Marble head discovered at the ancient Greek siteGreek Ministry of Culture
Posted on 10/25/2015 6:12:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
An ancient Greek healing temple has been excavated by archaeologists, who recovered huge statues and were able to reconstruct the architecture at the site. The acropolis at the Feneos site in the eastern foothills sits at an altitude of 750m.
The asclepion (a healing temple sacred to the god Asclepius) was first discovered in 1958 and between 2007 and 2014, archaeologists gradually surveyed and documented the site. In September this year, the Corinth Archaeological Service completed the first excavation programme, and the findings were announced by the Greek Culture Ministry.
The team found the main part of the sanctuary dates to the 2nd century BC. In the main room, there is an inscribed pedestal on which two statues stood -- Asclepius and Hygeia. These were by the Athenian sculptor Attalus.
Asclepius, the god of medicine, is seated and is three times the size of a normal person. His daughter, Hygeia, was standing upright beside him at twice normal size. In the centre of the hall there is a mosaic floor with geometric shapes, guilloches and meanders.
In a second room, north of the main hall, there was a podium that would have had two bronze statues standing on it. These were later replaced by stone. In front of the podium was a marble offering table. A room to the south was also found, but its function and purpose is unclear -- the only marker is a window in the north-eastern end.
The excavation also showed how the outdoor courtyard (which had been found previously) was in a 'P' shape and that the path of the peristyle and courtyard led to the entrance to the sanctuary via a ramp. The courtyard was plastered with mortar in a range of colours and lion head gutters.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.co.uk ...
Marble head discovered at the ancient Greek siteGreek Ministry of Culture
She’s got “crazy eyes.”
And a small mouth. Interesting find for sure.
A garden?
It would be interesting to know what herbs they regarded as medicinal.
Well that’s nice more offensive stuff for islamists to destroy.
Finding ancient statues with the eyes intact is rare. Imagine also how it would appear if the original paint on the hair and other features were still present. Their statuary was intended to be as lifelike as possible.
There are some ancient remedies and such that have survived in texts. There’s a variety of basil called “holy basil” that is found in proximity to a number of these ancient temples, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they grew it because of the scent, and maybe for cooking, but I’m not sure there’s any documentary evidence for that one. :’)
Pheneos is in northern Arcadia (to use the ancient names of regions of the Peloponnesus), to the west of Stymphalus (site of one of the Labors of Heracles [Hercules]).
How much of the statues were painted - all of it, including clothing?
Thanks VR.
All of them — same way that those lawn gnomes are painted today. :’)
The Elgin Marbles, which were removed from the Parthenon early in the 19th c, wound up at the British Museum. Some touch-holes there didn’t like the remains of the original paint job (from the 5th c BC), and over the decades various methods (scraping, sanding, acid) have been used to remove the paint and the accumulated weathering.
I had no idea that International Business Times was such a "treasure trove" of articles on archaeology...
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