Slontha Temple is a small, ancient, Libyan temple dating to
the period before the Greek occupation; the Berber period often excluded from
Libya's history, except in that where it comes in violent contact with the various
conflicts it consumed. Even the late Ancient Egyptians made a habit of mentioning
Libyans and Berbers more to do with wars rather than in relation to any other
aspect of their life and culture. Many of the records reached us via Egypt were
part of war records.
The temple, also known by the names Slonta, Aslonta, Slontha,
Suluntah, or Salantah, was partially damaged during flooding due to heavy rain,
but was restored in 1993. Located in the village of Aslanta Lasamisis, about
24 km south of al-Bayda, the temple is hidden high in the Green Mountain's groves,
just where ancient temples were expected to be. In an area rich in caves, most
of which are facing south, the Slontha structure incorporates a local architecture
unique to the area, consisting of a low semicircular entrance, with cylindrical
columns in the middle of the cave, 96 cm high and 120 cm in diameter. Circular
tombs and stone circles are found all over North Africa and the Sahara, some
of which date from prehistoric times.
The cave was first mentioned by G. Haimann (La.
Cirenaica, Milan 1886), and then J. W. Gregory,
Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow, came
across the site when he was studying the area in 1911;
he introduced the name Slonta Limestone (from the
Upper Eocene epoch) after the village Salantah: a beige-white,
hard or porous limestone and chalky in places, and hence
an ideal platform for carving.
The temple is rich in carvings of human faces, unusual
human figures and animals,
disembodied
heads, and slender bodies engraved directly onto the
rocks, in a style totally unique to the temple. Some
of these figures, unlike any of
the ancient representations of the surrounding
cultures, are in a seated position, in
what appears to be a deeply religious
gathering, probably in association with
the worship of the dead. Burials and
statues in seating position, like the
statue of Libyan Amon, are characteristic
of several Berber cemeteries of the time,
well recognised by scholars.
The most prominent feature is the group
of five heads on the top left-side
of the entrance, the eternal guardians
of the sanctuary. The features of
the heads are clearly African in
origin, with somewhat mysterious
emotions emanating from their
faces.
The heads appear as if they once had full bodies
beneath them and may have been destroyed.
A drawing of Dali-like Slontah Snake, from Cyrene
Museum.
One of the most striking carvings of the site
is the giant snake (see middle photo below, and
the drawing of the actual carving from Cyrene museum,
above), surrounded by more figures in what appears
to be a ceremonial procession in association with
the Libyan Snake Goddess Lamia. Snakes were very
abundant in Libya, which according to Greek mythology were
created from the blood droplets that fell from the
Libyan Medusa's severed head; which is a clear testimony
to the Libyan origin of snake worship in Libya. The snake
cult in Libya is indigenous to Libya, stemming from
the abundance of snakes in the Libyan desert. Oric
Bates, on the authority of Agatharchides, Pliny and
Callias, points out that the ancient Berber Psylli were
serpent masters who
were employed as doctors
to charm snake-bites and scorpion-stings, and that their
services were requisitioned by Octavius to restore Cleopatra
to life. Among all people, the Psylli were immune to snake-bites.
The methods by which they cured snake-bites include spitting
into the wound, and rinsing the mouth in water and then
giving it to the patient to drink in a cup.
Slontah Cave Temple, Eastern Libya: three different sections
from the site displayed together.
The only Libyan publication about the temple is a
31-page
booklet by Dr. Fadhi Ali Muhammad titled Aslonta Temple,
published by Dar Al-Anies, Misrata, Libya, 2005. In
this booklet, which contains a 14-page section in English,
the author divides the excavation rocks in the temple
into five groups, which can be summarised as follows.
1 - The first group of six people on the right side of the temple, including
three women in long dresses and two boys, and some animals; preceded
by a portrait of four people, two animals, and some heads.
2 - The second group consists of an altar on a stone
table with four pigs, the heads of three pigs,
and two bearded human heads, with a stone relief
of two rows of women and men, all of whom had their hands rising beside
their heads.
3 - The third group consists of five heads.
4 - A group of figures divided by a long snake into two sections (middle
photo, above), with two human heads with curly hair at
the eastern upper section, followed by two people with
their hands over their heads, and other statues. In
the lower section (below the snake): human head, a deer,
a dog, a crocodile attempting to devour a veal and a
woman.
5 -
The fifth group consists of more statues on the western
side of the temple, which were damaged during the flooding incident, including
those of two human heads, an animal head (probably of a horse), and what
appears to be a group of wrestlers.
Slontah.
The cave of Slontah is also known as the Pig Grotto,
probably from the carvings of pigs found inside the
temple. The idea that the pigs and the other
carved animals indicated a sacrificial nature of
the temple needs to accommodate the historical
reference that pigs were sacred to the Goddess Isis
and as such were a taboo. The punishment for killing a cat in ancient Egypt
was death. The cat was sacred to the Libyan Goddess Bast, whom the Egyptians
worshipped at Bubastis, in the Delta. Sacrificial ceremonies are often secondary
in nature in relation to the main purpose of the dedication
was offered. Ceremonies are the means through which intentions are expressed.
This could be
"the worship of the dead". Or it could be: "the worship of the
snake goddess", a temple dedicated to Lamia. One can think of other possibilities,
but instead of guessing, it is best to leave some questions for future students
to attend to.
