ANTINOUS IN ARABIA SAW PETRA GARDENS NOW REDISCOVERED AFTER 2,000 YEARS

EXPERTS have made an astonishing find at Petra, the fabled caravan trade route crossroads city which Antinous and Hadrian visited on their way to a rendezvous with destiny in Egypt.

They have revealed a startlingly advanced irrigation system and water storage system that enabled the desert city's people to survive ... and to maintain a magnificent garden featuring fountains, ponds and a huge swimming pool.

The engineering feats and other luxuries attest to the ancient Nabatean capital's former splendor and wealth some 2,000 years ago.

Earlier a GIANT MONUMENTAL PLATFORM was discovered just a kilometer from the ruins of the city in Jordan. The archaeologists describe the unparalleled find as "a large rectangular platform" that measures 55 meters by 50 meters (184 feet by 160 feet) and was essentially "hiding in plain sight."

Petra is perhaps best known for its sandstone canyon that leads directly to Al Khazneh, The Treasury, seen in the climax to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where the heroes, played by Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, ride out of the canyon and into the Treasury in their quest for the Holy Grail.

However, 2,000 years ago, Petra was renowned for completely different reasons.

It was one of the most famous water stops in the Middle East, where camel caravan routes linked distant cities.

Now archaeologists are discovering the Nabataean capital, situated in the southwestern deserts of Jordan, once was adorned with an exquisite, artificially irrigated garden.

It featured paths likely shaded by vines, trees and date palms, and grasses, which were cultivated next to a huge, 44-meter wide swimming pool.

The Nabataeans’ ability to tame nature, and conspicuous consumption of a precious resource, water, was pure propaganda.

It was a means to display wealth and power, which they could do thanks to the ingenious hydraulic system they invented, which allowed the people not only to reserve enough water for their own needs, but to water the lavish garden with fountains and an open-air pool.

It had previously been unthinkable that water, a scarce resource in the desert wastes, would have been used for anything but necessity.

"The pool marks the terminus for an aqueduct that transported water from one of the springs, 'Ein Brak, located in the hills outside of Petra," Leigh-Ann Bedal, anthropologist from Penn State Behrend College, told Haaretz. "The pool’s monumental architecture and verdant garden served as a visual celebration of the Nabataeans' success at providing water to the city center."

Ongoing excavations in Petra have uncovered a shaft that appears to have led water more than 10 meters downward, from the aqueduct system to the pool level.

The archaeologists have also found underground channels that helped control runoff during the rainy season, revealing the true complexity of the system for the first time.

Occupied since prehistoric times, the lost Nabataean civilization made the part-carved, part-built city their capital and a major caravan center of trade from the 4th Century BC to the first century AD.

During Hellenistic and Roman times it became a major caravan centre for the incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the spices of India ... a crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia.

Hadrian and Antinous stopped at Petra on their way from Antioch to Alexandria.

DID ANTINOUS AND HADRIAN VISIT THIS SANCTUARY OF PAN/FAUNUS?

EXPERTS in Israel have discovered what may turn out to be a sanctuary to the god Pan/Faunus which may have been seen by Antinous and Hadrian during their trip through the Eastern Provinces.

Archaeologists unearthed a gateway in the city of Hippos where they discovered a large and rare mask of Greek God Pan. 

The mask is an extraordinary find and suggests the ancient sanctuary was dedicated to the Greek God Pan.

According to experts, bronze masks of this size are extremely rare and usually do not depict Pan or any of the other Greek or Roman mythological images.

University of Haifa archaeologist Michael Eisenberg led a team that unearthed a 1.8-meter-tall (6-foot-tall) Roman gate near a stone building where the mask was found, leading him to speculate that the gate might have led to a sanctuary dedicated to Pan. 

"The mask, and now the gate in which it was embedded, are continuing to fire our imaginations," Eisenberg says. 

"The worship of Pan sometimes included ceremonies involving drinking, sacrifices and ecstatic rituals, including nudity and sex. This worship usually took place outside the city walls, in caves and other natural settings." 

The possible sanctuary was located near the city gates and was constructed sometime during the reign of Hadrian, who was emperor from 117 AD to 138 AD. 

Hadrian and Antinous traveled through the area in 129-130 AD.

Hippos-Sussita is located about 2 km east of the Sea of Galilee in the Sussita National Park of the National Parks Authority.

In recent years, the mysteries of Hippos-Sussita have been revealing their secrets in an extraordinary way.

In 2011, scientists found an ancient sculpture of Hercules. Two years later a basalt tombstone with a sculpture of the deceased’s bust was uncovered. 

Now there is a new surprise: the only finding of a bronze mask of unnatural size, in the form of the god Pan/Faunus.

In Greek mythology, Pan was the god of the wild, hunting and companion of the nymphs. He was depicted as being half human, while having the legs and horns of a goat, just like a faun. 

His Roman counterpart was Faunus and he was in many ways similar to Herne the Hunter, the horned god and lord of the forest in British mythology.

Until now it was thought there were no temples attributed to Pan, but he was rather worshipped in natural settings such as caves.

A more thorough cleaning in the lab, revealed strands of a goat beard, long pointed ears, and other characteristics that led Dr. Eisenberg to identify the mask as depicting a Pan/Faunus/Satyr.

"Now that the whole gate has been exposed, we not only have better information for dating the mask, but also a clue to its function," Eisenberg said in a statement. "Are we looking at a gate that led to the sanctuary of the god Pan or one of the rustic gods?"

Pan is the son of Antinous .. not "our" Antinous, but "Antinous the Suitor" of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.

At the online Temple of Antinous, our own ANTONIUS SUBIA  explains the esoteric reason for the connection between Antinous and Pan.  He notes that there are two deities named Pan ... the Great Pan who is "all things" ... and the lesser Pan who is the cloven-footed goat-horned god. 

The "Little Pan" is the son of Antinous ... not OUR Antinous, but rather the Antinous of Greek mythology who was slain by Odysseus for having hit on his wife Penelope while Odysseus was off on his Odyssey.

Two different Pans. Two different Antinouses.

It gets a little confusing.

But Antonius suggests there is a clue to the names ... he says it is because they all came from the same place. Antonius points out that it was in August of the year 128 that Hadrian and Antinous traveled through the Peloponnesus and visited the home of Antinous's ancestors in Arcadia, at the city of Mantineia. 

Here is how Antonius explains the Pan-Pan and Antinous-Antinous connection at the online TEMPLE OF ANTINOUS:

"This is an important first event for Antinous as it represents his return to the place of the origin of his blood, which is the source of his mysterious name. Mantineia was to become the fourth most sacred city of the religion of Antinous, honoring Our God with a Temple and Sacred Games. The Queen who founded the city was named Antinoea, she was led to the site of the city by a serpent or dragon. 

"While in the city, Antinous and Hadrian pay homage at the grave of Epaminondas, the great Theban general who defeated the Spartans in the battle of Mantineia, but died after shortly after the victory from his wounds. The battle was won because of the courage of the Sacred Band, also known as the Army of Lovers, a corps of 300 homosexual lovers. Mantineia is the home of the prophetess Diotima, who was the teacher of Socrates, from whom he learned his philosophy of Love, particularly the mysteries of Venus Urania, which is a metaphor for gay love. 

"And Mantineia is the birthplace of the horned god Pan, son of Penelope and 'Antinous the Suitor.' The patron deity of Mantineia, and of all Arcadia is the Great God Pan. There are two gods named Pan, the Great Pan, who is all things, and the Little Pan, who is the son of 'Antinous the Suitor.' 

"We dedicate ourselves to the dual nature of Pan, the most ancient faith of Antinous, the goat-horned god, who follows in the train of Dionysus, and is the King of Satyrs. We seek to understand that within our Antinous is the nature of the Great Cosmic Pan, and also the Little Cloven-hoofed Pan of Mantineia."

THE DAY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STATUES OF ANTINOUS WAS FOUND

ON July 1st, 1894, this historic photograph was taken of the discovery of one of the most beautiful statues of Antinous ever found.

French archaeologists were in the process of uncovering this statue at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece when the photographer asked the diggers to pose for posterity.

Hadrian and Antinous visited Delphi and were initiated into Mysteries.

The Delphi Antinous statue was found standing perfectly upright, which indicates that it had been very carefully buried by the priests so as to protect it from marauding Christians. Apparently this statue was considered to be very special.

There are many larger-than- life statues of Antinous. And there are many busts. But the Delphi is one of the few life-size statues, and Johnston said it is possible that it was indeed modeled from the living Antinous.

If that was indeed the case, then it is possible, according to John J Johnston, a leading expert on Antinous, that Antinous was 5-foot-8 (173 cms) in height.

Owing to the long exposure time, the photographer asked the workmen to stand still (or as still as possible) for what must have seemed like an eternity to these simple men (one or two looking like a young Antinous) while the shutter was open.

This photo is one of the most emotionally touching portraits of ANTINOUS THE GAY GOD. It proves that the Ancient Priests of Antinous took special care to hide their precious statue from the barbarians. They didn't just dump Him into a hole -- they carefully buried Him standing upright with dignity!!

The photo is superb ... Antinous stands eternally in focus in the center ... the mortal men are blurred like the flames of votive candles which flicker briefly and go out ... only Antinous endures.

One young Antinous-looking man's face is in focus ... representing those few mortals who look into the Mysteries of Antinous....