First Ancient Oracle Well to Apollo unearthed in Athens

Ancient Origins

Archeologists discovered an oracle well, which is at least 1,800-years-old and may be the first ancient oracle to Apollo found in Athens. Moreover, the prophecy at the sanctuary seems to be much older.

According to Haaretz, the oracle well was found by the team led by Dr. Jutta  Stroszeck, director of the Kerameikos excavation on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens. It is the first time that an oracular edifice to Apollo has been discovered in Athens. Although, for centuries it was believed that the center of Apollo's cult was located in Delphi, the most recent discovery may challenge this theory. The oracle well was located in the Temple of Artemis Soteira.
The area around the sanctuary is still watered by the Eridanos River, which flows through the city from east to west. The oracle well was used for hydromancy, a method of divination by means of water.

A woman practicing hydromancy. ‘Circle Invidiosa’ by John William Waterhouse

Stroszeck explained to Haaretz:

“Water, and in particular drinking water, was sacred. In Greek religion, it was protected by nymphs, who could become very mischievous when their water was treated badly."

In ancient times people used the oracle’s guidance not only to know the future. They also asked for simple everyday matters, such as solutions to problems, possibilities of healing disease, finding a lover, etc.
The oracle well was walled with clay cylinders. The researchers discovered more than twenty inscriptions in Greek. All of them included the same phrase:  "Come to me, O Paean, and bring with you the true oracle". The word ''Paean' 'is the epithet that designated the god Apollo, the male deity associated with art, purification and oracular activity.

Apollo, God of Light, Eloquence, Poetry and the Fine Arts with Urania, Muse of Astronomy (public domain)

The oracle well stayed hidden for many centuries under another very important part of the ancient temple. In 2012, the researchers discovered that an omphalos had been meticulously mounted on a marble slab that, in turn, covered an opening. It was lifted carefully using a crane and the circular well was located below. According to the writer of Ancient Origins, DHWTY, ''an omphalos is a powerful symbolic artifact made from stone. Considered the ‘navel of the world’, the central point from which terrestrial life originated, an omphalos was an object of Hellenic religious symbolism believed to allow direct communication with the gods.
Although the omphalos stone at Delphi is the most famous of its kind, it is by far not the only one. Omphalos stones have been found in various sites such as Thebes and Karnak in Egypt and in buildings of the Vinca culture in Southeastern Europe. Yet, these stones probably functioned differently from the Delphic omphalos stone. For instance, many buildings of the Vinca culture contained an omphalos stone, indicating that they may have held some ritual significance to the people of that ancient culture.''

Marble omphalos (navel of the world), representing the stone Zeus threw from the heavens). Credit: Jutta Stroszeck

The oracle was discovered in Kerameikos in central Athens, northwest of the Acropolis. The works there have taken a place since the 19^th century. The excavation site consists of a large sanctuary, which contained thousands of precious artifacts. The name of the site, Kerameikos, comes from the Greek word for pottery or ‘ceramics’. It was a settlement of potters, vase painters and other people connected with creating famous Attic vases. Nearby the site was the ancient agora and the famous Academy of Plato. Moreover, it was a location of the most important cemetery of ancient Athens. The oldest tombs, come from the Early Bronze Age (2700-2000 BC). The burials were continued and the cemetery expanded during the sub-Mycenaean period (1100-1000 BC), Geometric period (1000-700 BC) and Archaic period (700-480 BC). It was also in use during the Early Christian period (338 BC – c. 600 AD).

Kerameikos archaeological park, Athens (public domain)

Archeologists also researched a 2,500-year-old bathhouse. The bath served the citizens of Athens and the travelers. It was discovered during the current excavation season. The researchers believe that it is the spa mentioned by the Greek rhetorician Isaios, and referred to by Aristophanes. It was in use between the 5^th and the 3^rd centuries BC. It was often used by the students of Plato's Academy, as well as the craftsmen.
Top image: The oracular well dedicated to Apollo. It dates to about 1800 years ago but may have been used for eons before. Credit: Jutta Stroszeck.
By Natalia Klimzcak

Spectacular Statuettes of Apollo and Artemis Discovered in Rare State of Preservation in Crete

Ancient Origins

While the size of the find may be small, the quality is great. Archaeologists working in Aptera in Iraklio, Crete, have recently unearthed well-preserved statuettes of the mythical Greek goddess Artemis and her twin brother Apollo.
The Artemis sculpture is cast in bronze and depicts the goddess in the process of firing an arrow. The head of the excavation at the site in Aptera, Vanna Niniou-Kindeli, said that the goddess statuette was found in an excellent state or preservation, with all of her limbs intact.

Detail of the front of the Artemis bronze sculpture. ( Greek Ministry of Culture )

The Artemis statuette is wearing a short chiton (tunic) and even the white material used for her eyes has been preserved. She was found with the bronze base that the sculpture would have stood upon. The Greek News Agent Ethnos reports that the statuette would have measured 54cm (21.3 inches) tall with the base and is 35cm (13.8 inches) tall without it.

Back view of the Artemis sculpture from Aptera, Crete. ( Greek Ministry of Culture )

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the goddess of nature, chastity, virginity, the hunt, and the moon. According to legends, Artemis and Apollo were the children of Zeus and Leto, and soon after her birth, Artemis helped her mother to give birth to her twin brother. Afterwards, she asked her father to allow her to remain chaste for her life – which she chose to devote to hunting and protecting the natural environment.

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The statuette of the Greek god Apollo is arguably less-impressive than that of his sister, but still shows artistic talent. The Apollo sculpture is carved out of marble and measures approximately 54cm (21.3 inches) with the base as well. The International Business Times reports that the Apollo statue has a “rare preservation” of red coloring in some of the creases of the base, suggesting it was painted.

The marble statue of Apollo. ( Greek Ministry of Culture )

In contrast to his twin sister, Apollo was the Greek god of music, healing, light, and truth. Like his sister he was also an archer. Two important tasks given to Apollo were giving the science of medicine to man and moving the sun across the sky each day.
First estimates suggest that the sculptures are from the late 1st – early 2nd century AD. The archaeologists believe that the two figures were probably imported to Crete and originally used to decorate the altar of a Roman luxury residence or were used for decorative purposes at the Roman-era Villa in which they were found.

The base the statues of Artemis and Apollo once stood upon. ( Greek Ministry of Culture )

Vanna Niniou-Kindeli told Ethnos that the statues will be added to the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Chania on Crete. She also emphasized the support of the Region of Crete and the district commissioner Stavros Arnaoutakis in the excavations to the same source.
Artemis was perhaps the more popular twin for devotion, however temples and sites that worshipped both she and her brother Apollo have been found. Last year, Ancient Origins reported that the twins were also discovered to have been worshipped together at a site for divination via hydromancy in Athens, Greece. The combined honoring of the siblings was described as:

“[…] a yin and yang type of dichotomy: Apollo, famous for his pursuit of nymphs, was worshiped as the protector of domestic flocks and herds and the patron of the founding of colonies and cities. While Artemis, who protected girls, seems to recall an earlier time as the goddess of hunting and nature.“

Featured Image: The bronze statuette of Artemis and the marble one of Apollo. Source: Greek Ministry of Culture
By Alicia McDermott

History Trivia - Temple of Apollo at Daphne destroyed by fire

 October 22

362 A mysterious fire destroyed the temple of Apollo at Daphne outside Antioch. 

741 King Charles Martel, the grandfather of the great emperor Charlemagne, died at age 53. 

Site in Athens revealed as an ancient temple of twin gods Apollo and Artemis

Ancient Origins

An ancient well has been uncovered in Kerameikos in central Athens, Greece, with inscriptions calling upon Apollo, the Greek god of prophecy. Archaeologists speculate that Kerameikos seers used the well to try to foretell the future using hydromancy rituals.
It is the first known place in Athens where Apollo was invoked to divine the future, in this case by consulting the waters to see if the god would deliver messages or visions in them.  (“Hydro” means water and “mancy” means divination or prophet).  The archaeological team working at the site, from the German Archaeological Institute, says the oracle (a shrine consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic deity) was in use in early Roman times.
“The finding is exceptionally significant as it identifies the spot as the first and unique Apollo divination site in Athens, confirming the worshipping of the ancient god along with his sister Artemis and restoring the accurate interpretation of the site as a shrine rendered by K. Mylonas in the late 19th century to a third goddess, Hecate,” says the Archaeology News Network.
The wall of the well has the phrase:  ΕΛΘΕ ΜΟΙ Ω ΠΑΙΑΝ ΦΕΡΩΝ ΤΟ ΜΑΝΤΕΙΟΝ ΑΛΗΘΕC, which means 'Come to me, Paean [a common epithet refering to Apollo], and bring the truthful prophecy.’ The site has 20 inscriptions with the same content, which reveals the place as the only oracle of Apollo in Athens where he was worshipped along with Artemis, a goddess of the wilds, chastity and girls.

Apollo and Artemis on a Greek cup from about 470 BC. Apollo, who was the Archer, is on the left. Artemis, the huntress, is shown with the bow. (Wikimedia Commons)

Kerameikos was also a settlement of potters and a burial ground from about 2700 BC. The uncovering of the well and apparent shrine to Apollo and Artemis from the Roman era shed new light on the full significance of the site.
The worship of the god and goddess together at the same site seems to point to a yin and yang type of dichotomy: Apollo, famous for his pursuit of nymphs, was worshiped as the protector of domestic flocks and herds and the patron of the founding of colonies and cities. While Artemis, who protected girls, seems to recall an earlier time as the goddess of hunting and nature.

A 5^th century BC funerary stele with griffins and other figures from Kerameikos cemetery (Photo by Marsyas/Wikimedia Commons)

The book The Goddess Within quotes A History of Greek Religion: “Artemis was the most popular goddess of Greece, but the Artemis of popular belief was quite a different person from the proud virgin of mythology, Apollo’s sister. Artemis is the goddess of wild Nature, she haunts the woods, the groves, the luscious meadows. A favorite subject of archaic art is the figure formerly called ‘the Persian Artemis,’ now the ‘Mistress of Animals,’ a woman holding in her hands four-footed animals or birds of different kinds.”
While the site of Kerameikos is the only known oracle to Apollo in Athens, he had other oracles, including at Delphi on Mount Paranassus, where he slew the Python that protected the place, which had been considered magical from great antiquity.
At Delphi, a Pythia or priestess, first young virgins and later crones, would repeat prophecies or oracles Apollo revealed to her. This was a different kind of oracle than the one at Kerameikos, which involved water.

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“Priestess of Delphi”, by John Collier. Photo source: Wikimedia.

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend says Apollo was sometimes called Loxias, which means crooked or ambiguous, because his prophecies were hard to understand. However, Plutarch seems to contradict this in his work Moralia:

The prophetic priestesses are moved [by the god] each in accordance with her natural faculties.  . . .  As a matter of fact, the voice is not that of a god, nor the utterance of it, nor the diction, nor the meter, but all these are the woman's; he [Apollo] puts into her mind only the visions, and creates a light in her soul in regard to the future; for inspiration is precisely this.

In an article titled “The Delphic Oracle” at the Theosophical Society’s website, Eloise Hart writes that the oracles were unusually clear and direct. And other websites that recount some of the prophecies showed how they came true, though modern people may ask whether historical events were later attributed to an earlier Pythia. The Delphic injuction “Know Thyself” was carved into the lintel of Apollo’s temple at Delphi. Could there be a pithier (Pythia) admonition?
Hydromancy, as opposed to the serpent oracle, involved reading the movements, flows and changes in water as well as the visions that a seer might see in them. Similarly, when fortunetellers gaze into crystals they may see visions, ghosts or future events.
Featured image: This is the mouth of the well where modern archaeologists believe ancient Athenians invoked Apollo to tell the future in the water. (Photo by Greek Ministry of Culture)
By Mark Miller