8th-Century BC Works - 8th-Century BC Architecture, 8th-Century BC Steles, Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Hezekiah Tunnel, Sefire (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: 8th-Century Bc Architecture, 8th-Century Bc Steles, Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, Hezekiah Tunnel, Sefire, ineky Inscription, Shabaka Stone, Broad Wall. Excerpt: The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, an Archaic site devoted in Classical times to Artemis, was one of the most important religious sites in the Greek city-state of Sparta. The cult of Orthia was common to the four villages originally constituting Sparta: Limnai, in which it is situated, Pitana, Kynosoura and Mesoa. Chronologically speaking, it probably came after the cult to the city-goddess Athena / Poliokhos "protectress of the city" or / Khalkoikos "of the bronze house". The sanctuary is located in a natural basin between Limnai and the west bank of the Eurotas River, outside ancient Sparta, above the reach of all but the severest flooding. The oldest relics, pottery fragments from the late Greek Dark Ages, indicate that the cult has probably existed since the tenth century BCE, but not before (Rose in Dawkins 1929:399). Originally, the cult celebrated its rituals on a rectangular earthen altar, built up by the ashes of successive sacrifices. At the very beginning of the eighth century BCE, the temenos was paved with river stones and surrounded by a trapezoidal wall. A wood and stone altar was then built as well as a temple. The works were financed by the wars waged by Sparta. A second temple was built in 570 BCE, during the joint reign of Leo of Sparta and Agasicles as military successes provided funds. The terrain was raised and consolidated, undoubtedly following erosion caused by the Evrotas. An altar and a temple of limestone, oriented the same way as the previous buildings, were built on a bed of river sand. The surrounding wall was also enlarged, and at this stage took on ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=5266359