Οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες έκτιζαν σκόπιμα τους ναούς τους
σε χάσματα σεισμών;
Δελφοί,
Μυκήνες, Έφεσος, Κνίδος, Ιεράπολις, Ηραίον Περαχώρας
Did Ancient Greeks Deliberately Build Temples on
Earthquake Faults?
 |
| Ο ναός του Απόλλωνος στους Δελφούς, μετά από βροχή. (φωτ. Γ. Λεκάκη). |
Archeologists and other scientists have long known that intoxicating
gases emanating from water flowing from deep within the earth likely produced
the visions of the oracle of Delphi, a seer who guided ancient Greeks with her
prophecies from around 800 BC through the 4th century AD from her temple on
Mount Parnassus.
Now new research suggests many other Greek sacred sites were built on
similar fissures created by earthquakes throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.
"The ancient Greeks placed great value on hot springs unlocked by
earthquakes," said Iain Stewart, professor of geoscience communication and
director of the Sustainable Earth Institute at the University of Plymouth in
Britain. "But perhaps the building of temples and cities close to these
sites was more systematic than has previously been thought."
In a study published recently in the Proceedings of the Geologists'
Association, Stewart showed how temples and other structures at Mycenae,
Ephesus, Cnidus, and Hierapolis were, like Delphi, built and rebuilt over
earthquake faults.
In Cnidus, an ancient, ruined city in what is now southwestern coastal
Turkey, for example, locals erected a temple in the same place — over a fault
in hindsight — even after earthquakes wrecked it.
"You think, ‘That's bad luck, isn't it?'" said Stewart,
describing when he first reached his findings after reviewing his data.
"Then it dawns on you. These people weren't stupid. There was this grand
dawning that there was probably something deliberate here."
The pattern repeats in other cities, reflecting how Greeks viewed the
underworld as the destination for the soul after death and a source of mystical
power and knowledge. "We don't have a culture that looks down," said
Stewart. "We have a culture that looks up to the stars."
Conversely, in his paper Stewart speculates that seismic activity could
have cut off hot springs that had justified an oracle at Perachora Heraion, a
sanctuary founded in honor of the goddess Hera in the 9th century BC near
Corinth but then fell into disuse in 300 BC potentially after earthquakes.
Greeks also of course didn't live in cities with skyscrapers and
millions of residents, either, he added. Earthquakes would have been viewed
more as mystical occurrences and not natural disasters caused by the movement
of tectonic plates. Historical and geological records show that earthquakes
were frequent at the height of ancient Greek civilization, he added.
"It's hard [for people today] to separate the modern take that
earthquakes are dangerous," said Stewart. "We kind of know too much.
We know what they can do. In ancient times, they would have seen them very
differently. In the course of 30 seconds, the ground would open up and then
everything would go back to normal."
Stewart added that archeologists might also look at sacred sites in
South America, the Middle East, and Asia to see whether earthquake fault lines
played a role in their construction.
But Stewart admitted he wasn't an archeologist. More work needed to be
done to fully explore his thesis, he said, adding that he published his paper
as a "provocation" for other more qualified researchers to take up
the topic.
"I do recognize that when geologists lumber into archeological
territory, they make mistakes," he said. "I'm quite happy with
archeologists taking us to task."
ΠΗΓΕΣ:
www.livescience.com
Ancient Greeks May Have Deliberately Built Sacred Sites on Earthquake
Faults στο Seeker:
ΣΧΟΛΙΑ
ΣΧΟΛΙΑ ΜΕΣΩ Facebook