DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3332#0065
TEMENOS OF HERA.
seem hardly justified in asserting that a build-
ing of such dimensions, situated in the temenos
of Hera, cannot have been the temple of the
goddess.
One other structure calls for mention, though
its intention cannot now be discovered. This
structure appears to be the lower part of two
pillars, with a plaster floor between them; the
level of their foundation is about a foot above
that of the building just described. They are
in a line with its east wall, at a distance of
about nine feet from its southern extremity.
But whether they formed a part of another
building, or are an independent construction of
which we cannot now conjecture the use, must
remain in uncertainty. This is but a meagre
and unsatisfactory account to give of the
architectural remains found in situ upon a
temenos of which so much had been expected;
but it is all that can be stated without entering
the realm of baseless conjectures. One other
architectural relic may here be noted, a piece
of egg-moulding in limestone, probably from
the earliest temple of Hera; but its forms are
not remarkable enough to be worth detailed
description.
(50) If we turn next to the enumeration of
the various objects found upon this site, we
shall not find in them any richness to com-
pensate for the poverty of its architectural
remains. The most important are some vases
and fragments of vases with dedications to Hera
incised upon them; these will be found in their
due place on PL XXII. The vases themselves
are not, in most cases, of much interest. A
favourite type, however, in this temenos is a
small cup with one handle—a shape which we
find indeed elsewhere, in the temenos of
Aphrodite for example, but which in no other
place is so common as it is here. These cups
are sometimes made of rough red ware, some-
times with a slight glaze, of a yellow or brown
colour; they also bear sometimes the name
HPH in large letters.
Other articles that were found in the loose
refuse scattered over this temenos need not be
described here, as they do not properly belong
to the sanctuary of the Samian Hera, but had
only found their way into it by accident. They
may either have been thrown here from other
sites in the neighbourhood, or from higher
strata that in later times had occupied the same
ground, and had been successively dug away
by the Arabs. It is possible even that the in-
scription, 'Iepbv Jtos 'AiroTpoTTaiov, to which we
have already referred as giving the first clue
that led to the identification of the site, may
also have come here in this way. In any case
its presence was fortunate, since it led to the
identification of a temenos which is rich in
associations though poor in remains, and which,
if still unknown, might have led to a deceptive'
estimate of the treasures still buried at Nau-
kratis.
seem hardly justified in asserting that a build-
ing of such dimensions, situated in the temenos
of Hera, cannot have been the temple of the
goddess.
One other structure calls for mention, though
its intention cannot now be discovered. This
structure appears to be the lower part of two
pillars, with a plaster floor between them; the
level of their foundation is about a foot above
that of the building just described. They are
in a line with its east wall, at a distance of
about nine feet from its southern extremity.
But whether they formed a part of another
building, or are an independent construction of
which we cannot now conjecture the use, must
remain in uncertainty. This is but a meagre
and unsatisfactory account to give of the
architectural remains found in situ upon a
temenos of which so much had been expected;
but it is all that can be stated without entering
the realm of baseless conjectures. One other
architectural relic may here be noted, a piece
of egg-moulding in limestone, probably from
the earliest temple of Hera; but its forms are
not remarkable enough to be worth detailed
description.
(50) If we turn next to the enumeration of
the various objects found upon this site, we
shall not find in them any richness to com-
pensate for the poverty of its architectural
remains. The most important are some vases
and fragments of vases with dedications to Hera
incised upon them; these will be found in their
due place on PL XXII. The vases themselves
are not, in most cases, of much interest. A
favourite type, however, in this temenos is a
small cup with one handle—a shape which we
find indeed elsewhere, in the temenos of
Aphrodite for example, but which in no other
place is so common as it is here. These cups
are sometimes made of rough red ware, some-
times with a slight glaze, of a yellow or brown
colour; they also bear sometimes the name
HPH in large letters.
Other articles that were found in the loose
refuse scattered over this temenos need not be
described here, as they do not properly belong
to the sanctuary of the Samian Hera, but had
only found their way into it by accident. They
may either have been thrown here from other
sites in the neighbourhood, or from higher
strata that in later times had occupied the same
ground, and had been successively dug away
by the Arabs. It is possible even that the in-
scription, 'Iepbv Jtos 'AiroTpoTTaiov, to which we
have already referred as giving the first clue
that led to the identification of the site, may
also have come here in this way. In any case
its presence was fortunate, since it led to the
identification of a temenos which is rich in
associations though poor in remains, and which,
if still unknown, might have led to a deceptive'
estimate of the treasures still buried at Nau-
kratis.