|
EXCAVATIONS ON THE WEST SLOPE OF THE ACROPOLIS. I
General overview (p.496)
[Article originally published in 1894 in Communications of the German Imperial Archaeological Institute, Athenian Section, vol.XIX, pp.496-509.]
The
picture of the old city of Athens, which classical studies have worked
out for years, is still in many respects a picture of the imagination.
It is true that some parts of the picture have been clarified and
definitively established through the excavations of the last 60 years
and through the studies of many researchers, but there are still quite
a few dark spots, and the Attic topography still has a number of
open questions. Even on some key points of the city's history and on
the location of several important sanctuaries and public buildings, the
views of scholars still differ widely.
Where
was the oldest agora in Athens and where was the later agora with the
king's hall and the other stones, with the temples of Apollo, the
mother of the gods and Ares, with the buleuterion and the tholos and
with the old orchestra? Where is the Eleusinion to be placed with its
temples and other facilities? Where is the oldest city to be imagined,
that ancient polis which Thucydides (II, 15) describes? Where were the
ancient sanctuaries that Thucydides assigns to this oldest city, namely
the older sanctuaries of Zeus, Apollon Pythios, Ge and Dionysos, and
where was the old and only city spring, the Kallirroe, which
Peisistratos converted into the famous nine-mouthed Enneakrunos and
which was so close to that oldest city that originally all Athenians
fetched their water there?
Experts will give very different
(p.497) answers to these questions. Many believe that the four ancient
sanctuaries and the Enneakrunos can be proven southeast of the
Acropolis on the Ilissos. They also claim to own one of the buildings
of the market in the Attalosstoa. Some people look for the oldest Agora
in the south of the Acropolis and many imagine the ancient polis to be
near the Ilissos. But I think these views are incorrect. The
Attalosstoa belongs to the Hellenistic extension of the ancient Agora;
this itself lay west and north-west of the castle in the valley between
the Theseion hill (the Colonos Agoraios), the Areopagus and the Pnyx
since the oldest times. In my opinion, not a single building from her
has yet been found. And for a long time I believe that those
sanctuaries located near the oldest city must not be located in the
south-east at Ilissos, but in the opposite part of the city, namely on
the west and north-west slopes of the Acropolis. The oldest polis
included only the Acropolis and its southern and southwestern foot and
had its main gate opposite the Areopagus.
I have not yet
published the reasons for these differing views, because I hoped that
the spade would finally solve all the pending questions. It seemed
useless to me to add a new theories about ancient Athens as long as the
soil itself had not been sufficiently examined, and no attempt had even
been made to discover the much disputed buildings themselves.
As
early as 1887, on behalf of the institute, I carried out the first
excavations to determine the location and extent of the market place by
digging a few trenches to the west and north-west of the Areopagus.
Although several buildings were found and also the road leading from
the agora to the Piraean gate was discovered, the success was not
significant, because the buildings remained unrecognized in relation to
their shape and purpose because of the small width and great depth of
the dug ditches (cf. Ath.Mitt. XI, p. 153).
(p.498)
Despite this not very encouraging start, I undertook new excavations in
early 1892, for which the central management of the institute again
approved the funds. This time the results were so satisfactory that I
received additional funds from the institute for the two following
winters of 1892-1894. Preliminary reports on the results obtained
appeared in this journal (Ath.Mitt.
XVI p.443; XVII p.90 and 439; XIX p.143). Among the most important
finds were: the road leading from the agora to the acropolis and
several other paths, a small sanctuary, over which a lesche was later
built, several private houses, the precinct of a healing god, the
meeting house of the lobakchen, below it the ruins of a ancient
sanctuary of Dionysos and finally important remains of the city
fountain that was primarily sought after, the famous Enneakrunos.
Unfortunately,
we were only able to dig up small pieces of these structures. Their
complete exposure was not possible for two reasons. First, permission
to excavate was granted by the property owners only on condition that
the ditches and holes would be filled in again. Therefore, the
excavated masses of earth had to be heaped up to form mounds, which
always stood in the way of the continuation of the work. Secondly,
resources were so limited that only a few workers could dig and only
for a short time.
Both obstacles are now lifted. When important
buildings, numerous sculptures and several inscriptions were found last
winter, the Greek government decided to expropriate the entire western
slope of the Acropolis and leave it to the German institute for
excavation. At the same time she gave permission to remove all masses
of earth; a re-burial of the uncovered buildings is now out of the
question. The institute owes the Greek government a great debt of
gratitude (p.498). In particular, I would like to express my deepest
gratitude to Prime Minister Ch. Trikupis and General Ephoros P.
Kavvadias for their generous support of the company.
Then, at
the request of Prof. A. Conze, envoy Dr. Krüger and Prof. Theodor
Mommsen provided the Athenian institute with the means to be able to
dig through the winter of 1894/95 with more plentiful workers and to be
able to uncover a large part of the western castle slope. I feel the
need to publicly express my warmest thanks to the organizers of the
appeal and to the kind donors here, as follows:
Messrs. Delbrück, Leo and C. in Berlin,
Professor Dr. Friedberg in Halle
Baron von Heyl zu Herrnsheim in Worms,
Madam Geheimer Commerzienrätin Herz in Berlin,
Mr. Commerzienrath Heinrich Lehmann in Halle,
Mr. Franz Freiherr von Lipperheide in Berlin,
Mr. Arthur Löbbecke in Braunschweig,
Professor Dr. Martius in Bonn,
Mr. Geheimer Commerzienrath Ernst Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in Berlin,
Mr. Franz von Mendelssohn in Berlin,
Mr. Robert von Mendelssohn in Berlin,
Mr. Geheimer Commerzienrath von Mevissen in Cologne,
Mr. Hugo Oppenheim in Berlin,
Mr Jakob Pini in Hamburg,
Professor Dr. Schultze in Bonn
Mr. Ferdinand Scipio in Mannheim,
Mr. Geheimer Commerzienrath Gustav Siegle in Stuttgart,
Mr. W. Spemann in Stuttgart,
Mr. Geheimer Commerzienrath Dr. Killian Steiner in Stuttgart (p.500)
Mr.Geheimer Commerzienrath Veit in Berlin,
Mr. R. Zanders in Bergiseh-Gladbach,
Mr. Josef Ziintz, Royal Greek Consul in Bonn,
The
new excavations began in October 1894 and are to be continued without
interruption throughout the winter until Easter. The first task that
was set for us consisted in the complete uncovering of the sanctuary of
Dionysos, which had been discovered the previous year, and its
immediate surroundings. After this work was completed at the beginning
of December, the second task was to uncover the location of the old
well house and the square in front of it. At the same time, the
exploration of the old springs and the great aqueduct of the
Peisistratos should be completed. Our third task will be the complete
uncovering of the district of a healing god found earlier, the smaller
Asklepieion. Fourth, we shall seek out the Eleusinion, which must have
been above the well, and excavate part of it. Whether we shall be able
to attack the west slope of the Areopagus this year in search of the
Odeion, the Orchestra, and the Ares Temple cannot yet be foreseen.
The
detailed publication of the results of this work should take place in
the order in which the buildings are uncovered. We intend to begin with
the Sanctuary of Dionysus, the excavation of which has been fully
completed.
For a better understanding of these individual
essays, it is necessary to first give a brief overview of all the roads
and buildings found so far. This is done in connection with a plan
published on Plate 14, which contains the entire lower part of the
western slope of the Acropolis on a scale of 1:1000, and the individual
parts of which will later be repeated on a larger scale. Because of the
format of this journal, the plate had to be oriented (p.501) so that
East is at the top and North is to the left. At the lower edge of the
plan one can see the eastern rocky slope of the Pnyx Hill and at the
left edge the south-western corner of the Areopagus. Today's road,
planted with trees, which leads up from the so-called Theseion to the
Acropolis, can be recognized on the map by the small circles denoting
the trees; it runs along the slope of the Pnyx Hill, turns eastwards on
the right edge of the plan to Herod's Theater and turns north-east
again in an even larger curve to the gate of the Acropolis. The latter
is to be placed just above the middle of the plan at a distance of 10m
(= 100'm).
The old road that we uncovered, which has
approximately the same direction and slope as today, is highlighted on
the plan by a full dot. Where it is not yet established, its framing
lines are also dotted. It was once the main road from the market to the
Acropolis. By and large, any technician could determine their position
and direction in advance, based on the ground conditions. I have
accepted it as it has now emerged in my Athenian lectures for years
(cf. Jane E. Harrison. Ancient Athens,
Plan of the Agora); Likewise, Paul Weizsäcker, with the support of an
expert, drew the road in the correct way earlier in his essay on the
Athens market (Yearbook for Classical Philology, 1887, p. 612).
On
the right-hand side of our map, where the old road makes the big curve
to reach the castle gate, several paths branched off, which led on the
one hand up to the Pnyx and to the district of Koile, on the other hand
down to the Itonic gate. So here was one of the most important Ways of
the Cross in ancient Athens. In my opinion, Pausanias also followed our
street up to this point on his hike from the market, only to then turn
back to the Hephaestus temple (the so-called Theseion) west of the
market on the Colonos Agoraios (p.502) and the sanctuary of Aphrodite
Urania, which has now been rediscovered (cf. E. Reisch, Der Dionysos des Alkamenes, in the Eranos Vindobonensis, p.
22). If he only follows the road to the castle as far as this crossing
point, it shouldn't seem strange to someone who knows that the Perieget
later comes close to this point on the way from the theater to the
castle gate.
The road itself with its drainage canals, manholes,
water pipes and footpaths will be described later when it is fully
revealed. Here are some byways drawn on the plan, which came to light
during the excavations. One led from the Areopagus past the east side
of Dionysion to the square in front of the Enneakrunos, the other, the
beginning of which is uncovered next to the Asklepieion, formed the
straight connection between the castle gate and the city fountain. It
is the path taken by the daughters of the Athenians when they left the
castle to draw water from the spring then called Kallirroe ( Herodotus
VI, 137 ).
Fig.1: Map of excavated areas along ancient road between Acropolis and Agora (detail of Plate XIV, Ath.Mitt.XIX, 1894)
A
long series of not insignificant buildings and districts have been
unearthed along the main road, which are indicated on the plan. The
older walls, dating from Greek times, are laid out entirely in black,
while the younger ones are partly only drawn in lines, partly
completely omitted. It is best to begin the brief description of these
various occasions at the lower northern end of the street, and consider
first the western and then the eastern side.
From
the building marked D, situated to the west of the Areopagus, two walls
forming a corner, built of polygonal limestone, have been found. Next
to them a footpath leads to the people's meeting place, up to the Pnyx.
An upper part of it, provided with rock steps, is uncovered at C. The
course of the road from B to F could not be determined because its
excavation is prevented by the current road. However, their (p.503)
direction is determined by the building uncovered at D, presumably a
residential building, whose direction depended on that of the street
At
F we found an originally open quadrangular exedra, in which the
substructure of a small temple and a round altar have been preserved
(cf. XVII p. 91 above). A boundary stone that is still in its place
confirms that this sanctuary was built in the VI century BC. In the 4th
century the Hieron was already buried and a new building was erected
over it, which extends under the present road to the rocky slope of
Pnyx extends and is revealed at E. Two landmarks by the road show that
this new building was a Lesche.
To the south follows a small
private house G with two mortgage inscriptions from the IV century; its
depth has not yet been determined. The adjoining, also ancient Greek
building H, about 31 m long, can be a private house, but because of its
size one might prefer to think of a public building. Only when the
ground plan has been uncovered further will it be possible to make a
more definite judgement.
At J, K and L, opposite the two ancient
side roads coming from the Areopagus and the Acropolis, the walls of a
late Roman house (X) are found, occupying all the space between the
road and the Pnyx rock. It is not yet listed on our plan because it
only came to light during the printing process. Only the front walls on
the street have already been entered. The house consists of a large
atrium or perislyl formed by 12 columns and several rooms lying around
it. The walls are patched together from all sorts of construction
fabric, and various pieces are also used for the bases of the columns.
Underneath
this house, which is undoubtedly late, is an older building, which is
only one (p.504) room deep and dates from late Greek or early Roman
times. A stone of the front wall bears an inscription of Horos on its
side, which probably still belongs to the IV century BC and names
Aristodemus from Aphidna as the holder of a mortgage on the house. The
stone was probably taken from an older building and used here for the
second time; the purpose of the building is therefore not secured by
this.
Between this building and the Pnyx rock there is an almost
20m wide and 40m long square, which is connected to the old road by an
almost 10m wide entrance. In all antiquity, up to the construction of
that late Roman house, the city fountain of Athens was situated on this
spot. The well house with the nine estuaries was located in front of
the rock face under today's road, according to small remains.... The
excavations here have not yet been completed and can only be done
slowly with great difficulty be carried out because the road, which is
planted with trees and very busy, is in the way and can only be
examined in places.
The ancient springs visible (Thucydides
II, 15) once emerged from the rock here and are still clearly preserved
in clear remnants, which have emerged between the Pnyx and the
present-day road. In my opinion, the rock chamber O and the basin P
accessible from it belong to the oldest spring, Kallirroe, whose water
was later fetched by all Athenians for sacred rites. In front of this
spring, Peisistratos had created the nine-mouthed fountain by directing
copious amounts of water to this very spot next to the ancient city
fountain by means of a great pipe.
The old fountain house itself
has been destroyed. But the ancient springs and water systems, the
large aqueduct from the VI century that flows here, the numerous deep
canals for draining the used water, the (p.505) characteristic stones
of the old well house, the countless younger aqueducts and the
surprisingly large number of approx twenty deep wells leave no doubt
that all the city wells, the famous Enneakrunos, were located here.
The
remains found bear clear testimony to a conversion of the fountain
house in the early Roman period. The bottom of the large water tank and
thus also the outlet openings were lowered by almost 1.50 m at that
time. Since an exact dating of the reconstruction is not possible, it
must remain undecided whether Pausanias saw the structure in the old or
in a changed condition. In late Roman times, when that large dwelling
house (X) was built, the large reservoir as well as the fountain itself
fell into disrepair. At that time, the water from the large pipeline
was led to the lower town by means of clay pipes.
The
above-mentioned stones of the old well house were used for the
construction of the later residential house and were broken out of the
walls. Some of them have already been mentioned earlier (Ath. Mitt.
XVII p.443), others, and among them a limestone block, in which a 0.34
m large lion's head serving as the mouth of the fountain was apparently
embedded, have just now been found. The square in front of the fountain
house was separated by an old polygonal retaining wall from the higher
building M, which must be attributed to the Roman period because of its
design and its mosaic floors. Whether it was a residential building is
not certain. Between it and the Pnyx rock lies the large water basin N
(cf. Ath. Mitt.
XVII p.441), which was once the reservoir of the Enneakrunos.
Originally small, it was enlarged and deepened in Roman times. Its
complete exposure is prevented by today's road: the enclosure should be
determined if possible.
The large (p.506) aqueduct, which was
undoubtedly connected in the VI century and later repaired several
times, still ends at this basin. The line and the rock gallery were
found last year and were then described in this journal (Ath. Mitt. XIX
p.143). We have now traced the tunnel to the Dionysus Theater, where it
runs between the two temples of Dionysus. Here, too, the line was
partly relocated in Roman times. Detailed plans of the entire facility
will be released after the investigation is complete.
These are
the buildings previously found on the western side of the old street.
Opposite them, on the eastern side, are a number of other no less
valuable structures, among which are several sanctuaries.
First,
to the west of the Areopagus, is the building A of unknown extent
and purpose, probably still belonging to the Greek period. Then the
south-west corner of the Areopag comes so close to the street that
there is no room for a larger building in between. The exposed rock
here shows many indentations, the only remains of several buildings
that once covered this corner of Ares Hill. It is not impossible that
one of these incorporations, which seems to have belonged to a large
covenant building, is the last remnant of the Odeion, which Pausanias
mentions after the Ares temple and the old orchestra. Only further
excavations of the entire slope will be able to give a sure judgment
here allow.
Of the following building, marked T on the plan,
only small fragments of ancient limestone walls have been found, but
these do not suffice to determine the plan and purpose of the building.
To the south, this building abuts a path that rises very steeply to the
east, which connects our road with the already mentioned path to the
Areopagus. It is easily recognizable as a public road, firstly by the
frequently renewed stone embankment and then by the water canal, which
lies under the road surface.
p.567) Further south, opposite the
buildings F, G and H, a sacred precinct surrounded by streets and
almost triangular in plan is uncovered, in which the precinct of
Dionysos in the Limnai, the much sought-after Lenaion may recognize.
The sanctuary, surrounded by an ancient polygonal limestone wall, was
lower than the streets and is relatively well preserved, having been
buried and built over in antiquity. In the middle of the old district
lies the substructure of a large table-shaped altar of 3 m square, on
the western step of which two stone steles once stood, as the remaining
incorporations clearly show.
A well-preserved Greek wine press
has been excavated in the north-west corner of Hieron, over which a
smaller press was built more recently. In the southern corner we have
uncovered the foundations of a small ancient temple, which had a square
cella and a pronaos facing south-east. The complexes are drawn in black
on the plan and therefore stand out clearly from the younger buildings,
which are left white on the plan and were certainly only built when the
old Dionysion was already buried two meters deep. The finds show that
the older complex was a sacred area of Dionysus; that it is the
Lenaion, according to the ancient writers the district was in the Limnai.
The
younger complex extends to the east across the street and the
neighboring building and is secured in writing as the baccheion, as the
assembly hall of the thiasos of the lobakchen. The statutes of this
association written on a pillar in the hall have been published above
(p. 248). Dionysion and Baccheion are both to be described and dealt
with in detail in this journal in the near future. The Dionysion was
found last spring, but it was not fully uncovered until October and
November of this winter.
On the other side of the road which
borders the Dionysion to the east (p.508) are found the walls and
floors of an all-Greek building, the plan of which is still unknown,
but which deserves special interest because of some well-preserved
mosaics. Here we have probably the oldest Greek mosaic floors before
us; for the walls, which are contemporaneous with the floors, show old
polygonal limestone masonry. The floor surface is made of round or flat
pebbles, cut in half and ground. A few simple patterns (circle with
cross and rhombuses) are represented by changing the colours.
The
technology and the state of preservation of the floors is excellent in
two rooms. Whether a private house can be identified in the building
must remain undecided for the time being, because only a small part of
the whole building has been excavated. Since it is by all appearances
very large and, in addition, shows a stately design for that early
time, one may perhaps assume it to have been a public building.
Further
south we come to the precincts of a healing god which we found and
partially excavated two years ago. The finds made at that time, among
which there was also a relief with the dedicatory inscription to
Asklepios, were discussed in the previous year of this journal (Ath.Mitt.
XVIII p. 231). The complete uncovering of the sanctuary will be one of
our next tasks. Perhaps this district already forms part of the great
sanctuary of Demeter and Köre, the urban Eleusinion, which we are
looking for further south.
So far, as the plan indicates, we
have uncovered only part of the enclosing wall by the road. Since the
excavations have not yet provided anything that would be suitable to
prove this assumption, I must content myself for the time being with
the assurance that the situation fits the statements of the authors
excellently. Because of the importance that the Eleusinion has for
Attic topography and for many other areas of archeology, we shall
regard its further exploration as the (p.509) most important task for
the work of the next few months.
This brief overview of the
finds so far should serve as a basis for the later treatment of the
individual buildings. This will have convinced the reader that some
important results have been obtained from the previous excavations. If
the discovery of the old road leading to the Acropolis is a gain that
should not be underestimated, the final discovery of the Stadtbrunne
and some sanctuaries (especially the Dionysion in the Limnai) is of
very drastic importance and will change the picture of ancient Athens
in essential points
I close with the hope that the further
finds will be of such a kind that any remaining doubts are excluded,
and that the new discoveries can generally be regarded as a secure
basis for a new history of the city.
Athens, January 12, 1895.
WILHELM DORPFELD.
[Return to table of contents]
|
|