Skip to main content
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Hearth-temples in the sanctuary of Hyria on Naxos / Les temples à foyer central du sanctuaire d’Hyria à Naxos

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
Around the Hearth
This chapter is in the book Around the Hearth

Abstract

Three kilometers to the south of the ancient city/modern town of Naxos, in the area known as Hyria, is situated a most important sanctuary dedicated probably to Dionysos, the Patron deity of the island and to his consort. The cult started there as early as the Late Mycenaean III A (Late) and continued uninterrupted until Late Antiquity. A sequence of four consecutive sacred edifices, constructed on top of a Mycenaean open-air cult place, an altar, a hestiatorion and a peribolos are the main architectural features of the Hyria sanctuary. The present study focuses on the temples /Oikoi II and III, the first dated to about 730 BC and the second to the first quarter of the 7th century BC. The two buildings belong to the architectural type of the Hearth Temple, as they both feature an axially placed, rectangular offering pit sunk in the floor and sitting benches bordering all three sides of the room. The second and third Hyria temples stand out among similar contemporary sacred edifices mainly because of their width and the internal space thus created. In an attempt to understand this particularity, the following explanations are offered: a. The inherent predisposition of the Naxians towards monumentality, b. The use of the Oikoi as halls where worshipers joined in religious feastings and the need to accommodate an important number of cult participants, c. The ceremonial practices (possibly mimetic actions, dances and choruses) which, as some finds imply were performed in them; such sacred acts required ample space. The kind of food consumed during the shared meals that formed an integral part of the ritual, the cooking vessels used in their preparation and the shapes of drinking and dinning vases from within and around the hearths are briefly examined. The multifaceted rites in the two impressive LG and Early Archaic hearth temples of the Hyria sanctuary were essential in the process driving to the creation of the Naxian polis and probably helped the community forge a common “national” spirit.

Abstract

Three kilometers to the south of the ancient city/modern town of Naxos, in the area known as Hyria, is situated a most important sanctuary dedicated probably to Dionysos, the Patron deity of the island and to his consort. The cult started there as early as the Late Mycenaean III A (Late) and continued uninterrupted until Late Antiquity. A sequence of four consecutive sacred edifices, constructed on top of a Mycenaean open-air cult place, an altar, a hestiatorion and a peribolos are the main architectural features of the Hyria sanctuary. The present study focuses on the temples /Oikoi II and III, the first dated to about 730 BC and the second to the first quarter of the 7th century BC. The two buildings belong to the architectural type of the Hearth Temple, as they both feature an axially placed, rectangular offering pit sunk in the floor and sitting benches bordering all three sides of the room. The second and third Hyria temples stand out among similar contemporary sacred edifices mainly because of their width and the internal space thus created. In an attempt to understand this particularity, the following explanations are offered: a. The inherent predisposition of the Naxians towards monumentality, b. The use of the Oikoi as halls where worshipers joined in religious feastings and the need to accommodate an important number of cult participants, c. The ceremonial practices (possibly mimetic actions, dances and choruses) which, as some finds imply were performed in them; such sacred acts required ample space. The kind of food consumed during the shared meals that formed an integral part of the ritual, the cooking vessels used in their preparation and the shapes of drinking and dinning vases from within and around the hearths are briefly examined. The multifaceted rites in the two impressive LG and Early Archaic hearth temples of the Hyria sanctuary were essential in the process driving to the creation of the Naxian polis and probably helped the community forge a common “national” spirit.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Hearth or Altar? 1
  4. Aegean World
  5. Behind closed doors? Greek sacrificial rituals performed inside buildings in the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period / Derrière des portes fermées ? Les rituels sacrificiels grecs perpétrés à l’intérieur d’édifices 12
  6. Hearth-temples in the sanctuary of Hyria on Naxos / Les temples à foyer central du sanctuaire d’Hyria à Naxos 40
  7. La cuisine ou l’autel ? Foyers, cultes et commensalités dans la Grèce de l’Âge du fer (xe–viiie s. av. J.-C.) / Kitchen or altar? Hearths, cults and commensalities in Iron Age Greece (10th–8th centuries BC) 71
  8. De la difficulté d’interprétation des pièces à foyer dans le monde grec au début de l’Âge du fer : un état des lieux / On the difficulty of interpretation of hearth rooms in the Early Iron Age Greece: an inventory 84
  9. Thrace
  10. Les foyers fixes à l’intérieur d’édifices en Thrace aux époques archaïque et classique : un marqueur cultuel ? / Fixed hearths in Archaic and Classical buildings of Thrace: an indication of cult? 117
  11. Decorated clay hearths from Hellenistic Thrace / Les foyers en argile décorés d’époque hellénistique en Thrace 137
  12. Sicily
  13. Commensality in Western Sicily – Fireplaces and hearths as ritual centres for social gatherings (8th–6th centuries BC) / Commensalité en Sicile occidentale – le foyer comme point focal des rituels pour les rassemblements sociaux (viiie–vie s. av. J.-C.) 185
  14. South of France
  15. Les foyers domestiques de l’Âge du fer dans le Sud de la France (viie–ier s. av. J.-C.). Objets utilitaires ou symboliques ? / Domestic hearths of the Iron Age in the South of France (7th–1st centuries BC). Functional or symbolic objects? 219
  16. Iberian Peninsula
  17. Forme, fonction et signification des foyers dans la culture ibérique (600–200 av. J.-C.) / Shape, function and significance of hearths in the Iberian culture (600–200 BC) 255
  18. Conclusion: building a fireplace to build a world 277
  19. Index: English words 281
  20. Index: French words 285
  21. Index of Toponyms 289
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110733662-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Hearth or Altar? 1
  4. Aegean World
  5. Behind closed doors? Greek sacrificial rituals performed inside buildings in the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period / Derrière des portes fermées ? Les rituels sacrificiels grecs perpétrés à l’intérieur d’édifices 12
  6. Hearth-temples in the sanctuary of Hyria on Naxos / Les temples à foyer central du sanctuaire d’Hyria à Naxos 40
  7. La cuisine ou l’autel ? Foyers, cultes et commensalités dans la Grèce de l’Âge du fer (xe–viiie s. av. J.-C.) / Kitchen or altar? Hearths, cults and commensalities in Iron Age Greece (10th–8th centuries BC) 71
  8. De la difficulté d’interprétation des pièces à foyer dans le monde grec au début de l’Âge du fer : un état des lieux / On the difficulty of interpretation of hearth rooms in the Early Iron Age Greece: an inventory 84
  9. Thrace
  10. Les foyers fixes à l’intérieur d’édifices en Thrace aux époques archaïque et classique : un marqueur cultuel ? / Fixed hearths in Archaic and Classical buildings of Thrace: an indication of cult? 117
  11. Decorated clay hearths from Hellenistic Thrace / Les foyers en argile décorés d’époque hellénistique en Thrace 137
  12. Sicily
  13. Commensality in Western Sicily – Fireplaces and hearths as ritual centres for social gatherings (8th–6th centuries BC) / Commensalité en Sicile occidentale – le foyer comme point focal des rituels pour les rassemblements sociaux (viiie–vie s. av. J.-C.) 185
  14. South of France
  15. Les foyers domestiques de l’Âge du fer dans le Sud de la France (viie–ier s. av. J.-C.). Objets utilitaires ou symboliques ? / Domestic hearths of the Iron Age in the South of France (7th–1st centuries BC). Functional or symbolic objects? 219
  16. Iberian Peninsula
  17. Forme, fonction et signification des foyers dans la culture ibérique (600–200 av. J.-C.) / Shape, function and significance of hearths in the Iberian culture (600–200 BC) 255
  18. Conclusion: building a fireplace to build a world 277
  19. Index: English words 281
  20. Index: French words 285
  21. Index of Toponyms 289
Downloaded on 1.5.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110733662-003/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button