Dispatch · Religion

Underground Pagan Cult Complex Found in the House of Kybele

· via exa.ai · Aphrodisias, Aydın Province, Turkey

Aphrodisias, Aydın Province, Turkey

Ine Jacobs and R. R. R. Smith report in the Journal of Roman Studies, published online by Cambridge University Press on September 24, 2026, that excavations in 2024–25 exposed an elaborate underground complex in a private part of the House of Kybele at Aphrodisias. The house lies in a neighborhood inside the city’s northeast wall, together with a warehouse, workshops, a street, and a city gate. The 2024 work revealed a long vaulted chamber of high-quality brickwork. An entrance at its east end led to chambers and tunnels following a U-shaped route around and beneath it, their walls deliberately encrusted with thick sinter to give a cave-like appearance.

The finds include pagan cult paraphernalia, copper-alloy lamps, miniature ceramic lamps, ceramic vessels, and small, high-quality marble figures of Aphrodite, Apollo, Asklepios, Athena, and Kybele, in both iconic and aniconic forms. Kybele is represented by at least three of the finest pieces. According to the authors, the complex was still in operation in the early seventh century. The evidence lets them examine the physical setting of a residential pagan complex and the rituals performed there over roughly three centuries, from the early fourth to the early seventh century A.D., offering physical evidence of where and how pagan rites were carried out inside a private home.

Common Questions

What was found at the House of Kybele in Aphrodisias?
Researchers report an underground complex made up of a vaulted brick chamber and U-shaped tunnels whose walls were coated with sinter to look like a cave. The finds included pagan cult paraphernalia, lamps, ceramic vessels, and small marble figures of Kybele, Aphrodite, Apollo, Asklepios, and Athena.
How long was the cult complex in use?
According to Jacobs and Smith, the evidence covers roughly three centuries of ritual activity, from the early fourth to the early seventh century A.D. They report that the complex was still in operation in the early seventh century.