DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4099#0261
234 TREASURY OF ATREUS.
of antiquity. They are constructed upon the principle of the
Egyptian pyramids, to which they have a considerable approxi-
mation. Houel1 mentions similar constructions near Macara in
Sicily, and there are several of them in Sardinia, which are known
by the name of Noragis. This appellation was perhaps derived from
No rax, the son of Mercury and Erythaea, who, with an Iberian
colony, founded the town of Nora in that island.2
They were probably treasuries and temples, as well as tombs. A
treasure could not be placed in a more inviolable sanctuary than in
a sepulchre, or a temple. The most ancient temples were originally
the repositories of the dead ;3 and treasures were at all times pre-
served within the precincts of temples.
The treasury at Messene, in which Philopoemen was immured, was
probably of a similar kind with those at Mycenae. Livy4says, "Ad-
monent deinde quidam esse thesaurum publicum sub terra, saxo
quadrato septum; eo vinctus demittitur, et saxum ingens, quo operi-
tur, machina superimpositum est." It would hence appear that the
entrance was closed by a stone that was moved thither on purpose
by means of a machine. Plutarch1 says it was subterraneous, but
gives no account of its form.
It is difficult to conjecture in what manner the entrance of the
treasury of Atreus was anciently closed, as there are no visible indi-
cations of holes for the bolts, or for the hinges; whereas the door
of the inner chamber of the same building exhibits holes, in which
the hinges and the bolts were affixed. The great chamber may pos-
sibly have been always open, and its approach prohibited by reve-
rential awe, and religious respect. We see, in Pausanias,6 an account
of an old temple in the vicinity of Mantineia, that was constructed
by Trophonios and Agamedes, the entrance of which was not closed
with bolts, but a simple cord was drawn before it, which, with the
1 Voyage pictoresque de la Sicile. ' Pausan. b. 10. c. 17.
1 See Clemens Alexaiid. Cohortat. ad Gentes. p. 39: ♦ B. SQ. c. 5.
5 Life of Philopoemen. 6 B. 8. c. 10.
of antiquity. They are constructed upon the principle of the
Egyptian pyramids, to which they have a considerable approxi-
mation. Houel1 mentions similar constructions near Macara in
Sicily, and there are several of them in Sardinia, which are known
by the name of Noragis. This appellation was perhaps derived from
No rax, the son of Mercury and Erythaea, who, with an Iberian
colony, founded the town of Nora in that island.2
They were probably treasuries and temples, as well as tombs. A
treasure could not be placed in a more inviolable sanctuary than in
a sepulchre, or a temple. The most ancient temples were originally
the repositories of the dead ;3 and treasures were at all times pre-
served within the precincts of temples.
The treasury at Messene, in which Philopoemen was immured, was
probably of a similar kind with those at Mycenae. Livy4says, "Ad-
monent deinde quidam esse thesaurum publicum sub terra, saxo
quadrato septum; eo vinctus demittitur, et saxum ingens, quo operi-
tur, machina superimpositum est." It would hence appear that the
entrance was closed by a stone that was moved thither on purpose
by means of a machine. Plutarch1 says it was subterraneous, but
gives no account of its form.
It is difficult to conjecture in what manner the entrance of the
treasury of Atreus was anciently closed, as there are no visible indi-
cations of holes for the bolts, or for the hinges; whereas the door
of the inner chamber of the same building exhibits holes, in which
the hinges and the bolts were affixed. The great chamber may pos-
sibly have been always open, and its approach prohibited by reve-
rential awe, and religious respect. We see, in Pausanias,6 an account
of an old temple in the vicinity of Mantineia, that was constructed
by Trophonios and Agamedes, the entrance of which was not closed
with bolts, but a simple cord was drawn before it, which, with the
1 Voyage pictoresque de la Sicile. ' Pausan. b. 10. c. 17.
1 See Clemens Alexaiid. Cohortat. ad Gentes. p. 39: ♦ B. SQ. c. 5.
5 Life of Philopoemen. 6 B. 8. c. 10.