Sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas

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View of the sanctuary

The sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas ( Greek Ιερό του Απόλλωνα Μαλεάτα ) was on the slope of Mount Kynortion near the sanctuary of Epidaurus in the Greek landscape of Argolis . Here the Greek god Apollon was worshiped under the name Apollon Maleatas . Another sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas can be found in Sparta . According to an assumption by JW Riethmüller, his name can be derived from Cape Maleas and Maleatas is an old Peloponnesian local deity.

Lore

After the hymn of Isyllos of Epidaurus, the cult of Apollon Maleatas was founded by a certain Malos , from whose name the cult name Maleatas was derived. Pausanias reports that the sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas is very old and that the newer buildings and the cistern to collect the rainwater were built by Senator Antoninus. A brick from the Skana with the stamp ANTONEIN and several inscriptions from Epidaurus confirm this.

exploration

The first excavations were carried out by the Greek archaeologist Panagiotis Kavvadias in 1896. He exposed part of the Roman foundation walls, the Hellenistic portico and the classical temple with an altar. In 1946, the archaeologist Ioannis Papadimitriou carried out test excavations and systematically explored the site from 1948 to 1951. In 1977 and 1978, Vassilis Lambrinoudakis carried out further excavations. In 1995 the Greek archaeologist Anthi Theodorou-Mavrommatidi resumed research. A program to restore the ancient walls has been running since the 2010s. It is planned to open the site to the public.

history

The oldest finds come from the late Neolithic (end of the 4th millennium BC). There are only individual pieces of pottery in the lower two layers . Nevertheless, it is assumed that a settlement already existed at that time. One layer is assigned to the first phase of the Early Helladic (FH I, around 3000–2650 BC) and three graves also date from this period. A large number of pottery shards from this period were discovered, so that it is certain that there was a settlement here at FH I. However, no foundation walls were found that could be clearly assigned to this time. There were trade relations with the Cyclades, as shown by shards of so-called Cycladic pans and a fragment of an early Cycladic idol . The following phase (FH II, 2650–2200 BC) left three layers with three construction phases. House A with several rooms comes from the first shift. At least five apsidial houses were found in the second layer and three rectangular buildings in the last. At the end of FH II the place was abandoned for unknown reasons. During the last phase of the Early Helladic (FH III, 2200–2000 BC) and the following Middle Helladic , however, cult activities were carried out at the old settlement site. For this reason, it is believed that the old residents left the place to settle in a more fortified place nearby. The old place of residence was remembered and eventually became a place of worship.

The first sanctuary was built in the Mycenaean period . A terrace was built, which was covered by a retaining wall, and a round ash altar was built on it. Ceremonial meals were taken on a second terrace. It is not known which god or hero was worshiped here. However, traditions mention a malos or maleatas. At the end of the Mycenaean period the sanctuary was abandoned. The cult only started again in the 8th century and an altar was erected again over the Mycenaean altar. It is believed that they now sacrificed to the god Apollo . He took on the nickname Maleatas and was worshiped as a healing god in the sanctuary under the name Apollon Maleatas. Whether a temple was built at that time is a matter of dispute. There appears to have been a temple in the 7th century, archaic times , but there is still no clear evidence. In any case, the sanctuary reached its peak in the second half of the 7th century. In the last quarter of the 7th century the type of offerings changed. From this circumstance and the fact that the Asklepieion of Epidaurus was built nearby a short time later , it is assumed that the god Asclepius was now mainly worshiped.

The first definitely verifiable temple was built around 550 BC. Built in BC. About this was around 380 BC. The classical temple was built. Also in the 4th century BC A monumental altar was erected. This altar had a special feature: four columns supported a canopy that protected the altar. In addition, a building was erected that is interpreted either as a treasure house or a small temple, possibly dedicated to Asklepios. Access to the sanctuary was via a wide staircase from the east. South of this was a temenos for the muses . An exedra was created north of the altar and south of the temple .

In the Hellenistic period in the 3rd century BC A portico was built on the northern edge of the sanctuary . At around the same time, a building was built in the east that, according to an inscription from the early 3rd century BC. . As AD Skanamata was called. An analem wall was built around the hill on which the Early Helladic ruins are located . Since the hill was otherwise untouched, it is assumed that the ruins were aware of their existence and that the wall was built to protect them. This wall was renovated in Roman times. Around 80 BC The temple was possibly looted and destroyed by Cilician pirates. The sanctuary was not rebuilt at first, but sacrifices continued.

In the 2nd century, the Roman senator Sextus Iulius Maior Antoninus Pythodorus, an aristocrat from Nysa am Meander , had the sanctuary rebuilt. A new, larger temple-like building was erected next to the ruins of the old temple. Access to the sanctuary was now from the northeast through a propylon . The sacred precinct was closed off in the east by a building which, according to inscriptions from the 2nd and early 3rd centuries, is known as the Skana and which was possibly a priestly residence . The Skana was rebuilt in the 3rd century and used until the 4th century. A cistern was attached to the south. A nymphaeum was built in the south of the Muses' district . The Roman altar was built over the classical altar. As a result of these building measures, the sanctuary experienced a second bloom in the 2nd century. About 40 m south of the sanctuary, a Roman bath was built in the 2nd century, which was in use until the 4th century.

description

Plan of the sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas
The Skana and in the foreground the Propylon

You can reach the sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas when you first go about 140 m to the south at the museum shop of Epidauros. At the edge of the forest, continue 100 m south. At the next intersection, turn left. Follow the slightly uphill dirt road for about 1.2 km and reach the entrance to the excavation site. However, it is not yet open to visitors.

In antiquity, the path ran in the valley to the north and the sanctuary was reached from the northeast. Here you can see the foundation walls of the Roman propylon of Antoninus Pythodorus today. A waiting room was reached via nine steps. After going through the double-winged door, one reached the reception room with a cleaning fountain. To the east there was a door that led to the gatekeeper's room, which was triangular in plan. Behind the propylon one reached a corridor about 28 m long and 5.5 m wide, which narrowed to about 2.5 m to the south.

To the east of it was the building known as Skana . The access to this was in the south via a propylon with two columns, from which a door led into the assembly hall to the north . The ceiling of the auditorium was supported by four columns in a line. Numerous offerings were found on the walls here. They consisted of statues of Asclepius, Hygieia , Aphrodite and an erotic . In addition, a perirrhanterion and altars for Apollon Maleatas, Artemis Mounichia, Poseidon Asphaleios, Salaminios, Thea Triakonthimero and Enyo . In the south, a passage room led to a narrow room that led through a narrow, vaulted eastern corridor to a bathroom. Here was a bathtub on the north wall. A door in the west led from the bathroom into a circular domed room. There was probably also a perirrhanterion here. This arrangement suggests that this area of ​​the Skana served more ritual purposes. Also in the room to the southeast of the auditorium, which had a screed floor, votive gifts in the form of steles and altars were placed on the walls. The adjoining room to the east had a bench and three cones for statues on the east wall . The purpose of the Skana has not yet been clarified. It probably not only served as a priestly apartment, but also had a sacred function.

On the south side of the Skana is a Roman cistern. It had a length of about 25 m and a width of 8 m. The vault of the cistern was supported by six pillars. The cistern could be entered via a staircase in the northwest corner. A large number of oil lamps from the 2nd to 4th centuries have been discovered inside the cistern. To the west of the cistern was the Roman nymphaeum.

To the west opposite the Skana there was an approximately 8 m wide flight of stairs . It served as an entrance to the sanctuary in the classical and Hellenistic times. To the south of it was the 14 m long and 4 m wide district of the Muses. It consisted of a covered hall that opened onto the inner courtyard of the sanctuary. Nine pilasters , which were connected to each other with wooden railings , closed it off from the inner courtyard. There was only access in the south. A small building from the 4th century BC stood about 5 m west of the flight of stairs. About 5.50 m long and 4.50 m wide. The purpose of the building is unknown. It has been referred to as a treasure house or as a temple that may have been dedicated to Asklepios. On the north side of the sanctuary one finds the foundation walls of a pillared hall from the Hellenistic period of 44 × 8 m. It rested on a porous retaining wall, which was stabilized by eleven columns distributed at regular intervals . The front of the hall was made up of 23 columns.

The classic temple in front of the Roman Peribolos. On the hill behind are the foundations from the Early Helladic period.

The monumental classical altar rose to the south in about the middle of the inner courtyard. It had a poros substructure 15 m long and 3.50 m wide. In the west, facing the temple, he had three steps that led to the sacrificial terrace. Between two marble blocks, four pillars carried a canopy that protected the sacrificial site. 17 m to the west stood the temple of Apollon Maleatas, built around 380 BC. Was built from marble and porus. It was a six-column prostylus with an adyton measuring 13.70 × 7.65 m. From this only the step substructure is preserved today. However, structural elements such as triglyphs , metopes and geisa and parts of figures made of Pentelic marble were discovered. Based on the size and fighting stance of the figure fragments, Ioannis Papadimitriou suspected that the same theme was depicted here as on the Temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus: the Trojan War and the battle of the Amazons . In the middle of the main room of the temple, at the place where the cult image usually stood, a pit 2.50 m in diameter and 0.80 m deep was found. Lambrinoudakis assumed that the temple treasure was kept here. Remains of the foundation walls of the previous building from archaic times were found under the substructure of the temple. Which, in turn, stood on the remains of walls from Mycenaean buildings that were used to store cult objects.

A Roman statue of a seated woman and an inscribed stone dedicated to Apollo were found in the northeast corner of the temple. To the northeast, next to the ramp of the temple, a terrace with a retaining wall of 10.50 m in length from the Mycenaean period was found. On this terrace there was a round ash altar, which was still used until the archaic period. An inscription from the late 4th century BC was found on the retaining wall. BC, which gives an insight into the cult for Apollon Maleatas. A peribolos with a western adyton of 27 × 8.50 m was built south of the classical temple in Roman times . This building, which also included an exedra, is also known as a temple-like building. It was partly built on Mycenaean walls and leans against the Mycenaean retaining wall in the south. During the Mycenaean period, there was a 31 × 9 m terrace on which ritual meals were taken.

Foundation walls of the Roman bath

The foundation walls of a Roman bath from the 2nd century BC were found about 40 m south of the sanctuary. It consisted of two caldariums and a tepidarium and had two semicircular basins. The walls were covered with marble.

On the hill south of the Roman Peribolos are the remains from the early Helladic period. The hill is surrounded by a wall from Hellenistic times that was renovated in Roman times. In the northeast of the hill three graves from FH I were excavated, which were covered with limestone slabs. The northern grave I with north-south orientation was 1.05 × 0.85 m and like the other graves 30 cm deep. The body was buried in a stool burial with a view to the west. Tomb II was found 0.65 m to the south. It was 1.90 × 0.85 m in size. A young woman was buried here in a stool funeral facing north. She had rich grave goods: in front of her lay an obsidian blade, a clay spindle lay on her chest , she held a pestle in her right hand and several clay pots were placed next to her head. A little away from the grave, pottery shards from a basin and a large bowl with scorch marks and lamb bones as a sacrifice were found. These finds are evidence of a funeral ceremony. A grater with a grinding stone and a small grinding stone were placed over these additions . Grave III was 1 × 0.85 m in size and the body of a young woman, around 18-20 years old, was buried in a stool burial with a view to the east. A bronze pin was found on her shoulder, which was used to hold the garment that she was wearing together. A pendant was also found which consisted of an oval slate plate , ten hemispherical fish teeth, two sickle-shaped shell fragments and a steatite bead . The individual parts were held together with thread and glue. To the north of grave I there was a small tumulus, most likely connected with the graves. The rich graves show parallels to graves of the early Cycladic culture and to the cemetery of Agios Kosmas in Attica .

In the oldest shift of the FH-II period, building A was found, measuring 5 × 8 m and with eight rooms. Only the foundation walls that supported the walls made of unfired adobe bricks were preserved. The two externally visible sides of the walls were made of large stones and the inside was filled with small stones and clay. A wall was built using the herringbone technique. The entrance to the house was probably in the south. Inside the house was a drainage pipe that was covered with limestone slabs. After the demolition of the house at an advanced stage of FH II, at least five apsidial houses were built, three of which could be examined more closely (buildings B, C and D). They had a similar floor plan: the apse was about 3 m in diameter and up to 9 m long and had a gable roof. After its destruction in a late phase of FH II, at least three rectangular buildings (Buildings E, F and G) were erected. The residents belonged to the same culture as those of the previous houses. The settlement was abandoned at the end of FH II.

During FH III, an irregular hole about 3 × 4 m and a depth of 0.80 m was dug between the ruins of the settlement. Ritual acts were performed here, as the finds in the pit show: traces of burnt offerings, animal bones, pottery shards and deer antlers. The ceramics showed that the sacrificial pit was used until the Middle Helladic period.

literature

  • Elisabeth Spathari: Epidaurus. A guided tour of the Asclepius sanctuary and the Archaeological Museum of Epidaurus. , Athens 2015, ISBN 978-960-8103-83-2
  • Jürgen W. Riethmüller: Asklepios. Sanctuaries and cults. Verlag Archäologie und Geschichte, Heidelberg 2005, Vol. 1, pp. 152–157.
  • Nikolaos Yalouris :  Epidauros Peloponnesos, Greece - The Sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
  • Anthi Theodorou-Mavrommatidi: An early helladic settlement in the Apollon Maleatas site at Epidauros in Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy (Ed.): The Aegean Early Time , 2004, ISBN 978-3-7001-3268-4 , pp. 1167–1182 ( online )
  • Ioannis Papadimitriou: Le sanctuaire d'Apollon Maléatas à Épidaure in Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique , Volume 73, 1949, pp. 361–383 ( online )
  • Lisa Peloschek: Dealing with the past in Peloponnesian sanctuaries in the 1st millennium BC Design of sanctuaries, world of images, Kultpraxis , Vienna 2012
  • Anthi Theodorou-Mavrommatidi: Defining Ritual Action. A Middle Helladic Pit at the Site of Apollon Maleatas in Epidauros in Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique. Mesohelladica: La Grece continental au Bronze Moyen , Supplément Volume 52, Athens 2010, pp. 521–533 ( online )
  • Ioanna Margarita Felten: Space and Religion in Imperial Greece - The Sacred Landscapes of Argolis, Achaia and Arcadia , Frankfurt 2007, pp. 106–112 ( online )
  • Milena Melfi: Rebuilding the myth of Asklepios at the sanctuary of Epidauros in the Roman period in AD Rizakis, Cl. E. Lepenioti: Roman Peloponnese III. Society, Economy and culture under the Roman Empire: Continuity and Innovation. , Athens, ISBN 978-960-7905-54-3 , pp. 329–339 ( online )

Web links

Commons : Sanctuary of Apollon Maleatas  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pausanias : Travels in Greece , 3, 12, 8
  2. ^ Collectanea Alexandrina 132-135 = Lutz Käppel: Paian . 1992, pp. 380-383 No. 40; s. Kocku von Stuckrad: Malos 1. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 ..
  3. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece , 2, 27, 7
  4. ↑ IG IV² 1 684 and IG IV², 1 454
  5. ↑ Πρακτικά της εν Aθήναις Aρχαιoλoγικής Eταιρείας του έτους 1896 , Athens 1897, pp. 31–32 ( online )
  6. ↑ Panagiotis Kavvadias: Το Ιερόν του Ασκληπιού εν Επιδαύρω , Athens 1900, pp. 178-180
  7. ↑ IG IV² 109 ( online )
  8. ↑ IG IV² 393; IG IV² 400; IG IV² 401 and IG IV² 402
  9. ↑ Peek, Asklepieion 336
  10. ↑ Anthi Theodorou-Mavrommatidi: A composite pendant in an EH I burial at the Apollo Maleatas site in Epidauros: An attempt at a biography. in Helen Cavanagh, William Cavanagh and James Roy: Honoring the Dead in the Peloponnese ( online )

Coordinates: 37 ° 35 ′ 58 ″  N , 23 ° 5 ′ 8 ″  E