Nymphaeum Traiani
The Nymphaeum Traiani is an ancient fountain ( nymphaeum ) in Ephesus near Selçuk in the Turkish province of İzmir .
As can be seen from the two-line donor inscription on the architrave of the basement, the fountain was designed by Tiberius Claudius Aristion and his wife Iulia Lydia Laterane for Artemis of Ephesus and Emperor Trajan (hence the modern name) as the end of a 210 stadia (approx. 39 km) long water pipe. Based on this inscription, the construction can be dated between 102 and 114 AD.
The 11.90 × 5.40 m large, rectangular fountain basin was framed on three sides by an originally approximately 9.50 m high facade. While the architraves of the basement run straight through on both sides, the rear main side has cranked entablature . The fact that the architraves of the upper storey were shifted to it, a large niche is formed in the middle, in which a statue of the Emperor Trajan was placed. Statues were also placed in the other intercolumnies .
The water flowed under the statue - at the feet of the emperor - into the fountain basin. The main basin faced the street in front of a narrower scoop from which the water could be taken.
The Nymphaeum Traiani was uncovered in 1957 in the course of an excavation on Kuretenstrasse . In 1962 it was given its present-day appearance through the installation of an architectural sample by the architect H. Pellionis.
literature
- Peter Scherrer (Ed.): Ephesos. The new leader. ÖAI, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-900-30519-6 , p. 118.
- Hilke Thür (Ed.): ... and beautified the city ... An Ephesian priest of the imperial cult in his environment. ÖAI, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-900305-18-8 .
- Claudia Dorl-Klingenschmid: Magnificent fountains in cities in Asia Minor. Function in context. Pfeil, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-931-51691-1 (studies on the ancient city 7).
- Ursula Quatember: The Water Management and Delivery System of the Nymphaeum Traiani at Ephesus . In: Gilbert Wiplinger (Ed.): Cura Aquarum in Ephesus. Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering in the Mediterranean Region, Ephesus / Selçuk, Turkey, October 2-10, 2004 . Peeters, Leuven 2006, ISBN 3-900305-46-3 , pp. 73-77 (12. Suppl. BaBesch = special publications of the Austrian Archaeological Institute 42).
- Ursula Quatember: The Nymphaeum Traiani in Ephesus. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-7001-4010-8 (Research in Ephesos XI 2).
Remarks
Coordinates: 37 ° 56 ′ 17.2 ″ N , 27 ° 20 ′ 31.5 ″ E