Projects: Geographical Overview
The Temple of Hadrian on the Curetes Street
Documentation with 3-D Laser scanner. Section through the building, view to the east
Recording of structural elements using a 3-D structured light scanner
Relief from the Temple of Hadrian depicting mythological scenes of the foundation of the city of Ephesos
Ground plan of the Temple of Hadrian
The Temple of Hadrian on the Curetes Street
Structural Research
The building which is generally referred to as the Temple of Hadrian on the Curetes Street is – not only due to the fact that it was reconstructed in 1957/1958 – one of the most well-known monuments of Ephesos. Since its discovery more than 50 years have passed, although a systematic investigation, and publication of the architectural findings have not yet occurred. Questions of chronology, function and details of reconstruction have for this reason been frequently and controversially discussed in the scholarship, but not ultimately resolved.
It is therefore the goal of the project carried out by the OeAI (FWF-Project no. P-20947-G02) to present a comprehensive investigation of the building in the form of a monograph. In addition to the presentation of the architectural findings and questions relating to the building, for example its architectural decoration, issues of function and the history of usage of the Temple of Hadrian will form the focus of the project. Furthermore, the integration of the monument into an overarching context, for example the relationship with other Ephesian cults or its position within the architectural history of Asia Minor, is also of primary significance.
Methods
For the investigation of the architectural history of the Temple of Hadrian, first of all the building itself has to be evaluated as a source of information. For this reason, a detailed structural recording has been carried out for the first time, whereby modern 3-D recording processes have been preferred, for reasons of time and efficiency, in contrast to traditional measurements taken by hand. In summer 2009, the quarrystone wall in the interior of the building, as well as the immediately adjacent structures, were recorded using a phase comparator scanner (Z+F IMAGER 5006i). In addition, all architectural elements of marble were documented by means of a 3-D structured light scanner, work which was carried out in cooperation with Breuckmann GmbH (Meersburg, D). Based on these results, an analysis of the building history and the relationship to the surrounding structures could be made. The facts which resulted from this analysis constitute the foundation for any future statements concerning the function and history of usage of the building.
An evaluation of the building inscription equally enters into the total analysis, as does an investigation of the architectural decoration, here understood not only as the architectural ornament, but also the relief frieze in the pronaos. All of these elements are to be viewed in close connection with the function of the building. Furthermore, for a comprehensive understanding, it is also necessary to place the Temple of Hadrian in its historical context, and for this reason urbanistic aspects, as well as aspects of the history of religion, enter into the investigation.
In addition to an extensive archaeological study of the Temple of Hadrian, a stated goal of the project is also to investigate scientifically the reconstruction of the building. Within the framework of the project, the structural elements of the modern reconstruction will be taken into account by means of a documentation of damage.
Results
The building, which is integrated into the so-called Varius Baths, conforms in its transverse rectangular groundplan to a tetrastyle prostyle building possessing two columns as well as two pilasters in the extension of the antae.
The excavator Franz Miltner initially identified the building – presumably in accordance with the building inscription – as the neocorate temple for Emperor Hadrian mentioned in literary sources. Michael Wörrle contradicted this interpretation, as he was able to date the inscription on prosopographical grounds to the year 117/118 A.D., therefore more than ten years before the construction of the neocorate temple. Similar circumstances apply to the proposal of Ulrike Outschar, who viewed the Temple of Hadrian as a cult building for the deified Antinoos: Antinoos did not die until 130 A.D., therefore years after the construction of the building. The question regarding the interpretation of the monument, furthermore, was obscured by the relief representations, which have frequently been connected to a renovation in the 4th century A.D. based on art historical grounds; it has even been often proposed that the Temple of Hadrian represents a recombination of individual architectural elements which originally came from a variety of different buildings.
The fact that the building preserved its significance up until Late Antiquity is demonstrated by the statue bases of the Tetrarchs Diocletian, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius erected in front of the building. The fourth base was later replaced by Theodosius I with a statue base of his father, in the course of a redevelopment of the Curetes Street.
The current results regarding the building’s history have revealed that the previous statements need to be revised in a number of significant points: the Temple of Hadrian possesses connections to the surrounding bathing complex, the ›Varius Baths‹, and was therefore constructed at the same time as that complex on the site where it is located today. In addition, the eastern section of the pronaos was never subjected to a restoration. Its relief representations are therefore not to be dated to the 4th century A.D., but instead belong to the Hadrianic period; this is a remarkable result not only for the architecture of the Temple of Hadrian but also for research into relief sculpture from Asia Minor in general.
The clarification of these questions concerning the history of the structure therefore not only fulfills a long-term scientific need regarding the monument itself; from these answers, far-reaching ramifications for our understanding of Ephesian urban and cultic history, as well as for the history of art, architecture, and religion throughout Asia Minor are to be expected.
Duration of Project
1.1.2009 – 30.04.2012
Financial Support
Bibliography (Selected)
- F. Miltner, XXII. Vorläufiger Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Ephesos, ÖJh 44, 1959, Beibl. 264–273.
- F. Miltner, Denkmalpflege in Ephesos, in: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege 13, 1959, 1–10, bes. 6–8.
- F. Miltner, XXIV. Vorläufiger Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Ephesos, ÖJh 45, 1960, Beibl. 64–66.
- R. Fleischer, Der Fries des Hadrianstempels in Ephesos, in: Festschrift Fritz Eichler, ÖJh Beih. 1 (Wien 1967) 23–71.
- M. Wörrle, Zur Datierung des Hadrianstempels an der ›Kuretenstraße‹ in Ephesos, AA 1973, 470–477.
- U. Outschar, Zur Deutung des Hadrianstempels an der Kuretenstraße, in: H. Friesinger – F. Krinzinger (Hrsg.), 100 Jahre Österreichische Forschungen in Ephesos. Akten des Symposions Wien 1995, AForsch 1 = DenkschrWien 260 (Wien 1999) 443–448.
- P. Scherrer, Die Stadt als Festplatz: Das Beispiel der ephesischen Bauprogramme rund um die Kaiserneokorien Domitians und Hadrians, in: J. Rüpke (Hrsg.), Festrituale in der römischen Kaiserzeit (Tübingen 2008) bes. 51–53.
- C. Lang-Auinger, Der Hadrianstempel in Ephesos – Ein Tempel nach mesopotamischem Vorbild?, in: S. Aybek – A. K. Öz (Hrsg.), Yollarin Kesistigi Yer. Festschrift Recep Meriç (Istanbul 2010) 191–196.