Sacral Environments of Corinthia: The Polis and HinterlandMorgan, Catherine; “The Evolution of a Sacral ‘Landscape’: Isthmia, Perachora, and the Early Corinthian State” and Laburn-Peart, Catherine

Danyelle King Urbanism in the Archeological Record

Thursday October 11, 2007

Information in Context:Francois de Polignac

• Approached with expressed aim of understanding the organization of the cult of the classical polis (city-state in ancient Greece, esp. as considered for philosophical purposes)

• Recognized the future of the polis is not limited to this model; Variability exists • Sanctuaries & Shrines are conscious responses to the immediate social and

political needs of newly emerging polis • City center shrines are focal points for expression of community identity,

whereas sanctuaries situated in marginal/ border locations cement relations between community and neighbors , and hold implications for all relations essential to polis:

• Town & Country• Human & Divine • Citizen & non- Citizen

• “…their creation served as the acte constituf [and metaphor] of the polis itself” • Considers the spiritual the most important impact on people

A Challenge for de Polignac•Cult place at Isthmia may have played a role in the many centuries between c. 1050 BCE (de Polignac’s assumed time frame) and 146 BCE (Morgan’s assumed time frame) •Evidence of an earlier shrine found more reticently

•New evidence questions the meaning of the site in relation to the nature of its collectivity

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Corinthia as Site• Classical understanding (used by de Polignac) yielded an assumed model of pre-

polis Greek religion • stressing scarcity of formalized cult places in earlier periods • Assuming institutions were absorbed and emasculated within the new state structure and

this process cemented the establishment of the cult for the new state- meaning while change was acknowledged it was not central

• Near continuous process of reshaping of ritual structures spanning centuries• Questionable whether this reshaping constituted the total shift required for absorption and

emasculation

• (Whereas) Broneer’s excavation • Produced evidence for cult activity dating back to start of protogeometric period (c. 1050 BCE) • 8th-7th century phenomenon, containing ‘rural’ 8th century sanctuaries & urban/rural 7th century

temples

• Polis- most developed and influential form of political organization in classical Greek world

• Difficult to distinguish between sanctuaries in polis and ethne • Different shrines were very similar

• Physical form • Nature of offerings made • Similarity of cults instituted

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ORIGINS & Social Structure• Religious activity placed at the beginning of the protogeometric period

(mid 11th century BCE), meaning it is• 1 of the earliest post-Myceanian Greek shrines in the Greek World • 1 of very few early religious sites to be discovered in a site, later becoming

a polis • AND “sustained a major communal role in the life of the polis and beyond”

• Terminus Post Quem- earliest monumental temple • Ash remnants found point toward cult activity

• Animal bone • Unburnt pottery • Figurines (high percentage of bull terracotta figurines) • Jewelry

• Sizable portion of population lived in scattered settlements, but buried their dead in shared cemeteries

• Nothing to distinguish Mycenaean Isthmia from local context • Misrepresentations in historical presentation imply sanctuaries as

primeval, but Morgan argues incorrect

• Stresses Isthmia as central point in Corinthian geography, though not polis (divides people residing outside of the city)

• Eight Groups • 4 tribes (∑|, ∆E, ∑,)• 3 subdivisions (E, F, ∏), basis of subdivisions unclear

*Mid 7th century from Isthmia

Cult & Myth: Continuity & Change in Corinthian Religion

• Dorian pedigree of the city • Mythic development of Corinth: Poseidon battles the sun • Eumelos- telling of the history of Corinth through verse- Korinthika • Votives kept in dromos of tomb-

• Over 1 thousand votives • Over 50 figurines

• Goddesses • Poppies • Koulouria• Trays

• 1st Dorian King Aletes’ refoundation of city linked to oracle of Zeus • Battle of Aolian inhabitants and Dorian invaders • First temple

• Temple Hill- 1 undoubted shrine in city center • First major public building • Proto Doric stone structure with tiled roof and painted stucco • Unsure of deity associated with temple (Apollo?), as well as amount of votives and tripods

• Changes in religious shrines reflect changes in the broader society, they adapt

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Early Activity in Polis:

Corinth • Early Iron Age religion not definable by one model, development is too varied in style

• Sanctuary seems unlikely to have a relationship to population change in Corinth, no positive archeological evidence, but also continuous sequence of activity alludes to more peaceful interactions, not forced change

• Isthmia communal dining, and disinterest in displays of wealth, lead to no erection of buildings- plus there were many built shrines remaining from the archaic period, and those shared space with open spaces

• Pottery • Sequence of forms imply a strong tradition of ____, indirect evidence for regional framework of community

identity shared pottery style/burial practices • 1/3 possibly imported, impossible to tell- though boundary determined by constituency of the sanctuary

• Shape/ size/ design • Uses

• Who participated? Why?

• Epigraphical References • Evidence of strong regional identity- ceremonial meeting place • Common knowledge not recorded because formal reference was unnessecery• Personal identity not recorded that way

• Terracotta Figurines• Bulls

• Possibly connected to Poseidon • Possibly connected to economic wealth

• Boots• Found in graves or ‘subadult’ women, before marriageable age• Possibly for journey to Hades • Close conceptual link between journey to marriage and death

• Jewelry• Simple bronze, probably local- not large or fragile like those found at other ceremonial centers • Possibly dedicated to specific events (childbirth, marriage)

Hinterland, Shrine One:

Isthmia • Sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia • Greatest investment in ritual/ ideological activity occurs during

change/ insecurity • Changes in material expression of religious belief

• Formal surfaces served to accommodate dining and other gatherings, with a refuse area close by- using removable structures

• Development of terraces implies need to cater for growing numbers of people

• Unknown if the expansion in activity strained existing organization to collapse or was accommodated

• Possibility of social differentiation • Access to shelter • Overall use of space

• New artifacts • Tripods from Corinthia, only found in quantity in Isthmia, appropriation of

Olympic tripods• Same with arms & armor

• Logical for rich personal possessions to be presented at shrines, interesting that Isthmia is the chosen shrine- maybe because of its roadside location- more visible to passing traffic

Hinterland, Shrine Two: Perachora

• Sanctuary of Hera at Perachora • Cult activity began in the mid- geometric II phase

• Expansion at Perachora mirrored at Isthmia • Similar burnt remains, high concentration of drinking ceramic vessels, amphora, cooking tools• Cult activity most-likely the same

• Remote- probably less activity/ more exclusive than Isthmia • Difference in wealth of offerings

• More Gold, jewelry, and imports • Hera Akraia & Hera Limenia

• Focus of cult activity at harbor and upper terraces received the excess• By 7th century richest shrine in area

• Odd because was in an odd location- poor water supply, rugged landscape, no evidence of neighboring settlement- though, excavation has been limited and there may have been more population density

• Understanding of role in Corinthia not understood• Sinn argues served as a location of isolation/ asylum from Corinth

• While sanctuaries did serve as places of refuge, there is no reason for Perachora to have this explicit purpose more than other hinterland locations

• Perachora- Corinth• Name reflects a Corinthian centered view • Location so close, involvement with any other region would pose threat to Corinth territorial

integrity and trade• More than local significance, design of personal items exchanged with Corinth not replicated in

Isthmia [also building style of earliest temple precedes a dining-room and hestiatorian style later used]

• Architecture more difficult to interpret- possibility of early link between Hera & building dedications • Possibly early cult activity in city centre • Sea & eastern trade

• Corinth traded with coast of Phokis, but probably not through Perachora • Sanctuary served multiple functions including celebrations of household, trade, and control of the land

essential to Corinth