Treasury Architecture as a Dialectical Construction in Ancient Greece: A Conceptual Evaluation of the Siphnian Treasury

Year 2022, Issue: 27, 205 - 220, 09.02.2023

Merve Yıldırımtürk , Rıfat Eser Kortanoğlu

Abstract

Ancient Greek cities dedicated a variety of valuable objects to the gods in sacred areas. The means for protecting these objects were provided by the thesauros [treasuries] they had built on behalf of their cities and were also a votive offering themself. While only cultic objects were place in temples, objects that had been dedicated by citizens and cities were kept in the treasuries. The now-lost offerings were housed by treasuries that are mentioned in ancient sources and had been built between the 7th-3rd centuries BC. Dedicated by the Greek city-states to the sacred sites of Delphi, Olympia, and Delos, the function of these structures was to protect valuable dedications to the gods and to politically demonstrate the connection the cities had to these sacred areas. The architectural details of these buildings reflect the elements of the city-state that dedicated it. This study explains the origin and meaning of the treasuries that were constructed in the sanctuaries, as well as their architectural form and function, and discusses the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts that existed between the cities and sanctuaries through the example of one of the most striking treasuries from the Archaic period, the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi (525 BC). 

Keywords

Ancient Period, Architecture, Greece, Sanctuary, Treasury

Eski Yunan’da Diyalektik Bir İnşa Olarak Thesauros Mimarisi: Siphnoslular Thesaurosu Üzerinden Kavramsal Bir Değerlendirme

Abstract

Eski Yunan’da antik kentler, tanrılara kutsal alanlarda çok çeşitli değerli objeler adamıştır. Bunların korunma ihtiyacı, kendi kentleri adına yaptırdıkları ve yine bir adak olan mimari yapılar (thesauroslar) ile sağlanmıştır. Tapınaklara sadece kült işlevli dini objeler koyulurken, thesauroslara vatandaşların ve kentlerin tanrılara adadıkları saklanmıştır. Thesaurosların barındırdığı ve günümüze kadar korunamamış olan adaklar, antik kaynaklarda bahsedilmiştir. Thesauroslar MÖ 7.yy ile MÖ 3.yy arasında yapılmışlardır. Yunan kent devletleri tarafından, Delphoi, Olympia ve Delos gibi kutsal alanlarda adanmış olan bu yapının işlevi, tanrılara adanan değerli objeleri korumak ve politik olarak kentlerin bu kutsal alanlarla bağlantısının gösterilmesidir. Bu yapıların mimari detayları, adayan kent devletinin ögelerini yansıtmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, belli alanlarda yapılmış thesaurosların kökeni ve anlamı, daha sonra mimari formu ve işlev açıklanmış, Thesaurosların en çarpıcı örneklerinden biri olan Delphoi Apollon Kutsal Alanında bulunan ve Arkaik Dönem’e ait (MÖ 525) Siphnoslular thesaurosunun üzerinden, thesaurosların yapıldığı kutsal alanlar ve bu mimari eserleri yaptıran kentler arasındaki sosyal, kültürel, politik ve ekonomik bağlamlar incelenmiştir.

Keywords

Antik Dönem, Mimarlık, Yunanistan, Kutsal Alan, Thesauros

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