Pessinus
Pessinus, located in central Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) near the borders of Phrygia, was a significant temple city known for the veneration of the mother goddess Kybele, also referred to as Agdistis. The city is associated with mythological figures such as Ilus, the son of Tros, and Midas of Phrygia. Pessinus gained prominence due to its great shrine, which contained a sacred stone believed to have fallen from the heavens, leading to its name being derived from the Greek word "piptein," meaning to fall. The eunuch priests of the goddess were influential and owned considerable territories, fostering a vibrant market town around the sanctuary.
Historically, Pessinus came under Gallic control in the 3rd century BC but maintained its religious autonomy. The shrine gained further recognition when its sacred stone was transported to Rome in 205 BC, becoming central to Roman religious practices. The city continued to thrive under various rulers, including King Attalus I of Pergamum, who supported the priests. However, with the rise of Christianity in the 4th century AD, the significance of the shrine diminished, although it briefly revived in 362 when Emperor Julian visited. Archaeological excavations have uncovered structures from the time of Augustus, including a temple, and various artifacts that highlight Pessinus's rich cultural and religious history.
Subject Terms
Pessinus
(Ballıhisar, Balhisar)
A temple city in Galatia (central Asia Minor), near the borders of that country with Phrygia, to which the place had earlier belonged; it stood beside a stream—now scarcely visible—in the Upper Sangarius (Sakarya) valley, beneath Mount Dindymus. The foundation of Pessinus was attributed to the mythical Ilus, son of Tros (the founder of Troy), or alternatively to Midas of Phrygia. Pessinus owed its fame to its great shrine of the mother goddess (Meter Dindymene) Agdistis (identified with Cybele), whose cult stone was said to have fallen from heaven, so that Greek etymologists fancifully derived the place-name from piptein, to fall. The eunuch priests of the goddess, according to Strabo, had at one time been very powerful, owning dominions of considerable size, and an active market town grew up around the precinct.
When the Gauls began to reach Galatia in the 270s BC, Pessinus came under their suzerainty, and became the capital of one of their tribes, the Tolistobogii (Tolostoagii); but the sanctuary retained its autonomy, cultivating the friendship of Pergamum against Galatian aggressors. In 205, probably through the mediation of its King Attalus I, the sacred stone of the goddess (whom the Romans knew as the Great Mother [Magna Mater]) was transported to Rome in pursuance of an alleged Sibylline oracle, and enshrined on the Palatine Hill. When Cnaeus Manlius Vulso, with Pergamene support, invaded Galatia in 189, the priests of Pessinus met him in procession, forecasting Roman victory in the name of their deity. Eumenes II of Pergamum (197–160/159) in his last years—despite the cooling of his relations with the Romans, who discouraged his influence in Galatia—wrote a series of letters to the Pessinuntine priest-king as an ally and an equal, endowing a new temple, assuring him of aid in a proposed attack on some `holy place,’ and promising assistance against his brother's embezzlements; and Attalus II (160/159–138) continued this policy of friendship to the priestly state.
In 25 BC, as its coinage shows, Pessinus inaugurated a new era dating from the foundation of the Roman province of Galatia in that year. The Christianization of the empire in the fourth century AD deprived the priests of most of their power, although the shrine enjoyed a temporary revival in 362 when Julian the Apostate came and propitiated the goddess with victims and vows. In 365 the eastern emperor Valens visited and garrisoned Pessinus as a prelude to his operations against the usurper Procopius.
Excavations have now taken place, revealing a temple dating from the time of Augustus (31 BC–AD 14). The shrine of the mother goddess probably lay a little distance away: its location can perhaps be determined from the presence of a trough (attached to an ancient canal) which was maybe used for the ceremonial washing (lavatio) of the holy stone, conducted in front of a large assemblage of pilgrims. In the theater a dedication to Hadrian (AD 117–38) has been found. Discoveries in the necropolis include Roman tombs with door façades resembling those of Phrygian graves. On the summit of Mount Dindymus a sacred grotto and a number of early Christian funerary inscriptions have come to light.