So yesterday I went to what is called the Red Basillica (because of the red bricks used in its construction)...but it is the ruins of a 2nd century temple complex, probably built by the Emperor Hadrian, to honor the gods of Egypt.
The site contains two huge retunda and a central hall which contained the images of the important Egyptian gods, particularly Isis, "the queen of heaven" who is usually depicted as holding a child, Horus, on her lap. The prototype of our own venerable Mary, the Mother of God.
But there are no figures of her are left...too many centuries have passed. The whole complex is built over a river, on a bridge nearly 200 meters across. Which still stands and a good part of the central city, buildings, roads, etc., still pass unknowingly over it each day. The Romans were nothing but good engineers.
The site reminded me of a time...still in many places...when we all had a choice in the gods or goddesses we could worship. Isis was revered for her magic, her saving of her brother, Osiris,...who actually was Horus' father but then the Pharaohs seem to have been doing a lot of that. She was in charge of love, marriage, and general good order.
But the site contained a number of other gods. Sethmet was a goddess of war, agression...with the face of a lion she led the Egyptian forces into battle..but also of menstruation and medicine. A somewhat complicated goddess to be sure but one to be taken seriously.
Her image is the only one that has been fully restored. Her statue functioned as a column holding up a series of pediments that formed a walk way in the temple complex. And then I realized that each of these 11 gods and goddesses in a row were doubled by each having another god at their rear...though it was not clear who had been in back of Sethmet.
But it caused me to think that had the Roman emperors living in Byzantium had not banned other beliefs (ahhh...the church as a means of political control), we might be living in a more live and let live world.
Many paths to truth...many gods and goddesses along the way.
In looking over some of the fragments which lie around the site, the workmanship stands out. I wondered who was the person who carved those leaves?..who had made them part of a column?...what god's honor were they carved for?..what were their lives like?
So a site like this is not simply a site. It's an invitation to question: why not lots of gods instead of one? is it not real life to have a goddess on one side and another on the back? who are these people...how did they live?
A full afternoon at the Red Basillica (well, it was a church at one point...and a mosque still occupies part of the ancient site (politically it is hard to declare it "a museum" but that is probably in the offing at some point)), but the church burnt down and anyway the Seljuk Turks did take over the site...and they have held it for a long time.
Location:Bergama/Pergamon
