Temple of Artemis at Sardis
Sardes Artemis Tapınağı · Sardis Artemision · Temple of Cybele at Sardis
Hellenistic to Roman (300 BCE–150 CE)·Lydian heritage, Seleucid, Attalid and Roman (Sardian polis)·🇹🇷 Manisa, Salihli, Sart (ancient Sardis), Turkey
About
About Temple of Artemis at Sardis
One of the largest Ionic temples in antiquity at Sardis, capital of Lydia, set on the Pactolus plain below the acropolis. Begun c.300 BCE Hellenistic and finished Roman 2nd c. CE, it measures c.48×112 m with 8×20 columns (20 m high) and a colossal 2-m high Artemis–Cybele cult image base. The east end is Hellenistic pseudodipteral in white marble; later Roman additions include a cella subdivided for Imperial cult. Two standing columns were re-erected 1973, showing unfluted drums and Ionic capitals with Persian-Lydian influence. Harvard-Cornell excavations since 1958 cleared the altar, colonnaded avenue and Lydian gold-refinery nearby.
Why it mattersLargest Ionic temple plan west of Didyma, key for understanding Hellenistic–Roman religious syncretism Cybele-Artemis.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why construction spanned 450 years
- 02Cult image type — Greek Artemis or Anatolian Cybele
Theories
- 01Attalid prestige temple for Sardis neokorate
- 02Roman gold-cult imperial symbolism
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.300 BCE–150 CE (Hellenistic foundation, Roman completion under Antonines)
- Period
- Hellenistic to Roman (300 BCE–150 CE)
- Culture
- Lydian heritage, Seleucid, Attalid and Roman (Sardian polis)
- Builders
- Sardian polis under Seleucids; Attalids and Roman proconsuls
- Purpose
- Civic temple of Artemis–Cybele protecting gold-rich Sardis and Hermus valley
- Abandoned
- c.400 CE with Theodosian temple closure
- Rediscovered
- 1882 Butler Princeton survey; 1958 Hanfmann Harvard expedition systematic excavation
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.300 BCE
Antigonid/Seleucid Hellenistic foundation
17 CE
Earthquake damage and Tiberian restoration
150 CE
Antonine completion and Imperial cult partition
1958
Hanfmann Harvard-Cornell Sardis Expedition
On the ground
Structures & features
38.4797° N · 28.0312° E · 180 m · 2 mapped features
Re-erected Ionian Columns
column pairEast-end pair re-erected 1973 showing unfluted drums and leaf-capitals
38.4799° N · 28.0315° EAltar and Colonnaded Avenue
altar avenueL-shaped altar west of temple and marble avenue to Pactolus bridge
38.4795° N · 28.0308° E