97-132

Gold wreaths from the necropolis of ancient Rhodes

• Κανίνια, Εριφύλη

Rescue excavations in the necropolis of ancient Rhodes, conducted by the XII Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese, yielded a large number of gold wreaths (most of them broken or in fragments), which exhibit interesting typological variety. Along with them are examined the wreaths found in the Rhodian countryside and on the islands of Megisti (Kastellorizo) and Nisyros which formed part of the Rhodian state.The wreaths from the ancient necropolis of Rhodes, and those from the Rhodian countryside and the islands, are classified on the basis of material into types I and IV: they are made either entirely of gold, or of other, cheaper materials, usually gilded.The gold wreaths of type I are divided into two groups based on the type of the stem which - in the case of the examples examined in this study - appears also to form the basis for a number of chronological distinctions. The first group includes gold wreaths with round stems of circular section, which are not solid, but hollow: from the necropolis of Rhodes the M 1082, M 725, M 1118 - M 1121, the wreath in the Constantinople Museum (thought to be from Rhodes, and possibly from the necropolis of Rhodes), and, from the islands, the wreath with heart - shaped ivy leaves from Megisti (Kastellorizo), now housed in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (cat. no. 1058). These wreaths may be assigned to the second half of the 4th or the early years of the 3rd c. BC, though we have no strong excavation evidence for their date. The wreath from Megisti forms an exception to the chronological homogeneity of the above group, and dates from as late as the second quarter or the middle of the 3rd c. BC. The second group includes gold wreaths with a stem in the form of a band made of a flexible strip of gold: from the necropolis of Rhodes the M 565, M 1529 (with ivy leaves), M 1375, M 1173, M 703, M 678, M 567, and, from the Rhodian countryside (Aphandou), the M 1383 and M 1031. Most of these are fairly securely dated by the objects with which they were found, and they are considerably later in date, ranging from just before the middle of the 3rd c. BC, down to the 1st c. BC.Identification and classification of wreaths of type IV are in general difficult, because of their fragmentary state of preservation. A first group, which also represents an early chronological sub - group belonging to the second half of the 4th or the early years of the 3rd c., includes three fragmentary wreaths with gilded bone stems of circular section: two of them (M 674 and M 1382) come from the ancient necropolis of Rhodes, while the third (M 551a, b) is from the Rhodian countryside (Istrios). Along with these is examined the wreath M 1149 (also thought to have come from Istrios), which has a gilded bone band-stem. All the above represent the simplest varieties of the earliest funerary wreaths of type IV. The wreath M 1377 from the necropolis of ancient Rhodes is examined separately: it is dated, though not securely, to the 3rd c., and its narrow, bronze, band-stem is semicircular. In contrast, a characteristic group is formed by the wreaths M 1376 and M 1379 (the latter with ivy leaves) from the ancient Rhodian necropolis, which have a flexible lead band-stem and date from about the middle of the 3rd c. To this group has been assigned the fragmentary wreath M 801, from Nisyros, which also has ivy leaves. The similarity between these three last wreaths and two wreaths from Taras, also preserved incompletely and in fragments, is of great interest; the Rhodian wreaths and those from Taras may reasonably be assigned to a common workshop, which may have been located either on Rhodes or at Taras. Despite the fact that the Taras wreath workshops are known to have exported their products, we should not ignore the possibility that the Rhodian workshops were also active exporters.The relatively large proportion of wreaths with ivy leaves from the ancient necropolis of Rhodes may be associated with the chthonic aspect of the cult of Dionysos, which appears from the relief scenes of Dionysiac processions in the tomb complexes at Korakonerou to have been widespread on Rhodes, as it is shown. The Dionysiac character of wreaths with ivy leaves calls to mind the relief scenes of funeral banquets common on Rhodes, carved on grave markers (mainly rectangular altars), in which the deceased is shown attending the banquet. This correlation may be seen as part of the more general symbolical implications of the interpretation of the burial custom of placing a wreath on the dead person in the ancient necropolis of Rhodes, which seems also to have been taken into consideration in the earlier construction of the built funerary altars and offering tables, though there is insufficient excavation evidence for this.With regard to the symbolical implications of the interpretation of the custom of the wreath on Rhodes, we may note the following conceptual associations with a number of features characteristic of the existence of this city: a) The first association relates to the symbolical, consecrating quality of the wreaths, which derives not only from the association of the plants depicted with particular deities, but also from the relationship of the plants with the earth, with the soil in which they grow; the enclosing of a wreath in the earth, along with the dead body, could be interpreted as an apotropaic act, linked conceptually with the eternal cycle of the death and rebirth of nature. This interpretation is consistent with the distinctive approach to the design and layout of the ancient necropolis of Rhodes, which is set in an idyllic landscape and provides opportunities for relaxation, strolling, and religious activities. This is possibly to be connected with a philosophical attitude towards death that views it as a force for unification and identification with nature, b) The second association is directly related to an interpretation of the burial custom stemming from the concept of the consecration of the dead person. This more general interpretation of the concept defines the political nature of the united city, as expressed poetically about half a century earlier by Pindar: the poetical consecration of the political vision of the Diagorids, which derives conceptually from an association with another wreath (the wreath won by the Rhodian Olympic victor, the boxer Diagoras) gives a philosophical depth to the interpretation of the custom of placing a wreath on the dead of the newly founded city.

• History and Archaeology
• Arts

• Excavations (Archaeology)
• Αρχαιολογία
• Archaeology and art

Η παρούσα μελέτη αποτελεί την ολοκληρωμένη μορφή ομότιτλης ανακοίνωσης της αρθρογράφου στο Διεθνές Συνέδριο που έγινε στη Ρόδο τον Οκτώβριο του 1993 στα πλαίσια του εορτασμού των 2400 χρόνων από την ίδρυση της πόλης.Ευχαριστεί τον Έφορο I. Παπαχριστοδούλου για την άδεια μελέτης και δημοσίευσης των χρυσών στεφανιών από τη νεκρόπολη της αρχαίας Ρόδου. Επίσης, ολόθερμες ευχαριστίες οφείλει στις συναδέλφους αρχαιολόγους Α. Γιαννικουρή και Μ. Φιλήμονος, που έδωσαν την ευγενική τους συγκατάθεση για τη μελέτη του παραπάνω υλικού. Η Έφορος Ηώς Ζερβουδάκη είχε την ευγένεια να της παραχωρήσει την άδεια να εξετάσει από κοντά το στεφάνι από τη Μεγίστη που φυλάσσεται στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο και την ευχαριστεί θερμά. Η φωτογράφηση των στεφανιών έγινε από την αρχιτέκτονα της KB' Εφορείας Βασιλική Ελευθερίου και τον φωτογράφο της Προγραμματικής Σύμβασης Martin Mitton., Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες, Περιέχει σχέδια και συντομογραφίες