Chersiphron (; grc-gre, Χερσίφρων; fl. 6th century BC), an architect of
Knossos
Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city.
Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
in
ancient Crete
The history of Crete goes back to the 7th millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilization by more than four millennia. The palace-based Minoan civilization was the first civilization in Europe.
After the Minoan civilization was devasta ...
, was the builder of the
Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision ( gr, Ἀρτεμίσιον; tr, Artemis Tapınağı), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (identified with Diana, a Roman go ...
at
Ephesus, on the
Ionian coast.
The original temple was destroyed in the 7th century BC, and about 550 BC Chersiphron and his son
Metagenes
Metagenes () was a man in ancient Crete, son of the Cretan architect Chersiphron, and was also an architect himself.
He was co-architect, along with his father, of the construction of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders o ...
began a new temple, the ''Artemision'', which became one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
in each of its three manifestations. It was burned by
Herostratus
Herostratus ( grc, Ἡρόστρατος) was a 4th-century BC Greek, accused of seeking notoriety as an arsonist by destroying the second Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (on the outskirts of present-day Selçuk). The conclusion prompted the creat ...
in July 356 BC
[ and rebuilt again.
The architect's name is recalled in ]Vitruvius
Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...
, and in a passage of Pliny
Pliny may refer to:
People
* Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'')
* Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
as " Ctesiphon", perhaps in confusion with the great Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
n city of the same name on the river Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
.
References
Notes
Citations
External links
William Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology''
1870: "Chersiphron"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chersiphron
Ancient Greek architects
Ancient Cretan architects
6th-century BC Greek people
Ancient Knossians
Ephesus