A four-year excavation of the 7th-century temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis by a team of Greek and Swiss archaeologists has found evidence of cult activity, including animal sacrifices.
The findings were noted by the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece and included that the major building’s floor plan was apsidal, a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome.
The structure has now been completely uncovered, revealing several surprises for the experts to study, said the Jerusalem Post, adding that the temple was some 100 feet high.
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-782279
Artemis was the virgin Greek goddess of hunting and the moon, the antithesis of her twin brother Apollo who was the god of the sun and a variety of other things related to the arts.
The temple’s hearths and altars were found inside the temple as opposed to outside, which was the norm for ancient Greek temples. The stone structures had once been the site of large fires, where animals had been sacrificed to Artemis. Remnants of the animal sacrifices had also been found. Bone remnants were found in the thick layers of ash.
Vases, weapons, jewelry, and other exotic objects were also found at the site. Additionally, researchers found a terracotta bull’s head from the late Bronze Age, the report said, Greece’s ancient times still revealing discoveries.
Archaeologists were able to identify signs that the temple had once been partially destroyed by a fire in the late 6th century BC and temporarily restored with mud bricks. The building had later been entirely replaced.
The excavations also revealed the remains of other buildings that could be from the 8th or 9th Centuries BC, it was said.
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