Hellenistic architecture

Dimosthenis Kosmopoulos
Architettura templare italica in epoca ellenistica
Studia Archaeologica, 250
2021, 550 pp.
Paperback, 17 x 24 cm
Vincitore del XIX Premio L'ERMA per l'archeologia 2019-2020
ISBN: 9788891322760
ISSN: 0081-6299
https://en.lerma.it/libro/9788891322760

The mirror is the literal path to reflecting an individual. Beyond that the mirror becomes metaphorical, generating countless debates over the thousands of years since the earliest crudely made mirrors. As an artifact the tangible mirror can be small to display one’s self-importance or enormous to reflect fires set ablaze atop ancient lighthouses saving seafaring vessels from destruction. 

The mirrors of the Pharos Lighthouse (built between 280 and 247 BCE), designed by the renowned architect Sostratos of Knidos for the Ptolemaic city of Alexandria, are unique since their existence have been a subject of debates. Moreover, the actual design of the lighthouse is still unknown and yet is a structure that not only became the symbol of ancient Alexandria, but enchanted so many to become part of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

This presentation will consider the metaphysical aspects of the Pharos Lighthouse mirrors, how they influenced seafaring, which according to ancient sources were utilized as a telescope to observe approaching ships resulting with a fire lit in the cupola creating a streak of light that extended outwards reaching ships as far as 150 kilometers away. These mirrors can also be understood as intangible, manifesting both the dignity and vanity of the Ptolemies. The Pharos Lighthouse survived an astonishing seventeen centuries before collapsing in the mid-1300s, its mirrors attesting to the tangible and metaphorical of the Ptolemaic era in Egypt.

- Rez. von J. Lehmann, Gnomon 2017/4, 354–358: https://doi.org/10.17104/0017-1417-2017-4-354
- Rez. von B. Emme in: HZ 305, 2017, 124 f.: https://doi.org/10.1515/hzhz-2017-1267
- Rez. von C. Parigi bei Bryn Mawr Classical Review: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2017/2017-02-33.html
- Rez. von C. P. Dickenson bei Sehepunkte: http://www.sehepunkte.de/2016/05/26922.html
- Rez. von U.-H. Willée in: H-Soz-Kult, 04.04.2016, www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-22971
- Rez. von M. Mathys im Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaften 2015, 18: https://gfa.gbv.de/dr,gfa,018,2015,r,27.pdf

Through innovative geographic information systems (GIS), and extensive ground-based measurements, a significant number of Petra's tombs, structures, and monuments were found to display distinctive alignments to the Sun, on its primary marker days of the solstices and equinoxes in this preliminary architectural inventory.  Of Petra's most prominent monuments, façades, and structures, roughly >70% of the Nabataean structures were found to exhibit related orientation.  Three categories of alignments to/with the Sun were identified: (i) structures facing the rising or setting sun on a marker day (i.e. Urn Tomb on solstices and equinox), and/or (ii) a structure in alignment (i.e. High Place of Sacrifice on the Summer solstice sunrise) with the rising/setting sun intersecting a prominent landmark on the horizon (i.e. the peak of Jebel Haroun), and/or (iii) exhibiting sunlight infiltration into chamber interiors (Palace Tomb at sunset during the winter solstice and equinox) where it illuminates pronounced interior niches, alcoves, and/or sandstone glyptic features (i.e. notches, grooves).  These findings may support Strabo's early notion that the religion of the early Nabataeans focused on the worship of the Sun, or at least, it may link an early understanding of Earth-Sun relationships to the Nabataean conception of urban planning and form, agriculture, philosophy, astronomy, architecture, and/or cosmology.

Convegno internazionale sulla casa ellenistica e le loro funzioni. Tre giorni di discussione e presentazione dei risultati archeologici dei vari siti nel bacino del Mediterraneo. In questa occasione ho presentato alcuni risultati sull'architettura privata nelle regioni dell'Illiria meridionale e dell'Epiro, regioni poco conosciute da questo aspetto.

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

The Alexandria lighthouse must have been one of the finest examples of Hellenistic masonry construction. Being made of dry stone masonry it was audaciously high. To be structurally sound and perfectly functional its builders conceived a massive structure with rooms and corridors covered with stone slabs and lintels, and a central cavity to lift materials along its construction and during its use. Its model must have inspired the Arabic architects of western Islam who transferred the conception of the solid tower with a spiral ramp with superimposed rooms in the three gigantic minarets of the second half of the 12th century.

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L’étude des maisons grecques et romaines entre le Vème et le IIème siècle avant notre ère éclaire le cadre de vie des familles antiques, grâce à la confrontation des textes littéraires et des vestiges archéologiques – ce qui se révèle, pour l’Italie, particulièrement délicat, en raison du décalage chronologique. Elle permet notamment d’informer, de confirmer ou de nuancer les relations sociales à l’œuvre dans les maisons, entre la maisonnée et l’environnement extérieur d’une part, entre les membres d’une même famille élargie d’autre part, selon des binômes inégalement documentés : hommes / femmes, hommes libres / esclaves, adultes / enfants. Il faut cependant garder à l’esprit que les maisons les mieux documentées, dans le monde grec comme en Italie, appartiennent majoritairement à un habitat de haut niveau social, dont le fonctionnement ne saurait être généralisé à l’ensemble des familles grecques et romaines. De même, les sources littéraires les plus communément utilisées, valorisent essentiellement un modèle idéal de famille, souvent établi rétrospectivement, qui ne peut rendre compte de la grande variabilité des comportements individuels et qui s’appuie souvent sur des stéréotypes. La chronologie envisagée permet toutefois de montrer les évolutions de la maison d’un point de vue architectural : si celle-ci s’agrandit et se complexifie au cours de l’époque hellénistique, illustrant notamment des changements dans les modes de sociabilité et de réception, on note qu’elle reste suffisamment polyvalente pour assurer un nombre de finalités variées, de la garantie des besoins vitaux à la production domestique et à la vie sociale de la famille, en passant par les cultes rendus aux dieux ou aux ancêtres. Cette variété, associée à la relative indétermination architecturale de nombreuses pièces, permettait manifestement une grande souplesse d’utilisation au gré des circonstances de la vie familiale.

Tigranakert of Artsakh is situated in the Askeran region of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), in the lower valley of Khachenaget, the second large river of the highland. Occupying an area of more than 70 hectares, it is spread over the south-western lower slope of the mountain Vankasar and in the plain next to it, in the neighborhood of the Royal sources (Shahbulagh). The city was founded at the end of 90s BC by the Armenian King Tigranes II the Great (95-55 BC). The Artsakh expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia found traces of the city in 2005, and thus far has realized archaeological excavations in its area. Tigranakert of Artsakh is the only one among numerous settlements named after Tigranes, the location of which is precise and which is being investigated by archaeologists. The archaeological museum of the city was founded in 2010 based on the excavated archaeologically rich material. Tigranakert is the most visited archaeological site of Artsakh, introduced in detail on the Internet, widely known among scientific circles and the public.

Η αρχαία πόλη της Ρόδου σχεδιάστηκε µε το ορθογώνιο πολεοδοµικό σύστηµα, το οποίο περιελάµβανε και µία ακρόπολη στη δυτική της πλευρά. Σε αυτή την ακρόπολη, έναν λόφο µε χαµηλά πρανή, γνωστό ως Άγιο Στέφανο ή Μόντε Σµιθ, βρίσκονται τοποθετηµένα σε ψηλά άνδηρα τα πιο σηµαντικά δηµόσια κτίρια όπως το στάδιο, το ωδείο, το γυµνάσιο µε τη βιβλιοθήκη και ο λεγόµενος ναός του Απόλλωνος Πυθίου. Στο βόρειο τοµέα βρίσκονται οι ναοί της Αθηνάς Πολιάδος και του ∆ιός Πολιέως. Περίπου 100 µ. ανατολικά του ναού έχουν λαξευτεί στο φυσικό βράχο τρία τεχνητά σπήλαια. Τα σπήλαια αυτά είναι εν µέρει υπαίθρια και βρίσκονται σε ύψος 5 µ. από το έδαφος. Αποτελούνται από ορθογώνιους θαλάµους µε παρακείµενες εσοχές, οι οποίοι κοσµούνται µε βραχώδεις διακοσµήσεις, τεχνητούς σταλακτίτες, δεξαµενές νερού και φυσικές βραχώδεις πηγές. Ορθογώνιες και τοξωτές κόγχες διαφόρων µεγεθών ήταν λαξευµένες στα βραχώδη τοιχώµατα. Ίχνη από βάσεις υποδεικνύουν κάποια παλιότερη γλυπτή διακόσµηση στις κόγχες που θα αποτελείτο από αγαλµάτια και ανάγλυφα.

The city of ancient Rhodes was designed on a rectangular grid system which includes the acropolis on the western side. On the acropolis, a gently sloping hill called Aghios Stefanos, or Monte Smith, the most important public buildings like the stadion, the odeion, the gymnasion with the library and the so-called temple of Apollon Pythios are located on high terraces. In the northern sector lies the temple of Athena Polias and Zeus Polieus. About 100 m east of the temple three man-made caves, called grottoes, have been carved into the rock. The grottoes are partly open to the sky but lie about 5m beneath the ground1. They consist of rectangular chambers with adjoining alcoves and are adorned with rockfeatures, artificial stalactites, water basins and natural rocksprings. Rectangular and arched niches of varying size were carved into
the rockwalls. Traces of mountings indicate previous sculptural decoration in the niches that provided space for smaller statuettes or reliefs.

References to the presence of gardens in the palace complexes of Hellenistic rulers are frequent in international scholarship, with literary sources being used as the main type of evidence. Usually a distinction is drawn between parks in the palace premises and gardens located in peristyle courtyards. This paper reconsiders the second group by examining the archaeological remains in the cases where a ‘garden-peristyle’ has been identified. It suggests that such identification is rather overstretched and in all likelihood biased by the presence of gardens in peristyle courtyards of aristocratic residences of the Late Roman Republic.
The first step in examining the presence of garden-peristyles is to assess the surviving evidence against well-established scholarly methods on how to identify gardens and horticultural processes in the archaeological record. The major case studies are the Antigonid palaces in Pella and Demetrias, the palace of Jebel Khalid in the Seleucid kingdom and the Attalid royal seats on the Acropolis of Pergamon. Comparison of the courtyard design with the earlier garden peristyles of Roman houses and an overview of the possible activities the palace courtyards accommodated further show that garden peristyles were not a widespread feature amongst the seats of Hellenistic monarchs.

This article offers a review of the figured friezes found in theatres of Asia Minor and suggests both a reading of their development and possible interpretations for this category of evidence. The subjects of the figured reliefs are considered not only in the light of their potential meaning, but also within the context of each monument’s entire decorative program and compared to both eastern and western examples. Friezes displayed on architraves, that continue a Hellenistic tradition, are distinguished from friezes placed on the columnar podia of the façade, which may attest to the very early reception of a trend that started in the western part of the Empire. Furthermore, friezes located on the entablature of the proskenion constitute a peculiar category that is found in Asia Minor and in regions where an Asian influence is attested.
From a diachronic perspective, friezes on architraves appear in the late Hellenistic period and then gradually diminish in frequency, while friezes on the podia of façades first appear in the early 1st century CE and then find their widest distribution in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. It is at this point that the most significant depictions appear, with a concoction of mythological tales and allusions to real events. Interpretation of the subjects within the wider contexts of competition between cities of Asia Minor, of civic euergetism, and of the influential presence of exponents of the Second Sophistic indicates a desire to express the city’s identity through the use of myth and shared heritage.

Throughout history, the Seleucid military might demonstrated
many times its importance for the maintenance, expansion and defense of the Empire. Rarely the Seleucid army was defeated in a campaign and it happened in front of the almighty Rome. After the defeat at Thermopylae and Magnesia, and following the imminent withdrawal must conquer the Ptolemaic Empire, the new king Antiochus IV Epiphanes held a military parade as never been done before, its real purpose is unknown, but the Seleucids showed the world the power that still had the Empire. Through the stories of several classic sources, we can come closer to this event and what
it could entail.

The present study explores the origins of Jewish ritual immersion – inquiring when immersion first appeared as a rite of purification and what the reasons may have been for this development specifically at this time. Textual and archaeological evidence suggest that immersion emerged at some point during – or perhaps slightly prior to – the first half of the first century B.C.E. It is suggested here that the practice grew out of contemporary bathing practices involving the Hellenistic hip bath. Through a process of ritualization, full-body immersion emerged as a method of purificatory washing clearly differentiated from profane bathing. By way of a subsequent process of 'hyper-ritualization', some ventured further to distinguish purificatory ablutions from profane bathing by restricting use of 'drawn water' for purification and by assigning impurity to anyone who bathed in such water. Before us is an enlightening example of one of the many ways wherein Jewish religious practices evolved and adapted in response to Hellenistic cultural innovations.

Ab ca. 300 v. Chr. entstehen im Mittelmeerraum Heiligtümer, die – mittels
aufragender Terrassen auf Fernsicht konzipiert – als ansteigende Sakralräume inszeniert sind. Trotz des großen Effektes auf die Architekturgeschichte bleibt die Genese dieses Bautyps im Unklaren. Dies verwundert, wenn man auf ein berühmtes ägyptisches Bauwerk blickt, das in eben dem Moment zu neuer Bedeutung kam, als in der Ägäis die ersten Terrassenheiligtümer entstanden.

Edita nell’ambito della rivista di archeologia e architettura antica Thiasos, recentemente varata, la monografia vuole inaugurare una collana di opere dedicate all’architettura di Kos e delle altre isole del Dodecaneso, di cui questo costituisce il primo volume, a cui seguirà l’edizione del Ginnasio e delle Terme Centrali a cura di Monica Livadiotti. Il volume è edito in forma di e-book, ma è in preparazione una traduzione in inglese, a cura di Rita Sassu, con edizione a stampa sempre per i tipi dell’editrice Quasar.
Lo studio della Stoà Meridionale dell’agorà si inserisce nell’ambito di una più generale analisi della topografia della città antica di Kos che l’équipe del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ingegneria Civile e dell’Architettura del Politecnico di Bari, diretta da Giorgio Rocco, sta portando avanti ormai da molti anni in collaborazione con i colleghi delle Eforie del Dodecaneso e con l’Istituto Archeologico di Studi Egei di Rodi.
Frutto di una ricerca sul campo sempre attenta al dato proveniente dal rilievo delle strutture e dei frammenti architettonici, l’ipotesi di ricostruzione della Stoà fornisce un importante tassello per la conoscenza complessiva dell’agorà di Kos e dei suoi monumenti, argomento a cui l’Autore ha dedicato negli ultimi anni diversi contributi. L’esistenza stessa di questo lungo edificio porticato posto a delimitare il lato sud della piazza agorale ha risolto inoltre alcuni quesiti riguardo alla configurazione topografica dell’area centrale della città, rimasti insoluti dopo gli scavi di Luigi Morricone del tratto più occidentale della plateia ellenistica e di Charis Kanzia lungo la sua prosecuzione più ad Est. Inoltre, la descrizione della consistenza del monumento e della sua ricostruzione sono integrate da un serrato sistema di confronti con l’architettura del periodo di area microasiatica, arrivando ad inquadrare in modo più preciso la produzione architettonica dell’isola in età ellenistica e conferendole un rilievo maggiore di quanto finora sia stato supposto.
Il volume è poi completato dal Catalogo degli architettonici della Stoà Meridionale (a cura di F. Liuni e A. Ferrante), dal Catalogo delle Unità Stratigrafiche Murarie (a cura di M. Livadiotti e M. Messina) e da due brevi studi, posti in Appendice, riguardanti un inconsueto sistema di fissaggio verticale dei blocchi (A. Fino) e un particolare sistema di sollevamento che apparenta la produzione architettonica coa alla “Rinascenza ionica” del  mondo microasiatico ellenistico (M. Livadiotti).
L’apparato illustrativo, tutto di prima mano, è stato realizzato con l’apporto degli studenti, laureandi e dottorandi del DICAR di Bari, che dal 2004 partecipano alle missioni a Kos, sempre di più “cantiere scuola” per i futuri “Bauforscher” italiani.

Published in the context of the recently launched “Thiasos, journal of archaeology and ancient architecture”, the monograph inaugurates, being its first volume, a series of works dedicated to the architecture of Kos and other Dodecanese islands, that is going to include the edition of the Gymnasium and Central Baths by Monica Livadiotti. The volume is published in e-book form, but a translation in English, edited by Rita Sassu, is under preparation and will be shortly available in printed edition (always with Quasar publisher).
The study of the South Stoa of the agora is part of a more general analysis concerning the topography of the ancient city of Kos that the team of the Department of Sciences of Civil Engineering and Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Bari, directed by Giorgio Rocco, has been carrying out for many years, in collaboration with colleagues of the Ephorates of Dodecanese and the Archaeological Institute of Aegean Studies of Rhodes.
The hypothesis of reconstruction of the Stoa results from a research paying special attention to data coming from the survey of structures as well as architectural fragments and turns out to be a relevant element for the overall knowledge of the agora of Kos and its monuments, a topic the author dealt with in several contributions during the last few years. The very existence of this long porch defining the south side of the agora also solved a number of questions regarding the topographical configuration of the city’s central area, that remained unanswered since Luigi Morricone’s  excavation in the westernmost sector of the Hellenistic plateia and Charis Kanzia’s archaeological investigations in its eastern extension.
In addition, the description of the consistency of the monument and its reconstruction are complemented by a comprehensive system of comparisons with the coeval micro-Asiatic architecture, hence contributing to the understanding of the architectural production of the island in the Hellenistic age, giving it a greater importance than has hitherto been supposed.
The volume is then completed by the Catalogue of Architectural Fragments of South Stoa (edited by F. Liuni and A. Ferrante), by the Catalogue of Structural Stratigraphic Units (edited by M. Livadiotti and M. Messina) and by two brief studies, in Appendix, the first one regarding an unusual system of vertical fixing (A. Fino) and the second one about a particular lifting system that connects Kos’ architectural production to the “Ionian Renaissance” of the Hellenistic Asia Minor (M. Livadiotti).
The illustrative apparatus, entirely original, has been realized with the contribution of undergraduate, graduate and PhD students of DICAR of Bari, who, since 2004 participated in missions in Kos, which is gradually assuming the role of  ”school yard” for future Italian “Bauforscher“.

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Mona Haggag Alexandria in the 'Corpus of Ptolemaic inscriptions' �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������115 Kyriakos Savvopoulos From Macedonia to Ptolemaic Alexandria: the cult of Dionysos Pseudanor ���������������������������������������������������������133 Emmanuel Voutiras Hellenistic drama and Alexandrian culture ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������139 Georgia Xanthaki-Karamanou ii The Alexandrian cradle of philological science ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������149 Theodore D. Papanghelis Egyptian and Egyptiote literature as a bridge between two cultures �����������������������������������������������������������153 Shaker Moussa From Alexandria to Venice: Remembrances of Alexandria in the cultural treasures of Venice ������������������165 Chryssa Maltezou The destruction of libraries in the course of history and the international law on the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������173 Artemis Papathanassiou Is the possession of the Parthenon Marbles lawful according to the contemporary English law? �������������185 A tentative methodology of sea-level change based on fish tanks from Hellenistic Alexandria, vis-a-vis, the submerged el Hassan rock provide a new look for subsidence estimates ����������������������������������������������������289

Sommario 7 Sommario L.M. Caliò, J. Des Courtils, Prefazione C. Pouzadoux, Introduzione E. Lippolis, L' architettura di III secolo a.C. M. Osanna, C. Rescigno, Da Cuma a Pompei. Cantieri, maestranze e tradizioni architettoniche medio ellenistiche alla luce della documentazione archeologica: problemi e prospettive F. Pesando, Nuovi dati su Pompei fra III e I secolo a.C. Ricerche nella Regio VI F. Sirano, Architettura ellenistica nel III secolo a.C. Il contributo dei centri della Campania setten-trionale interna G. Greco, Edilizia pubblica a Elea in età ellenistica C. Giletti, L'acropoli di Taranto nel III secolo a.C. E.C. Portale, Siracusa e la Sicilia nel III secolo a.C.: problemi conoscitivi e proposte di lettura dei fenomeni urbanistici e architettonici H. Treziny, Une ville royale à la campagne. Mégara Hyblaea à l'époque de Hiéron II M. Wolf, Architettura sacra di III secolo a.C. in Sicilia oriantale durante il regno di Ierone II L. Campagna, La decorazione architettonica in Sicilia nel III secolo a.C.: problemi aperti e nuove prospettive G.F. La Torre, Tradizione e innovazione nell' architettura domestica siciliana tra III e inizi del II secolo a.C. S. Aiosa, La Casa a Peristilio 1 di Monte Iato: considerazioni per una nuova ipotesi ricostruttiva S. Guidone, La cultura abitativa in Magna Grecia A.M. Jaia, Edifici di culto a Lavinium in età medio repubblicana tra continuità e innovazione F.M. Cifarelli, Sulle tracce della Signia medio repubblicana: problemi storici e archeologici L.M. Michetti, Osservazioni sull' architettura etrusca tra la fine del IV e il III secolo a.C., tra edilizia pubblica e committenza privata L.M. Caliò, L' architettura fortificata in occidente tra la Sicilia e l'Epiro O. Mei, Architettura pubblica a Cirene nel II secolo a.C.

"The time of Epimemdes' activities in Sparta falls on the Archaic epoch, most likely 7th–6th centuries BC. In that period, those who had managed to rise thanks to the economic changes, had a good possibility to neglect with impunity any ideas of shame and justice. The mass perception apprehended the situation as an infamy, guilt and filthy condition. Natural aspiration for purifying and releasing from this condition was one of the most important incentives for constituting the state power and for law codification which were undertaken at that time in many Hellenic cities. Athens embarked on this path resolutely not until the early 6th century BC, when rationalistic methods of familiarization and comprehension of the world achieved certain success. Irrational methods were also used, but they were subordinate (ritual purification, new cults etc.).
As for Sparta, it started constituting its political and social existence earlier than other Greek cities, that is why here the rational methods in the construction of eunomia could not be used in full. So, the creation of the «Spartan Cosmos» presupposed wide use of irrational mechanisms. That is what explains the importance of oracles for the Spartan constitution, the presence here of a pleiad of prominent poets-musicians invited for religious ceremonies, the sacrahzation of political space, the permanent use of prophets' help in everyday politics. That is what also explains the clear “Spartan trace” left by the figures of pronounced shamanic type, like Epimemdes the Cretan.
"