Heraion of Samos: Difference between revisions

| designation1_number = [httphttps://whc.unesco.org/en/list/595 595]

| designation1_free1name = State PartyRegion

| designation1_free1value = [[GreeceList of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe and North America]]

The '''Heraion of Samos''' was a large sanctuary to the goddess [[Hera]], inon the southern regionisland of [[Samos]], [[Greece]], 6&nbsp;km southwest of the ancient city, of Samos (modern [[Pythagoreion]]). It was located in athe low, marshy river basin of the [[Imbrasos]] river, near where it enters the sea. The Latelate [[Archaic HeraionGreece|Archaic]] oftemple Samosin the sanctuary was the first of the gigantic free-standing [[Ionic order|Ionic temples]], but its predecessors at this site reached back to the [[Geometric Period]] of the 8th century BC,<ref>Cypriote terracotta [[votive object]]s date as early as the late 8th century (Gerhard Schmidt, ''Kyprische Bildwerke aus dem Heraion von Samos'', (Samos, vol. VII) 1968).</ref> or earlier.<ref>"The inconspicuous beginnings of the altar may perhaps date back to late [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean times]]" observes the ''Heraion'' 's excavator, Helmut Kyrieleis, in Kyrielis (Kyrieleis1993), "Thep. Heraion128.</ref>, atand Samos"there inis ''Greekevidence Sanctuaries:of Newcult Approaches'',activities Nannoon Marinatosthe andsite Robin Hägg,from edsc. 1993,1700 pp 125ff)BC onwards{{r|pierattini2022|p=22}}. 128.</ref> The siteruins of the temple's, ruins,along with itsthe solenearby standingarcheological columnsite of [[Pythagoreion]], waswere designated a joint [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]s in 1992, alongas witha testimony to their exceptional architecture and to the nearbymercantile [[Pythagoreion]]and innaval 1992power of Samos during the Archaic Period.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/595 |title = Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos |website = UNESCO World Heritage Convention |publisher = United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization |access-date = 25 November 2022}}</ref>

The core myth at the heart of the [[Cult (religion)|cult]] of [[Hera]] at Samos is that of her birth. According to the local tradition, the goddess was born under a ''lygos'' tree (''[[Vitex agnus-castus]]'', the "chaste-tree"). At the annual Samian festival called the ''Toneia'', the "binding", the [[cult image]] of Hera was ceremonially bound with ''lygos'' branches, before being carried down to the sea to be washed. The tree still featured on the [[Ancient Greek coinage|coinage of Samos]] in Roman times and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] mentions that the tree still stood in the sanctuary.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 135; Pedley (2005), 156-7; Pausanias 8.23.5</ref>

Little information about the temple is preserved in literary sources. The most important source is [[Herodotus]], who refers to the sanctuary's temple repeatedly, calling it "the largest of all the temples that we know of." He includes it among the three great engineering feats of Samos, along with the [[Tunnel of Eupalinos]] and the [[Ancient harbour of Samos|harbour mole]] at [[Pythagoreio]].<ref>Herodotus ''Histories'' 3.60</ref> Otherwise, most of the sources are scattered references in works written long after the heyday of the sanctuary. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], whose ''[[Periegesis'' of Greece]]'' is our key source for most of the major sites of mainland Greece, did not visit Samos.<ref>Helmut Kyrieleis 1993 notes the lack of the kind of orderly descriptive tour Pausanias would have provided (p. 125).</ref>

Archaeological evidence shows that the area was the site of a settlement in the [[Early Bronze Age]] and cult activity at the site of the altar may have begun in late [[Helladic period|Mycenaean]] period. The first temple of Hera was constructed in the eighth century BC. The peak period of prosperity in the sanctuary began in the late seventh century with the first phase of monumental building, which saw the construction of the Hekatompedos II temple, the south stoa, two colossal [[kouroi]], and the Sacred Way, which linked the sanctuary to the city of Samos by land.

In the second quarter of the sixth century BC, there was a second even greater phase of monumentalisation, with construction of the monumental altar, the North and South Buildings, and the Rhoikos Temple. This was quickly followed by a third phase of monumentalisation which saw the North Building expanded and the beginning of work on a third, even larger temple to replace the Rhoikos Temple. This peak period coincides with the period when Samos was a major power in the Aegean, culminating in the reign of the tyrant [[Polycrates]]. In the [[Classical Greece|Classical period]], Samos came under [[Athenian empire|Athenian domination]] and activity in the sanctuary almost completely ceases. A revival of activity took place in the [[Hellenistic period]], which continued under the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 128-9</ref><ref>Carty (2005) 44</ref> Worship of Hera ceased in AD 391, when the [[Theodosius I#Proscription of Paganism|Theodosian edicts]] forbade pagan observance. A Christian church was built on the site of in the fifth century AD and the site was used as a quarry throughout the [[Byzantine]] period.<ref>"The way in which a Christian cult immediately started up at the site of a pagan cult is a phenomenon which may be frequently observed in Greek sanctuaries" (Kyrieleis 1993, p. 127).</ref>

Throughout the sanctuary's thousand-year history, its hub was the altar of Hera '''(7)''' and the successive temples opposite it, but it also contained several other temples, numerous [[treasury|treasuries]], [[stoa]]s, a sacred way, and countless honourifichonorific statues and other [[votive|votive offerings]].

The Sacred Way played a central role in religious processions and its prominence is shown by the numerous votive offerings which lined its route and the fact that mainymany of the sanctuary's structures share its alignment. It was repaved in the third century AD with the costly stone slabs which are visible today.<ref> name="Kyrieleis (1993) 130.<"/ref>

There were a succession of monumental temples built on roughly the same site to the west of the altar. From archaeological excavation many construction phases are known, identified in part through fragments of [[Tile#Roof tiles|roof tiles]].<ref>Aenne Ohnesorg, "Archaic roof tiles from the Heraion on Samos", ''Hesperia'' '''59'''.1 (January - March 1990:181-192); Ohnesorg divided the archaic tile fragments into five groups of "Laconian" and five or six "Corinthian" types (ca 570 BC onwards), representing ten or eleven roofings; there are also fragmentary [[antefix]]es.</ref>

====First temple (Hekatompedos)====

The first temple, the ''Hekatompedos (I)'' '''(4)''' or hundred-foot temple marks the first monumental construction on the site, in the eighth century BC. This was a long, narrow building made of [[mudbrick]], with a line of columns running down the centre to support the roof structure. It was rebuilt in the late seventh century, at the same time as the construction of the Sacred Way and the South Stoa. This second form is known as ''Hekatompedos (II)'' and was roughly {{convert|33|m|ft}} long,. butThe narrow since the architectswalls were not yet capablebuilt of largelimestone roofrather spans.than It was walled on three sides, butmudbrick; the east end was left open. AnThere interiorwere centraltwo linerows of interior columns supportedalong the roofside structure.walls, Ameaning monumentalthat kouros,there similarwas toa theclear oneview thatalong stoodthe atcentral theaxis northfrom the entrance to the sanctuarycult wasstatue. locatedThere nearbymay andhave wouldbeen havea loomedcolonnaded overporch at the temple;east itend wasto destroyed inmark the mid-sixth centuryentranceway and survivesa only[[peripteral]] incolonnade running around the outside, but this is not fragmentscertain.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 126 & 130</ref><ref>; Carty (2005) 44; Pedley (2005) 157-8.</ref>

====Second temple (Rhoikos temple)====

A much larger temple was built by the architects [[Rhoecus|Rhoikos]] and [[Theodoros of Samos|Theodoros]] and is known as the Rhoikos temple '''(2)'''. The templeIt was dipteral,about that{{convert|100|m|ft}} islong withand a{{convert|50|m|ft}} porticowide. ofAt columnsthe twofront deep,there which surrounded it entirely ([[peripteral]]). It hadwas a deep roofed [[pronaos]] with a square floor plan, in front of a closed [[cella]]. Cella and pronaos were divided into three equal aisles by two rows of columns that marched down the pronaos and through the temple. TheA resultperipteral wascolonnade thatsurrounded Herathe temple, which was worshippedtwo inrows adeep temple(dipteral). fittedThere withinwere atwenty-one stylizedcolumns groveon ofeach long side, ten columns along the back side, and eight acrossalong andthe twenty-onefront deepside. The columns stood on unusual [[torus]] bases that were horizontally fluted. ItThe temple formed a unit with the monumental altar of Hera to the east, which shared its alignment and axis.<ref name="Rhoikos"/> Many columns were [[fluting (architecture)|unfluted]]; perhaps this was left for a later date, as it was normally done after they were erected. No capitals survive from this temple, but some early [[Ionic order]] features are present.<ref>[[A. W. Lawrence|Lawrence, A. W.]], ''Greek Architecture'', p. 132-133, 1957, Penguin, Pelican history of art</ref>

For a long time, the date of this temple was disputed, but excavations in 1989 revealed that work began on it at some point between 600 and 570 BC, and was completed around 560 BC. It stood for only about a decade before it was destroyed around 550 BC, when it may have been toppled by an earthquake or dismantled because the marshy ground and poor foundations made it dangerously unstable. Much of its stone was reused in the construction of its successor, the Great temple.<ref name="Rhoikos">Kyrieleis (1993) 133-4; Pedley (2005) 159-160.</ref>

The Rhoikos temple was the first of the massive Ionian temples, like the [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]], which would be built in western Asia Minor and the Aegean during the Archaic and Classical periods. Thus, Helmut Kyrieleis observes that it "must have had central significance for the development of monumental Ionic architecture." for this reason.<ref name="Rhoikos"/>

====Third temple (Polycrates temple)====

[[File:HereoHeraion de Samossamos (transparente)essai restitution.pngjpg|thumb|A reconstruction of the Great temple (front view)]]

The first foundations of the cella were laid in the second half of the sixth century and are usually associated with the reign of Polycrates. The foundations of the peripteral colonnade and the pronaos were not laid until around 500 BC. Construction continued into the Roman period, but this Heraiontemple was never wholly finished. and theThe cult statue was eventually transferred to the Roman temple, though other statues and votives continued to be stored in it.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 134.</ref>

{{quotationblockquote|"As one sails towards the city [of Samos in the island of the same name] ... on the left is the suburb [of Samos city] near the Heraion (Temple of Hera), and also the Imbrasos River, and the Heraion, which consists of an ancient temple and a great shrine, which latter is now a repository of tablets. Apart from the number of the tablets placed there, there are other repositories of votive tablets and some small chapels full of ancient works of art. And the temple, which is open to the sky, is likewise full of most excellent statues. Of these, three of colossal size, the work of [[Myron]], stood upon one base; [[Mark Antony|Antony]] took these statues away, but [[Augustus Caesar]] restored two of them, those of Athena and Herakles, to the same base, although he transferred the Zeus to the [[Capitolium]] [in Rome], having erected there a small chapel for that statue."|Strabo, ''Geography'' 14. 1. 14}}

In [[Byzantine]] times, the temple served as a quarry, so that it was eventually dismantled to the very foundations, leaving only the foundations and a single column shaft, which seems to have been retained as a navigation point for ships.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 125-6</ref>

At some point in the Roman period, a smaller Roman Temple '''(5)''' was built to housedhouse the [[cult image]] to the east of the Great temple, which remained under construction. In the fifth century AD, this temple was demolished and the stone was used to build a church on the site.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 127.</ref>

ThereThe wasanimal abones sacredfound groveon tothe site show that the eastmajority of thesacrifices altar,were whichof mayfully havegrown includedcows. theThere sacredwere ''lygos''also treequite thata wasfew identifiedsheep and pigs, as thewell birthas placea offew Heradeer. ItNo wasthigh previouslybones believedwere thatfound on the stumpsite; ofKyrieleis suggests that this treemay hadbe beenbecause recoveredthey duringwere burnt on the excavationsaltar inor 1963,possibly butbecause subsequentthey testingwere provedgiven thatto thisthe waspriests anas unrelatedtheir [[juniper]]special treeshare.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993), 135p.137-8</ref>

The North Building '''(8)''' is located in the northern part of the sanctuary. It was first built in the mid-sixth century BC. At this point it was a {{convert|13.75|m|ft}} wide and {{convert|29|m|ft}} long cella, entered through a [[portico]] at the south end. A row of columns ran down the centre and the north end was separated off as an [[adyton]]. The structure was surrounded by a ''temenos'' wall. Between 530 and 500 BC, a [[peripteros|peripteral]] colonnade was added to the structure, increasing its width to {{convert|25.8|m|ft}} and its length to {{convert|41.2|m|ft}}. One of the roof tiles from the structure was inscribed ΠΟ (''po''), which Aideen Carty reads as an indication the Polycrates was personally responsible for the expansion of the structure.<ref name="Carty 2005 40">Carty (2005) 40</ref>

The function of the structure remains unclear. Although the structure has the form of a temple, there does not appear to have been an altar associated with it. Kyrieleis suggests that it was built to serve as the treasury for the Samian state.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993) 131-3.</ref>

===South Stoa and South Building===

The South [[stoa]]Building '''(1110)''' was builtconstructed atin the end of the seventhmid-sixth century BC, as part ofat the same roundtime ofas, monumentalisationand thaton sawa thesimilar constructiondesign ofto, the HekatompedosNorth temple and the Sacred WayBuilding.<ref>Kyrieleis (1993)The 130.</ref>South Itstoa was demolished in the mid-sixth century BC, to make way for the South Buildingit.<ref>Kyrieleis The(1993) South130; BuildingCarty '''(10)'''2005) was44; constructed at the same time as, and on a similar design to, the North Building.<ref>CartyPedley (2005) 44158.</ref>

A large number of terracotta and ivory pomegranates and poppy pods have been found near the temple - representations of votive offerings of perishable goods in a more permanent medium. [[Archaeobotany|Archaeobotanical]] analysis has revealed large quantities of pomegranate and poppy seeds on the site, which demonstrate that the real fruit were indeed presented to the goddess as offerings.<ref>Kyrieleis 1993, p.138</ref>

Substantial amounts of pottery tableware and drinking cups were found around the sanctuary, where they were used in sacrificial feasts. The most significant are a type from the early sixth century. Some of these are painted with '''ΗΡΗ''' (Hera), indicating that they belonged to the goddess. Others have the letters '''ΔΗ''' (''DE'') painted on them, which might indicate that they were public property (''demosion''), dedications by the obscure figure, [[Demoteles]] the last king of Samos. Either interpretation would be important for understanding the political history of early sixth century Samos, which is very obscure. However, Kyrielis has argued that they actually read '''(Η)ΡΗ''' (Hera). The workshops in which this pottery was manufactured have been found on the site of the sanctuary.<ref>Kyrieleis 1993, p.139-40</ref><ref> name="Carty (2005) 40<"/ref>

The waterlogged soil has preserved a large number of wooden votives from the Archaic period. This is exceptional - almost no other wooden objects from this period have been found in Greece - and they thus provide a unique insight into the ritual activities of less wealthy visitors to the sanctuary. They include a wide range of pieces from masterpieces of wooden sculpture and furniture, through to roughly carved spoons. A particularly special class of object are theroughly littlecarved woodencurved boatsobjects, of which about 40 examples have been found to date. TheyThese are usually around {{convert|40|cm|in}} long and generally have anbeen unusuallyidentified as rather abstract designdepictions of boats. They may be the dedications of shipowners or objects for a special ritual. A full-size ship's hull from the late seventh century BC, measuring about {{convert|20|m|ft}}, was also found. There are also several miniature stools, intricately carved with images of horses.<ref>Kyrieleis 1993, p.138-143</ref><ref>; Carty (2005) 38; Pedley (2005) 164-5.</ref>

A number of the votives dedicated in the late seventh and sixth centuries BC attest to the far-reaching commercial links of archaic Samos and the prestige attached to votive dedications of exotic objects at that time.<ref>Carty (2005) 39</ref> These objects include natural treasures, such as skull fragments from an [[crocodylus niloticus|Egyptian crocodile]] and [[hartebeest]], as well as a [[stalactite]] and lumps of [[rock crystal]]. They also include exotic manufactured items, chiefly ivories from Egypt and the Near East. Two bronze figurines of the goddess [[NintinuggaGula (goddess)|Gula]] from [[Isin]] in [[Babylonia]] might be early examples of [[interpretatio graeca]]. A bronze horse trapping from northern Syria bears an [[Aramaic]] inscription from the late ninth century BC - the earliest example of [[alphabet]]ic writing found anywhere in Greece. Other votives originated in [[Cyprus]], [[Phoenicia]], even [[Iran]] and [[Urartu]]. Some of these items were acquired through trade, especially the export of Greek [[slaves]], while others may have been the proceeds of [[mercenary]] service. Aideen Carty interprets these votives as evidence of the important role of the sanctuary in aristocratic competitive display in the archaic period.<ref>Kyrieleis 1993, p.140 & 145-8</ref><ref> name="Carty (2005) 40<"/ref>

On a smaller scale the votive objects indicate that these two phenomena - interaction with the wider world and use of the sanctuary for competitive display - continued in later periods. The site is peparedpeppered with the remains of honorific decrees and statues from the Hellenistic-Roman period, of the type found throughout the Eastern Mediterranean in this period. Additionally, six to thirteen figurines of [[Isis]] nursing [[Horus]] have been found at the site, indicating that connection or association between Hera and Isis developed in the Hellenistic-Roman period.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Laskaris|first=Julie|date=2008|title=Nursing Mothers in Greek and Roman Medicine|journal=American Journal of Archaeology|volume=112|issue=3|pages=459–464|jstor=20627484|doi=10.3764/aja.112.3.459|s2cid=192957913 }}</ref>

The first Westerner to visit the site was [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]], commissioned by [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] to travel in the East and report his findings.<ref>This summary of the early excavation history is drawn from Kyrieleis 1993, p. 126f.</ref> Tournefort visited Samos in 1704, and published his drawings of the ruins as engravings. Massive siltation deposits obscured, yet protected the site from amateur tinkering in the 18th and 19th centuries. Reeds and blackberry canes provided daunting cover, and the water table, which has risen since Antiquity, discouraged trench-digging at the same time that it preserved wooden materials in [[Hypoxia (environmental)|anoxic]] strata.

Thus the first preliminary archaeological excavations did not take place until 1890-921890–92, under the direction of [[Panagiotis Kavvadias]] and [[Themistoklis Sofoulis]], on behalf of the [[Greek Archaeological Society]] of Athens. The full extent of the third temple's foundations were not revealed until [[Theodor Wiegand]]'s campaign of 1910-141910–14 on behalf of the [[Berlin State Museums|Royal Museum of Berlin]]. Rubble demonstrated that there had been a previous temple.

{{reflist|2}}|refs=

*{{cite journal |last1=Ohnesorg |first1=Aenne |title=Archaic roof tiles from the Heraion on Samos |journal=Hesperia |date=1990 |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=181-192181–192|doi=10.2307/148133 |jstor=148133 }}

*{{cite book |last1=Kyrieleis |first1=H. |editor1-last=Marinatos |editor1-first=N. |editor2-last=Hägg |editor2-first=R. |title=Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches |date=1993 |pages=125-153125–153 |chapter=The Heraion at Samos}}