With a rich history that intersects with mythological figures from the legendary Greek pantheon, an international team of archaeologists believes it has discovered the Temple of Samian Poseidon at the acropolis of the ancient city of Samikon in Greece. If this is true, their finding would corroborate claims made by Strabo, the ancient Greek author, in his encyclopedic work entitled Geographica completed about 20 AD…. the research team calculated a building of almost 28 meters (91.8 ft) in length, with 2 interior rooms, along with a pronaos (a vestibule at the front of a classical temple), and an opisthodome (inner shrine or rear room of ancient Greek temple). This helped confirm the veracity of the claim that this was indeed a temple. Additionally, one of the inner rooms is a cella, filled with a dense layer of tiles, reports Artnet News . Beyond that, dating the so-called temple of Poseidon was made easier by the presence of a laconic roof’s fragments and a marble perirrhanterion, a water basin specifically used for rituals. The evidence pointed to the Archaic period (circa 800 to 480 BC) in Greek history. Poseidon, one of the chief deities of the Greek pantheon, and the son of Titan Cronus, is popularly known as the god of the sea. In classical Hellenism, he had many attributes, including earthquakes and horses. He was a patron for many festivals and celebrations, and a protector of seafarers and travelers depicted often with his trident with which he tamed water. His Roman avatar was known as Neptune… (READ MORE)
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