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THE SO-CALLED VILLA DIONYSOS AT KNOSSOS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2022

Sara Paton
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Abstract

The excavated part of the building known as the Villa Dionysos consists of a peristyle court with rooms on three sides. The rooms have fine mosaic floors, found in a remarkable state of preservation. The excavator, Michael Gough, believed that the building was an isolated structure intended for the practice of Dionysiac cult, and he interpreted his finds in the light of this conviction. After his last season of work in 1971, his views were expressed in a short report (Catling 1972, 21–2). Gough died in 1973 having published no further details of his four seasons of work on the site and, except for some diaries and photographs, many of the records are lost. The pottery from his excavations was, however, fully published in 1983 by John Hayes, and the mosaics were published by Rebecca Sweetman in 2013. Further study of the site, together with the pottery evidence, indicates that the peristyle and its associated rooms were the public reception area of an elaborately decorated Roman domus of the second century AD, and that adjacent buildings to the south may have been the private quarters of this house. A large cistern, connected to the aqueduct, provided a copious water supply. The Dionysiac imagery of the mosaics, together with the extraordinary range of imported wine amphorae found on the premises, suggest that the owner may have prospered through the wine trade.

Η λεγόμενη «Έπαυλη του Διονύσου» στην Κνωσό

Το ανεσκαμμένο μέρος του κτηρίου γνωστό ως η Έπαυλη του Διονύσου αποτελείται από μια περίστυλη αυλή με δωμάτια στις τρεις πλευρές. Τα δωμάτια έχουν εκλεπτυσμένα ψηφιδωτά δάπεδα, τα οποία σώζονται σε αξιοσημείωτη κατάσταση διατήρησης. Ο ανασκαφέας, Michael Gough, πίστευε ότι το κτήριο ήταν ένα απομονωμένο οικοδόμημα προορισμένο για την πρακτική της Διονυσιακής λατρείας, και ερμήνευσε τα ευρήματα υπό το πρίσμα αυτής της πεποίθησης. Μετά από την τελευταία ερευνητική περίοδό του το 1971 οι απόψεις του διατυπώθηκαν σε μια σύντομη έκθεση (Catling 1972, 21–2). Ο Gough πέθανε το 1973 χωρίς να έχει δημοσιεύσει περαιτέρω λεπτομέρειες από τις τέσσερις ανασκαφικές περιόδους του στη θέση αυτή, και εκτός από μερικά ημερολόγια και φωτογραφίες πολλά από τα αρχεία είναι χαμένα. Η κεραμική από τις ανασκαφές του, παρά ταύτα, δημοσιεύτηκε πλήρως το 1983 από τον John Hayes, και τα ψηφιδωτά δημοσιεύτηκαν από τη Rebecca Sweetman το 2013. Περαιτέρω μελέτη στο χώρο μαζί με την μαρτυρία της κεραμικής, υποδεικνύει ότι το περιστύλιο και τα σχετιζόμενα δωμάτιά του ήταν ο δημόσιος χώρος υποδοχής ενός περίτεχνα διακοσμημένου Ρωμαϊκού domus του δεύτερου αιώνα μ.Χ., και ότι τα παρακείμενα οικοδομήματα στα νότια θα μπορούσαν να είναι τα ιδιωτικά διαμερίσματα της οικίας. Μια μεγάλη δεξαμενή, συνδεδεμένη με το υδραγωγείο, παρείχε άφθονο νερό. Η Διονυσιακή εικονογραφία των ψηφιδωτών, μαζί με την εντυπωσιακή ποικιλία των επείσακτων αμφορέων οίνου που βρέθηκαν στους χώρους, υποδεικνύουν ότι ο ιδιοκτήτης ενδέχεται να ευημερούσε μέσω του εμπορίου οίνου.

Μετάφραση: Στ. Ιερεμίας

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Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 117 , December 2022 , pp. 311 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Council, British School at Athens

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