Heraion

Title :

Place : Delos, Mt Kynthos

Place :

Town :

: Delos

Ancient location :

: Delos isl.

Ancient region :

Other toponyme (explanation):

GENERAL The sanctuary of Hera is located on a specially created terrace at the foot of Mount Kynthos. The remains of two successive temples were discovered, the earlier one being enclosed in the later one. MONUMENTS Temple I The remains of a small, trapezoid temple were preserved under the cella of Temple II. The entrance of the building was to the S. The walls are made of schist slabs and a bench was situated against the western wall. The temple may have been surrounded by a wooden colonnade, as indicated by the marble bases that were found either incorporated in the second temple or scattered in the area. Temple II This temple was of the Doric order, distyle in antis. The walls were made entirely of marble.A marble bench was running the pronaos wall. The building was surrounded by a peribolos wall, while a marble altar is located to the south of the temple. FINDS Votives include a large number of Archaic vases, terracotta figurines, female terracotta votive masks, bone eight-shaped fibulae, amber beads, a faience scaraboid of Egyptian type, a faience pendant/amulet of Osiris, a bearded bust as an attachment from a cauldron, as well as a fragment of a bronze, laurel crown. Some of the vases were intact and others were found in fragmentary condition. The main bulk of pottery is Corinthian and Attic while a large amount belongs to East Greek workshops. At last, a high proportion of the pottery included Late Geometric and Orientalizing sherds from the Cyclades and East Greece. CHRONOLOGY Temple I dates to the early 7th c. (ca. 700 B.C.), while Temple II was built around 500 B. C. Traces of an earlier phase of Temple I (Late Geometric) have been uncovered under the building. IDENTIFICATION The cult of Hera at the sanctuary is confirmed by votive inscriptions referring to the goddess, found on many vessels. RECORDS Excavation Date: 1912, 1965 Institution/Excavator: French School at Athens/Roussel P., Ducat J. Excavation Type: Systematic REFERENCES Primary Publications: Daux G. 1965. Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques en Grèce en 1964, Terrasse de l’Héraion. BCH 89: 996-999 Deonna W. 1938. Le mobilier délien, Délos XVIII.1, Paris, 69-70, 257, 285, 305, 309, 312 Dugas Ch. 1928. Les vases de l’Héraion, Délos X, Paris Plassart A. 1928. Les sanctuaires et les cultes du Mont Cynthe, Délos XI, Paris, 145-214 Secondary Publications: Bruneau Ph. 1970. Recherches sur les cultes de Delos a l’epoque hellenistique et a l’epoque imperiale, Paris, 249-252 Bruneau Ph., Ducat J. (eds) 2005. Guide de Délos: Quatriéme édition refondue et mise à jour, Paris, 279-281 (no. 101) Coldstream J.N. 20052. Geometric Greece, 900-700 B.C., 215 Ekschmitt W. 1993. Die Kykladen. Bronzezeit, Geometrische und Archaische Zeit, Mainz am Rhein, 255 Fraisse Ph., LLinas Chr. 1995. Documents d’architecture hellénique et hellénistique, Délos XXXVI, Paris, 476-489 Gallet de Santerre H. 1958. Délos primitive et archaïque, Paris, 259-262, 278-289 Gounaris A. 2005. Cult places in the Cyclades during the Protogeometric and Geometric periods : their contribution in interpreting the rise of the Cycladic poleis, Yeroulanou M., Stamatopoulou M. (eds), Architecture and Archaeology in the Cyclades. Papers in honour of J. J. Coulton, Oxford, 46, 60 Chatzidakis, P. 2003. Δήλος, Athens Mazarakis Ainian A. 1997. From Ruler’s Dwellings to Temples. Architecture, Religion and Society in Early Iron Age Greece. SIMA ,121, Jonsered (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 122), 182-183, 329 Rolley Cl. 1973. Bronzes géométriques et orientaux à Délos, ÉD, BCH Suppl. I: 511-513 Schuller M. 1985. Die dorische Architektur der Kykladen in spätarchaischer Zeit, JDAI 100: 340-347 Vallois R. 1944. L'architecture hellénique et hellénistique à Délos jusqu'à l'éviction des Déliens (166 av. J.-C) I: Les monuments, Paris, 79, 117

GENERAL The sanctuary of Hera is located on a specially created terrace at the foot of Mount Kynthos. The remains of two successive temples were discovered, the earlier one being enclosed in the later one. MONUMENTS Temple I The remains of a small, trapezoid temple were preserved under the cella of Temple II. The entrance of the building was to the S. The walls are made of schist slabs and a bench was situated against the western wall. The temple may have been surrounded by a wooden colonnade, as indicated by the marble bases that were found either incorporated in the second temple or scattered in the area. Temple II This temple was of the Doric order, distyle in antis. The walls were made entirely of marble.A marble bench was running the pronaos wall. The building was surrounded by a peribolos wall, while a marble altar is located to the south of the temple. FINDS Votives include a large number of Archaic vases, terracotta figurines, female terracotta votive masks, bone eight-shaped fibulae, amber beads, a faience scaraboid of Egyptian type, a faience pendant/amulet of Osiris, a bearded bust as an attachment from a cauldron, as well as a fragment of a bronze, laurel crown. Some of the vases were intact and others were found in fragmentary condition. The main bulk of pottery is Corinthian and Attic while a large amount belongs to East Greek workshops. At last, a high proportion of the pottery included Late Geometric and Orientalizing sherds from the Cyclades and East Greece. CHRONOLOGY Temple I dates to the early 7th c. (ca. 700 B.C.), while Temple II was built around 500 B. C. Traces of an earlier phase of Temple I (Late Geometric) have been uncovered under the building. IDENTIFICATION The cult of Hera at the sanctuary is confirmed by votive inscriptions referring to the goddess, found on many vessels. RECORDS Excavation Date: 1912, 1965 Institution/Excavator: French School at Athens/Roussel P., Ducat J. Excavation Type: Systematic REFERENCES Primary Publications: Daux G. 1965. Chronique des fouilles et découvertes archéologiques en Grèce en 1964, Terrasse de l’Héraion. BCH 89: 996-999 Deonna W. 1938. Le mobilier délien, Délos XVIII.1, Paris, 69-70, 257, 285, 305, 309, 312 Dugas Ch. 1928. Les vases de l’Héraion, Délos X, Paris Plassart A. 1928. Les sanctuaires et les cultes du Mont Cynthe, Délos XI, Paris, 145-214 Secondary Publications: Bruneau Ph. 1970. Recherches sur les cultes de Delos a l’epoque hellenistique et a l’epoque imperiale, Paris, 249-252 Bruneau Ph., Ducat J. (eds) 2005. Guide de Délos: Quatriéme édition refondue et mise à jour, Paris, 279-281 (no. 101) Coldstream J.N. 20052. Geometric Greece, 900-700 B.C., 215 Ekschmitt W. 1993. Die Kykladen. Bronzezeit, Geometrische und Archaische Zeit, Mainz am Rhein, 255 Fraisse Ph., LLinas Chr. 1995. Documents d’architecture hellénique et hellénistique, Délos XXXVI, Paris, 476-489 Gallet de Santerre H. 1958. Délos primitive et archaïque, Paris, 259-262, 278-289 Gounaris A. 2005. Cult places in the Cyclades during the Protogeometric and Geometric periods : their contribution in interpreting the rise of the Cycladic poleis, Yeroulanou M., Stamatopoulou M. (eds), Architecture and Archaeology in the Cyclades. Papers in honour of J. J. Coulton, Oxford, 46, 60 Chatzidakis, P. 2003. Δήλος, Athens Mazarakis Ainian A. 1997. From Ruler’s Dwellings to Temples. Architecture, Religion and Society in Early Iron Age Greece. SIMA ,121, Jonsered (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology 122), 182-183, 329 Rolley Cl. 1973. Bronzes géométriques et orientaux à Délos, ÉD, BCH Suppl. I: 511-513 Schuller M. 1985. Die dorische Architektur der Kykladen in spätarchaischer Zeit, JDAI 100: 340-347 Vallois R. 1944. L'architecture hellénique et hellénistique à Délos jusqu'à l'éviction des Déliens (166 av. J.-C) I: Les monuments, Paris, 79, 117