Attis facts for kids
Attis was an important god in the ancient stories of Anatolia, a region that is now part of Turkey. He was known as a special companion to the goddess Cybele. Attis was the son of Nana, whose father was the river god Sangarius.
A key part of Attis's story is that he died and was later brought back to life by Cybele. Because of this, he became a god of vegetation, which means he represented plants and nature. People believed he showed how plants die in winter and then grow back to life in the spring. You can often spot Attis in old artworks because he usually wears a special hat called a Phrygian cap. The ancient Greeks and later the Romans also started to worship Cybele and Attis.
Discovering Attis: Ancient Finds
Many ancient objects help us learn about Attis. One of the most famous is a life-sized statue found in Ostia Antica, an old Roman city near Rome. This statue shows Attis holding a shepherd's crook (a staff used by shepherds) in his left hand and a pomegranate in his right. On his head, he wears a wreath made of pine branches and fruits, along with bronze sun rays and a crescent moon on his Phrygian cap.
This important statue was found in 1867 at a place called the Campus of the Magna Mater, which was a sacred area for Cybele. It seems these statues were hidden there a very long time ago. Today, a copy of the statue is in the Sanctuary of Attis at Ostia Antica, but the original is kept safe in the Vatican Museums.
Other artworks also show Attis. A marble bas-relief (a type of sculpture where figures stick out from a flat background) from Magna Graecia shows Cybele in her chariot with Attis. This artwork is now in a museum in Venice. Attis and Cybele also appear together on a silver plate known as the Parabiago plate.
In 1963, a beautiful silvery brass statue of Attis was found in the Moselle River in Germany. It had been placed there as part of a ritual. This statue shows Attis wearing his typical Anatolian clothes, including trousers fastened with toggles and his famous Phrygian cap. This statue is now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum of Trier.
More recently, in 2007, a wooden throne was discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum, an ancient city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. This throne has a carving of Attis under a sacred pine tree, collecting pine cones. Many discoveries suggest that the worship of Attis was very popular in Herculaneum before the volcano erupted.
Images for kids
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Attis wearing the Phrygian cap. This is a terracotta thymiaterion (an incense burner) from Tarsus, now at the Louvre museum.
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A bronze figurine of Attis, showing his typical items: a hare and a shepherd's staff. It was found in Tongeren, Belgium, and is now in the Gallo-Roman Museum (Tongeren).
See also
In Spanish: Atis para niños
