ATHENS - 21 Lembessi Street - 2006
General Information
Record ID
4905
Activity Date
2006
Chronologies
Key-words
Type of Operation
Institution
Γ’ ΕΠΚΑ
Toponym
Linked Record
Report
Athens, 21 Lembessi Street (TEAM 4 EE property). Tonia Kokkoliou (Γ’ ΕΠΚΑ) reports the discovery of bases of choregic monuments, plus Geometric-Hellenistic structures and portable finds.
Two conglomerate blocks excavated in the north of the plot are either pedestals for choregic statues, or connected to the Classical fortification wall.
Two walls were found in the west and southeast of the plot. The latter is built of medium size stones and preserves hydraulic cement on its northern face. Parts of a water supply system in the immediate area include: a horseshoe-shaped terracotta pipe (contemporary with the wall) which runs north-south to a well, and to the west of this a Π-shaped channel covered with stones and roof-tiles leading to a second well. A 1.4m-wide trench cut into the soft limestone bedrock to the north of the second wall (and through the water table) contained Geometric pottery. The excavator interprets the space between the two walls as a Hellenistic water storage area. Finds include Hellenistic pottery, numerous third- to first-century BC unguentaria, numerous coins, loom weights, an intact second-century BC multiple-nozzle lamp, and two fluted and two unfluted columns.
Two marble bases for choregic monuments found in this area may be connected to the Thargelia games. One base preserves the following inscription, likely added carelessly at a later period:
ΑΓΡΩΝ
ΛΥΣΙΑΣ
ΑΛΚΕΤΗΣ
Finally, a fragment of a fourth-century BC inscribed white marble funerary stele was found in the area of the first wall. The stele, which is crowned and decorated with rosettes, is 1.135m hight, 0.655m wide, and 0.305 m thick. The inscription reads:
Ἀγα[θ]οκλέ[η]ς
Ἀγα[θ]άρχο.
(two rosettes)
3 Μικυλίν[α] Λεωχάρου
Αἰγινήτου
Ἀγάθαρχος
Ἀγαθοκλέους
A second inscription of a later date son the same stele reads:
φίλοι
Ἀλκέτης
9 Ἄγρων
Λυσίας
The same names were inscribed on the base of the choregic monument. The excavator dates this inscription to the first century BC, and provides further analysis of it.
Author
Chryssanthi PAPADOPOULOU
Bibliographic reference(s)
ADelt 61 (2006) Chr., 83-87.
Date of creation
2015-07-01 00:00:00
Last modification
2020-01-24 14:37:56