The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...
(present
Bodrum
Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
) for
Mausolus
Mausolus ( grc, Μαύσωλος or , xcr, 𐊠𐊸𐊫𐊦 ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by h ...
, an Anatolian from
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...
and a
satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires.
The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...
in the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
, and his
sister-wife Artemisia II of Caria
Artemisia II of Caria (Ancient Greek, Greek: Ἀρτεμισία; died 350 BC) was a naval strategist, commander and Sibling marriage#Sibling marriage and incest, the sister (and later spouse) and the successor of Mausolus, ruler of Caria. Mauso ...
. The structure was designed by the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
architects
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Satyros and
Pythius of Priene
Pythius ( el, Πύθιος), also known as Pytheos ( el, Πυθεός) or Pythis, was a Greek architect, architecture theorist, and sculptor of the 4th century BC. He designed the Temple of Athena Polias at Priene and the Mausoleum at Halicarn ...
.
Its elevated tomb structure is derived from the tombs of neighbouring
Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
, a territory Mausolus had invaded and annexed c. 360 BC, such as the
Nereid Monument
The Nereid Monument is a sculptured tomb from Xanthos in Lycia (then part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire), close to present-day Fethiye in Mugla Province, Turkey. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friez ...
.
The Mausoleum was approximately in height, and the four sides were adorned with
sculptural
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s, each created by one of four Greek sculptors:
Leochares
Leochares () was a Greek sculptor from Athens, who lived in the 4th century BC.
Works
Leochares worked at the construction of the Mausoleum of Mausolos at Halicarnassus, one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". The ''Diana of Versaille ...
,
Bryaxis
Bryaxis ( grc, Βρύαξις or Βρύασσις; fl. 350 BC) was a Greek sculptor. He created the sculptures on the north side of the mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus which was commissioned by the queen Artemisia II of Caria in memory o ...
,
Scopas
Scopas ( grc-gre, Σκόπας; born in Paros, fl. 4th century BCE) was an ancient Greek sculptor and architect, most famous for his statue of Meleager, the copper statue of Aphrodite, and the head of goddess Hygieia, daughter of Asclepius.
Ea ...
of
Paros
Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...
, and
Timotheus
Timotheus is a masculine male name. It is a latinized version of the Greek name (Timόtheos) mmeaning "one who honours God", from τιμή "honour" and θεός "god"., . The English version '' Timothy'' (and its variations) is a common name in ...
.
The mausoleum was considered to be such an aesthetic triumph that
Antipater of Sidon
Antipater of Sidon (Greek: Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Σιδώνιος, ''Antipatros ho Sidonios'') was an ancient Greek poet of the second half of the 2nd century BC.
Cicero mentions him living at Rome in the time of Crassus and Quintus Lutatius ...
identified it as one of his
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 ...
. It was destroyed by successive earthquakes from the 12th to the 15th century; it was the last surviving of the six destroyed wonders.
The word ''
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
'' has now come to be used generically for an above-ground tomb.
Conquest
In the 4th century BC,
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus (; grc, Ἁλικαρνᾱσσός ''Halikarnāssós'' or ''Alikarnāssós''; tr, Halikarnas; Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia. It was located i ...
was the capital of a small regional kingdom of
Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...
within the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
on the western coast of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
In 377 BC, the nominal ruler of the region,
Hecatomnus
Hecatomnus of Mylasa or Hekatomnos ( el, Ἑκατόμνος, Carian: 𐊴𐊭𐊪𐊵𐊫 ''k̂tmno'' “under-son, descendant(?)”) was an early 4th-century BC ruler of Caria. He was the satrap (governor) of Caria for the Persian Achaemenid ...
of
Milas
Milas ( grc, Μύλασα, Mylasa) is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy and very rich in history and ancient remains, the ter ...
, died and left control of the kingdom to his son, Mausolus. Hecatomnus, a local
dynast under the Persians, took control of several of the neighboring cities and districts. After Artemisia and Mausolus, he had several other daughters and sons:
Ada
Ada may refer to:
Places
Africa
* Ada Foah, a town in Ghana
* Ada (Ghana parliament constituency)
* Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria
Asia
* Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...
(adoptive mother of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
),
Idrieus
Idrieus, or Hidrieus ( grc, Ἱδριεύς, Hidrieús; died 344 BC) was a ruler of Caria as a Satrap under the Achaemenid Empire. Alongside his sister and wife Ada, he enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position he ...
, and
Pixodarus
Pixodarus or Pixodaros (in Lycian 𐊓𐊆𐊜𐊁𐊅𐊀𐊕𐊀 ''Pixedara''; in Greek Πιξώδαρoς; ruled 340–334 BC), was a satrap of Caria, nominally the Achaemenid Empire Satrap, who enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtu ...
. Mausolus extended his territory as far as the southwest coast of Anatolia, invading, in particular, the territory of
Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
, remarkable for its numerous monumental tombs such as the
Tombs at Xanthos
Xanthos, also called Xanthus, was a chief city state of the Lycians, an indigenous people of southwestern Anatolia (present-day Turkey). Many of the tombs at Xanthos are pillar tombs, formed of a stone burial chamber on top of a large stone pil ...
, from which he took his inspiration for his mausoleum.
Artemisia and Mausolus ruled from Halicarnassus over the surrounding territory for 24 years. Mausolus, although descended from local people, spoke
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and admired the Greek way of life and government. He founded many cities of Greek design along the coast and encouraged Greek democratic traditions.
Mausolus decided to build a new capital, one as safe from capture as it was magnificent to be seen. He chose the city of Halicarnassus. Artemisia and Mausolus spent huge amounts of tax money to embellish the city. They commissioned statues, temples and buildings of gleaming
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
. In 353 BC, Mausolus died, leaving Artemisia to rule alone. As the Persian satrap, and as the Hecatomnid dynast, Mausolus had planned for himself an elaborate tomb. When he died the project was continued by his siblings. The tomb became so famous that Mausolus's name is now the
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
for all stately tombs, in the word ''mausoleum''.
Artemisia lived for only two years after the death of her husband. The
urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
s with their ashes were placed in the yet unfinished tomb. As a form of
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
, the bodies of a large number of dead animals were placed on the stairs leading to the tomb, and then the stairs were filled with stones and rubble, sealing the access. According to the historian
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
, the craftsmen decided to stay and finish the work after the death of their patron "considering that it was at once a memorial of his own fame and of the sculptor
's art''.
Construction of the Mausoleum
It is likely that Mausolus started to plan the tomb before his death, as part of the building works in Halicarnassus, so that when he died, Artemisia continued the building project. Artemisia spared no expense in building the tomb. She sent messengers to Greece to find the most talented artists of the time. These included Scopas, the man who had supervised the rebuilding 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 god ...
at
Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
. The famous sculptors were (in the
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 attribute ...
order): Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas, and Timotheus, as well as hundreds of other craftsmen.
The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. The whole structure sat in an enclosed
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
. At the center of the courtyard was a stone platform on which the tomb sat. A stairway flanked by stone lions led to the top of the platform, which bore along its outer walls many statues of gods and goddesses. At each corner, stone warriors mounted on horseback guarded the tomb. At the center of the platform, the marble tomb rose as a square tapering block to one-third of the Mausoleum's height. This section was covered with
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s showing action scenes, including the battle of the
centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
s with the
lapith
The Lapiths (; grc, Λαπίθαι) are a group of legendary people in Greek mythology, whose home was in Thessaly, in the valley of the Peneus and on the mountain Pelion.
Mythology
Origin
The Lapiths were an Aeolian tribe who, like the Myr ...
s and Greeks in combat with the
Amazons
In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...
, a race of warrior women.
On the top of this section of the tomb thirty-six slim columns, ten per side, with each corner sharing one column between two sides; rose for another third of the height. Standing between each pair of columns was a statue. Behind the columns was a solid
cella
A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Ancient Greek, Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek temple, Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extende ...
-like block that carried the weight of the tomb's massive roof. The roof, which comprised most of the final third of the height, was
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
al. Perched on the top was a
quadriga
A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke.
The four- ...
: four massive horses pulling a
chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
in which rode images of Mausolus and Artemisia.
History
Modern historians have pointed out that two years would not be enough time to decorate and build such a complex and extravagant building. Therefore, it is believed that construction was begun by Mausolus before his death or continued by the next leaders.
[Colvin, Howard (1991). "Architecture and the after-life." Yale University, pp. 30–31. New Haven Press.] The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus resembled a temple and the only way to tell the difference was its slightly higher outer walls. The Mausoleum was in the Greek-dominated area of Halicarnassus, which in 353 was controlled by the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
. According to the Roman architect
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 attribute ...
, it was built by Satyros and Pytheus who wrote a treatise about it; this treatise is now lost.
Pausanias adds that the Romans considered the Mausoleum one of the greatest wonders of the world and it was for that reason that they called all their magnificent tombs mausolea, after it.
[Fergusson, p. 10.]
It is unknown exactly when and how the Mausoleum came to ruin:
Eustathius, writing in the 12th century on his commentary of the ''Iliad'', says "it was and is a wonder". Because of this, Fergusson concluded that the building was ruined, probably by an earthquake, between this period and 1402, when the
Knights of St John of Jerusalem arrived and recorded that it was in ruins.
However, Luttrell notes that at that time the local Greeks and Turks had no name for – or legends to account for – the colossal ruins, suggesting a destruction at a much earlier period.
Many of the stones from the ruins were used by the knights to fortify their
castle at Bodrum; they also recovered
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
s with which they decorated the new building. Much of the marble was burned into lime. In 1846, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe obtained permission to remove these reliefs from the Bodrum.
At the original site, all that remained by the 19th century were the foundations and some broken sculptures. This site was originally indicated by Professor Donaldson and was discovered definitively by Charles Newton, after which an expedition was sent by the British government. The expedition lasted three years and ended in the sending of the remaining marbles. At some point before or after this, grave robbers broke into and destroyed the underground burial chamber, but in 1972, there was still enough of it remaining to determine a layout of the chambers when they were excavated.
This monument was ranked the seventh wonder of the world by the ancients, not because of its size or strength but because of the beauty of its design and how it was decorated with sculpture or ornaments. The mausoleum was Halicarnassus' principal architectural monument, standing in a dominant position on rising ground above the harbor.
Jar of Xerxes I
A jar in
calcite
Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
or
alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...
, an ''
alabastron
An alabastron or alabastrum (plural: ''alabastra'' or ''alabastrons''; from the Greek ) is a small type of pottery or glass vessel used for holding oil, especially perfume or massage oils. They originated around the 11th century BC in ancien ...
'', with the quadrilingual signature of Achaemenid ruler
Xerxes I
Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
(ruled 486–465 BC) was discovered in the ruins of the Mausoleum, at the foot of the western staircase.
The vase contains an inscription in
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Elamite:
Such jars, of Egyptian origin, were very precious to the Achaemenids, and may therefore have been offered by Xerxes to Carian rulers, and then kept as a precious object.
In particular, the precious jar may have been offered by Xerxes to the Carian dynast
Artemisia I, who had acted with merit as his only female Admiral during the
Second Persian invasion of Greece
The second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC) occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion ...
, and particularly at the
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was ...
.
The jar testifies to the close contacts between Carian rulers and the Achaemenid Empire.
Dimensions and statues
Much of the information that has been gathered about the Mausoleum and its structure has come from the Roman polymath
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
. He wrote some basic facts about the architecture and some dimensions. The building was rectangular, not square, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six columns. There was a pyramidal superstructure receding in twenty four steps to the summit. On top there were 4 horse chariots of marble. The building was accented with both sculptural friezes and free standing figures. "The free standing figures were arranged on 5 or 6 different levels."
We are now able to justify that Pliny's knowledge came from a work written by the architect. It is clear that Pliny did not grasp the design of the mausoleum fully which creates problems in recreating the structure. He does state many facts which help the reader recreate pieces of the puzzle. Other writings by Pausanias, Strabo, and Vitruvius also help us to gather more information about the Mausoleum.
[Fergusson.]
According to Pliny, the mausoleum was north and south, shorter on other fronts, perimeter, and 25 cubits () in height. It was surrounded by 36 columns. They called this part the
pteron Pteron ( Gr. ''πτερον'' – ''pteron'' — ''wing'') is an architectural term used by Pliny the Elder for the peristyle of the tomb of Mausolus, which was raised on a lofty podium, and so differed from an ordinary peristyle raised only on a s ...
. Above the pteron there was a pyramid on top with 24 steps and equal in height to the lower part. The height of the building was .
[Fergusson, p. 9.] The only other author that gives the dimensions of the Mausoleum is Hyginus a grammarian in the time of Augustus. He describes the monument as built with shining stones, high and in circumference. He likely meant cubits which would match Pliny's dimensions exactly but this text is largely considered corrupt and is of little importance.
We learn from Vitruvius that Satyros and Phytheus wrote a description of their work which Pliny likely read. Pliny likely wrote down these dimensions without thinking about the form of the building.
A number of statues were found slightly larger than life size, either . or . in length; these were 20 lion statues. Another important find was the depth on the rock on which the building stood. This rock was excavated to deep over an area .
The sculptures on the north were created by Scopas, the ones on the east Bryaxis, on the south Timotheus and on the west Leochares.
The Mausoleum was adorned with many great and beautiful sculptures. Some of these sculptures have been lost or only fragments have been found. Several of the statues' original placements are only known through historical accounts. The great figures of Mausolus and Artemisia stood in the chariot at the top of the pyramid. The detached equestrian groups are placed at the corners of the sub podium.
The semi-colossal female heads they may have belonged to the
acroteria
An acroterion, acroterium, or akroteria is an architectural ornament placed on a flat pedestal called the ''acroter'' or plinth, and mounted at the apex or corner of the pediment of a building in the classical style. An acroterion placed at th ...
of the two gables which may have represented the six Carian towns incorporated in Halicarnassus. Work still continues today as groups continue to excavate and research the mausoleum's art.
Later history of the Mausoleum
The Mausoleum overlooked the city of Halicarnassus for many years. It was untouched when the city fell to
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
in 334 BC and still undamaged after attacks by pirates in 62 and 58 BC. It stood above the city's ruins for sixteen centuries. Then a series of earthquakes shattered the columns and sent the bronze chariot crashing to the ground. By AD 1404, only the base of the Mausoleum was still recognizable.
The
Knights of St John of Rhodes invaded the region and built
Bodrum Castle
Bodrum Castle ( tr, Bodrum Kalesi) is a historical fortification located in southwest Turkey in the port city of Bodrum, built from 1402 onwards, by the Knights of St John (Knights Hospitaller) as the ''Castle of St. Peter'' or ''Petronium''. A t ...
(''Castle of Saint Peter''). When they decided to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum. This is also about when "imaginative reconstructions" of the Mausoleum began to appear. In 1522, rumours of a Turkish invasion caused the Crusaders to strengthen the castle at Halicarnassus (which was by then known as Bodrum) and much of the remaining portions of the tomb were broken up and used in the castle walls. Sections of polished marble from the tomb can still be seen there today.
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
conquered the base of the knights on the island of Rhodes, who then relocated first briefly to Sicily and later permanently to Malta, leaving the Castle and Bodrum to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
During the fortification work, a party of knights entered the base of the monument and discovered the room containing a great coffin. In many histories of the Mausoleum one can find the following story of what happened: the party, deciding it was too late to open it that day, returned the next morning to find the tomb, and any treasure it may have contained, plundered. The bodies of Mausolus and Artemisia were missing too. The small museum building next to the site of the Mausoleum tells the story. Research done by archeologists in the 1960s shows that long before the knights came, grave robbers had dug a tunnel under the grave chamber, stealing its contents. Also the museum states that it is most likely that Mausolus and Artemisia were cremated, so only an urn with their ashes was placed in the grave chamber. This explains why no bodies were found.
Before grinding and burning much of the remaining sculpture of the Mausoleum into lime for plaster, the Knights removed several of the best works and mounted them in the Bodrum castle. There they stayed for three centuries.
Discovery and excavation
In the 19th century a British consul obtained several of the statues from Bodrum Castle; these now reside in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. In 1852, the British Museum sent the archaeologist
Charles Thomas Newton
Sir Charles Thomas Newton (16 September 1816 – 28 November 1894) was a British archaeologist. He was made KCB in 1887.
Life
He was born in 1816, the second son of Newton Dickinson Hand Newton, vicar of Clungunford, Shropshire, and afterw ...
to search for more remains of the Mausoleum. He had a difficult job. He did not know the exact location of the tomb, and the cost of buying up all the small parcels of land in the area to look for it would have been astronomical. Instead Newton studied the accounts of ancient writers like
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 ...
to obtain the approximate size and location of the memorial, then bought a plot of land in the most likely location. Digging down, Newton explored the surrounding area through tunnels he dug under the surrounding plots. He was able to locate some walls, a staircase, and finally three of the corners of the foundation. With this knowledge, Newton was able to determine which plots of land he needed to buy.
Newton then excavated the site and found sections of the reliefs that decorated the wall of the building and portions of the stepped roof. Also discovered was a broken stone chariot wheel some in diameter, which came from the sculpture on the Mausoleum's roof. Finally, he found the statues of Mausolus and Artemisia that had stood at the pinnacle of the building. In October 1857, Newton carried blocks of marble from this site by and landed them in
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. These blocks were used for the construction of a new dock in Malta for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. Today this dock is known at
Dock No. 1 in
Cospicua
Cospicua ( mt, Bormla ), also known by its titles Città Cospicua or Civitas Cottonera, is a double-fortified harbour city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. Along with Birgu and Senglea, it is one of the Three Cities, located within the Grand ...
, but the building blocks are hidden from view, submerged in
Dockyard Creek in the
Grand Harbour
The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks (Malta Dockyard), wharves, and ...
.
From 1966 to 1977, the Mausoleum was thoroughly researched by Prof.
Kristian Jeppesen of
Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
, Denmark. He has produced a six-volume monograph, ''The Maussolleion at Halikarnassos''.
The beauty of the Mausoleum was not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium and the roof: statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals in varying scales. The four Greek sculptors who carved the statues: Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas and Timotheus were each responsible for one side. Because the statues were of people and animals, the Mausoleum holds a special place in history, as it was not dedicated to the gods of Ancient Greece.
Today, the massive castle of the
Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
(Knights of St. John) still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be spotted built into the walls of the structure. At the site of the Mausoleum, only the foundation remains, and a small museum. Some of the surviving sculptures at the British Museum include fragments of statues and many slabs of the frieze showing the
battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. There the images of Mausolus and his queen watch over the few broken remains of the beautiful tomb she built for him.
File:BM, GMR - RM21, Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.JPG, Reconstruction of the Amazonomachy can be seen in the left background. British Museum Room 21
File:Artemisia BM 1857.12-20.233 n01.jpg, Statue usually identified as Artemisia; reconstruction of the Amazonomachy can be seen in the left background. British Museum Room 21
File:Camera Pictures 032.jpg, This lion is among the few free-standing sculptures from the Mausoleum at the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
File:Slab of the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (17333851139).jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, British Museum (8245652708).jpg, Slab from the Amazonomachy believed to show Herculeas grabbing the hair of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...
.
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum.jpg
File:Amazon Frieze BM GR1857.12-20.268-270.jpg
File:Amazones Halicarnassus.JPG
File:Slab of the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (16897005133).jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos 03.jpg
File:Fragment from the marble Amazon frieze from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus- part of an Amazon holding a battle-axe, Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, around 350 BC, British Museum (17492112751).jpg
File:Amazonomachy Halicarnassus BM n7.jpg
File:Amazonomachy Halicarnassus BM n6.jpg
File:Amazonomachy Halicarnassus BM n5.jpg
File:Amazonomachy Halicarnassus BM n4.jpg
File:Amazon Frieze BM GR 1865.7-23.1 n01.jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8244582231).jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8244586177).jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8244592181).jpg
File:Slab from the Amazonomachy frieze from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8245667430).jpg
File:Mausoleo di alicarnasso, frammenti del fregio 04.JPG
Influence on modern architecture
Modern buildings whose designs were based upon or influenced by interpretations of the design of the Mausoleum of Mausolus include
Fourth and Vine Tower in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
; the
Civil Courts Building
The Civil Courts Building is a landmark court building used by the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri in St. Louis, Missouri.
The building with its pyramid shaped roof is prominently featured in the center of photos of the Gateway Arch from ...
in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
; the
National Newark Building
The National Newark Building (Formerly the National Newark and Essex Bank Building) is a neo-classical office skyscraper in Newark, New Jersey. It has been the tallest building in Newark since 1931 and was tallest in New Jersey until 1989. At th ...
in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Grant's Tomb
Grant's Tomb, officially the General Grant National Memorial, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States, and his wife, Julia Grant. It is a classical domed mausoleum in the Morningside Heights neighborho ...]
and
26 Broadway
26 Broadway, also known as the Standard Oil Building or Socony–Vacuum Building, is an office building adjacent to Bowling Green in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 31-story, structure was designed in the Renais ...
in New York City;
Los Angeles City Hall
Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Cente ...
; the
Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...
in Melbourne; the spire of
St. George's Church, Bloomsbury in London; the
Indiana War Memorial
The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature and war memorial located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. and (PDF) It was conceived in 1919 as a location for the ...
(and in turn
Salesforce Tower
Salesforce Tower, formerly known as Transbay Tower, is a 61-story skyscraper at 415 Mission Street, between First and Fremont Street, in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. Its main tenant is Salesforce, a cloud-based softwar ...
) in Indianapolis; the
House of the Temple
The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. (officially, Home of The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted S ...
in Washington D.C.; the
National Diet
The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...
in Tokyo; the
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh;
and the
Commerce Bank Building in
Peoria, IL
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Cent ...
.
File:Melbourne war memorial.jpg, The design of the Shrine of Remembrance
The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...
in Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
was inspired by that of the Mausoleum.
File:WashDCMasonic2007.jpg, The Masonic House of the Temple
The House of the Temple is a Masonic temple in Washington, D.C., United States that serves as the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. (officially, Home of The Supreme Council, 33°, Ancient & Accepted S ...
of the Scottish Rite, Washington, DC, designed by John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeffe ...
, 1911–1915, another scholarly version.
See also
* In
Milas
Milas ( grc, Μύλασα, Mylasa) is an ancient city and the seat of the district of the same name in Muğla Province in southwestern Turkey. The city commands a region with an active economy and very rich in history and ancient remains, the ter ...
(also the site of the tomb of
Hecatomnus
Hecatomnus of Mylasa or Hekatomnos ( el, Ἑκατόμνος, Carian: 𐊴𐊭𐊪𐊵𐊫 ''k̂tmno'' “under-son, descendant(?)”) was an early 4th-century BC ruler of Caria. He was the satrap (governor) of Caria for the Persian Achaemenid ...
, who was the father of
Mausolus
Mausolus ( grc, Μαύσωλος or , xcr, 𐊠𐊸𐊫𐊦 ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by h ...
), is also the site of the Gümüşkesen, a small-scale Roman-era (2nd century BC) copy of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus:
File:Milas Gumuskesen 4845.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas
File:Milas Gumuskesen 4847.jpg, Milas Gümüşkesen front
File:Milas Gumuskesen 024.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas detail of ceiling
File:Milas Gumuskesen 6.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas detail of ceiling
File:Milas Gumuskesen 4856.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas detail of ceiling and capitals
File:Milas Gumuskesen 4863.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas capital
File:Milas Gumuskesen 4840.jpg, Gümüşkesen in Milas Lower part of tomb
Notes
References
Sources
* Fergusson, James (1862). "The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus restored in conformity with the recently discovered remains." J. Murray, London
Further reading
* Brand, J. Rasmus,
Erika Hagelberg
Erika Hagelberg is a British Evolutionary genetics, Evolutionary geneticist and Professor of Biosciences at the University of Oslo. She works on ancient DNA and pioneered a means to extract DNA from bones. Her research has applications in evolut ...
, Gro Bjørnstad, and Sven Ahrens. 2017. ''Life and Death in Asia Minor in Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Times: Studies In Archaeology and Bioarchaeology''. Philadelphia: Oxbow Books.
* Cook, B. F., Bernard Ashmole, and Donald Emrys Strong. 2005. ''Relief Sculpture of the Mausoleum At Halicarnassus''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Dmitriev, Sviatoslav. 2005. ''City Government In Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Jeppeson, Kristian. 2002. ''The Maussolleion at Halikarnassos: Reports of the Danish archaeological expedition to Bodrum: The superstructure, a comparative analysis of the architectural, sculptural, and literary evidence''. Vol. 5. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus Univ. Press.
* Steele, James, and Ersin Alok. 1992. ''Hellenistic Architecture In Asia Minor''. London: Academy Editions.
External links
The Tomb of Mausolus(
W.R. Lethaby
William Richard Lethaby (18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of co ...
's reconstruction of the Mausoleum, 1908)
Livius.org: Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
{{Authority control
Ancient Greek tombs
Archaeological sites in the Aegean Region
Achaemenid Anatolia
Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire
Bodrum
Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century BC
Burial sites of Middle Eastern royal families
Caria
Demolished buildings and structures in Turkey
Hecatomnid dynasty
Mausoleums in Turkey
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Collection of the Istanbul Archaeology Museums
Halicarnassus