Menidi dome tomb
The dome tomb of Menidi ( Greek Θολωτός Τάφος του Μενιδίου ) is a Tholos tomb in Acharnes in the greater Athens area . It is located on Filadelfias Street in the Lykotrypa district.
exploration
In autumn 1872 the grave was discovered by farmers from Menidi. A large stone was removed and the dome grave could be reached from above. In December of the same year, an antique dealer reported the find to the responsible ministry. Gustav Körte visited the grave in autumn 1878 . Through the mediation of the imperial envoy Joseph Maria von Radowitz , the German archaeologist Habbo Gerhard Lolling obtained permission to excavate the grave. The excavations took place under the supervision of Ephors Panagiotis Stamatakis from April 30, 1879 to June 7, 1879. Lolling was assisted by Richard Bohn , who made the layout of the facility, and Emile Gilliéron , who drew the found objects.
The finds from the tomb are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
description
The approach leads almost exactly from the east to the grave. It is 27.72 m long, 3 m wide and made of irregular stones. At the beginning of the drom a wall about 1.20 m thick was built. The entrance to the tomb is about 3.30 m high and 1.55 wide, with the entrance tapering slightly towards the top. The entrance is 3.35 m long and covered with three large cap stones about half a meter thick. These stones are believed to come from the nearby Kifisos lowlands . The curve of the dome was incorporated into the inner capstone. The entrance and the grave dome are made of roughly hewn limestone, probably from the Pentelikon . Only the corner stones of the entrance have been worked on more carefully. No traces were found that suggest a door to close the tomb.
Inside the grave you will find a so-called relief triangle, as is also common in other Mycenaean Tholos graves , in order to divert the mass of the rock above onto the side walls. This was necessary to relieve the capstones and to prevent them from breaking through under the load. The relief triangle was lined with stone. From the outside, however, the picture is different. Above the outer capstone, the area above the entrance was not lined. This area was stabilized with four horizontally laid cover plates, leaving a space of 10-18 cm between these plates. The thickness of the cover plates increases from the bottom by about 20 cm upwards to 40 cm.
The dome grave has a diameter of 8.35 m and an original height of about 9 m. The ground consisted of pounded clay. In the southern part of the grave, around a third of the grave was built over with a 70 cm high platform consisting of several layers of stone. A 5 cm thick layer of lime served as the upper end. A circular wall was built around the burial mound to prevent the earth from being washed away from the grave.
history
The grave was built in the 14th century BC. Built during the Late Helladic era (SH IIIA). The skeletons found were poorly preserved and apparently were lying around at random. Six skulls or parts of them were found, so that at least six people were buried in the grave. Based on the grave goods, which were also scattered around the grave, the period of use can be traced back to the period from the 14th to the 13th century BC. Limit Chr. Lolling suspected that before the burial of another corpse, the last buried body and its accessories were pushed aside and the grave therefore appeared disordered. In addition, water that entered the grave was said to have washed away objects and washed earth into the grave. During the later use phase, the pedestal was erected in the southern part of the grave. Today it is completely removed.
In the 12th century BC The grave was finally closed, the entrance walled up and the dromos filled with earth up to the height of the lintel. From the 11th century onwards, hero veneration probably began at the grave . They found Chytren from the Geometric period , suggesting a food offerings. Small, Boeotian ceramic shields , pinakes , horse figures, ointment and drinking vessels, kettles and other ceramic vessels date from later times . A black-figure luterion was even found , which is assigned to the Attic potter Sophilus . End of the 5th century BC The hero cult suddenly breaks off. It is believed that this was related to the Archidamian War and that the inhabitants of the place Archanai were expelled at that time.
Grave goods
Canaanite amphorae , pearl necklaces made of faience , seal stones with carvings, arrowheads, egg-shaped stone vessels, thin leaves made of gold foil, golden pearls and two miniature vessels made of gold were found as grave goods . The ivory additions are remarkable . A pyxis with representations of goats on the vessel and the lid and a fragment of an ivory relief with sphinxes were discovered . In addition, parts of an ivory lyre were found , which was probably strung with 8 strings. 4 sphinxes were depicted on it.
literature
- German Archaeological Institute in Athens (ed.): The cupola grave at Menidi . Athens 1880 ( online ).
- Paul Wolters : Vases from Menidi . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 13 , 1899, pp. 13-28 ( online ).
- Paul Wolters: Vases from Menidi II . In: Yearbook of the Imperial German Archaeological Institute . tape 14 , 1900, p. 103-135 ( online ).
- Maria Deoudi: Pottery and cult in the Dromos of the Tholos near Menidi. In: Thetis. 11/12, 2005, pp. 33-44.
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 3 ′ 32.1 ″ N , 23 ° 44 ′ 19.4 ″ E