About 13 kilometres from the small town of Sivrihisar lies the village of Ballıhisar near the main road between the Turkish capital Ankara and the city of Eskisehir on the Anatolian plateau at an altitude of about 950 meters above sea level.

In the immediate vicinity of the village of Ballıhisar is the ancient site of Pessinus, which was the focus of our visit this time, about 120 kilometres from the gates of Ankara. Here, in a side valley of the Sakarya River, Belgian archaeologists have been actively engaged in excavations for years, which have revealed a deep insight into the mythological development of the divine figure of Cybele and the legendary King Midas of the Phrygian Empire.

Goddess Cybele - goddess and mythological figure

In the old tradition of the cult of the goddess Cybele, Pessinus was probably the most religiously significant place of worship for the old Anatolian goddess and the cult that was already practiced around the mythological figure Koubaba during the second millennium BC. In the early Phrygian period of the 8th century BC, the first large, elaborate temple was built, and the founding of the city with King Midas (738 - 696 BC) is even attributed to the cult of Cybele.

To this day, however, science and research disagree as to whether this was the Phrygian city of Pessinus. Even in the records of Strabo, who speaks of the priests as potentates, it remains unclear whether a "government" or "dynastai" already emanated from the temples of the Phrygian period. Much later, the Seleucid kings also agreed in their deep reverence for the shrine, as the sanctuary was still venerated (photo by Olaf Tausch - Own work, CC BY 3.0).

By the 3rd century BC at the latest, the temples of Pessinus had the status of a clerical oligarchy ruled by Gallou (eunuch priests of the mother goddess). With the arrival of the Celts in Asia Minor in 278 and 277 BC and their devastating defeat by Antiochus I in the so-called "Battle of the Elephants", which put a stop to the plundering Celts around 275 or 268 BC and which then settled in the north-central region of Anatolia, the power of the temples of Pessinus waned. Above all, the Celtic tribes of the Tolistobogians occupied the area between Gordion and Pessinus.

The Romans are also influenced by Cybele

The first effects of the arriving Romans were already apparent in Pessinus around 205 or 204. When heavy meteor showers occurred during the Punic War, the Romans were alarmed and after consulting the Sibyllic books they also decided to follow the cult of the Great Mother of Ida (Magna Mater idaea, another name for Cybele) and reintroduce it into the city. The Romans also asked their ally Attalos I (241 - 197 BC) for help and advice and so they went to Pessinus to transport a large black stone, which supposedly also fell from the sky during the meteor shower, from there to Rome as a sanctuary.

The first location of the black stone was the Temple of Victory on the Palatine, but as early as 191 BC a new sanctuary in honour of the goddess Cybele was built on the summit of the Palatine, which was one of the holiest places in Rome. Along with the black stone, a throne was also brought to Rome, which was twice badly damaged by fire but also twice restored, so strong was the belief in Cybele. First there was a fire in 111 BC, then in 3 AD part of this throne burned again, but it was immediately restored by Emperor Augustus.

With the arrival of Christianity in the 3rd century, the temples were gradually abandoned, and even the pilgrimages of Emperor Julian the Apostate did not change this. Around the year 398, Pessinus was named the capital of the newly founded province of Galatia Salutaris and even became the seat of a metropolitan. Under Emperor Justinian, Pessinus was renamed Joustiananoupolis.

Towards the end of 715, Pessinus was destroyed by Arabs along with the neighbouring town of Orkistos. The area remained under Byzantine rule until the Seljuks took power in the 11th century. Now the fate of the town of Pessinus was finally sealed, as more and more citizens left the town and all that remained was an inconspicuous mountain village.

The temple of Cybele was discovered during excavations by Belgian archaeologists in 1967. The archaeologists were surprised by the small dimensions of the temple, only 8 x 8 meters in the cella. However, they also found a theatre next to it, which also served as a staircase to the temple. This combination alone is quite unique in the ancient world. An image of the mother goddess Cybele was also found, which can now be found in the Gordion Museum: Cybele on a chariot pulled by lions (see introductory image).

Excavations in the area around Sivrihisar

After the first excavation successes in 1967, further excavations could not be carried out until 1987. Now, however, on an annual basis by an excavation team from the University of Ghent until 2008. The following year, the Pessinus project was handed over by Professor John Devreker to his Australian colleague Dr. Gocha Tsetskhladze and his team from the University of Melbourne.

The ongoing aim of the excavations in the core of this ancient city of Sellinus is to identify the city's development at that time and to reconstruct the associated urbanization, which is of great interest especially for the period between 700 BC and the 11th century. Special attention will of course be paid to the development of the cult of the mother goddess Cybele.

Today, research is carried out using the latest technology, which also includes manipulation of satellite images and the development of specific computer software, with the development of a GIS system as a methodological innovation. Parts of the old royal roads that once connected the capitals of Persia such as Susa and Persepolis with Rome from Sardis also passed through Pessinus, which can be clearly documented thanks to modern technology.

According to legend, the black stone fell from the sky here and in fact Pessinus means something like "castle where the fall took place". Pessinus was famous for its sanctuaries in honour of the goddess Cybele or Matar, the Phrygian mother of the gods, who was also worshipped by Greeks and Romans.

Another story about Cybele

According to the myth passed down by Pausanias and Arnobius, Zeus once fell asleep on Mount Agdos in Phrygia and let his semen fall to the ground.

At this point the hermaphrodite Agdistis immediately grew up from the rock.

He had a terrifying nature and was therefore castrated by the other gods. Agdistis, thus freed from his masculinity, became the Great Mother Cybele, but Attis was created from the severed genitals.

Since Cybele and Attis were originally one person, they were attracted to each other.

For a while, both roam happily through the Phrygian mountains, but then Attis decides to marry the daughter of the King of Pessinus. The wedding is already in full swing when Cybele, mad with jealousy, appears at court and strikes the wedding party with madness. Attis also loses his mind. He runs out into the forest and castrates himself under a pine tree, bleeding to death.

Cybele asks Zeus to bring the youth back to life. But all he grants is that Attis's corpse should never decay. Cybele buries Attis in a mountain cave in or near Pessinus, sets up a priesthood consisting of eunuchs and establishes a cult of mourning with an annual large festival.

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