DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.749#0105
THE TEMPLE
PAGE 163
Fig. 1. Stylobate of Temple at Assos
(Fragment of Ridge Acroterion seen in centre)
THE temple of Assos, the chief building of the city,
was consecrated to Athena. Of this there can be little
doubt, because of the invariable occurrence of the
head of that deity upon the obverse of all the coins of Assos,
excepting those of the later Roman Empire, when the por-
traits of the rulers were substituted. This supposition is ren-
dered almost a certainty by the mention of “the pure virgin
whom our fathers worshiped” upon the bronze inscription
discovered in the Agora (page 66) which records the oath of
allegiance taken by the Assians upon the accession of Caligula.
The worship of Athena was universal throughout Mysia. Even
in the Homeric legend, her temple was the principal sanctuary
of Troy; she was the patron of Pergamon, Adramyttion, and
other cities in the neighborhood of Assos.
Before entering into a detailed consideration of the temple,
it will be well to give some account of the rock of the Acrop-
olis, as this material was exclusively employed in the con-
struction not only of this most ancient and most important
monument, but of almost all the other edifices of the Greek
town. This stone, the second in point of age among the three
formations of the kind in the Southern 'Broad, figures in Mr.
Diller’s geological notes’ as a trachyte. His subsequent exami-
nation of thin sections of the rock, under a microscope, has
shown, however, that it is more correctly to be described as
an andesite.
It was possible to quarry huge blocks of the material by the
simplest methods of wedging. From this fact resulted the mas-
siveness of all the edifices and the perfection of the city walls.
No trace of the Altar in front of the temple was found. A me-
diaeval tower with foundations down to bed rock had been built
directly in front (see plan of Acropolis, Page 1 39) and the con-
1 The Geology of Assos, by J. S. Diller; Appendix to Report on the Investi-
gations at Assos, 1881.
tinuous occupation of the Acropolis in Byzantine and Mediaeval
times had destroyed whatever traces might have remained.
From stereobate to corona, the stone of which the temple
was built was the same as the native rock upon which it stood.
The only other stone employed in connection with the edifice
was a light volcanic tufa, from which were carved the gar-
goyles and acroteria of the roof.
The blocks of the stylobate, and some of the outer stones
of the lower step, and those of the foundation course between
them, were bonded together by cramps of wrought iron. These
cramps, averaging 21 cm. in length, were thin and light, sel-
dom exceeding 12 by 16 mm. in section. Their ends were
bent over to more than a right angle, so that, when once set,
they could not possibly be loosened from the stone. Although
the floor of the temple was trodden under foot and exposed to
weathering for nearly two thousand years before being covered
by the earth, the majority of these irons were still in position,
and have suffered little from rust. On the other hand, the lead
in which they were set has become oxydized from exposure.
One cramp, in an exceptionally fine state of preservation, was
taken from the southern side of the stylobate, and is now in the
Boston Museum.
The most careful levellings failed to show the slightest trace
of any intentional curvature of the horizontals.
The stone sill of the naos door is exactly upon the same
level as the upper surface of the stylobate. The mosaic pave-
ment in the interior is 13 cm. above this, the difference in
height having probably been equalized by a sill of bronze or
of marble.
The mosaic pavement consists of separate pieces of black and
white marble, embedded in a thick layer of cement. The pieces
were about 5 cm. in depth, and were originally flushed over
with a fine stucco, which completely filled the joints between
them. Cubes of a bright yellow stone and of a hard-burnt red
PAGE 163
Fig. 1. Stylobate of Temple at Assos
(Fragment of Ridge Acroterion seen in centre)
THE temple of Assos, the chief building of the city,
was consecrated to Athena. Of this there can be little
doubt, because of the invariable occurrence of the
head of that deity upon the obverse of all the coins of Assos,
excepting those of the later Roman Empire, when the por-
traits of the rulers were substituted. This supposition is ren-
dered almost a certainty by the mention of “the pure virgin
whom our fathers worshiped” upon the bronze inscription
discovered in the Agora (page 66) which records the oath of
allegiance taken by the Assians upon the accession of Caligula.
The worship of Athena was universal throughout Mysia. Even
in the Homeric legend, her temple was the principal sanctuary
of Troy; she was the patron of Pergamon, Adramyttion, and
other cities in the neighborhood of Assos.
Before entering into a detailed consideration of the temple,
it will be well to give some account of the rock of the Acrop-
olis, as this material was exclusively employed in the con-
struction not only of this most ancient and most important
monument, but of almost all the other edifices of the Greek
town. This stone, the second in point of age among the three
formations of the kind in the Southern 'Broad, figures in Mr.
Diller’s geological notes’ as a trachyte. His subsequent exami-
nation of thin sections of the rock, under a microscope, has
shown, however, that it is more correctly to be described as
an andesite.
It was possible to quarry huge blocks of the material by the
simplest methods of wedging. From this fact resulted the mas-
siveness of all the edifices and the perfection of the city walls.
No trace of the Altar in front of the temple was found. A me-
diaeval tower with foundations down to bed rock had been built
directly in front (see plan of Acropolis, Page 1 39) and the con-
1 The Geology of Assos, by J. S. Diller; Appendix to Report on the Investi-
gations at Assos, 1881.
tinuous occupation of the Acropolis in Byzantine and Mediaeval
times had destroyed whatever traces might have remained.
From stereobate to corona, the stone of which the temple
was built was the same as the native rock upon which it stood.
The only other stone employed in connection with the edifice
was a light volcanic tufa, from which were carved the gar-
goyles and acroteria of the roof.
The blocks of the stylobate, and some of the outer stones
of the lower step, and those of the foundation course between
them, were bonded together by cramps of wrought iron. These
cramps, averaging 21 cm. in length, were thin and light, sel-
dom exceeding 12 by 16 mm. in section. Their ends were
bent over to more than a right angle, so that, when once set,
they could not possibly be loosened from the stone. Although
the floor of the temple was trodden under foot and exposed to
weathering for nearly two thousand years before being covered
by the earth, the majority of these irons were still in position,
and have suffered little from rust. On the other hand, the lead
in which they were set has become oxydized from exposure.
One cramp, in an exceptionally fine state of preservation, was
taken from the southern side of the stylobate, and is now in the
Boston Museum.
The most careful levellings failed to show the slightest trace
of any intentional curvature of the horizontals.
The stone sill of the naos door is exactly upon the same
level as the upper surface of the stylobate. The mosaic pave-
ment in the interior is 13 cm. above this, the difference in
height having probably been equalized by a sill of bronze or
of marble.
The mosaic pavement consists of separate pieces of black and
white marble, embedded in a thick layer of cement. The pieces
were about 5 cm. in depth, and were originally flushed over
with a fine stucco, which completely filled the joints between
them. Cubes of a bright yellow stone and of a hard-burnt red