The sanctuary of Athena in the city of Priene represents the rare case of an exceptionally well preserved urban sanctuary of the Hellenistic period. This book deals with three of its principal structures: the altar, the stoa, and the propylon. It examines their associated architectural members, advances new reconstructions, and investigates structural developments, as well as changing architectural designs. It also offers a comprehensive chronological analysis of the sanctuary’s building complex, including a new reconstruction of the sanctuary’s earliest phase during the Late classical period. As a result, we can now trace the dynamic process of the sanctuary’s architectural development over a period of nearly 350 years.
Already during the 19th century, the sanctuary of Athena at Priene was excavated down to its Hellenistic levels. These early excavations exposed the entire site and brought to light a large number of architectural fragments. This book presents a new examination of the sanctuary’s architecture; it relies on the results of several years of field research, and it is the result of the author’s doctoral work at the Technical University of Munich (dissertation submitted in 2006). Primarily, this book relies on the methods of historical building research (Bauforschung), but it also includes the results of new archæological excavations carried out by others. The focus of the book is on three specific structures of the sanctuary, which include (in chronological order of construction) the monumental altar, the stoa, and the propylon; an assessment of the entire sanctuary concludes the book. In a separate monograph of the same series, Wolf Koenigs will publish the architecture of the sanctuary’s main building, the temple of Athena, which was designed by the famous architect Pytheus.
This book offers a new and nearly complete architectural reconstruction of the sanctuary’s altar, stoa, and propylon. The evidence for this is twofold: first, a comprehensive and detailed architectural documentation of both the fragments surviving in situ and all other architectural members that can arguably be attributed to the different buildings; and second, the notes, sketches and photographs of the 19th century-researchers. A synthetic analysis of this data confirms and specifies older reconstructions. Moreover, it leads to entirely new insights on specific issues such as the construction process and its technical implementation, design changes during construction, construction phases, and later modifications. The analysis of the three structures also pays attention to aspects that are far beyond the individual object: processes of design and planning; the proportions of the buildings and their parts; metrology and the applied foot lengths; architectural refinements; the relation between the function and the appearance of the buildings; internal and external sight lines; comparisons with statements of Vitruvius; the development of Corinthian capitals in Hellenistic Asia Minor; and the specific characteristics of engaged columns.
Finally, the individual results are brought together to assess the structural development of the entire sanctuary, from the construction of the temple during the 4th century BC to the propylon, which is probably of Augustan date. As it turns out, the sanctuary’s monumental expansion did not follow a fixed master plan. Contrary to previous assumptions, it originally covered a relatively small area, which was gradually expanded until the 1st century BC. With each building project, the appearance and the layout of the sanctuary changed significantly; each construction phase reflects different conceptions of urban planning. This publication makes the architecture of the sanctuary of Athena accessible for various disciplines of classical studies, and it serves as a reference work for research on Hellenistic architecture.
„The author Arnd Hennemeyer as weil as the publisher and the German Archaeological Institute are to be warmly congratulated on this first-dass publication. With this book and the expected volume on the temple,
the sanctuary of Athena at Priene will be published to a level one might desire for many other Greek sanctuaries. It leaves space to further discussion and analysis, which is no disadvantage, but any future
debate will have to build on the wealth of factual information which is the real strength of the book. It is
an obvious need for any research library with an interest in ancient Asia Minor, and a worthy addition to
the long tradition of German archaeological work in that area. Hopefully more such publications from
other parts of this rich and exciting site can be expected in the futur“
Von Erik Ostby
In: Bonner Jahrbücher, Bd. 214 (2014), S. 338-341.
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„Die (...) Dissertation (...) besticht (...) im Endergebnis durch die Umfangreiche und hervorragende Dokumentation sowie durch die Vielzahl der Ergebnisse. Die Konzentration auf die Baureste des Altars, der Südhalle mit edr davorliegenden Terrassenmauer und des Propylons erlauben eine detaillierte Rekonstruktion der einzelnen Bauphasen der genannten Bauwerke, die die Geschichte des unweit oberhalb des Stadtzentrums gelegenen Athenaheiligtums in einem neuen und differenzierten Licht erscheinen lassen.“
Von Lorenz E. Bauer
In: Bonner Jahrbücher, Bd. 214 (2014), S. 112-113.
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„Die Arbeit (...) kann als vorbildliche Publikation von antiker Architektur gelten. An dieser Stelle muss die hervorragende Qualität der sehr abstrakt gehaltenen 3D-Rekonstruktionen von Georg Herdt und Florian Dressler gelobt werden, die die räumliche Situation klar darstellen ohne in photorealistischer Manier mit Hintergrund und Oberflächengestaltung überlastet zu sein. Die Gliederung der Publikation macht die Arbeit mit ihr übersichtlich, wenngleich didaktische
Wiederholungen in den möglichst eigenständig konzipierten Kapiteln nicht ausbleiben. Die vorgeschlagenen Rekonstruktionen können anhand der erfreulich umfangreichen zeichnerischen Darstellung der Bauteile (das Meiste im Maßstab 1:20 publiziert), seiner anschaulichen 3D-Rekonstruktionen sowie der akribischen Beschreibung des Bestandes und der Rekonstruktionen problemlos überprüft und nachvollzogen werden.“
Von Nils Hellner
In: Göttinger Forumg für Altertumswissenschaften 17 (2014) 1323-1332.
Born 1969 in Munich
1990–1991 Studies of Social and Economical Geography and
1991–1998 Studies of Architecture at the Technical University of Munich with a focus on architectural history and art history;
1998–2000 Employed as architect, project management;
2000–2001 Travel grant of the German Archæological Institute (DAI);
2002 Scholarship of the Leopold-Werner-Stiftung;
2003–2005 Grant of the DAI for doctoral work;
2006 PhD at TU Munich (supervisor: Wolf Koenigs);
2006–2012 Research project: The architecture of the temple of Zeus at Olympia; additional research projects in Priene and Milet (Western Turkey);
October 2009–May 2010 Research fellow at the DAI in Berlin, division of building archæology;
Since November 2012 Research fellow at the Institut für Denkmalpflege und Bauforschung of the ETH Zurich. Research on the documentation and perception of ancient architectural polychromy in the 19th century.
In the series of “Archäologische Forschungen” (Archaeological Studies), monographs on the various areas of research in Classical Archaeology are published, mainly concentrating on studies concerning architecture, urban research, topography and everyday culture of Greece, Asia Minor, and the periphery of the Greek world. The chronological scope ranges from the beginning of periodized history to late antiquity. The following volumes, partly to be published in sub-series, will present the findings of research and excavations in the Hellenistic and Roman towns of Priene, Aizanoi and Pompeii. “Archäologische Forschungen” are edited by the Head Office of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (German Archaeological Institute) in Berlin.
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