Muss, Ulrike (Hrsg.): Die Archäologie der ephesischen Artemis. Gestalt und Ritual eines Heiligtums. 288 Seiten, zahlr. Farbabb. im Text, 29,7 x 21 cm, kartoniert. ISBN 978-3-901232-91-6. 69 Euro
(Phoibos Verlag, Wien 2008)
 
Reviewed by Ilona Skupinska-Løvset, University of Lodz
 
Number of words : 1629 words
Published online 2009-04-06
Citation: Histara les comptes rendus (ISSN 2100-0700).
Link: http://histara.sorbonne.fr/cr.php?cr=545
Link to order this book
 
 

In 1863-1873, under extremely difficult conditions, the British architect John Turtle Wood undertook on behalf of the British Museum to search for the Ephesian Artemision. After six years, he discovered the temple under 20 feet of marshland. In 1904, D. G. Hogarth, again on behalf of the British Museum, uncovered five consecutive sanctuaries, indicative of the long tradition of the holy place.

 

The Austrian excavations of the Artemision started in 1965, with a particular interest in the central portion of the temple. The mission discovered that the ritual usage of the site continued down to the 2nd millennium B.C. The rich finds from the excavations were deposited in the Museum of Selcuk close to Ephesos, but only a few objects have been published. This fact led to a travelling exhibition in Turkey, inaugurated in May 2008. The book reviewed here has been produced on the occasion of this exhibition. Thus the publication gives an overview of the spectrum of research done by the Austrian scholars on the questions connected with the Artemision. Twenty-three persons contributed articles on their area of research, some with more than one contribution. The publication with 288 pages presents 30 articles, each of them followed by a short summary in Turkish.

The editor, and one of the main contributors, is Ulrike Muss, who gained a profound knowledge of the Artemision after many years’ work on the site, with articles on the cult statue, on the statuettes of Artemis as well as on objects of amber and ivory. Anton Bammer presents a series of articles on the architecture and the planning of the sanctuary (« Der Peripteros und sein Vorgänger », « Der sogenannte Hekatompedos und Tempel C », « Neues zum spätklassischen Weltwunderbau », « Der archaische und klassische Hofaltar », « Die Kirche im Artemision »), as well as an introduction about the geography of the Artemision (« Zur Geographie des Artemisions »). The articles are usually short and have no footnotes, but at the end a bibliography is provided; some, such as the article on the numismatic finds by Stefan Karwiese (« Das Artemision von Ephesos und die “Er-Findung” der Münze »), are completed by a list of literature with an additional commentary (« Literatur und Anmerkungen »). All articles are followed by a list of illustrations. The illustrations are of excellent quality, many of them have never been shown before.

 

The articles are arranged in five sections: The first section, entitled “Raum und Zeit” (Space and time), starts with a paper by A. Bammer. The author summarises the research on the topography and the paleogeography of the later Artemision. This issue is further elaborated by Helmut Brückner, John C. Kraft and Ilhan Kayan, who present the results of a paleogeographical analysis with profile drawings, maps and tables referring to the geomorphology. They conclude that swiftly progressing sedimentation resulted in the Artemision being located already in the Roman period far from the sea.
In the following contribution, Bammer identifies six building types placed within the area excavated by the Austrian mission: 1. the peripteros, 2. the “Kultbasen” or cultual bases, 3. the apsidal  building, 4. the hekatompedos and the temple C; 5. the altar; 6. the two dipteroi (the 6th cent. B.C. Temple of Kroisos and the 4th cent. B.C. classical temple). In the following, entitled “Architektonische Gestaltung des Sakralen” (Architectural Conception of the sacred, pp. 243-285) he comes back to the description of the peripteros; the hekatompedos with temple C, the altar and the classical dipteros,  while Aenne Ohnesorg presents the archaic dipteros. Bammer completes the section with a short description of the christian church, called by Wood “the church within the cella of the temple”, being of the west-oriented type (meaning that the entrance is placed in the west-end of the building). The time for adaptation of the cella for the purposes of the christians could not be determined, but the church apparently was still in place in A.D.1333.

Section II, entitled “Die Göttin” (The goddess), deals with the visual representation of the Ephesian Artemis. S. Morris discusses the beginning of the cult and places it in the Late Bronze Age, referring to the archives of Hattusa and the text of Pylos (Pylos Fr 1202). She further presents a broad picture of the various appearences of female deities through the ages and sees an analogy of the hairdo with the archaic polos with the classical corona muralis worn by Tyche. She is also of the opinion that the so-called “breasts” may characterize Artemis as a “mother goddess” (p. 59). The section closes with a paper by Andreas Pülz about a possible tradition connecting aspects of the cult of the Virgin Mary with the cult of the Ephesian Artemis.

The next section, entitled “Archäologie und Ritual” (archaeology and the ritual), is the most traditional. It discusses the artefacts according their typological categories. The section starts with a paper by A. Bammer and U. Muss about the gifts to the goddess. In the following are presented: the beads by Birgit Pulsinger and the objects of amber, ivory and bones by Ulrike Muss. Of particular interest is that further evidence has been collected in favour of C. Smith’s supposition that an ivory workshop was active in Ephesos in the 7th-6th centuries BC.

In the following papers, terracotta figurines are treated by M. Dewailly and Ulrike Muss, the pottery by Michael Kerschner, the coins by Stefan Karwiese, the artefacts made in bronze by G. Klebinder-Gauss, those in gold by Birgit Bühler and Andrea M. Pülz. The presentation of the last class is strengthened by two papers discussing in more detail some selected representations in gold, first of the birds of prey (mostly falcons) by Birgit Bühler and Andrea M. Pülz, secondly of the lionhead fibulae by Kurt Gschwantler and Viktor Freiberger. In this section is also included an article by Gerhard Forstenpointner and G. E. Weissengruber presenting an osteological analysis of the animal bones found within the temenos of the temple of Artemis, and bearing witness for ritual meals. Among the bones of the consumed animals, pigs (sus scrofa) are relatively numerous.

 

The next section, entitled “Kultur und Identität” (culture and identity) is mainly concerned with the question of ethnicity. G. Klebinder-Gauss and Andrea M. Pülz study traces of foreigners in the archaeological material, while G. Hölbl discusses the Egyptian presence among the finds of the sanctuary. Michael Kerschner detects traces of Lydian artisanship, while G. Klebinder-Gauss documents Phrygian influence following an analysis of the objects in bronze.

 

To sum up, the artefacts, as well as cultural streams reached apparently far beyond the local society in the archaic period, and point to connections between Asia Minor, Cyprus and Phoenicia. An anecdote is that the only Cypriote terracotta figurine, probably representing a priestess (fig.77), proved after a scientific analysis of the clay to be locally made. The roughly 350 terracottas reach up to the Late Bronze Age. The oldest item, unfortunately fragmentary, is a fairly large statuette of a goddess (or a priestess) with raised hands, traditionally considered as belonging to the Cretan Dark Ages. Most of the figurines date however to the archaic period (7th -6th centuries B.C.), which is characteristic for the place.

 

In general, the articles of the reviewed volume are short, but provide a bibliography at the end. Some, like the article about the coins by Stefan Karwiese, are completed by a commented bibliography. All articles are followed by a list of sources of illustrations.
The illustrations, 232 in number, both photographs (most of them in colour) and drawings, are of excellent quality, several of them have not yet been published before. As a rule, they are supplied with a description coming close to a catalogue.
On the whole, the book published “to accompany” is in fact a good companion during the exhibition and after it an interesting reading for the general public as well as for the students and scholars who may look more detailed information in the bibliography or directly from the authors, as their mailing addresses are supplied.

 

Table of contents:

 

Raum und Zeit

Anton Bammer, Zur Geographie des Artemisheiligtums, p. 17

Helmut Brückner, John C. Kraft, Ilhan Kayan, Vom Meer umspült, vom Fluss begraben - zur Paläogeographie des Artemisions, p. 21

Gerhard Forstenpointner, Michael Kerschner, Ulrike Muss, Das Artemision in der späten Bronzezeit und der frühen Eisenzeit, p. 33

Ulrike Muss, Zur Geschichte des Artemisions, p. 47 

 

Die Göttin

Sarah Morris, Zur Vorgeschichte der Artemis Ephesia, p. 57

Ulrike Muss, Kultbild und Statuetten – Göttinen im Artemision, p. 63

Andreas Pülz, Von Göttin zur Gottesmutter? Artemis und Maria, p. 67

 

Archäologie und Ritual

Anton Bammer, Ulrike Muss, Geschenke für die Göttin, p. 79

Birgit Pulsinger, Perlen aus dem Artemision – Mittler zwischen Mensch und Gottheit, p. 85

Ulrike Muss, Gold des Meeres: Bernstein aus dem Artemision von Ephesos, p. 95

Ulrike Muss, Elfenbein und Bein aus dem Artemision von Ephesos, p. 103

Martine Dewailly, Ulrike Muss, Tonfiguren aus dem Heiligtum der Artemis, p. 117

Michael Kerschner, Keramik aus dem Heiligtum der Artemis, p. 125

Stefan Karwiese, Das Artemision von Ephesos und die “Erfindung” der Münze, p. 133

G. Klebinder-Gauss, Weihegaben aus Bronze, p. 149

Gerhard Forstenpointner, G.E. Weissengruber, Tierknochenfunde aus dem Artemision, p.157

Birgit Bühler, Andrea M. Pülz, Die Goldfunde aus dem Artemision von Ephesos und ihre Herstellung, p. 167

Birgit Bühler, Andrea M. Pülz, Typologie und Technologie der Raubvogeldarstellungen aus Gold, p. 173

Kurt Gschwantler, Viktor Freiberger, Goldschmiedetechnische Beobachtungen zu den Löwenkopffibeln aus dem Artemision von Ephesos, p. 185

 

Kultur und Identität

G. Klebinder-Gauss, Andrea M. Pülz, “Fremdes” in der materiellen Kultur im Artemision von Ephesos, p. 201

G. Hölbl, Ägyptisches Kulturgut im archaischen Artemision, p. 209

Michael Kerschner, Die Lyder und das Artemision von Ephesos, p. 223

G. Klebinder-Gauss, Ephesos und seine Beziehungen zur phrygischen Bronzekunst, p. 235

 

Architektonische Gestaltung des Sakralen

Anton Bammer, Der Peripteros und sein Vorgänger, p. 243

Anton Bammer, Der sogenannte Hekatompedos und Tempel C, p. 251

Ulrich Schädler, P. Schneider, Ein Tondach des 7. Jahrhunderts, p. 255

A. Ohnesorg, Neue Forschungen zum archaischen Dipteros, p. 263

Anton Bammer, Neues zum spätklassischen Weltwunderbau, p. 275

Anton Bammer, Der archaische und der klassische Hofaltar, p. 277

Anton Bammer, Die Kirche im Artemision, p. 285.