Ancient Tenea - 2025

Corinthia - Chiliomodi - Ancient Tenea. Elena Korka (Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture) reports on the 2025 excavation season at Chiliomodi.

In October 2025, the work of the systematic excavation of ancient Tenea was completed. Around Funerary Monument III (Fig. 1), an extensive complex was uncovered, in use from the Archaic down to the Roman period. The focal point of the complex in the Archaic period is a rectangular subterranean building, around which an extensive paved stone terrace was identified. This terrace is bounded to the north by an ancient road with a retaining wall and a series of functional spaces arranged along it, and to the south by a building with several internal rooms (Fig. 2).

In the Late Hellenistic period, the building was converted into a roofed ritual basin associated with healing rites, and to its east a space was laid out to support its function. The architectural members found in the area attest to the presence of a carefully constructed building with a function related to the whole complex. From the basin area came a silver stater of Corinth (549–510 BC) (Fig. 3), together with clay votives, such as fingers, a hand, a lower limb, and a clay votive mask, probably depicting Harpocrates–Horos the child (Fig. 4).​ Such finds, together with those discovered in 2024 (ID 20712), suggest that the site is connected with healing rites. The basin was the key element in the healing process, which was achieved through purification and incubation close to the water. The votive figurine of Harpocrates, together with finds from earlier excavation seasons (such as the gold ring with intaglio showing Apollo Iatros, the clay relief plaque with a cock, the antefixes, the iron ring and the lamp with representations of Sarapis, as well as the gold lotus leaves associated with Harpocrates, and finally the large quantity of zooarchaeological material from animals used in mystery rituals) support this interpretation. The presence of Sarapis and Harpocrates demonstrates that Tenea followed the cultural and religious syncretism that originated in Egypt and acquired an ecumenical character in the Ptolemaic period.

The Archaic subterranean building with its terrace was probably the original space for the performance of the mystery rites, while the retaining wall with the road shows that already in the Archaic period the sacred precinct of worship had been demarcated at the edge of the city’s cemeteries. Probably shortly after the construction of the basin, Funerary Monument III was founded in the 1st century BC, while the earlier structures in the area continued to be maintained and used. The configuration of the area changed radically in the early 3rd century AD, probably as a result of the urban reorganization of the Roman city. The sanctuary area was transformed into an extensive cemetery used until the 5th century AD. In total, twenty-three (23) tombs were excavated, richly furnished with coins, gold and bronze jewellery, glass beads and glass unguentaria, clay vessels, lamps, and other objects (Fig. 4-7). Finally, within the urban fabric of the city, new residential structures of the Roman and Late Roman periods were identified.