8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A huge artificial lake in Sicily is an ancient sacred pool that was aligned with the Stars and used 2,500 years ago, study reveals

A sacred freshwater pool on western Sicily’s San Pantaleo Island that dates back some 2,500 years was aligned with the stars, archaeologists have revealed.

The pool, which was first unearthed in the 1920s, was found among the ruins of the ancient island city of Motya, which was a bustling Phoenician port back in the first millennium BC. Phoenicia was an ancient maritime state that lived in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily around what today is Lebanon, from around 2500–64 BC. It was originally believed that the feature was a “Kothon” — an artificial harbor — as it bore similarities to one known from the ancient military port of nearby Carthage, but reanalysis has revealed this assumption to be incorrect.

The research was conducted by archaeologist Professor Lorenzo Nigro of the Sapienza University of Rome in collaboration with the Superintendence of Sicily.

“Kothon” was a harbor but new excavations have drastically changed its interpretation: It was a sacred pool at the center of a huge religious compound,’ said Professor Lorenzo Nigro.

The pool, which was first unearthed in the 1920s, was found among the ruins of Motya (Image: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)
The pool, which was first unearthed in the 1920s, was found among the ruins of Motya (Photo: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)

Previous research had found a Temple of Ba’al on the edge of Motya’s Kothon, rather than the expected harbor buildings. This unexpected discovery prompted the reinvestigation of the Kothon starting in 2010.  This temple was much to the surprise of the archaeologists who had expected to find harbor buildings instead.

This prompted a reevaluation of the site, with the excavations that began in 2010 seeing researchers fully drain and excavate the artificial basin.

‘This revealed it could not have served as a harbour, as it was not connected to the sea. Instead, it was fed by natural springs,’ Professor  Nigro said.

The centre of the pool once had a podium with a statue of Ba’al (Image: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)
The center of the pool once had a podium with a statue of Ba’al (Photo: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)

The water feature, the team said, was longer and wider than a modern Olympic swimming pool, making it one of the largest sacred pools in the whole of the ancient Mediterranean.

Archaeologists also found additional temples flanking the Kothon, along with stelae, altars, votive offerings, and a pedestal in the center of the lake that once held a statue of Ba’al, often seen as a fertility god.

Ba’al was worshipped widely was known as the Phoenician god of storms and fertilizing rains. As vanquisher of the sea, the deity was regarded by the Canaanites and Phoenicians as the patron of sailors.

The water feature, the team said, was longer and wider than a modern Olympic swimming pool (Photo: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)
The water feature, the team said, was longer and wider than a modern Olympic swimming pool (Photo: Lorenzo Nigro / Antiquity / Sapienza University of Rome)

Together, the experts said, these features confirm that the “Kothon” was not a harbour, but a sacred pool within one of the pre-Classical Mediterranean’s largest cultic complexes. Mapping the site also revealed it was aligned with the stars. 

The new study was published in the journal Antiquity.

Cover Photo: An ancient sacred freshwater pool on western Sicily’s San Pantaleo Island was aligned with the stars (Image: Lorenzo Nigro)

Related Articles

The free online course from the Colchester Museums and University of Reading Department of Archeology

12 July 2021

12 July 2021

The opportunity to be among the first to examine 2,000-year-old cremated remains from Roman Britain and learn about the origins...

A rare Saint George seal was found during excavations near Suzdal

27 June 2023

27 June 2023

The archaeological survey of the Suzdal Opole, initiated by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences more...

The Only Known Roman Brewery, Discovered in Central Italy

6 July 2024

6 July 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Macerata have discovered the only brewery from the Roman era found to date on the...

Persian-era plaster walls were discovered during excavations at Zeyve Höyük in central Turkey

2 August 2022

2 August 2022

This year’s excavations at Porsuk-Zeyve Höyük (Zeyve Mound) near the Porsuk village of the Ulukışla district of Niğde, located in...

Archaeologists find the largest bronze beast of Sanxingdui ruins

4 September 2022

4 September 2022

The largest and only one of its kind discovered in China to date, the bronze beast was discovered by archaeologists...

An 8,000-year-old number stone found in Yeşilova Mound

27 July 2023

27 July 2023

The 8,000-year-old numeral stone, which is thought to have been used while calculating during the Yeşilova Höyük (Yeşilova Mound) excavation...

A 12.000 -year-old temple was found during excavations in Boncuklu Tarla in southeastern Turkey

21 October 2021

21 October 2021

A temple thought to be 12 thousand years old was unearthed in Boncuklu Tarla in the Ilısu Neighborhood of Dargeçit...

Medieval Rye: From Humble Weed to Powerful Staple – New Study Reveals Surprising Farming Secrets

27 May 2025

27 May 2025

Discover how medieval rye cultivation was far more advanced than previously believed. New research reveals intensive farming and fertilizing techniques...

Researchers identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume more than 2,000 years old

25 May 2023

25 May 2023

A research team at the University of Cordoba has identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume...

1000-year-old Cats and Babies mummies of Turkey’s

30 March 2022

30 March 2022

Cat, baby, and adult mummies in Aksaray, which took its place in history as Cappadocia’s gateway to the west on...

New Discoveries on the İsland of Skokholm

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

New discoveries dating back 9000 years have been found in Skokholm, located in the Celtic Sea two miles off the...

Frozen but Not Forgotten: 2,500-Year-Old Tattoos of Siberian Ice Mummy Digitally Reconstructed

31 July 2025

31 July 2025

Siberian Ice Mummy: Unveiling Ancient Tattoo Traditions of Iron Age Siberia In a groundbreaking fusion of archaeology and modern imaging,...

An intact Punic Tomb was Discovered in Malta

29 May 2021

29 May 2021

İntact a tomb dating to the Punic period was found in Tarxien. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has announced the...

1,600-year-old steelyard weight found in Turkey’s ancient city of Hadrianopolis

1 December 2021

1 December 2021

Archeologists have discovered a 1,600-year-old steelyard weight during excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis, located in the Eskipazar district...

12 tombs with Beautiful Decorations and Carved Bricks from the period of Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, found in China

22 May 2023

22 May 2023

China has a rich history. In addition to the fossil records from the Paleolithic Period, the country has witnessed the...