2000-year-old temple featured in 'Indiana Jones' found in the depths of Italy's Gulf of Puzzuoli

Off the western coast of Italy, the Gulf of Pozzuoli in the Tyrrhenian Sea is known for ancient ruins of baths and a submerged city. Its emerald green waters, where Roman emperors once indulged in baths, are now home to schools of sperm whales and dolphins. In 2023, when archaeologists were exploring these waters, they discovered something that looked like the remains of a 2000-year-old Nabataean temple, which was also featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," as per Live Science. Their findings were published in September 2024 in the journal called Antiquity.

The discovery of this ancient temple was a result of a collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Culture and the University of Campania, as part of the “Between Land and Sea” project, an initiative that seeks to shed light on the rich archaeological heritage near the Phlegraean coast. Unsettled by continuous volcanic activity and subsidence, the region houses remains that offer insights into the culture and commercial life of ancient Rome.

During the Augustan era (31 B.C. – 14 A.D.), this region was one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean trade network. The bustling district boasted a rich urban landscape dotted with warehouses where merchants stored grains. This temple, however, was filled with concrete and broken pottery soon after it was constructed, probably due to foreign traders leaving the area.

"For me, this was one of the most unexpected discoveries," the study's lead author Michele Stefanile, told Live Science. The temple was discovered through aerial photogrammetry conducted in the region in 2022. Inside the temple, the researchers found two rooms bordered by walls of “opus reticulatum,” an ancient Roman construction consisting of small blocks of volcanic tuff arranged in a net-like pattern.

In one room, two altars of white marble leaned against a wall with several rectangular recesses, that once housed “anepigraphic betyls,” sacred stones that Nabataeans used for worship. Each room also revealed a marble slab featuring the Latin inscription "Dusari sacrum," meaning "consecrated to Dushara," the main god in the ancient Nabataean religion. "It seems that we have a building dedicated to the Nabataean gods, but with Roman architecture and Latin inscription," Stefanile said.

According to the study authors, “The existence of a Nabataean sanctuary within the port area confirms that there was a community from that region participating in the commercial activities of Puteoli.” Between the fourth to second centuries B.C., the Nabataean Kingdom was in its golden age, where prosperous merchants traded in luxury goods such as incense, gold, ivory, and perfumes.

Nabataea experienced its decline in 106 CE when Emperor Trajan created the province of Arabia Petraea, affecting the independence of Nabataeans with his conquest. In the early 2nd century BC, this temple was clogged with concrete powder and was considered forgotten, until these archaeologists dug it up. The presence of amphorae discovered in the submerged temple is evidence of this. This event not only marked the decline of the Nabataean kingdom but also brought down its formerly flourishing trade network.