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A Sanctuary of Isis on the South Slope of the Athenian Acropolis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2013
Extract
While completing a study of an unusual group of Roman Corinthian capitals from Athens, I was led to reconsider the current attribution of two members of the group, an anta and a full capital, to an Augustan propylon said to have been built in the Asklepieion. The capitals shared the same source of design and traits of technique as the series made for Hadrian's Arch and for the interior of the Olympieion. It was difficult to accept their association with an inscribed epistyle block, indubitably Augustan in date, that was said to form part of the Asklepieion propylon. Furthermore, the epistyle was too narrow (0·41 m.) to fit over the bedding surfaces of the capitals (0·70 × 0·70 m.), and there was no indication that a backing block had been used.
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- Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1979
References
Acknowledgments. I have received much assistance in the preparation of this study. A grant covering the cost of a visit to Athens in March 1978 was kindly awarded to me by the Trustees of the British Museum, who also granted me special leave from my work to make the visit. Lord Trevelyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, has taken a keen interest in this project; I greatly appreciate his support. None of this, however, would have materialized without the initial support of the Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, Brian Cook, who also read the manuscript in draft form.
In Athens, I should like to thank Dr. G. Dontas, Ephor of the Antiquities of the Acropolis, for help, interest, and understanding, and for giving me permission to work on the site and to see the finds made in the area. Mme. D. Peppas-Delmouzou permitted me to examine the relevant inscriptions in the Epigraphical Museum and provided me with photographs for study. M. Pierre Aupert of the École Française d'Athènes answered my inquiries over the bronze plaque in the Kanellopoulos Museum. I am most grateful to the Director of the École Française. M. Pierre Amandry, for permitting me to include this vital piece of evidence in my study, although the plaque is to be fully published in the future by a member of the École Française. I should like to thank the Director and Staff of the British School at Athens for supporting my application for a permit and for their practical help during my visit.
On the academic side, Dr. J. Perlzweig Binder of the American School of Classical Studies has proved an inexhaustible source of information on the topography of the south slope; I am greatly indebted to her for giving me so many references and so much of her time. Miss Elizabeth Walters, who is studying the series of ‘Isis-Reliefs’ in Athens, has also given me much valuable information on the sculptural representation of women associated with the cult. A. J. Spawforth of the British School has given me considerable help with the prosopography of the temple officials.
This study would never have been completed without the practical help of Alan S. Walker and Susan Bird, Graphics Officer of the Greek and Roman Department, who is responsible for the final version of the line drawings. Marian Vian, also of the Greek and Roman department, patiently typed the manuscript at short notice.
Abbreviations. These abbreviations are used in addition to those listed in BSA xliv (1949) 333–5.
Travlos Athens = J. Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (1971).
BM Inscr I = E. Hicks, A Catalogue of Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum (1874).
F. Dunand, Le Culte d'Isis = Dunand, F., Le Culte d' Isis dans le bassin orientale de la Méditerrannée Vols. I–III (Leiden 1973).Google Scholar
Frazer, Pausanias = Frazer, J., Pausanias' Description of Greece Vols. I–VI (1898).Google Scholar
Harv ThRev = Harvard Theological Review.
ImagInscrAttic. 2 = G. Kirchner and G. Klaffenbach, Imagines Inscriptionum Atticarum 2 (1935).
Korinthische Normalkapitelle = W.-D. Heilmeyer, Korinthische Normalkapitelle. 16 Erganzungsheft des Deutsches Archäologisches Institut in Rom (1970).
Roussel, Cultes Eg. = P. Roussel, Les Cultes Egyptiens à Delos Paris and Nancy (1915–16).
Svoronos (1903) = Svoronos, J., Das Athener Nationalmuseum Vols. I–II (1903).Google Scholar
Vidman, Sylloge = Vidman, L., Sylloge Inscriptionum religionis Isiacae et Sarapiacae (Berlin 1969).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
1 Walker, S., ‘Corinthian capitals with ringed voids: the work of Athenian craftsmen in the second century A.D.’ AA (1979: 103–29).Google Scholar For the current attribution of the group, see J. Travlos, Athens 128, figs. 181–2 with earlier bibliography.
2 IG ii2 3120. Travlos, Athens, 128.
3 W.-D. Heilmeyer, Korinthische Normalkapitelle, 73, n. 283.
4 Koumanoudes, S., Athenaion 6 (1877) 146 no. 27.Google ScholarVersakis, Ph., AE 1913, 69–70Google Scholar, fig. 24.
5 Versakis, Ph., AE 1913, 73 fig. 33.Google Scholar
6 e.g. Koehler, U., ‘Der Suedabhang der Akropolis in Athen’ AM ii (1877) 256.Google Scholar
7 IG ii2 4771= Hicks BMInscr i. 57 = Vidman, Sylloge no. 16.
8 IG ii2 3733 = Imag. Inscr. Attic. 2 no. 131 (photo). = EM 10374. See also Follet, S., Athènes au IIe et IIIe siècles après J-C (1976) 111 and below p. 247.Google Scholar
9 For a recent discussion, see Beschi, L. ‘Contributi di topografia ateniese’ Ann. 29–30 (1967–1968) 512–17Google Scholar with earlier bibliography.
10 On Christian building activity, see Travlos, J., ‘I Palaiochristianiki Vasiliki tou Asklipiou ton Athinon’ AE 1939–1941 (1948) 35–68.Google Scholar
11 Descr. Graec. I.22.I. Frazer, , Pausanias III, 243–4.Google Scholar
12 On the Stoa of Eumenes, see Travlos, Athens 523–6.
13 See Beschi, op. cit. n. 9 and Martin, R.-Metzger, H., ‘Recherches d'architecture et de topographie à l'Asklepieion d'Athènes’ BCH lxxiii (1949) 340–50.Google Scholar
14 Koumanoudes and Versakis, op. cit. n. 4.
15 Travlos, Athens p. 61. no. 105 fig. 71
16 Travlos, Athens p. 61, no. 114 fig. 71. Although Travlos clearly distinguishes between this shrine and the Asklepieion in his text, the spring-house is unfortunately entered as ‘Asklepieion Spring-house’ on pp. 138–42.
17 Travlos, Athens, 142 fig. 193 = NM 1966—a relief dating to the later second century B.C., showing the nymphs with Pan and Hermes. See also Kastriotis, K., AE 1903, 41, 21.Google Scholar; J. Svoronos, (1903) pl. 136; Ervin, M., ΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ ΠΟΝΤΟΥ 21 (1958) 129–46.Google Scholar
See also the so-called Archandros relief, showing the nymphs and Pan: IG ii2 4545 = NM 1329; Milchhoefer, A., AM 5 (1880) 206–23Google Scholar; Svoronos, (1903) no. 26, 243–4, pl. 44; M. Ervin, op. cit. 147–8, Fuchs, W., AM 77 (1962) 242–9Google Scholar; Travlos, Athens fig. 192; Mitropoulou, E., Attic Votive Reliefs (1977) 54–5Google Scholar, no. 93, fig. 141.
For a relief of the nymphs found on the south slope and dedicated by a priest of Asklepios, , IG ii 24372Google Scholar = NM 2439, cf. Peek, W., AM lxvii (1942) 55Google Scholar, no. 88. This relief dates to the fourth century B.C.
18 Travlos, Athens, p. 138.
19 IG ii2 4994. Dow, S. ‘The Egyptian Cults in Athens’ HarvThRev 30 (1937) 214.Google Scholar
20 The plaque is now in the Paul Kanellopoulos collection. I am grateful to M. Pierre Amandry, Director of the École Française d'Athènes, for permitting me to mention the plaque in the text of this article in advance of its full publication. I should also like to thank M. Pierre Aupert, assistant Director of the École Française, for his help in recovering information about the plaque.
The archon named in the plaque, Gellius Xenokrates, does not appear in any of the archon lists. Gellius Xenagoras, however, was archon in A.D. 138 and may well be a relation: it is clear that the Gellii rose to prominence in second-century Athenian politics. See most recently Traili, J. S.Hesperia 47 (1978) 323 No. 39Google Scholar, pl. 86 (with references).
21 See nn. 6 and 7 above.
22 See n. 8 above.
23 Euripides, Hippolytos 30 ff. with schol.
24 IG i2 310 lines 280–1. IG i2 324, 1.69.
25 Paus I.22.I. Frazer, Pausamos 2.243–4.
26 Travlos, Athens 127–8 with bibliography. The inscription describing the foundation is IG ii2 4960.
27 Martin-Metzger, op. cit. n. 13.
28 IG ii2 1046.
29 IG ii2 3120.
30 IG ii2 3188. Graindor, P., Athènes de Tibère à Trajan (1931). 164.Google Scholar
31 Travlos, , Athens 128, fig. 177 p. 132.Google Scholar
32 Travlos, , AE 1939–1944 (1948) 35–68.Google Scholar
33 AM ii (1877) 248. Beschi, , Ann. 29–30 (1967–1968) 515.Google Scholar
34 Now that this structure can be securely identified as the Temple of Themis, work needs to be done to restore the superstructure and to clarify the history of the building. I regret that this lies beyond the scope of this article.
35 S. Walker, op. cit. n. 1, 109–111.
36 Other comparable examples can be found at sites in western Asia Minor; Strong, D. E., ‘Late Hadrianic Architectural Ornament in Rome’ PBSR N.S. viii (1953) pp. 118 ff.Google Scholar For a less ornate example from an Antonine fountain flanking the Propylaea at Eleusis, see Orlandos, A. K., ‘I krini tis Elefsinos’ in Studies presented to Edward G. Capps (1936), p. 290 (fig. 9).Google Scholar
37 Börker, C., ‘Zwei vergessene Giebel in Athen’, AA 1976, 264–78.Google Scholar
38 On associations of serpents with the cult of Isis, see Tinh, Tram tan, Le Culte d'Isis à Pompei (1964) pp. 106–8Google Scholar and for a similar serpent, Cat. No. 58, Pl. xiv.1. For a serpent climbing up the ankle of a colossal Pentelic marble foot, see Dow, S., Harv.Th.Rev. 30 (1937) 198Google Scholar, fig. 3. The foot is associated with a Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods located within the estate of Herodes Atticus at Marathon. See AAA (1968) 230–4.
39 The use of the dado is widespread even on the exterior of the buildings in later Hadrianic Athens. For a general summary see Kokkou, A., ADelt 25 (1970) A, 150–73Google Scholar, figs. 1–7. Pls. 47–56.
40 The screens before the Temple of Isis within Serapeion C at Delos were dedicated along widi a paved area in front of the temple . . . τὸ λιθόστρωτον καὶ τὰς κιγκλίδας ᾿ Roussel, Cultes Eg. no. 146. The similarity of the plan of the Doric Temple of Isis on Delos and the naiskos of Isis on the Acropolis is quite striking, Roussel pl. iii opp. p. 48, fig. 10 p. 59. The Delian temple was dedicated by the Athenian people.
Κιγκλίδας however, could also be intercolumnar screens: IG ii2 1668 1.65 (347–346 B.C.); In P.Oxy. 2146.12 κάγκελλοι synonymous with κιγκλίδες are associated with a portico in an inventory dating to the third century A.D. For κάγκελλοι in a problematic context in a sanctuary of the Egyptian gods at Pikermi, see Pollitt, J. J., ‘The Egyptian Gods in Attica’, Hesperia xxxiv (1965) esp. p. 130.Google Scholar
41 Miliades, , PAE 1955, 49.Google Scholar I am most grateful to Professor G. Dontas for allowing me to examine and photograph the statue at my leisure, and for giving me much additional information of value.
42 Professor Dontas suggests that this is Eleusinian limestone, the material used for the background of the frieze of the Erechtheion. I have not been able to find other large free-standing statues made of this stone. For a large statue of Artemis Diktynia in the sanctuary at Antikyra, Phocis, said to have been made of dark Aiginetan stone, see Pausanias, x. 36.3.
43 I am most grateful to Miss Elizabeth Walters for her helpful comments on this problem. Comparative material has been published in ADelt (1926), 70 and by Conze, A., Die Attischen Grabreliefs, (1911–1922) Band IV, no. 1868, pl. cccxcii.Google Scholar
44 IG ii2 4770 = EM 8618. For a full discussion, see below, p. 255–6.
45 See n. 1 and p. 251.
46 Surprisingly little has been written about the effect of these changes upon the Greek city-states. For some general observations, see J. B. Ward-Perkins, Etruscan and Roman Architecture (1970), shortly to be reissued in amended and updated form. See also McMullen, R. ‘Roman Imperial Building in the Provinces’, Harv. St. lxiv (1959) 207–37.Google Scholar
47 IG ii2 4771= Hicks, BMInscr. 57 = Vidman, Sylloge 16.
IG ii2 4772 = Vidman, Sylloge 16.
IG ii2 3733 = Imag. Inscr. Attic,2 no. 131 (ill.).
On Dionysios of Marathon, see also Graindor, P., Athènes sous Hadrien (1931) 132. 160–5Google Scholar; Woloch, M., Roman Citizenship and the Athenian Élite A.D. 96–161 (1973) 3Google Scholar; Meritt, B. and Traill, J. S., The Athenian Agora XV: The Athenian Councillors (1974) no. 322d, 244Google Scholar; Follet, S., Athènes au IIe et IIIe siècles après J–C. (1976) 111. 205.Google Scholar
With special reference to Dionysios as priest of Isis, see Dunand, F.Le Culte d'Isis … II (1973) 134 n. 4, 136.Google Scholar
48 On the priesthood generally, see Dunand, F., Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 136–48, 153.Google Scholar
49 Kern, O., R.E. ix (1914) col. 613Google Scholar s.v. ίακχαγῶγος Mylonas, G., Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (1961) 236, 253.Google Scholar
50 Graindor, op. cit. 132 = IG ii2 5044.
51 IG ii2 3733. See n. 47.
52 These links perhaps derive from the use of Athenian advisors in the devising of Isiac ritual under the Ptolemies: one of the advisors was Timotheos, a member of the Eumolpidai who controlled the exercise of ritual at Eleusis. See Dow, S., Harv.Th.Rev. 30 (1937) 186–7.Google Scholar
53 IG ii2 4772. See n. 47.
54 IG ii2 4771. See n. 47. Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … II (1973) 135.Google Scholar
Heyob, S. K., The Cult of Isis among women in the Graeco-Roman World (1975) 104Google Scholar; the donor is incorrectly described as the daughter of the stolist (see p. 255).
55 Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 164.Google Scholar
Roussel, Cultes Eg. 175c. 67, 22, 27.
56 Philochorus FrGr.Hist. 328 F.8. Hesychius s.v. Kanephoroi cf. Bekker, Anecd. i, 270, 32.Google Scholar I am indebted to I. D. Jenkins for these references. See also Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 144.Google Scholar
57 See S. Dow op.cit. n. 52.
58 See n. 55 and Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 155.Google Scholar
59 Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 156.Google Scholar
60 A similar connection may be inferred from the case of Nikippe, female president of an Athenian society of Sarapiastai in 215–214 B.C., IG ii2 1292 = Hicks, BMInscr. 21 = Vidman, Sylloge no. 2. See also Dow, S., HarvThRev xxx (1937) 188–9Google Scholar; S. K. Heyob, op. cit. n. 54 105.
61 IG ii2 4771; IG ii2 4772 (see n. 47). M. Woloch, op. cit. n. 47, 3, no. 1.
62 On the office of stolist, see Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … II (1973) 137, 141.Google Scholar
63 IG ii2 4771; IG ii2 4772 (see n. 47). IG ii2 4770 = ME 8618.
64 IG ii2 4772= Vidman, Sylloge 16. On the role of the zakoros, see Dow, , HarvThRev xxx (1937) 201.Google ScholarDunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 159.Google Scholar
65 Pollitt, J. J., Hesperia xxxiv (1965) 125–30, esp. p. 128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
66 IG ii2 4770 (see n. 63).
67 One other such divinity was Magna Mater. See IG ii2 1328 Dow, , HarvThRev xxx (1937) 201.Google Scholar
68 Pape, W., Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen (1863–1870) 710Google Scholar s.v. Κρανάη
69 On the duties of the ἀγιαφόρος see Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … III (1973) 157.Google Scholar
70 The site has not been exactly located, but the general area is indicated by finds of reliefs, dedicatory inscriptions and monumental caryatids. It is also noted by Pausanias 1,18,4. See Dunand, , Le Culte d'Isis … II (1973) 133–4.Google Scholar For the caryatids see Bulle, H., AM xix (1894) 149–55Google Scholar, fig. 3,4,5.
71 Weber, W., Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Kaisers Hadrianus (1907) 247–8.Google Scholar
72 IG ii2 4815 = Vidman, Sylloge no. 26.
73 IG ii2 3564 = Vidman, Sylloge no. 19.