In 1992, after four seasons of excavation at the Roman Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi/Panias (modern Banias, Israel), a deposit of broken, white marble sculptures was discovered in one of the buildings atop the elevated terrace of the sanctuary. During this season and that following, over 200 fragments of statuary were recovered.¹ From these, twenty-eight marble sculptures and one limestone piece representing Graeco-Roman deities and mythological figures may be reconstructed.² They range in date from the second half of the first through the late fourth or early fifth centuries ad. Scale varies from colossal to miniature. Subjects include a...

Since there is no native source of marble in the Levant, all marble statuary found in this region had to be imported from the other marble-rich provinces of the empire — either as fully-carved monuments, partially-carved works, or uncarved blocks.¹ Thus, the discovery of Roman-period marble sculptures at the Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi, as at other sites in the region, raises questions regarding their origins. In this chapter, three factors relevant to the origins of the Paneion sculptures are considered: the geological origins of their marble, the carving tradition in which their sculptors were trained, and the place...

In the Levant, the dedication of imported marble statues carved in the classical style was a deliberate act, since, as suggested in the previous chapter, these sculptures were not readily available in most Levantine cities and were certainly more costly and notable than statuary made of local stone and carved in indigenous traditions. Therefore, the discovery of a large number of imported marble sculptures such as those found at the Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi raises related questions regarding the cultural, ethnic, and political background of their patrons; the historical periods during which they were dedicated; and their relationship...

Epigraphic, literary, and numismatic sources provide evidence for the worship of at least five cult deities at the Sanctuary of Pan. All are traditional Graeco-Roman deities or members of the early imperial cult. The sculptural fragments from the site not only substantiate the worship of these cult figures, but also provide a fuller picture of the pantheon honored at the Sanctuary of Pan. Of the nineteen identifiable sculptural fragments discovered at the Sanctuary of Pan, sixteen preserve distinct subjects: fifteen divine and semi-divine figures and one imperially-related portrait. To expand our understanding of the scope of worship at the Paneion,...

This study of the Roman marble sculptures from the Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi documents a large group of statuary dedicated and displayed at a Roman-period sanctuary in the Levant: its origins, style, sculptural types, technical features, chronology, patrons, possible display contexts, and subjects. As material culture, the group is important on multiple levels: in and of itself, the assemblage constitutes an example of sculptural dedications in a major provincial Graeco-Roman sanctuary; regionally, the sculptures offer a window into Graeco-Roman worship in an otherwise largely Semitic context; and in the context of the larger Roman empire, the pieces shed...

The following catalogue describes and identifies the twenty-nine identifiable sculptures found in the excavations of the Sanctuary of Pan at Caesarea Philippi/Panias between 1989 and 1993. The remaining two-hundred and seventeen fragments that may have belonged to these pieces or others, no longer preserved, are listed by category in Appendix 3, and the over-life-size bust of Antinous reportedly found at Caesarea Philippi in the mid-1800s is presented in Appendix 4. The primary aim of the catalogue is to document this body of previously unpublished material and, in doing so, to identify the subject of each piece. Where possible, entries provide...