INTRODUCTION
On 9 August 2007, the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia e the IsIAO (Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente) signed an agreement with a maturity of three years, to perform archaeological research aimed at a broader understanding of historical – religious themes concerning the relations between Rome and Ostia.
Located between Rome and the Tyrrhenian Sea, Ostia is the only natural port of the western Italian coast between La Spezia and Gaeta and assumed a vital importance to the capital of the Empire, for his supply, and for his military expeditions.
The strategic location that allowed the city not only to trade with the Mediterranean but also to the ways of communication, that this dated back across the river to Rome, Ostia led to a commercial development but also "cultural" that rival those of the capital.
As often happens, in fact, together with the goods travelling ideas, new beliefs Technologies, from the boundless and remote areas of Asia, landed to the empire. City of merchants, soldiers, mercenaries, this was a mixture of languages, cultures and different races, his special vocation cosmopolitan, as witnessed by the presence of various cults of oriental origin, certified with plenty in it: the Magna Mater Cybele from Phrygia, the Egyptian Isis, to the mysteries of Mithras, of undoubted Persian ancestry.
Just to worship and buildings associated with Mithra, particularly numerous in this site are directed to the attention of this specific research project planned by IsIAO in order to resume his studies in this very particular aspect of cultural life in Ostia through the collaboration of specialists in classical archaeology and Eastern Europe.
In this first project within the territory of Ostia then they joined the requirements of a second project carried out by IsIAO. The institute, in fact, since 2006 engaged in a research program in the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan, and more specifically in the province of Suleymania, where in recent years have been completed a series of missions focusing on the excavation, restoration and enhancement of the Sasanide Tower of Paikuli. Unfortunately, because of increased political instability in the country, in 2007 the inability to go back for safety, required a reshaping of the program. This has triggered a plan for training and updating for Iraqi professionals in the field of archaeology and restoration, to be held in the Italian territory. Even in this case the mithraeum of Ostia, places of worship of Mithraism and cultural bridge between East and West, seemed the most natural choice to conduct such training courses.
ACTIVITY
The work of excavation at the site of Ostia were held between September 22 and October 31 2008, with the extension of one week, between 3 and 8 November , to complete the work of arrangement of the material produced by archaeological excavation. Research activities of the stratigraphy of Mitreo dei Serpenti attended, in addition to leaders from Italy (Dr. Barbara Faticoni, Dr. Marco Rossi, Dr Luca Colliva) a team of scholars from Iraqi Kurdistan made up of six members: Mohammed Salih Karim , Abdulwahab Sulaiman Hasan, Hasan Ahmed Qasim, Kamal Rasheed Rahees, Bekhal Abdullah Mahmood, Amin Othman nigari. This work, which included the excavation of an entire platform of the Mithraeum and the opening of two essays in the second, ended with filling and cover the excavated areas to ensure better conservation of the archaeological site in agreement with the Area Scientific Responsible (Dr. M. Bedello) and responsible for maintaining the site of Ostia (Dr. Laura Spada). Finally, all the material recovered during the search, cleaned, washed, inventoried and photographed was delivered at the warehouses of Soprintendenza per I Beni Archeologici di Ostia. This material includes several boxes of pottery, bone and plaster, both individual items of significant archaeological interest.
REPORT
The first activity carried out at the inside of the stat mitreo dei serpenti is a general cleaning of the structure that allow detection of any number of excavation and restoration of the previous year in which, in the area after the thronum background of the temple, was found a fragment of brick branded.
T1
Once verified the substantial integrity of docks side of the temple was with the open of a poll in the EST (T1) which, at first, came to approximately the height of the wall shear USM 43. This choice was made to preserve the original plan in cocciopesto (U.S. 01) that sealed the dock and remained preserved only in the last southern portion. A few days later, according with the new requirements of excavation emerged during the early stages of work, it was agreed to move the new limit excavation to backlog and to fix it about a meter from the wall of the south end of the pier (USM 39) . These requirements arose from the fact that after the removal of the plan cocciopesto (U.S. 01), of what remained of a similar plan likely (U.S. 08) in the north, and their preparations (UUSS 05 and 07), it showed an area consistent closed course to the south by a wall structure (U.S. 33), which remained partially beyond the first limit of excavation. Moving to the south of this limit has allowed us to highlight a concrete structure (U.S. 33) that seems to "resting" against a wall (U.S. 15) made of material recovery, which completely closes the loading bay to the south. The continuation of the internal excavation of this "first" stage of the quay, with the removal of a large layer of filling (U.S. 06), has shown that more structural plans probably associated with a first phase of implementation thereof. Is the case for a new structure in conglomerate (U.S. 12), this time of much reduced thickness of the previous year and which was based on one layer of brick fragments (U.S. 17), a little more than 2 meters from the wall of the north end of the wharf. Along the inner surface of the wall that serves as a "spalletta" Instead of quayside (USM 34), were identified remains of what must have been a cementitious plan (U.S. 36), of which traces slender, have also been found along the inner wall of the north wall of the closure of the pier (U.S. 40).
The further down the internal stratigraphy of these two areas, north and south of the property U.S. 12, then showed two completely separate. In the area north of the presence of a thick layer of earth (U.S. 11) with large beds of sand (U.S. 14) held the fragments of bricks (U.S. 17), which seems to have been laid in the conglomerate structure US12. Below this filling full of sand was then an isolated solid layer (U.S. 18) which seems to have been the manufacturers “spallette” side of the pier (USM 34) and thus would seem regards previous stages of the structure (not excavated). In the area between USM 12 and USM 33, however, once removed the fill that covered U.S. 13 in this case the layer U.S. 17, has unearthed an interesting area of poaching (U.S. 22). This layer of cocciopesto (?) Was maintained for only a small portion south of U.S. 12 because it's cut (U.S. 24) in an irregular manner to approximately the height of niche (U.S. 35) in the "spallette" of the dock. Just in the last corresponding to this also was found a pit (U.S. 26) to form circular nature still uncertain. To the south of the cut, the platform appears once again filled with a layer of compact rich material (Us 23), which probably laid above ground level (not excavated). U.S. 22 plan, plus wing cutting east-west trend that marks its southern limit, has a deep North-South divide that has caused the detachment of the lateral wall (43 USM) which was supported and its consequent its collapse of several centimeters. The excavation of this area of the wharf has also unearthed a series of previous walls (UUSSMM: 41,42,43) found below the east wall of Mithraeum (Us 44). In the south wall of U.S. 15 was set to light, under a thick layer of filling (U.S. 16), a layer of chalky matrix (U.S. 19) that seems to continue under the wall itself. The paucity of space in which it was done this little survey has just allowed us to identify the states below the floor, and that is a level full of fragments of charcoal (U.S. 20), likely preparing the chalky layer, and an additional filling (U.S. 21) below.
T2
Once completed the intervention of excavation in the east of the Mithraeum pier , we moved into the west (T2) to monitor, not with a complete excavation of the dock but with a couple of more specific surveys (S1 and S2), with the possible matches with the phases of T1. The first essay was opened S1, the edge of the south pier, which immediately brought to light, once removed the layer of fill above (U.S. 27), a wall constructed of materials reuse (USM 28) would appear in connection with that (USM 15) founded in T1 in the closed position of the south pier. Again, although the remains are much more limited and fragmented, was found south of the wall, a layer of white chalky matrix (U.S. 47), the likely level of traffic. Correspondence with the plane 19 of the U.S. dock T1 is quite evident. The fragments of Us 47 identified were laid over a very compact layer (Us 48) with obvious traces of charcoals inside layer of probable preparation for the beat in plaster. The second essay S2 was opened to the side opposite the previous one, or at the last part of the quay to the north. In this case it is removed from a first layer of irregular shape and full of debris of bricks and ceramic (U.S. 64), identified the height of the pillar blocks tuff (USM 57) present along the west wall of Mithraeum. Precisely to the height of this pillar, the plan cocciopesto (U.S. 30) sealing the quay west, appears cut (U.S. 34) and this cut was based on the layer of debris U.S. 64th Again, as in the corresponding zone in the east quay, it emerged in a concrete structure (U.S. 67) to a thickness of few tens of centimeters. A difference in the corresponding T1 (U.S. 12) this is not based upon a fragment of brick but on a layer of sand.
Thick lens of sand are, in fact, components of the layer 66 and U.S., in particular, the sand appears to have accumulated below the structure US 64 and the inside of the cavity formed by the wall (U.S. 53) which is the west "spallette" of the pier in its northern part. Against the north wall of the closure of the pier (USM 61) were found the remains of a cement floor (U.S. 68) stored for only a few centimeters. Even in this case will mend similarities with other parties dug in the two docks. Moreover, the removal of filling U.S. 66 has shown that two different layers of white material (UUSS 69-70) stacked to form two different surfaces. In the case of U.S. 69 nature "chalky" material seems a little more than doubtful, since the impression is that this is more of plaster
the impression is that rather plaster "cast / collapsed" on the underlying surface, whose nature remains to be determined by the west wall of Mithraeum.
It remains the clear relationship between these levels and those similar highlighted with the south walls of the USM 15 and 28. Unfortunately, these two layers disappear completely destroyed to the north where, however, a surface filling (US71)rich fragments of plaster, including paintings, but has not yet been touched by the intervention of excavation.
CONCLUSIONS
Even an initial reading of the information appearing excavation of the evidence compared to the immediate history of constructive Mithraeum. The Mithraeum was therefore to extend the work that led to at least at a magnification of the two lateral podia. Remains to be seen, and in this there is also the study of material collected during the excavation, if one can speak of only two phases of construction, or if you can think of several stages, at least for these two structures, as evidenced by the "defeated" found inside the walls being from the "spallette" to the two docks. How remains to be whether these remakes are due only to a widening of the community of believers or, as the leaves imagine severed Us 22, are also causes of structural failure due to the inconsistent nature of the terrain below. The walls surfaced in the east wall and mithraeum (USM 41,42,43,45) testified, in fact, a complex construction phase in the levels below which could be the cause of subsidence in the floor and then built in the docks during the first phase of Mithraeum. Such failure would be the origin of subsequent remakes that seem in some way with "structures" of reinforcement as may be, for example, read the two "cast" of concrete UUSS 12 and 67. To verify these hypotheses, however, remains indispensable in the future finish excavating T2 also in its central area, now preserved under the layer of in situ cacciopesto the seal.
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