Anatolian Civilizations and Historical Sites - TEDA

ANATOLIAN CIVILIZATIONS:10x19 antik kentler 8/1/11 10:51 AM Sayfa
The Celsus Library.
their own goddess of nature, Artemis. In the 7 th century BC they built an
altar to this newly-combined goddess. This original altar was destroyed
during the Cimmerian invasions and it was later rebuilt on a larger scale
with a stepped base. By the 6 th century, the altar and surrounding
precinct had assumed a square shape. Excavations conducted here have
turned up precious articles of gold, silver, electrum, and ivory. Around
the mid-6 th century BC, King Kroisos of Lydia decided to build a new
temple to the goddess following his capture of Ephesos. Measuring
55.10x11.14 m. in size, this marble temple was surrounded by a double
row of columns measuring 18 m. in height. Work on this archaic temple
began between 550-560 BC by Chersiphron, his son Metagenes, and
Theodoros from Samos. It was the biggest temple in the Hellenic world.
It was enclosed by 127 columns, 36 of which were sculpted. On one of
these sculpted columns, now in the British Museum, there is an
inscripton that is still legible, indicating that it was the gift of Kroisos,
King of Lydia. The building of the temple took a 120 years to construct
and its magnificence earned it great renown as a monument to art as
well as to religion. Unfortunately, the temple was destroyed in a fire
started by a madman. Work on building a new temple began almost
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