Understanding the genital diseases of Ancient Anatolia in the light of the inscribed male genital offerings presented to gods

Abstract

In the ancient Greek and Roman world, many gods and goddesses were considered to possess healing powers, and there were their temples where they could heal those who prayed. For that reason, in the ancient times, people were going to healing temples of various gods and goddesses to recover from their illnesses or grievous injuries. Sick individuals at the temples were offering some written or unwritten votive reliefs indicating their illnesses, to the gods or goddesses to ask for healing or to express gratitude after finding a cure. Among these, votive stones containing written expressions and reliefs expressing the owner's health problem held an important position. In the research on this antiquity, four inscribed votives that had a male genital organ depicted on them and that were dedicated to Anatolian gods Theos Hypsistos and Sozon, and goddesses Phileis and Ollie, were found. In this article, we aimed to study the inscribed offerings that are still on display in museums and private collections discovered during the excavations in Anatolia hosting the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations simultaneously and their possible relations with the urogenital illnesses.