Archaeologists unearthed more than 1000 metal seals depicting the local the local Graeco-Roman pantheon in the ancient city of Doliche, Gaziantep Province, South Turkey.
The seals were found within the urban area of the ancient city. Many can be attributed to the administrative or official seals of the city due to their size, frequent occurrence, and in some cases also due to inscriptions. The images on them depict the city goddess Tyche, Augustus and Dea Roma – the personified goddess of the Roman state for the town of Doliche, and the most important god of the city, Iuppiter Dolichenus. Many of the images show the god shaking hands with various Roman emperors. According to the excavation director Engelbert Winter, in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, his cult spread into large parts of the Mediterranean world, extending as far as Britain. As hundreds of documents were sealed with images showing a handshake between this deity and an emperor, it was a sign of the god’s affinity to the Roman state.
(after Asia Minor Research Centre & Popular Archaeology)