An excavation of the ancient Achaean city of Rhypes near Aigio, western Greece, has discovered a heroön (a shrine dedicated to the cult worship of a hero from Greek and Roman mythology) with Pentelic marble lions and tombs containing gold jewelry.
The ancient Greek city-state of Rhypes dates back at least to the Archaic Period, but its roots may go back even further. This season’s excavation unearthed architectural remains and pottery from the 8th century B.C., and according to ancient sources (who were relying on legendary traditional accounts), Myscellus of Rhypes left the well-established and powerful polis to found the colony of Croton in southern Italy in 710 B.C.
In the 5th century B.C., Rhypes was one of the original twelve cities of the Achaean League. The league was dissolved after the earthquake that destroyed Helike in 373 B.C., and when it was reformed in 280 B.C., Rhypes was no longer a member. The city was razed by Octavian in 30 B.C. during the War of Actium against the supporters of Marc Anthony. Its surviving residents were forcibly removed to nearby Patrae.
This season’s excavation focused on a monumental structure southeast of the temple terrace. Dubbed Building Γ (Gamma), the base of it was hidden under the limestone blocks of its fallen superstructure. The blocks were documented, numbered and removed, exposing the crepidoma (the step foundation of a temple) and stylobate (the continuous base of a row of columns) of its long southern side. The crepidoma is 55 feet long and the H and Z-shaped joints connecting its blocks date it to before 300 B.C.
The surviving architecture indicates that building’s façade consisted of Corinthian half columns (flat on the back) topped with an entablature with a cornice and architrave. A Doric hawksbeak moulding (a convex top and concave underside that meet at a point like the beak of a bird of prey) projected from the ends of the cornice. The ratio of the diameter of the columns to their height is the smallest proportion of Corinthian columns ever recorded.
Under the rubble of the façade, archaeologists found a marble lion in a crouching position on its plinth, a larger crouching lion on a partial plinth, the head of smaller marble lion and the marble head of a youth that was the top part of a funerary stele. They are all carved on Pentelic marble, the highly prized white marble that was used to make the Acropolis. There was also a clay water spout artfully crafted in the shape of lion’s head.
Inside the monument but dating to a later period than the building itself are intact burials in cist tombs and a sarcophagus. These burials contained rich grave goods of exceptional artistic value as well as monetary value. These include a pair of gold earrings with lion heads, a solid earring of a nude winged Eros holding a scepter in his right hand and a wreath in his left, a gold necklace whose terminals are solid gold lion busts and a gold ring. The people buried in these tombs were individuals of high status and wealth.
The heroön is so exceptional, archaeologists have designed a new five-year excavation program to fully excavate it. The program is now going through the approval process at the Hellenic Culture Ministry.
* This article was originally published here
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