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TIRYNS
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TIRYNS , the Tipver recxcoevva of See also:Homer (II. ii. 559), a small Peloponnesian See also:city, in the prehistoric See also:period of the Achaean See also:race, See also:long before the Dorian See also:immigration. It stood on a small See also:rock in the marshy See also:plain of Argolis, about 3 M. from the See also:sea, and was fabled to have been founded by See also: 9, See also:Bath-See also:room and small BaXaµoc. 10, to, See also:Chambers See also:round the See also:great court. 11, i1, Guard chambers by the main propylaeum. type than those of See also:Mycenae, were said to have been the See also:work of Cyclopean masons. Its period of greatest splendour was probably between the 14th and 12th centuries B.C.; in Homeric and subsequent times it was usually subject to See also:Argos. The See also:palace was probably burnt at the See also:time of the Dorian See also:conquest. After the Spartan defeat of Argos in 494 B.C. Tiryns regained temporary See also:independence, and the Tirynthians fought on the See also:Greek See also:side at See also:Plataea, while the Argives held aloof. Soon after, in 468 B.c., Tiryns was finally destroyed through the See also:jealousy of the Argives, and the site has been deserted ever since, but for a brief occupation in See also:Byzantine times. Excavations made in 1884—1885 by See also:Schliemann and Dorpfeld over See also:part of the rock on which Tiryns stood have exposed a most interesting See also:building, which offers the most See also:complete example of a palace of the Mycenaean See also:age in See also:Greece. The rock on which Tiryns is built is of an irregular See also:oval shape, about 330 yds. long by 112 at the widest part, and is surrounded by a very massive wall, varying from 30 to 40 ft. in thickness and averaging when complete about 50 ft. in height, measuring from its See also:base outside. Inside, the wall was probably not more than 10 or 12 ft. high above the ground, so the See also:masonry acts as a retaining wall to a considerable See also:depth of See also:earth which covers the rock (see fig. 2 below). The wall is built of very large See also:hammer-dressed blocks, some as much as 10 ft. long by 3 ft. J ^ in. or 3 ft. 6 in. wide, with smaller ones to fill up the interstices. The whole was bedded, not in See also:mortar, but in See also:clay, which has mostly been washed out of the See also:joints; originally the See also:surface was probably protected with a coating of See also:stucco. The only important gateway, which was on the See also:east side, away from the sea, probably resembled the " See also:lion gate " at Mycenae. The other entrances are See also:mere slits in the wall. One of these and the See also:chief gate are shown in fig. I. Internally the See also:area of the city was divided by See also:cross walls into three parts at successive levels. The lowest and middle divisions have not yet been excavated; the upper part at the See also:south end of the rock was completely exposed in 1884–1885 by Schliemann and Dorpfeld, and the almost complete See also:plan of the various structures clearly made out. This See also:division contains the palace of the ruler of Tiryns, a building which shows careful and skilful construction, elaborate decoration, and a well-arranged plan, suitable to the wants; of a wealthy autocratic chief, who lived in a manner which partly recalls the luxury of an See also:Oriental king, and also resembled the feudal See also:state of a See also:medieval See also:baron, surrounded by a See also:crowd of vassals. From the main gate, which was defended by a See also:tower, a strong passage led between the outer wall and an inner one to an inner gate, thence to a propylaeum or See also:double porch, with two wooden columns on each side, adjoining which were chambers for See also:guards. Then came another similar, but smaller propylaeum, and opposite to that was the entrance to the great court (ai,Xi7), nearly 53 by 70 ft., in which stands an altar or See also:pit of See also:sacrifice, in a position similar to that occupied by the altar of Zeus Herceus in the later Greek See also:house. This court was surrounded by wooden columns supporting a roof, like a medieval See also:cloister; on the south side are chambers for attendants (MX a/Am). On the See also:north side is the great See also: 14, Megaron. 15, Chambers (06.Xapoc). 16, Passage to the rock-cut stairs. 17, Small postern door in the semicircular bastion, approached by flight of rock-cut steps. 18, 18, Massive outer wall of city. 19, Inner wall to guard the en-See also:trance passage. 20, Part of outer wall, with inter-mediate passage and rows of chambers, as shown in fig. 2. of the second Outer base of wall. Inside level of city. Chambers in the thick- ness of the wall open- See also:ing out of the See also:gallery. D, Gallery, with roof formed of projecting courses of stone in large blocks. E. See also:Top of main wall, paved with clay, level with the inside. F, Wooden columns on existing stone bases, forming a porticus or covered walk along the top of the wall. G, Outer wall of the colonnade built of See also:brick, now missing. Probable roof of the colonnade of See also:wood, covered with beaten clay. A, B, C, H, upper floor. The See also:circuit wall round the palace is more strongly constructed than the rest. On the south is a gallery built in the thickness of the wall, and roofed by projecting courses of stone; and chambers or storehouses open out of this gallery. The wall on the east side has a similar arrangement (see fig. 2). At the top level the wall was covered by a colonnade of wooden pillars resting on circular stone blocks. This supported a See also:flat roof and was open to' the inside of the fortress. The back of the colonnade was built of brick, and is now missing, as are all the brick parts of the palace, owing to the bricks having been only See also:sun-dried.
The methods of construction employed in the Tiryns palace are of the highest See also:interest. The See also:foundations and about 3 ft. of the walls above the ground are made of large blocks of stone bedded in clay; above this the wall was of brick, sun-dried, and covered with stucco. The upper See also:storey was probably of wood. Some of the thresholds of the doors were massive blocks of stone Napes of'S6s) ; others were of wood Waves obb6s). Wood was also used for all the columns, doorposts, and See also:antae (aapavr6.Ses), and in some cases the walls of the rooms were lined with wood, carefully fixed by dowels, the holes for which still exist. The doors` had pivots of See also:bronze revolving in well-fitted bronze See also:cup-like sockets let into the thresholds. In the megaron and other rooms the floors are of See also:good See also:concrete decorated with a See also:simple See also:series of incised lines, coloured See also:blue and red. The stucco of the See also:internal wall is decorated with bold and very effective patterns—birds and See also:scroll-work and other decorative designs. The best preserved See also:painting shows a scene from a See also:bull-fight. Both subjects and See also:style show See also:close See also:analogy to the paintings in the palace at See also:Cnossus in See also:Crete. One example of See also:rich and costly decoration remains—part of a See also:frieze of See also: 87. Further excavations in the See also:lower parts of the city will probably bring to See also:light the dwellings of the citizens who garrisoned the See also:place. The great bulk of the Tirynthians must have lived in houses outside the citadel, but under the shelter of its See also:protection, just as in medieval See also:Italy villages See also:grew up round the castles of any powerful See also:lord. The relation of the palace at Tiryns to those described in the Homeric poems has given rise to much discussion. The See also:case is somewhat altered by the See also:discovery of several other early houses, of similar See also:character, but not identical in plan, at Mycenae and else-where in Greece; these do not, for example, show the duplication of the essential parts of the house found at Tiryns. It is now generally recognized that, while the See also:general character of the palace at Tiryns is invaluable as illustrating the type of house in the mind of the Homeric poet, it is a See also:mistake to See also:appeal to it for the explanation of details of arrangement such as probably varied considerably according to the conditions and requirements in different cases. H. Schliemann, Tiryns (See also:London, 1886) ; Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, trans. E. Sellers (London, 1891); C. Tsountas and J. I. Manatt, The Mycenaean Age (London, 1897). (J. H. M.; E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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