Aigeira

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Aigeira ( ancient Greek Αἴγειρα ), until the 7th century BC Chr. Hyperēsia ( Ὑπερησία ) was an important ancient city, about 2.5 km southeast of the modern coastal town of Egira , in the eastern part of Achaia , in the north of the Peloponnese .

history

The ancient Aigeira, east of the present-day settlement on the hill Palaiokastro located, was an important city of the Achaeans . Already in the 3rd millennium BC BC people settled there. According to Homer , the city, which in his day was still called Hyperesia , sent ships to the Trojan War . At least until the year 688 BC. Hyperesia bore her name. According to legend, was Hyperesia at this time, such as the ancient travel writer Pausanias reported by troops from Sikyon threatened. The outnumbered defenders nevertheless achieved victory through a ruse. They tied torches to the horns of their goats and set them on the enemy, who fled in fear. As a thank you, the residents named their city after the goats (Aiges in Greek) - Hyperesia became Aigeira.

The favorable location gave the city a period of great prosperity. As one of the twelve most important cities of the Achaea , Aigeira was a member of the Achaean League . According to Pausanias, there was a statue of Zeus and Athena in the city , as well as the temple of Artemis Agrotera .

The city fell into disrepair after the fall of the Roman Empire , probably as a result of a severe earthquake in the 4th century AD. According to legend, it was destroyed by a tidal wave. Since the city is more than 400  m , an earthquake is more likely.

Archaeological investigations by the OeAI

Aigeira theater

The Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) carried out excavations in Aigeira for the first time in 1916. On August 31, 1916, the excavators, led by Otto Walter, found the head of the Zeus statue in a small temple - Naiskos - near the theater, which, according to Pausanias , is said to come from the otherwise unknown Athenian sculptor Eukleides. Walter later found the statue's left arm and a finger on the right hand. During the excavations resumed in 1972 under Wilhelm Alzinger , a pebble mosaic came to light in the Naiskos . The mosaic shows an eagle tearing a snake. This is considered a further indication that the Naiskos could be identified as the temple of Zeus in Aigeira. In addition, the theater was completely exposed in the following years. During excavations on the Acropolis , which has been inhabited since Neolithic times , residential buildings with storage rooms and a pottery furnace from the Mycenaean period were uncovered. The site is also important for research because of the large quantities of so-called hand-made smoothed ceramics that came to light here and dates from the 12th century BC. ( Late Helladic III C). In the archaic and early classical times there was a sanctuary at the same place, probably for a female deity. However, the sanctuary was abandoned under Hellenism . Parts of a late archaic-early classical clay roof and various votive gifts were found in a cistern. In the area of ​​the theater, the sanctuary of the Tyche - Tycheion - described by Pausanias was located. Further north, under the direction of Anton Bammer, the foundations of two other temples were uncovered. Since 1998, a building complex with banquet rooms and bathing facilities, possibly a guest house, has been uncovered below the Acropolis under the direction of Georg Ladstätter . New research in Aigeira, especially in the area of ​​the saddle south-east of the Acropolis, deals with the period of transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ On hand-made smooth ceramics by Aigira: Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy : Foreign immigrants in late Mycenaean Greece. To a group of handmade ceramics from d. Myk. III C History of the settlement of Aigeira. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1977. ISBN 978-3-7001-0228-1

Coordinates: 38 ° 7 ′ 38.5 ″  N , 22 ° 22 ′ 37.1 ″  E