DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45927#0077
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6. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
The building description in Chapter 2 deals with all aspects of structure and design. The present chapter offers a
summary of building techniques with more detailed information about materials and methods of construction.
6.1 Materials
The Bouleuterion, in its first phase, was built largely of white marble and bluish gray marble. The former prob-
ably came from quarries located around Ephesos.245 The bluish gray marble was taken directly from Panayirdag,
where quarries are a conspicuous feature of the landscape, around the base on the east side,246 and on the moun-
tain itself. Brick was used only in the back-stage corridor in the construction of a blind arcade which fronted
the rough south facade of the stage wall, probably late in the building’s history (pl. 40, 1). Pavers made of a
porous, light gray limestone247 248 replaced an original marble paving in several locations. Opus caementicium™
was used in significant quantities only as bedding for the marble seating and stairways of the cavea (pl. 12, 1),
and in lesser quantities in the “petit appareil” walls inserted between the piers of the parodoi during the second
(i.e. Antonine) phase (plan 5). The only surviving elements employing imported materials were columns of the
scaenae frons, which were made from red Egyptian granite (pls. 73, 1-2).249
6.2 Stone Working250
Bluish gray marble was used for the basic structural elements of the building, where its roughness and the size
of its units were appropriate to the functions of support and enclosure. The great curved retaining wall and the
thinner wall it supported (pls. 16, 1-2) were made of bluish gray marble, as were the lower portions of the long
stage wall (plan 4) and its terminal piers. The interior surfaces were hidden behind a marble revetment, either in
the form of thick orthostat slabs, as in the podia of the orchestra (pl. 29, 2) and summa cavea (pls. 24, 1-2), and
the curved rear wall (pl. 17), or thinner marble sheets, as in the column-bearing pedestals and the walls of the
scaenae frons (plan 4; 5; pl. 36, 3). It is unlikely that the rough surface of the scene wall on the corridor side was
ever intended to be seen, and at some late period an attempt was made to mask portions of it with brick (pl. 40, 1;
43, 2). The only exposed bluish gray marble surfaces were those of the curved outer wall and the corner piers.
The former probably represents a cheaper and faster mode of reconstruction.251 The original appearance of this
masonry is preserved in several contiguous courses at the base of the wall between Buttresses 2 and 3 (pl. 16, 2).
The blocks show a uniform rustication with carefully rounded bolsters that are angled in at the sides. These
blocks are finished with a point, the beveled portions with a fine toothed chisel, and there are narrow, neatly
drafted margins at the vertical joints. Similar blocks appear at the base of the front wall on the corridor side. The
units of the corner piers, below the marble superstructure, display a variety of masonry styles.
The upper scene wall alternated marble string courses with doubled ortho stats of which only the inner blocks
were of marble (plan 5; pl. 38, 2). Marble was used for the exposed portions of the analemmata (pls. 25, 2;
26, 2), which were similar in construction to the upper scene wall, for the seating and steps of the cavea, and
for the footings which supported the curved marble orthostat slabs of the podia and the rear retaining wall
(pl. 18, 1). It was used for door frames, for the base moldings and molded crown blocks of the pedestals, and,
245 Benndorf 1906, 38-41 fig. 10; Atalay 1976/77, 59-60; Atalay 1985, 311-314. Most recently the survey by L. Moens and col-
laborators (University of Gent), cf. Koller 1999, 40; Jahresbericht OAI 1999, 381-382; Jahresbericht OAI 2001, 382.
246 Benndorf 1906, 39.
247 Lang-Auinger 1996, 23; Thur 2005, 22.
248 On opus caementicium in general s. Lamprecht 1987.
249 Mielsch 1985, 67 pl. 22 no. 749-755; Borghini 2001, 225-226.
250 On stone working in general see Rockwell 1993; Adam 1994, 29-40.
251 See chap. 2.1.1.
6. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES
The building description in Chapter 2 deals with all aspects of structure and design. The present chapter offers a
summary of building techniques with more detailed information about materials and methods of construction.
6.1 Materials
The Bouleuterion, in its first phase, was built largely of white marble and bluish gray marble. The former prob-
ably came from quarries located around Ephesos.245 The bluish gray marble was taken directly from Panayirdag,
where quarries are a conspicuous feature of the landscape, around the base on the east side,246 and on the moun-
tain itself. Brick was used only in the back-stage corridor in the construction of a blind arcade which fronted
the rough south facade of the stage wall, probably late in the building’s history (pl. 40, 1). Pavers made of a
porous, light gray limestone247 248 replaced an original marble paving in several locations. Opus caementicium™
was used in significant quantities only as bedding for the marble seating and stairways of the cavea (pl. 12, 1),
and in lesser quantities in the “petit appareil” walls inserted between the piers of the parodoi during the second
(i.e. Antonine) phase (plan 5). The only surviving elements employing imported materials were columns of the
scaenae frons, which were made from red Egyptian granite (pls. 73, 1-2).249
6.2 Stone Working250
Bluish gray marble was used for the basic structural elements of the building, where its roughness and the size
of its units were appropriate to the functions of support and enclosure. The great curved retaining wall and the
thinner wall it supported (pls. 16, 1-2) were made of bluish gray marble, as were the lower portions of the long
stage wall (plan 4) and its terminal piers. The interior surfaces were hidden behind a marble revetment, either in
the form of thick orthostat slabs, as in the podia of the orchestra (pl. 29, 2) and summa cavea (pls. 24, 1-2), and
the curved rear wall (pl. 17), or thinner marble sheets, as in the column-bearing pedestals and the walls of the
scaenae frons (plan 4; 5; pl. 36, 3). It is unlikely that the rough surface of the scene wall on the corridor side was
ever intended to be seen, and at some late period an attempt was made to mask portions of it with brick (pl. 40, 1;
43, 2). The only exposed bluish gray marble surfaces were those of the curved outer wall and the corner piers.
The former probably represents a cheaper and faster mode of reconstruction.251 The original appearance of this
masonry is preserved in several contiguous courses at the base of the wall between Buttresses 2 and 3 (pl. 16, 2).
The blocks show a uniform rustication with carefully rounded bolsters that are angled in at the sides. These
blocks are finished with a point, the beveled portions with a fine toothed chisel, and there are narrow, neatly
drafted margins at the vertical joints. Similar blocks appear at the base of the front wall on the corridor side. The
units of the corner piers, below the marble superstructure, display a variety of masonry styles.
The upper scene wall alternated marble string courses with doubled ortho stats of which only the inner blocks
were of marble (plan 5; pl. 38, 2). Marble was used for the exposed portions of the analemmata (pls. 25, 2;
26, 2), which were similar in construction to the upper scene wall, for the seating and steps of the cavea, and
for the footings which supported the curved marble orthostat slabs of the podia and the rear retaining wall
(pl. 18, 1). It was used for door frames, for the base moldings and molded crown blocks of the pedestals, and,
245 Benndorf 1906, 38-41 fig. 10; Atalay 1976/77, 59-60; Atalay 1985, 311-314. Most recently the survey by L. Moens and col-
laborators (University of Gent), cf. Koller 1999, 40; Jahresbericht OAI 1999, 381-382; Jahresbericht OAI 2001, 382.
246 Benndorf 1906, 39.
247 Lang-Auinger 1996, 23; Thur 2005, 22.
248 On opus caementicium in general s. Lamprecht 1987.
249 Mielsch 1985, 67 pl. 22 no. 749-755; Borghini 2001, 225-226.
250 On stone working in general see Rockwell 1993; Adam 1994, 29-40.
251 See chap. 2.1.1.
