Water supply of ancient Greek cities

The low water availability in several regions of southeastern Hellas and particularly in several islands, such as Crete, has resulted in the construction of various types of water reservoir for collection and storage of rainwater, since their very early habitation. Since then, technologies for the construction and use of several types of cisterns have been developed. In Crete during the Minoan era, water cisterns were very well practiced as a basic means for water supply in several settlements. The Minoan water cistern technologies were further developed, mainly by enlargement of the scale of water systems, at subsequent stages of the Hellenic civilizations. Furthermore, more advanced water cistern technologies were invented, with a peak during the Hellenistic period which followed Alexander the Great, during which time they spread over a geographical area from Hellas to the west and to the east. The Romans inherited the cistern technologies and further developed them mainly by changing their application scale from small to large. Characteristic paradigms of Cretan cisterns are considered which justify the significance of that technology for water supply in areas with low water availability during the whole Cretan history. Herein, nowadays climatic conditions and water resources management in Crete are presented and discussed.

Pergamum

A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195139174.003.0042 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Clyde E. Fant ◽

Mitchell G. Reddish

Keyword(s):

Aegean Sea ◽

River Valley ◽

Asia Minor ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Alexander The Great ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Ancient City ◽

The Temple ◽

The Way

Pergamum is unquestionably one of the most impressive archaeological sites in all of Turkey. Pergamum’s attractions are hard to surpass—the breathtaking view from its theater carved out of the side of the acropolis, the magnificent restored Temple of Trajan, the foundations of the Great Altar of Zeus, the ancient healing center of Asclepius, the Temple of Serapis (the Red Hall), and the archaeological museum. A visit to Pergamum should not be rushed. There is much here to reward the patient visitor who will explore the riches of this ancient city. The site of ancient Pergamum is scattered in and around the modern town of Bergama, located in the western part of Turkey, approximately 65 miles north of Izmir. According to ancient mythology, Pergamum was founded by Telephus, king of Asia Minor and the son of Hercules (and thus the grandson of Zeus). Archaeological evidence indicates that Pergamum was settled as early as the 8th century B.C.E. Xenophon, the Greek historian who was involved in a mercenary expedition against the Persians, mentions that in 399 B.C.E. he and his soldiers spent some time at Pergamum. Little is known about Pergamum until the Hellenistic period, when Pergamum and all of Asia Minor came under the control of Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander in 323 B.C.E., Lysimachus, one of Alexander’s generals (the Diadochoi) involved in the struggle for Alexander’s kingdom, eventually gained control of all of Asia Minor. He deposited a considerable amount of wealth in the treasury of Pergamum and placed one of his officers, Philetaerus, in charge. Philetaerus eventually turned against Lysimachus. After Lysimachus’ death, Philetaerus (r. 281–263 B.C.E.) used the money to establish a principality, with Pergamum as its capital. Unmarried (and supposedly a eunuch due to an accident), Philetaerus adopted his nephew Eumenes I as his successor. Eumenes I (r. 263–241 B.C.E.) was successful in defeating the Seleucid king Antiochus I at Sardis and expanding the rule of Pergamum throughout the Caicus River valley and all the way to the Aegean Sea. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his adopted son Attalus I Soter (r. 241–197 B.C.E.).

Greek Festivals in the Hellenistic Era

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199592081.013.12 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 123-132

Author(s):

Zahra Newby

Keyword(s):

Olympic Games ◽

Near East ◽

Asia Minor ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Self Identity ◽

The Past ◽

Magna Graecia ◽

New City

The Hellenistic era incorporated new city foundations in Egypt and the Near East, as well as the ancient Greek cities of mainland Greece, Asia Minor, and Magna Graecia. This chapter examines Greek festivals and athletic contests amid the struggles of cities and individuals for recognition and self-identity. Relying especially on epigraphic and archaeological evidence, it will look at the Olympic Games during this period, and at the widening geographical origins of its victors. New festivals were established and played crucial roles in inter-city politics; note especially the new isolympic and isopythian games such as the Ptolemaia in Alexandria and the festival of Artemis Leucophyene at Magnesia on the Maeander. The guilds of performers played important roles in the Hellenistic period. We consider how the experience of an athletic victor now compared with that in the past.

Lavatories in Ancient Greece

Water Science & Technology Water Supply ◽

10.2166/ws.2007.018 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 155-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

G.P. Antoniou

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Water Supply ◽

Ancient Greece ◽

Living Standard ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Economic Prosperity ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Public Buildings ◽

Characteristic Factor

Lavatories can be classified as a characteristic factor of living standard and economic prosperity. Many remains of ancient lavatories have been found in Greece. Some of them are dated even in the Minoan era. Many references about them have been recorded in numerous ancient Greek scripts. Despite that many related archaeological finds are dated in a wide chronological range, the typical mature ancient Greek lavatory was probably formed in the Hellenistic period, which was a period of a great evolution of the ancient Greek water technology. Lavatories are found not only in private houses but also in many public buildings and sanctuaries. The features of the typical ancient lavatory are the bench type seats with the keyhole shaped defecation openings and the ditch underneath them, which is associated with both water supply or flushing conduit and sewer. The lavatory was usually situated in the area of the building most convenient for water supply and sewerage. Later, the mature lavatory's layout was spread out all around the Roman Empire, acquiring more or less monumental appearance.

Innovative approach for achieving of sustainable urban water supply system by using of solar photovoltaic energy

Ingeniería e Investigación ◽

10.15446/ing.investig.v37n1.57983 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 58 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jure Margeta ◽

Bojan Đurin

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Renewable Energy Sources ◽

Water Reservoir ◽

Supply System ◽

Water Supply System ◽

Urban Water ◽

Solar Photovoltaic ◽

Urban Water Supply ◽

Pump Station

Paper describes and analyses new and innovative concept for possible integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy in urban water supply system (UWSS). Proposed system consists of PV generator and invertor, pump station and water reservoir. System is sized in such a manner that every his part is sized separately and after this integrated into a whole. This integration is desirable for several reasons, where the most important is the achievement of the objectives of sustainable living in urban areas i.e. achieving of sustainable urban water supply system. The biggest technological challenge associated with the use of solar, wind and other intermittent renewable energy sources RES is the realization of economically and environmentally friendly electric energy storage (EES). The paper elaborates the use of water reservoires in UWSS as EES. The proposed solution is still more expensive than the traditional and is economically acceptable today in the cases of isolated urban water system and special situations. Wider application will depend on the future trends of energy prices, construction costs of PV generators and needs for CO2 reduction by urban water infrastructure.

Mysticism and/in the Old Testament: Methodological orientation and a textual example

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v71i1.2813 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 71 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Christo Lombaard

Keyword(s):

Old Testament ◽

Academic Discipline ◽

Specific Aspect ◽

The Other ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Other Hand ◽

Mission History ◽

The One ◽

Interpretative Framework

This contribution is the second in a series on methodology and Biblical Spirituality. In the first article, ‘Biblical spirituality and interdisciplinarity: The discipline at cross-methodological intersection’, the matter was explored in relationship to the broader academic discipline of Spirituality. In this contribution, the focus is narrowed to the more specific aspect of mysticism within Spirituality Studies. It is not rare for Old Testament texts to be understood in relationship to mystical contexts. One the one hand, when Old Testament texts are interpreted from a mystical perspective, the methods with which such interpretations are studied are familiar. The same holds true, on the other hand, if texts in the Old Testament, dating from the Hellenistic period, are identified as mystic. However, African mission history has taught us that the Western interpretative framework, based on ancient Greek philosophical suppositions (most directly the concepts rendered by Plato and Aristotle) and rhetorical orientations, is so strong that it transposes that which it encounters in other cultures into its terms, thus rendering the initial cultural understandings inaccessible. This is precisely the case too with Old Testament texts dating from pre-Hellenistic times, identified as mystic. What are the methodological parameters required to understand such texts on their own terms? In fact, is such an understanding even possible?

Ancient Greek Terracotta Sculpture

10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0372 ◽

2022 ◽

Keyword(s):

Southern Italy ◽

Hellenistic Period ◽

Greek Life ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Monumental Sculpture ◽

First Millennium ◽

Terracotta Figurines ◽

The 19Th Century ◽

Greek World ◽

Material Form

The phrase “terracotta sculpture” refers to all figurative representations in fired clay produced in Greece and in the Greek world during the first millennium bce, (from the Geometric period to the end of the Hellenistic period), whatever their size (figurine, statuette, or statue), whatever their manufacturing technique (modeling, molding, mixed), whatever their material form (in-the-round, relief, etc.), whatever their representation (anthropomorphic, zoomorphic [real or imaginary], diverse objects), and whatever the limits of their representation: full figure (figurines, statuettes, groups), truncated or abbreviated representations, including protomai, masks, busts, half figures, and anatomical representations, among others. All these objects, with the possible exception of large statues, were the products of artisans who were referred to in ancient texts as “coroplasts,” or modelers of images in clay. Because of this, the term “coroplasty,” or “coroplathy,” has been used to refer to this craft, but also increasingly to all of its products, large and small, while research on this material falls under the rubric of coroplastic studies. Greek terracottas were known to antiquarians from the mid-17th century onward from archaeological explorations in both sanctuary and funerary sites, especially in southern Italy and Sicily. Yet serious scholarly interest in these important representatives of Greek sculpture developed only in the last quarter of the 19th century, when terracotta figurines of the Hellenistic period were unearthed from the cemeteries of Tanagra in Boeotia in the 1870s and Myrina in Asia Minor in the 1880s. These immediately entered the antiquities markets, where their cosmopolitan, secular imagery had a great appeal for collectors and fueled scholarly interest and debate. At the same time, sanctuary deposits containing terracottas also began to be explored, but scholarly attention privileged funerary terracottas because of their better state of preservation. For most of the 20th century, the study of figurative terracottas basically was an art-historical exercise based in iconography and style that remained in the shadow of monumental sculpture. It is only in the last four decades or so that coroplastic studies has developed into an autonomous field of research, with approaches specific to the discipline that consider modalities of production, as well as the religious, social, political, and economic roles that terracottas played in ancient Greek life by means of broad sociological and anthropological approaches. Consequently, this bibliography mainly comprises publications of the last forty years, although old titles that are still essential for research are also included.

Supplementum Epigraphicum GraecumSocial stratification in the cities of west Asia Minor in the Hellenistic period.

Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum ◽

10.1163/1874-6772_seg_a37_1846 ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

Asia Minor ◽

Hellenistic Period

Architectural Expression of Public and Private Water Supply at Morgantina, Corinth, Athens, and Delos

Water Management in Ancient Greek Cities ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195072808.003.0034 ◽

1993 ◽

Author(s):

Dora P. Crouch

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Water System ◽

Equal Weight ◽

Ancient Greek ◽

Public And Private ◽

Greek City ◽

Urban Amenity ◽

Late Twentieth ◽

Local Geology ◽

The Individual

Water in ancient Greek cities can be considered under several rubrics— aesthetic enrichment of urban spaces, ornamentation of enclosed precincts, nuisance or danger in the form of flood or excessive storm runoff, domestic amenity, public ritual and spectacle, to name a few. This chapter focuses on public fountains, which were both amenity and necessity, contrasting them with the more humble domestic arrangements of the same cities. The appearance, function, and location of fountains cannot be understood as merely visual matters, even though the form and ornamentation of fountains made significant architectural and aesthetic contributions to the cityscape. Rather, understanding the local geology and climate and the principles of hydraulic engineering makes possible a new and clearer understanding of this architectural type. The technological and geological basis of water supply is of equal weight in urban development with the formal presentation of water as an urban amenity. Water management in ancient Greek cities expressed in its physical forms both the simplicity and the sophistication of their hydraulic technology. The physical arrangements were expressed in the same vocabulary of the Greek orders and decorative details that were used for other buildings and fittings, and in the same range of local and imported materials. Placement of the water system elements not only facilitated their use but also indicated the high value placed on water and on its use. The dangers of too much water or not enough were not only solved by Greek technological tradition but also expressed in the physical forms given to the individual parts and to the water system as a whole. Each of the water elements I have studied is simple, fulfilling its function economically, yet each is sophisticated enough that modern day practice is just beginning to catch up with these crafty ancients. For instance, having both the flowing water of fountains and wells, and the stored rainwater of cisterns, meant that the water supply of a Greek city was diversified for greater safety in time of war or shortage, and for ecological soundness. In the late twentieth century we are just beginning to understand the utility of redundancy.

Sardis

A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195139174.003.0044 ◽

2003 ◽

Author(s):

Clyde E. Fant ◽

Mitchell G. Reddish

Keyword(s):

Biblical Studies ◽

Roman Period ◽

Asia Minor ◽

Christian Community ◽

Ancient City ◽

Ancient Times ◽

Gediz River ◽

The City ◽

The Temple ◽

Western Half

A city with a strong and vibrant Jewish community during the Roman period, as well as a center for the worship of Artemis and home to a significant Christian community, Sardis is an intriguing place to visit for anyone interested in biblical studies or ancient religious history. The partially restored 3rd-century-C.E. synagogue in the city is the largest known synagogue outside Palestine from ancient times. Ancient shops, a bath-gymnasium complex, and the Temple of Artemis provide glimpses of the life of this ancient city. Once the capital of the ancient Lydian Kingdom, Sardis (Sart) lies approximately 60 miles east of Izmir along the modern highway (E96/300) connecting Izmir to Ankara in the Hermus River valley (today called the Gediz River). Portions of the ruins of Sardis are situated adjacent to the highway and are easily accessible. The ancient city was built along the Pactolus River, a tributary of the Hermus, and at the foothills of the Tmolus Mountains. The city’s acropolis was strategically located atop a spur of the Tmolus Mountains. The Tmolus Mountains (or Mt. Tmolus) were, according to some ancient traditions, the birthplace of the gods Dionysus and Zeus. Sardis first came to prominence during the 1st millennium B.C.E. when it served as the center of the powerful Lydian kingdom, which encompassed most of the western half of Asia Minor. The Lydians supposedly were the first to develop a technique to dye wool and also to invent dice games, knucklebones, and other games. (Interestingly, archaeologists found a terra-cotta die in the ruins at Sardis.) Legend says that Midas, the mythical Phrygian king, was able to rid himself of his golden touch by bathing in the Pactolus River. As a result, the sands of the river turned to gold. Though legendary, this account points nonetheless to the enormous wealth enjoyed by the Lydian kingdom. The earliest Lydian rulers belonged to the Heraclid dynasty, which according to Herodotus (5th-century-B.C.E. Greek historian) lasted 505 years. They were succeeded by the Mermnad dynasty, of which the first king was Gyges (r. ca. 680–ca. 652 B.C.E.).