli, 1979: 145–6; Kaizer, 2005: 201). Because the translation of divine names was based on distinct attributes of the gods, ‘once a translation of divine names was established and commonly accepted, a deity might attract meanings or characteristics of his/her counterpart, especially in multilingual contexts’ (Miano, 2018: 159).…”

“…Another magistra of this goddess in Praeneste is known from her funerary inscription ( CIL XIV 3006; Schultz, 2006a: 177 n. 97). The adherent of the cult of Mater Matuta who dedicated an altar to her in Beirut, on the orders of the goddess Juno, was also a married woman, Flavia Nicolais Saddane, who has Latin, Greek and Semitic names ( CIL III 6880 = ILS 3490; Kaizer, 2005; Ando, 2007: 435–6).…”

“…to Jupiter in the sanctuary of Mater Matuta (Livy 33.27.4, 41.28.3–4). The inscription on the altar to Mater Matuta in Beirut, mentioned in the previous section, indicates that it was the goddess Juno who gave the order to Flavia Nicolais Saddane to make a donation to Mater Matuta, indicating that deities were somehow related and did not demand exclusive attention ( CIL III 6880 = ILS 3490; Kaizer, 2005; Ando, 2007: 435–6). We have also seen that Mater Matuta was worshipped in a sanctuary at Pesaro in northeast Italy, where a Roman colony was established in 184 BC, but she was not the only presence there (Agnati, 1999).…”

“… 10 CIL XIV 2997, CIL XIV 3006; CIL III 6680 = ILS 3490; Halberstadt, 1934; Bouma, 1996: 262; Kaizer, 2005; Ando, 2007: 436.…”

Creating Local Religious Identities in the Roman Near East

“…However, as Dennis Feeney has emphasised, mythology 34 For full details and references concerning the example that follows, see Kaizer (2005 (Fig. 6).…”