Temple of Apollo at Didyma, Miletus

Abstract:

The rediscovery of the Temple of Apollo Didyma followed the historical and political pressures of the old world - a time where rediscovery of antiquity was restricted to familiar lands of Europe. Throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries, much of the European attitude on venturing into the Ottoman Empire was defined by its expenses and fear of pandemics. This made such expeditions, when considered by how often they were organized by the Society of Dilettanti, large economic endeavors that made sure every study counted to antiquarian archival. Among the deep interest of antiquarians and archeologists, a deeper reason for the persistent research stemmed from the domestic Turkish archeological remains; even applicable in the case of Didyma, it was the domestic indifference to ruins that allowed for Western European scholars to assume the role of “protector of culture” in a romanticized fashion - despite questionable ethics of assuming rights over foreign cultural objects. 

Part 1

The Temple of Apollo Didymaeus was a temple located in Miletus near the town of Didim in the Mugla Province on the Southeastern coast of Turkey. It was one of the largest oracular temples in ancient Greece. The temple was constructed in the Hellenistic era, with the construction commencing around 300 BC and continuing until the 2nd century AD, but it was never completed due to wars and conquests. The temple's location and architectural beauty attracted the attention of emperors and followers alike, and its significance extended beyond its religious purposes to include political and social implications.

Among the Greek city states on the coast of Asia Minor, Miletus was considered one of the wealthiest cities. Just like other cities in the region, it was close to the coast to have access to naval trade routes; however, it was located far more south than other cities such as Pergamon or Ephesus. This made it a target for post Macedonian kingdoms of the Diadochi, such as the Seleucid and the Ptolemaic kingdoms to take over. As such, the temple got caught in crossfire between rivaling kingdoms – Egypt looking to expand into Anatolia and was pitted against Seleucia who was looking to dominate Asia Minor. This meant an unstable future for the Temple of Apollo as it changed hands between the two kingdoms until the Roman conquest by the early 1st C. BC. As such, after Miletus lost the temple, and the Diadochian kingdoms fell, the temple fell into ruins.

However, even before all the destruction, the construction of the temple by the Carians venerated a different god from Apollo – once the site was taken by the Greeks, the same practices and measures taken by the Carians were adopted by them with their construction and site selection of an oracular temple. The temple functions were Hellenized, and instead became a site to venerate Apollo. Olivier Rayet, who will be later discussed, among the archeologists to excavate the Didymaion, described it as “same building, just changing the name of the God”. 

Beginnings of the Didymaion followed the traditional framework of how an oracular temple came to be; the site it sat upon was designated as a sacred area by people long before the temple itself was constructed. The built temple commemorates this – and its seismic activity from within the springs of the area was seen to be otherworldly to warrant an oracle that could communicate with gods from within the spring. While the precise ceremonial occurrences in the Temple of Apollo at Didyma are unknown, it could be inferred to be similar to those in Delphi – of which many aspects of the temple are inspired from as the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was regarded as the model for a temple housing an oracle. As oracular temples, both the Didymaion and the Apollonion at Delphi served to bridge the divine and mortal realms, for people to seek guidance from the gods. The main deity associated with oracular communication was Apollo, the god of the arts, music, and prophecy. These elements, all attributed to Apollo, were used to induce trance-like states to prophesize and divine. A main difference is that the Pythia at the Apollonion at Delphi is historically recorded to have been a woman, whose prophecies were interpreted by other priests, while it is suggested that in the Didymaion the act of telling prophecies was done by the priests running the temple called the priestly caste of the Branchidae. 

The temple followed the layout of an oracular temple like the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. It featured a pronaos, which had a single passage to the court, that had x narrow openings that led to a staircase into the open court, known as the Adyton. The open court housed the Shrine of Apollo, which was the very heart of the temple – this structure was built upon the very spring that prophecies were derived from.. Other temples like the Didymaion include the Temple of Amun at the Siwa Oasis in Egypt and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus – the latter in fact built by the same architect. The Artemision and the Didymaion both have similar relative sizes, and historians suggest a rivalry between the two sites. Fig1 on the left shows the plan of the Didymaeum, entrance at the top.

In the case of the Apollo Didymaeus and Temple of Amun at Siwa, both were dedicated to a local sun god which presided and inspired the oracle housed within the temple, which was located atop a Sacred Spring. The structures of both temples had a series of entrances before arriving at the sanctuary that housed the oracle – the structure aimed to create a similar feeling that the Apollonion at Delphi aimed to by constricting the followers through increasingly tightening portals to give an otherworldly attribute to the sanctuary or adyton.

Part 2

Didyma, and the Temple itself, was visited by a series of expeditioners over a period of more than 100 years. The first visit was led by Richard Chandler in 1764, accompanied by Nicholas Revett, and William Pars, sponsored by the Society of Dilettanti. Their visit documented ruins as part of a Grand Tour of the Aegean, but did not excavate anything. A second expedition was organized by the same society, this time directed by William Gell in 1812, to focus on Ionia specifically. This expedition also did not conduct excavations, but did another study of visited ruins. A third expedition was led by Charles Thomas Newton, in 1858, also sponsored by The Society of Dilettanti - but this expedition was the first one to conduct excavations into the site. However, the excavations were limited - this allowed for an opportunity for a French party led by Olivier Rayet to visit Didyma in 1873. This visit became the main excavation that extracted many of the pieces from the Temple of Apollo we know today. Other subsequent excavations by Germans were handled later - into the 1900’s. However, current collections featuring fragments from the Didiymaion are attributed to French efforts.

To begin with, The Society of Dilettanti played a major role in the study of Asia Minor, Ionia, and specifically Didyma during the era of the Grand Tourists. The Society allowed the organization of archeological work and finances to carry out such expeditions. It was formed in Rome, after the growing fascination of British Grand Tourists with Rome. A quote originating from the Book of Ionian Antiquities, explains the formation of the society “In the year 1734 some gentlemen who had travelled in Italy, desirous of encouraging at home a test for those objects which had contributed so much to their entertainment abroad, formed themselves into a society under the name of the Dilettanti, and agreed upon such resolutions as they thought necessary to keep up the spirit of the scheme”. Essentially, the society was a collection of gentlemen who aimed to exercise active influence over matters of public taste of the fine arts in Britain, which while doing so cultivated interest throughout Europe.

The first expedition by Chandler was among the efforts of the Society of Dilettanti to expand studies beyond Rome, just as Stuart and Revett visited Athens in 1751 and Wood visited the Levant in 1750. It was the successes of the publications from these expeditions (like The Antiquities of Athens) that made the society consider sending another expedition to Asia Minor. Also, James Dawkins of the society had left £500 ($113,020.47 2023 dollars) upon his death to the society, which was a contributing factor to financing another trip after the Revett’s and Wood’s journey. The expedition was given the instructions to make excursions to a list of sites, of which included Didyma, to collect information about each site, produce architectural plans from exact measurements along with drawings of bas-reliefs and ornaments to also produce images and drawings of a reconstructed site as it would have looked like in antiquity. Cust describes the society’s consideration of the most significant destination to be Apollo Didymaeus - this would raise the flag for the forthcoming expeditions with intent of excavation, particularly the 3rd visit by C. T. Newton. The reason the society could not yet conduct more work in Asia Minor was a threat of the Bubonic Plague, which still had reported cases in the Orient until 1894, with occasional pandemic occurring on average every 15 years which contribute to the Society’s request for the expedition to try to visit as many places as they can within an 8-10 days’ journey from Smyrna, all within 12 months. Upon return, the expedition wrote the book titled Ionian Antiquities, by Richard Chandler, with N. Revett, and W. Pars as contributors. 

William Pars (1742–1782), “Capital of a Pilaster from the Temple of Apollo Didymaeus,” ca. 1765. London, The British Museum, P&D 1857-1-10-25. © The Trustees of The British Museum.

The following expedition led by William Gell was the next opportunity for an expedition after the one conducted by Richard Chandler, as the Society had then possessed enough funds. While the focus of the expedition was the Ionia, the instructions were the same as before, if not even more stressing the importance of accurate documentation; for Apollo Didymaeus, this expedition “added some valuable information to that already published in the Ionian Antiquities”.

The third expedition by Charles Thomas Newton, in 1850, which happened to be the first expedition to engage in active excavation. While the principal motive for the expedition to Branchidae was to obtain photographs, and drawings of statues lining the Sacred Way leading upto the temple, it turned into a specialised excavation of the described statues that had been previously been described in the Ionian Antiquities. The book stated inscriptions at the bottom of these statues, but had not given further details - the uniqueness regarding the statues were their Egyptian characteristics despite being works of Greek artists. Further excavations examined the wall structure of the outer foundations of the temple grounds for more collectible antiquities, but only minor items such as coins, and additional inscriptions were found which were not of significant interest to the crew - Newton mentions that the unhealthiness of the season along with other circumstances made it necessary for him to return to Cnidus. In the context of the plagues still ravaging Asia, it could be suggested that another seasonal outbreak might have occurred for a hasty departure from Apollo Didymaeus. As such, Newton’s first expedition became the first one to break ground, but not reach the temple entirely. 

The following fourth expedition was the first instance of the French in Apollo Didymaeus, in an expedition organized by Olivier Rayet and Albert Thomas in 1872. This expedition was financed by Edouard and Gustave de Rothschild; according to Rayet, “MM. de Rothschild had generously donated to the Louvre almost all the marbles of Miletus” suggests that few items were kept in the meussiers’ own collection. The expedition began excavating the temple from pronaos. While efforts were plentiful, Rayet’s accounts suggest he had to began arranging logistics to transport the acquisitions once the expedition’s credits were low. Thus began the process of carrying out the marbles, sculptures, and inscriptions. Rayet set out to the small port of Ta Kokkina (Terres-Rouges), to sail to Smyrna where he arranged to charter a boat that could anchor back in Ta Kokkina to begin the process of loading the cargo. The journey to transport the marbles to Paris took one month. While the Rothschilds did not purchase any of the marbles, they kept some for themselves for the efforts of financing such an expedition.

One main reason that allowed for continuous expeditions from the West into the Orient, was the Ottoman indifference to Greco-Roman antiquities. The commonality of such remnants rendered them trivial to the local, which provided the Western archeologists to justify their exploits as protectors of antiquity.

Ornamental Panels from Apollo Didymaeus, as exhibited in the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA.

Part 3

The fragments this research paper examines are plaster cast copies of originals in the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France. According to the Catalogue of Plaster Casts by the Louvre Palace, each copy cost 12 French Francs (FRF), totaling 36 FRF (1906). The acquisitions records for pieces numbered 31-33 in the Architecture department of the Carnegie Museum of Art indicate the purchase cost $7.20, where the exchange rate was calculated at 1 USD = 5 FRF. Adjusted for inflation, where US Bureau of Labour records go back to only 1913, an approximation of $7.20 in 1913 dollars equals to $221.76 in 2023 dollars.

The formation of the Pittsburgh plaster cast collection was a bold idea by Carnegie to allow people to learn through plaster casts, such that “the world's masterpieces of sculpture and architecture were brought to Pittsburgh, where everyone, not just those who could afford to travel, could study their form and detail in full scale”. 

While Pittsburgh does not exhibit examples of the exact Ornamental Panels exhibited in the Carnegie Museum of Art, as far as visual surveying of the Downtown goes, the inclusion of these pieces can indicate a desire for educational awareness of the “Hellenistic Baroque”. The ornamental panels themselves allude to floral and naturalist patterns of arabesque tiling of the Orient, more so than the refined and mathematical approach to the arts of Classical Greece. 

Bibliography:

Journals / Books:

Anderson, Benjamin. “‘An Alternative Discourse’: Local Interpreters of Antiquities in the Ottoman Empire.” Journal of Field Archaeology 40, no. 4 (2015): 450–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24668228.

Bilsel, S. M. Can. “From Scientific Framing To Architectural Reconstruction: The Creation of an Ideal Image at Didyma.” 1996.

Chandler, Richard. Travels in Asia Minor, and Greece: Or, An Account of a Tour Made At The Expense of The Society Of Dilettanti. London: J. F. Dove, St. John’s Square, 1817. 

Cust, A. M., and Edvin Colvin. History of the Society of Dilettanti. London: MacMillan and Co., 1914.

Dols, Michael W. “The Second Plague Pandemic and Its Recurrences in the Middle East: 1347-1894.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 22, no. 2 (1979): 162–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/3631953.

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Newton, C.T. A History of Discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus, and Branchidae. Vol. 2. 2 vols. London: Day & Son, 1862. 

Parke, H. W. “The Temple of Apollo at Didyma: The Building and Its Function.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 106, 1986, pp. 121–31. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/629647. Accessed 1 May 2023.

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Footnotes:

[10]: Wroth, W. W. “Chandler, Richard (Bap. 1737, d. 1810), Classical Scholar and Traveller.” Edited by R.D. E. Eagles. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-5108. 

[11]: Purchas, Anne. “Revett, Nicholas (1721–1804), Architect.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-23395?rskey=Va949A&result=2. 

[12]: Wilton, Andrew. “Pars, William Edmund (1742–1782), Topographical Watercolour Painter.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-21445?rskey=yBvohh&result=1. 

[13]: Wroth, W. W. “Gell, Sir William (1777–1836), Classical Archaeologist and Traveller.” Edited by Jason Thompson. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-10511?rskey=rmvAlw&result=1. 

[14]: Cook, B. F. “Newton, Sir Charles Thomas (Bap. 1816, d. 1894), Archaeologist.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20051?rskey=dl1CyL&result=2. 

[15]: Rayet, Olivier. “L'architecture Ionique En Ionie: Le Temple D'apollon Didyméen.” La Gazette des Beaux Arts, Imprimerie J. Claye, January 1, 1876. https://archive.org/details/larchitectureio00rayegoog/page/n4/mode/2up.

[25]: Gell, William. Capital of a Pilaster from the Temple of Apollo Didymaeus, 1765, Oil on Canvas, British Museum, London, Accessed May 8, 2023. https://www.getty.edu/publications/resources/virtuallibrary/9780892369249.pdf

[37]: Eraslan, Victor Beyazit. Untitled, 2023, Photograph, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA