DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0130
108
ARCHITECTURE OF THE ARGIVE HEEAEUM
from this source. At Olympia the position of the Altis between the hill Cronium and
the rivers Cladeus and Nepheus favored a more speedy burial beneath the rapid accumu-
lation of sand and material which was deposited by the river's inundations and washed
down from the hills by the rains, and consequently a better preservation of its ruins.
The Argive Heraeum, on the contrary, occupied a foothill of Mount Euboea,1 above the
level of the plain, and its once sacred buildings had no doubt been robbed and demol-
ished by desecrating hands before the action of the rains and dust-storms had concealed
the foundations that now remain.
The ruins are sufficient, however, to indicate that the site was occupied throughout
the ages from prehistoric to late Roman times, and to justify the attempt at a restora-
tion shown on Plates V. and VI. Following is a list of the ruins exhumed, with the
orientation and relative level of each.
The stylobate of the Old Temple is taken as the datum level, and the levels of all the
other buildings, being lower, are indicated by the minus sign.
Orientation.
Level of the
Metres.
I.
Old Temple
17° 18' S. of E.
Stylobate
Terrace
0.00
- 0.45
II.
Upper Stoa
15° S. of E.
Column Bases
-10.85
III.
Northeast Stoa
13° S. of E.
Column Bases
- 8.75
IV.
East Building-
7° S. of W.
Wall
-11.10
V.
Second Temple
16° 23' S. of E.
South Wall
Stylobate
-11.93
-10.71?
VI.
South Stoa
16° 30' S. of E.
Column Bases
Bottom Step
-22.93
-25.26
VII.
West Building
8° 30' E. of N.
Column Bases
-21.35
VIII.
N. W. Building
26° 45' S. of E.
Old Bases
-17.90
IX.
Roman Building
25° 50' S. of E.
Tile Floor
-26.41
X.
Lower Stoa
23° W. of S.
Column Bases
-29.34
Besides the above the Phylakeion No. XL is indicated on the plan. This is a small
house built for use during the work of excavating and since occupied by the Greek
guardian.
A, B, C, D, E, and F on the Plan are cisterns and baths.
OLD WALLS.
In addition to these generally well-defined ruins, there are numerous remains of old
walls that apparently antedate the earliest of the above-named buildings, and may be
classed as primitive Argive work and possibly Pre-Mycenaean.2 Of these we would men-
tion in particular the walls south and west of the Temple, which may be portions of the
periboluH which inclosed the original temenus (cf. Plate VII.). This theory is con-
firmed by the abutments that lie at an obtuse angle to the western wall and resemble the
tower-foundations of the early constructions at Hissarlik and Tiryns. They apparently
mark an ancient entrance to the sanctuary. Furthermore, two very old graves were
found just outside the southern wall (indicated on Plate IV. as two black spots between
1 Pausanias, II. 17 : " The sanctuary itself is on the
lower slope of Euboea. For they name this mountain
Euboea."
Cf. Dr. Waldstein's Introduction, p. 27.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE ARGIVE HEEAEUM
from this source. At Olympia the position of the Altis between the hill Cronium and
the rivers Cladeus and Nepheus favored a more speedy burial beneath the rapid accumu-
lation of sand and material which was deposited by the river's inundations and washed
down from the hills by the rains, and consequently a better preservation of its ruins.
The Argive Heraeum, on the contrary, occupied a foothill of Mount Euboea,1 above the
level of the plain, and its once sacred buildings had no doubt been robbed and demol-
ished by desecrating hands before the action of the rains and dust-storms had concealed
the foundations that now remain.
The ruins are sufficient, however, to indicate that the site was occupied throughout
the ages from prehistoric to late Roman times, and to justify the attempt at a restora-
tion shown on Plates V. and VI. Following is a list of the ruins exhumed, with the
orientation and relative level of each.
The stylobate of the Old Temple is taken as the datum level, and the levels of all the
other buildings, being lower, are indicated by the minus sign.
Orientation.
Level of the
Metres.
I.
Old Temple
17° 18' S. of E.
Stylobate
Terrace
0.00
- 0.45
II.
Upper Stoa
15° S. of E.
Column Bases
-10.85
III.
Northeast Stoa
13° S. of E.
Column Bases
- 8.75
IV.
East Building-
7° S. of W.
Wall
-11.10
V.
Second Temple
16° 23' S. of E.
South Wall
Stylobate
-11.93
-10.71?
VI.
South Stoa
16° 30' S. of E.
Column Bases
Bottom Step
-22.93
-25.26
VII.
West Building
8° 30' E. of N.
Column Bases
-21.35
VIII.
N. W. Building
26° 45' S. of E.
Old Bases
-17.90
IX.
Roman Building
25° 50' S. of E.
Tile Floor
-26.41
X.
Lower Stoa
23° W. of S.
Column Bases
-29.34
Besides the above the Phylakeion No. XL is indicated on the plan. This is a small
house built for use during the work of excavating and since occupied by the Greek
guardian.
A, B, C, D, E, and F on the Plan are cisterns and baths.
OLD WALLS.
In addition to these generally well-defined ruins, there are numerous remains of old
walls that apparently antedate the earliest of the above-named buildings, and may be
classed as primitive Argive work and possibly Pre-Mycenaean.2 Of these we would men-
tion in particular the walls south and west of the Temple, which may be portions of the
periboluH which inclosed the original temenus (cf. Plate VII.). This theory is con-
firmed by the abutments that lie at an obtuse angle to the western wall and resemble the
tower-foundations of the early constructions at Hissarlik and Tiryns. They apparently
mark an ancient entrance to the sanctuary. Furthermore, two very old graves were
found just outside the southern wall (indicated on Plate IV. as two black spots between
1 Pausanias, II. 17 : " The sanctuary itself is on the
lower slope of Euboea. For they name this mountain
Euboea."
Cf. Dr. Waldstein's Introduction, p. 27.