From the later fourth century A.D., public veneration of the pagan gods was illegal, and worship of the old gods had to move into private settings. This article presents the results of recent excavations in the House of Kybele at Aphrodisias, which provide the clearest archaeological evidence yet identified for the continuation of private pagan cult in Late Antiquity and for some of its particular characteristics. Excavations in 2024-2026 exposed an elaborate underground complex in a private part of the house, equipped with surrounding tunnels, various sacrificial installations, religious paraphernalia, and a number of marble figures of Kybele and other gods. Strikingly, the complex remained in operation into the early seventh century. The exceptional quality of the archaeological evidence and its secure chronology make it possible to examine not only the physical setting of an extensive residential pagan cult complex, but also some of the ritual practices - including initiation and divination - carried out within it over the course of three centuries, from the early fourth to the early seventh century A.D.
Der Vortrag ist Teil der Reihe "Mainzer Vorträge zur Römischen Archäologie" (MaVRA), gemeinsam veranstaltet von dem Arbeitsbereich für Klassische Archäologie der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz und dem Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie.
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