Cyrene
| Archaeological site of Cyrene | |
|---|---|
UNESCO world heritage 
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| National territory: |
 Libya
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| Type: | Culture |
| Criteria : | (ii) (iii) (vi) |
| Surface: | 131.675 ha |
| Reference No .: | 190 |
| UNESCO region : | Arabic states |
| History of enrollment | |
| Enrollment: | 1982 ( session 6 ) |
| Red list : | since 2016 |
Cyrene ( ancient Greek Κυρήνη ), an ancient Greek city in what is now Libya , was the oldest and most important of the five Greek poles in the region and gave eastern Libya the name Cyrenaica , which it has retained to this day. It is located in a fertile valley in the highlands of Al-Jabal al-Achdar . Cyrene has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1982 .
history
Cyrene was founded around 630 BC. Founded as a Greek apoikia by the city of Alt-Thera on the Cycladic island of Santorini and supposedly ruled by Aristotle of Thera (later called Battos ). The probably at least partly mythical details of the city's founding were described by Herodotus 200 years later in Book IV of his Histories . Aristotle reports in VI. Book of his policy that Cyrene had successfully asserted itself against the Persian Achaemenids under the Battiads after they had conquered neighboring Egypt. According to Aristotle, the citizens fell around 440 BC. The monarchy and established a democracy in Cyrene. In the period that followed, the city, which had become prosperous through the export of agricultural products, experienced a great cultural boom. In 331 BC BC Alexander the Great reached Cyrene via Egypt and secured the port city. His general Ptolemy I , son of Lagos, took over Egypt and Cyrenaica in 323 BC. As satrapy . He gave Cyrene an oligarchical constitution .
As part of the Ptolemaic Empire , the first 70 years of this rule in Cyrene were marked by Staseis . The first took place in the years 313-312 BC. The second in 305 BC. Chr. Ptolemy I then sent his stepson Magas in the city, the under . Ptolemy II sparked by the Ptolemaic empire and founded an independent kingdom. Only after his death and that of his successor Demetrios the Beautiful around 250 BC. The city came under Ptolemaic rule again. Cyrene was the birthplace of Eratosthenes ; the number of Greek philosophers connected with the city is strikingly large; these include Aristippus , Arete , Callimachos , Theodoros , Hegesias , Annikeris , Lakydes and Karneades .
In 96 BC Chr. Died Ptolemy Apion , King of Cyrene, and son of Ptolemy VIII. , Who bequeathed the city of Rome. But the Roman Senate did not initially accept the inheritance, but declared the Greek cities of Cyrenaica to be free. Then there was another stasis in Cyrene , during which first a certain Nicocrates and then a man named Leandros are said to have risen to become tyrants . Lucius Licinius Lucullus was therefore 86 BC. Chr. Sent by Lucius Cornelius Sulla to Cyrene to suppress the ongoing unrest in which, according to Strabo , Jews also played an important role. 74 BC After all, Cyrene became part of the Roman Empire and from then on belonged to the province of Creta et Cyrene ; but while under the Ptolemies the Jewish inhabitants enjoyed equal rights, they now saw themselves increasingly oppressed by the Greek population. Cultural conflicts came to a head due to the resurgence of Jewish “nationalism” on the one hand and Hellenization tendencies among some Jews on the other. The tensions finally erupted in the uprising of the Jews of Cyrene under Trajan (117 AD). This revolt was suppressed by Quintus Marcius Turbo , but before that, around 200,000 Romans and Greeks are said to have been killed in Cyrenaica ( Cassius Dio 68,32). After Eusebius, this upheaval depopulated Libya to such an extent that new colonies had to be founded there a few years later. In the third century, the city began to decline. In the year 262 the city was shaken by an earthquake, and Emperor Claudius Gothicus had the city rebuilt and named it Claudiopolis after himself . The new name did not last long, and the building work of the short-lived ruler was hardly worth mentioning. Under Diocletian , Creta et Cyrene was divided into three provinces: Creta , Pentapolis and Libya Sicca . Cyrene was in the area of the Pentapolis.
Since its early history, Kyrenes main export has included the medicinal herb Silphium harvested there , which is depicted on most Cyrenian coins , as well as grain. Although the commercial competition of Carthage and Alexandria was detrimental to trade, Cyrene, with its port of Apollonia , next to today's Marsa Susa , remained an important urban center until a catastrophic earthquake in AD 365.
Ammianus Marcellinus described the abandoned city in the late 4th century and Synesios , born in Cyrene, described it at the beginning of the 5th century as a desert ruin delivered to the nomads . But this is probably an exaggeration, because excavations have shown that the city still had some importance. The names of various bishops have also come down to us: Theodoros of Cyrene lived as early as the third century and died a martyr during the persecution of Christians under Diocletian . Philo is attested as bishop around 365, Rufus participated in the Council of Ephesus in 431 . A certain Menas is known from a mosaic inscription in the Eastern Church.
Cyrene is also mentioned in the New Testament : A Simon of Cyrene carries the cross of Christ ( Mark 15:21 ). See also Acts 6 : 9; 11, 20 and 13, 1.
The ancient city
The city lies on the edge of a plateau that is now known as al-Jabal al-Achdar . The terrain slopes steeply, especially in the west and north. In the west, the plateau within the urban area has its highest point and this is where the acropolis of the city is located, which has not yet been adequately explored. It is surrounded on three sides by steeply sloping terrain and is therefore easy to defend. Here was the first city. In the south is the Wadi bel Gadir. In the north of the Wadi bu Turkia. On the northern slope there is also a terrace on which a temple district was laid out early on. Only in the east did the city open onto the plateau without natural protection.
The oldest part of the city seems to have been in the far west on the slope of the Djebel Akdar. Aerial photographs show that a walled city stood here, about 300 × 250 meters in size, which had a checkerboard map. The blocks were relatively small at 20 × 35 meters. At that time there was already a sanctuary to the west of the city. There is literary evidence. Architectural remains come from a later time. The first city expansion probably took place around 560 BC. When new colonists arrived. The new settlers did not follow the strictly oriented city map, but built their residential buildings along the streets that led into the city. The city expansion probably also resulted in an extension of the city wall, but none of it has survived. In the second century BC the city was expanded a third time. The old urban area was completely leveled and a new city map laid out. The new blocks had a completely different orientation. The city received a new city wall, which enclosed a much larger area with a length of 5.5 kilometers. The city lies on a plateau and the wall followed the edge of this plateau. In the northwest the course of the wall led over the hills there.
Sanctuary of Apollo
The Sanctuary of Apollon is located on a terrace in the northwest of the city on the city wall on the slope of the hill on which the center of the city is located. The temple of Apollo forms the center of the sanctuary . The first temple was built around 550 BC. Built in BC. This building consisted of a long naos , which was divided into two rooms. Inside there were two rows of columns that divided the naos into three aisles. Around 500 BC The naos was decorated with columns on the outside, six on the short sides and eleven on the long sides. At the end of the fourth century BC, the temple was completely redesigned. The floor level has been raised significantly. The temple now consisted of a naos with 11 by 6 fluted columns on the outside. There were other minor modifications around the birth of Christ. Among other things, the level of the floor was raised again and a partition wall inside was torn down. During the Jewish uprising in 115 AD, the temple was obviously badly damaged. A new building was started under Emperor Hadrian, but probably lasted until the end of the second century. In the earthquake of 365 AD, the temple was destroyed again and was not rebuilt.
The Temple of Apollo stands within a complex of various temples and sanctuaries. There is a large altar in front of the entrance. To the north of the Temple of Apollo is the Temple of Artemis . It's designed much more simply. The oldest building dates from the sixth century. It was a square structure with rows of columns inside. In the fourth century the temple was expanded and an altar was erected. In a third phase, the facade was given four Ionic columns .
To the southwest of the Temple of Apollo is the Priest Grotto . It is carved into the mountainside. The entrance was formed by three arches , which are now erected again. From there you get to a hall, the ceiling of which is supported by two pillars carved into the rock . There are benches on the walls. The floor in the aisle is covered with marble slabs. The function of this grotto is controversial. It was interpreted as a triclinium , nymphaeum , but also as a mithraeum .
In the northeast corner of the terrace are baths that were built under Trajan . The baths do not belong to the temple complex, but were certainly built here primarily to use the water from the nearby spring. The baths were built over some older temples. The baths were excavated intermittently from 1914 to 1929, and numerous statues were found in the frigidarium in particular . In Byzantine times, after the earthquake of 365, a new, smaller bath was built into the palaestra . These baths were still in use in early Islamic times, as evidenced by an Arabic inscription and later repairs to the baths.
Temple of Zeus
In the north-east of the city is the Temple of Zeus, which was excavated for the first time in 1861. In 1926 the inside of the temple was exposed and the head of a superbly crafted statue of Zeus was found. This head could be assembled from more than 100 fragments. There were also inscriptions. One of them is a dedication to Olympian Zeus , which ensured that the temple was dedicated to Zeus. Extensive excavations were carried out by Gennaro Pesce from 1939 to 1942 . Herodotus reports that in 514 BC. When the Persians camped near the city, there was a hill dedicated to Zeus near the city. This may indicate that the temple was already standing then, without any evidence. Based on the excavations, the first building was around 500 to 480 BC. Built in BC. It is a monumental building. The platform is 32 × 70 m, making it larger than the Parthenon of Athens and the Temple of Zeus in Olympia . The cella is surrounded by 46 Doric columns . The outer columns have a lower diameter of almost 2 meters and were about 9 meters high with the capital . The temple was renovated in Ptolemaic times. An inscription shows that there was further restoration work under either Emperor Augustus or Tiberius . In the second century, the temple was rebuilt and renovated after the devastation of the Jewish uprising. In AD 365, the temple was destroyed by an earthquake and then converted into a church.
Agora
The agora is in the center of the city . It occupies about three insulae and measures a total of 118 × 75 meters. The actual square in the center is about 70 × 50 meters. The most important excavations took place between 1917 and 1925. Various buildings erected over the centuries are grouped around this square. The entrance gate is in the south. To the west of it stands a Demeter temple , which was built in the Hellenistic period. Next to it is the town hall. It consists of a room with various rows of seats on the short sides. On the back wall stood an altar consecrated by Emperor Hadrian. Next to the town hall and to the north of it is the so-called Western Stoa . The interior was supported by five Doric columns. Right next to it and to the east of the Stoa is the Augusteum . The function of the building, which has five Doric columns on the front, is uncertain. It was initially a well house. The lateral spaces between the columns were walled up under Emperor Augustus. Dedications to various deities were carved on the inner walls. The names have the epithets augustus or augusta . Inscriptions lost today may have been named by members of the imperial family. The North Stoa stands next to the Augusteum, which dates from around 350 BC. Was built. In the second century BC It was expanded again. The east side of the agora was occupied by the Eastern Stoa. It was built after the Jewish uprising. In the third century, however, the building was converted into residential buildings. This stoa overbuilt an older tomb, which was probably the tomb of Battos, the first king of Cyrene. This building had been renovated repeatedly until Roman times. The tomb was part of a shrine to Opheles . The sea monument stands in front of this stoa. It is a representation of the bow of a ship. The monument was surely crowned by the figure of a Nike and is so reconstructed today.
Caesareum
In the center of the city, at the entrance to the modern excavations, are the remains of the so-called Caesareum. It was excavated in 1935 and partially rebuilt from 1938 to 1940. It is a rectangular courtyard (96 × 84 meters) flanked on all sides by a Doric portico . In the center of the square is a small temple in which a statue of Bacchus was found in 1891 . An inscription from the year 18 AD speaks of restoration work and describes the building as porticus Caesarei . The name indicates that the temple was used for the cult of the deified Gaius Iulius Caesar . On the east side, a basilica joins the entire length , which is a later extension. It has an apse in the west and is divided into three naves by two rows of columns. The facility remained in operation until the third century, when simple residential buildings were built here.
Theater and hippodrome
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The city had four theaters, but not all of them were in operation at the same time. The so-called Greek theater is located in the very northwest of the city near the Apollo sanctuary. It is the oldest theater in Cyrene, partially built into the mountainside. In Roman times it was converted into an amphitheater , in the process many older components were destroyed, so that it is uncertain when the theater was built. The dating of the conversion into an amphitheater is also uncertain. Perhaps this happened in the second century AD.
In the center of the city are the remains of the so-called Odeon . It was excavated in 1934 and then in 1962–1964. Contrary to the name, it should have been a theater. There was no evidence of a roofing. It is uncertain when the theater was built. An inscription preserved only in fragments indicates that it was built under Trajan . It was destroyed by fire in the second half of the third century. Numerous fragments of statuettes were found in the incendiary layers, which document a rich array of sculptures.
Not far from the Odeon is the so-called Roman theater , which was excavated in 1938. Only the lower parts of the walls are preserved. The building has been systematically leveled at an unspecified point in time.
The so-called late theater is the last to be built in the city. It was probably built in the third century at Trajan's Market after the other two theaters in the city center were abandoned. The stage is adorned with four herms , which may come from another building.
To the east of the city, not far from the Temple of Zeus, is the city's hippodrome . Only a small part has been excavated, so little can be said about the structure and dating of the complex. The racetrack dug into the rocky ground was about 200 meters long. The remains of a spina could be excavated in the middle .
Churches
So far the remains of two churches have been excavated. Both churches are in the eastern part of the city. The Eastern Church is about 100 meters from the east gate on the road that leads to the gate. Three construction phases could be determined. The oldest church was about 40 meters long and 28.40 meters wide. It was a three-aisled building. There was an apse on the east side. There were three entrances opposite on the west side. In the second construction phase in the sixth century, an apse was also placed in the existing building on the west side. The main entrance was now in the south. The interior of the church was also completely redesigned and the building was almost entirely furnished with new mosaics and opus sectile .
The central church is in the center of the city. It is about 15.5 meters wide and 27 meters wide. Its western end intersects the existing street and indicates that in the sixth century the old city map was ignored. The main entrance was on the east and is adorned with two marble columns. The actual church had three naves and was partially decorated with figural mosaics. The ships were separated by arcades . There is an apse to the west.
A third church stood in the south, outside the city wall. The structure has not yet been excavated, but is visible on the surface. It is perhaps the remains of a cemetery church. It was a three-aisled basilica with an apse in the west and a side apse.
Cyrene today
Cyrene is now an archaeological site near the village of Shahat, which enjoys special protection as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the noteworthy monuments are the Temple of Apollo , which originally dates back to the 7th century BC. Was built. Further a temple of Demeter and a partially unexcavated temple of Zeus . There is a necropolis about ten square kilometers between Cyrene and the old gate of Apollonia. Parts of the necropolis were destroyed in the summer of 2013 to make way for houses and shops.
See also
literature
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Claude Calame : Mythe et histoire dans l'Antiquité grecque. La création symbolique d'une colonie. Payot, Lausanne 1996. Deuxième édition Les Belles Lettres, Paris 2011. - Review by Claudio Parisi Presicce, in: Kernos 11, 1998, (online) .
- Italian translation: Mito e storia nell'Antichità greca. Traduzione di Elisabetta Savoldi. Dedalo, Bari, 1999.
- English translation: Myth and History in Ancient Greece. The Symbolic Creation of a Colony. Princeton, 2003. - Review by Erwin Cook, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004-11-36 .
- Richard Goodchild : Kyrene and Apollonia , Zurich 1971.
- John Bryan Ward-Perkins , Richard Goodchild: Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica , 2003, ISBN 1900971011 , pp. 125-177.
- James Copland Thorn: The Necropolis of Cyrene. Two Hundred Years of Exploration . L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 2005 (Monographie di Archeologia Libica, Volume 26).
Web links
- Cyrenaica Archaeological Project (English)
- Cyrene - traces of Greece in Libya (article on Libya.com)
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Jonah Lendering: Cyrene . In: Livius.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hdt. 4, 150–158 (two versions: from the point of view of the Theraians and from the point of view of the Cyrenaians); see. also the inscription on a marble stele from Cyrene from the 4th century BC. BC, which is said to contain elements of the original oath agreement of the first settlers (SEG 9, 3; StV II 103; Meiggs-Lewis 3; historical Greek inscriptions in German translation I 6).
- ↑ Aristotle's Politics VI 1319b 22
- ↑ L. Bacchielli: Cyrenaica , in: Antonio di Vita, G. di Vita-Evrad, L. Bacchielli: Libya. The lost cities of the Roman Empire , Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-89508-844-7 , p. 186.
- ↑ Ward-Perkins, Goodchild: Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica , 125–127.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 127–128.
- Jump up ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 123.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 128–132.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 149–153.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 69–74.
- ^ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 125–127.
- ^ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 87-88.
- Jump up ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 77.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 138.
- ↑ Goodchild: Cyrene and Appollonia , 149.
- ↑ Ward-Perkins, Goodchild: Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica , 127–156.
- ^ Ward-Perkins, Goodchild: Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica , 157-166.
- ^ Ward-Perkins, Goodchild: Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica , 174.
- ^ Blogger Reports Destruction of Cyrene Necropolis
Coordinates: 32 ° 49 ′ 17 ″ N , 21 ° 51 ′ 19 ″ E
Heritage: Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna (1982, R ) | Archaeological site of Sabrata (1982, R ) | Archaeological site of Cyrene (1982, R ) | Tadrart Acacus rock art sites (1985, R ) | Old Town of Ghadames (1986, R )