Pyrgi
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Pyrgi (Greek Πύργοι ) was the main port and emporion of the Etruscan city of Caere , north of Rome. The excavation site is near Santa Severa in the municipality of Santa Marinella .
history
Pyrgi was found south of the fortress of Santa Severa during systematic investigations in 1957 . Before that, the place was only known from ancient sources ( Herodotus , Diodorus Siculus , Strabo ). In the same year, the first of around 30 excavation campaigns began under Massimo Pallottino and Giovanni Colonna . The city's sanctuary, which was presumably dedicated to Leukothea ( called Uni by the Etruscans and Astarte by the Carthaginians ), enjoyed national fame. The oldest traces indicate that the place was settled in the late 7th century BC. Chr. Out; the sanctuary, which was uncovered during the first excavations, probably existed since that time. In 1983, however, another one came to light south of the well-known sanctuary, which mainly consisted of altars. Pyrgi was connected to the mother city of Caere by an ancient road 10 m wide and 13 km long. 384 BC The city was sacked by Dionysius I of Syracuse . Beginning of the 3rd century BC A Roman military colony was founded northwest of the sanctuary on a coastal promontory, which was overbuilt in the Middle Ages by the fortress of Santa Severa. The sacred site existed until the 2nd / 1st. Century BC Chr. Further. During the Roman Empire , Pyrgi was transformed into a fishing village, and numerous summer villas were built later.
The sanctuary of Leukothea
Only a few house foundations have survived from the Etruscan settlement, while the Roman right-angled colony lies partly under the medieval castle of Santa Severa. The excavated sanctuary, which consists of two temples (A and B), an enclosure (C) and a building complex with several small chambers, is particularly impressive . The earlier temple (B) dates from the late 6th century BC. It was the first step towards the monumental shaping of the area and was built, probably based on the Greek model, in the style of a peripteros . The temple was divided into a cella with a pronaos and a portico around it. The second temple (A) was built around 480 BC. And corresponds more to the Etruscan type . It consisted of a central cella with two flanking alae (pars postica) and a columned hall (pars antica) in front of it. Both temples stood parallel to each other and were oriented with the front to the sea, i.e. to the southwest. Between them was the enclosure (C), which can be dated at the same time as the temple (B). Since the former buildings were made of wood and tuff , only the foundations and parts of the jewelry have been preserved. The roofs were richly decorated with antefixes and other terracottas . The fragments of an antepagment , which shows a scene from the saga cycle of the seven against Thebes , are special .
The antepagment of the seven against Thebes
During the excavations on the north of the two sanctuaries, several fragments of terracotta reliefs came to light. Using these fragments, an antepagment could be reconstructed, which shows two scenes from the battle of Thebes. It was attached to the center of the back of Temple A. None of the other five antepagments that must have adorned this temple can be reliably reconstructed. The reconstructed antepagment, which is exhibited today in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome, is 1.37 m wide, 1.32 m high at the top and the figures protrude up to 40 cm from the relief. Six figures are shown, which can be divided into two groups. On the one hand the "Athena-Tydeus-Melanippos" group and on the other hand the "Zeus-Krieger-Kapaneus" group.
The first group clearly shows the end of Tydeus , who went into battle as one of the seven and was critically wounded by Melanippus. In revenge for the wound, Tydeus bites the dying Melanippus in the head. This representation is unique in ancient art. Athena , the patron goddess of Tydeus, rushes to bring immortality (Athanasia) to her fatally wounded protégé, shown here as a jug in Athena's right hand, but she shrinks when she sees the cruel act of revenge of Tydeus and lets him die .
The second group shows the end of the capaneus , who also moved towards Thebes and, while climbing the city wall with a ladder, called out that not even Zeus himself could stop him from conquering Thebes. The father of gods, however, punishes him for this hubris and throws him off the ladder with one of his lightning bolts. The representation deviates somewhat from our traditions, since Kapaneus is not standing on a ladder here. Zeus has raised his right arm and seems to be hurling lightning bolts at the wicked capaneus.
Gold sheets from Pyrgi
In 1964, Massimo Pallottino's excavations brought to light three thin sheets of gold, two of them in Etruscan and one in Phoenician / Old Punic . The longer Etruscan and Punic inscriptions have similar content, but are not identical in wording. They are about a ruler from Caere by the name of Thefarie Velianas, who in his third year of reign consecrated a temple with a statue at this point of the university ( Juno ). This act was done at the request or command of the goddess. The shorter Etruscan inscription gives a litany of the ritual acts. Nail holes in the plates prove that they were once chipped. In terms of their importance for the understanding of the Etruscan language, the gold sheets are considered an outstanding find and are exhibited in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome.
literature
- Pyrgi. Scavi del Santuario Etrusco (1959-1976) . Notie degli scavi di Antichità 95, Suppl. 2. Rome 1970.
- Pyrgi. Scavi del Santuario Etrusco (1969–1971) . Notes degli scavi di Antichità 113/114, Suppl. 2. Rome 1992.
- Aldo Neppi Modona, Friedhelm Prayon (ed.): The goddess of Pyrgi. Archaeological, linguistic and religious-historical aspects . Files for the Tübingen Colloquium 1979. Florence 1981.
- Giovanni Colonna, M. Cristofani, G. Garbini: Bibliografia delle pubblicazioni più recenti sulle scoperte di Pyrgi , ArchCl 18, 1966, 279-282.
- Giovanni Colonna: Nuovi elementi per la storia del santuario di Pyrgi , ArchCl 18, 1966, 85-102.
- M. Verzár Bass: On the dating of Temple A in Pyrgi (S. Severa) , AA 1982, 89–111.
- Giovanni Colonna: L'altorilievo di Pyrgi. Dei ed eroi greci in Etruria. Rome 1996.
- Giovanni Colonna: Italia ante Romanum Imperium. Scritti di antichità etrusche, italiche e romane (1958–1998) Volume 4: Pyrgi e storia della ricerca. Pisa 2005.
Web links
- List of ancient sources about the city with Engl. translation
- Antiquarium e scavi di Pyrgi on scoprendoroma.info (ital.)
- The archaeological finds of the area
- Antiquarium di Pyrgi e Area archeologica on beniculturali.it (ital.)
Coordinates: 42 ° 0 ′ 54.8 ″ N , 11 ° 57 ′ 48.3 ″ E