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Altar Of Hieron
The Altar of Hieron ( it, Ara di Ierone) or the Great Altar of Syracuse is a monumental grand altar in the ancient quarter of Neapolis in Syracuse, Sicily. It was built in the Hellenistic period by King Hiero II and is the largest altar known from antiquity. Description The structure is aligned roughly north-north-west to south-east-east, and is located in the Neapolis, slightly to the southeast of the Greek theatre. Almost nothing except the foundations of the structure survive today. The structure was partly built from masonry blocks and partially carved from the living bedrock. The altar itself is 20.85 metres wide and 195.8 metres long (exactly one Doric stade). It sits on a crepidoma with three steps - at base this is 199.07 metres long and 22.51 metres wide. This makes it the largest altar known from the ancient world.Lehmler, Caroline. ''Syrakus unter Agathokles und Hieron II.: die Verbindung von Kultur und Macht in einer hellenistischen Metropole''. Berlin: Verlag Anti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syracuse, Sicily
Syracuse ( ; it, Siracusa ; scn, Sarausa ), ; grc-att, Συράκουσαι, Syrákousai, ; grc-dor, Συράκοσαι, Syrā́kosai, ; grc-x-medieval, Συρακοῦσαι, Syrakoûsai, ; el, label=Modern Greek, Συρακούσες, Syrakoúses, . is a historic city on the Italian island of Sicily, the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, next to the Gulf of Syracuse beside the Ionian Sea. It is situated in a drastic rise of land with depths being close to the city offshore although the city itself is generally not so hilly in comparison. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, between 60 and 30 BC. The history is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Europe. The second covers the time from the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC. ''Bibliotheca'', meaning 'library', acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. Life According to his own work, he was born in Agyrium in Sicily (now called Agira). With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond his written works. Only Jerome, in his '' Chronicon'' under the "year of Abraham 1968" (49 B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Syracuse
Syracuse ( ; it, Siracusa ; scn, Sarausa ), ; grc-att, Συράκουσαι, Syrákousai, ; grc-dor, Συράκοσαι, Syrā́kosai, ; grc-x-medieval, Συρακοῦσαι, Syrakoûsai, ; el, label=Modern Greek, Συρακούσες, Syrakoúses, . is a historic city on the Italian island of Sicily, the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the pre-eminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in ancient times, when it was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island of Sicily, next to the Gulf of Syracuse beside the Ionian Sea. It is situated in a drastic rise of land with depths being close to the city offshore although the city itself is generally not so hilly in comparison. The city was founded by Ancient Greek Corinthians and T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Altars
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, modern paganism, and in certain Islamic communities around Caucasia and Asia Minor. Many historical-medieval faiths also made use of them, including the Roman, Greek, and Norse religions. Etymology The modern English word ''altar'' was derived from Middle English ''altar'', from Old English ''alter'', taken from Latin ''altare'' ("altar"), probably related to '' adolere'' ("burn"); thus "burning place", influenced by ''altus'' ("high"). It displaced the native Old English word '' wēofod''. Altars in antiquity File:Tel Be'er Sheva Altar 2007041.JPG, Horned altar at Tel Be'er Sheva, Israel. File:3217 - Athens - Sto… of Attalus Museum - Kylix - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg, An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Puchstein
Otto Puchstein (6 July 1856, Labes – 9 March 1911, Berlin) was a German classical archaeologist. From 1875 to 1879 he studied philology, classical archaeology and Egyptology at the University of Strasbourg, where his instructors included Adolf Michaelis, Rudolf Schöll and Johannes Dümichen. Later on, via a grant from the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), he conducted studies of ancient sculptures in Alexandria and Cairo (1881–83). In 1883, on behalf of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, with Carl Humann and Felix von Luschan, he took part in an expedition to Nemrud Dagi, where he visited the tomb of Antiochus I Theos of Commagene.Puchstein, Otto @ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie In 1889 he received his habilitation in Berlin. With |
Robert Koldewey
Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, and died in Berlin at the age of 69. His digs at Babylon revealed the foundations of the ziggurat Marduk, and the Ishtar Gate; he also developed several modern archaeological techniques including a method to identify and excavate mud brick architecture. This technique was particularly useful in his excavation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1899–1917) which were built ca. 580 BC using mainly unfired mudbricks. A practicing archaeologist for most of his life, he participated in and led many excavations in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. After he died, the Koldewey Society was established to record and mark his architectural service.William M. Calder III, "Koldewey, Robert, 1855–1925"; in ''Encyclopedia of the History of Classical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ortygia
Ortygia (; it, Ortigia; grc-gre, Ὀρτυγία) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the ''Città Vecchia'' (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name originates from the ancient Greek ''ortyx'' (ὄρτυξ), which means "Quail". Overview The Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo has it that the goddess Leto stopped at Ortygia to give birth to Artemis, the firstborn of her twins. Artemis then helped Leto across the sea to the island of Delos, where Leto gave birth to Apollo. Other ancient sources state that the twins were born in the same place – which was either Delos or Ortygia – but Ortygia, according to Strabo was an old name of Delos. Further, there were perhaps a half-dozen other places called Ortygia, so that the identification is uncertain.Hammond and Scullard (editors). ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), 760. It was also said that Asteria, the sister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agrigento
Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden age of Ancient Greece BC. History Akragas was founded on a plateau overlooking the sea, with two nearby rivers, the Hypsas and the Acragas, after which the settlement was originally named. A ridge, which offered a degree of natural fortification, links a hill to the north called Colle di Girgenti with another, called Rupe Atenea, to the east. According to Thucydides, it was founded around 582-580 BC by Greek colonists from Gela in eastern Sicily, with further colonists from Crete and Rhodes. The founders ( ''oikistai'') of the new city were Aristonous and Pystilus. It was the last of the major Greek colonies in Sicily to be founded. Archaic period The territory un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple Of Olympian Zeus, Agrigento
The Temple of Olympian Zeus (or Olympeion; known in Italian as the ''Tempio di Giove Olimpico'') in Agrigento, Sicily was the largest Doric temple ever constructed, although it was never completed and now lies in ruins. It stands in the Valle dei Templi with a number of other major Greek temples. History The history of the temple is unclear, but it was probably founded to commemorate the Battle of Himera (480 BC), in which the Greek cities of Akragas (Agrigento) and Syracuse defeated the Carthaginians under Hamilcar. According to the historian Diodorus Siculus, the temple was built using Carthaginian slave labour – presumably defeated soldiers captured after the battle. It is otherwise little mentioned in ancient literature. The Greek historian Polybius mentions it briefly in a 2nd-century BC description of Akragas, commenting that "the other temples and porticoes which adorn the city are of great magnificence, the temple of Olympian Zeus being unfinished but second it seem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrasybulus Of Syracuse
Thrasybulus ( el, Θρασύβουλος) was a tyrant who ruled Syracuse for eleven months during 466 and 465 BC. He was a member of the Deinomenid family and the brother of the previous tyrant Hiero, who seized power in Syracuse by convincing Gelon's son to give up his claim to the leadership of Syracuse. A few months later, members of the Deinomenid family overthrew him. However, the Deinomenid family was subsequently overthrown and a democracy was established in Syracuse.Aristotle's ''Politics'' 5.1312b Notes , width=25% align=center, Preceded by: Hieron I , width=25% align=center, Tyrant of Syracuse466 BC– 465 BC , width=25% align=center, Succeeded by:''democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which people, the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation ("direct democracy"), or to choo ...'' position next held by Dionysius I in 405 BC , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
