Temple of Juno Caelestis

About

Built between 222 and 235 CE under Alexander Severus, this temple wrapped a curved portico of two dozen columns around a shrine to Juno Caelestis, the Romanized form of the Punic moon goddess Tanit. It ranks among the best-preserved temples in Roman Africa. In 117 CE the hillside it occupies was empty ground, more than a century before construction began.

What happened here

The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Juno_Caelestis_(Dougga)

Nearby

Temple of Saturn

165 m

Capitol of Dougga

237 m

Temple of Mercury

248 m

Temple of Augustan Piety

331 m

Arch of Alexander Severus

126 m

Macellum of Dougga

179 m