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Mausoleum of Maussollos

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Ancient History,
Classical History and Mythology

   A fanciful interpretation of the Mausoleum of Maussollos, from a 1572
   engraving by Martin Heemskerck (1498–1574), who based his
   reconstruction on descriptions
   Enlarge
   A fanciful interpretation of the Mausoleum of Maussollos, from a 1572
   engraving by Martin Heemskerck ( 1498– 1574), who based his
   reconstruction on descriptions

   The Mausoleum of Maussollos, or Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was a tomb
   built between 353– 350 BC at Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey),
   for Mausolus (in Greek, Μαύσωλος), a provincial king in the Persian
   Empire, and Artemisia II of Caria, his wife and sister. The structure
   was designed by the Greek architects Satyrus and Pythius. It stood
   approximately 45 meters (135 feet) in height, and each of the four
   sides was adorned with sculptural reliefs created by one of four Greek
   sculptors — Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas and Timotheus. The finished
   structure was considered to be such an aesthetic triumph that Antipater
   of Sidon identified it as one of his seven wonders of the ancient
   world. The word mausoleum has since come to be used generically for any
   grand tomb, though "Mausol – eion", originally meant "associated with
   Mausol".

Life of Maussollos and Artemisia

   In 377 BC, Halicarnassus was the capital of a small region and kingdom
   in the coast of Anatolia. In that year the ruler of the region,
   Hecatomnus of Milas, died and left the control of the kingdom to his
   son, Mausolus. Hecatomnus, a local satrap from the Persians, took
   control of several of the neighboring cities and districts. After
   Mausolus and Artemisia, he had several other sons and daughters: Ada
   (adopted mother of Alexander), Idrieus and Pixodarus. Mausolus extended
   its territory as far as the southwest of Anatolia. Mausolus and
   Artemisia ruled from Halicarnassus over the surrounding territory for
   24 years. Mausolus, although descended from local people, spoke Greek
   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, a city as hard to
   be captured as magnificent as to be seen. He chose the town of
   Halicarnassus. If Mausolus' ships blocked a small channel, they could
   keep all enemy warships out. He started for to make of Halicarnassus a
   fit capital for a warrior prince. His workmen deepened the city's
   harbour and used the dragged sand for to make protecting arms in front
   of the channel. On land, they paved squares, streets and houses for
   ordinary citizens, and on one side of the harbour they built a massive
   fortress– palace for Mausolus, positioned for to have clear views out
   to sea and inland to the hills - places from where enemies could
   attack. On land, the workmen built also walls and watchtowers, a Greek–
   style theatre and a temple to Ares, the Greek god of war.
   Scale model of the Mausoleum, at Miniatürk, Istanbul
   Enlarge
   Scale model of the Mausoleum, at Miniatürk, Istanbul

   Mausolus and Artemisia spent huge amounts of tax money to embellish the
   city. They bought statues, temples and buildings of gleaming marble. In
   the centre of the city Mausolus planned to place a resting place for
   his body after he was dead. It would be a tomb that would forever show
   how rich he and his queen were. And in 353 BC Mausolus died, leaving
   Artemisia broken-hearted. (It was the custom in Caria for rulers to
   marry their own sisters. One reason for this type of marriage was that
   it kept the power and the wealth in the family.) As a tribute to him,
   she decided to build him the most splendid tomb in the then known
   world. It became a structure so famous that Mausolus's name is now
   associated with all stately tombs through our modern word mausoleum.
   The construction was also so beautiful and unique it became one of the
   Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Soon after construction of the tomb
   started Artemisia found herself in a crisis. Rhodes, an island in the
   Aegean sea between Greece and Anatolia, had been conquered by Mausolus.
   When the Rhodians heard about his death, they rebelled and sent a fleet
   of ships to capture the city of Halicarnassus. Knowing that the Rhodian
   fleet was on the way, Artemisia hid her own ships at a secret location
   at the east end of the city's harbour. After troops from the Rhodian
   fleet disembarked to attack, Artemisia's fleet made a surprise raid,
   captured the Rhodian fleet and towed it out to sea. Artemisia put her
   own soldiers on the invading ships and sailed them back to Rhodes.
   Fooled into thinking that the returning ships were their own victorious
   navy, the Rhodians failed to put up a defense and the city was easily
   captured quelling the rebellion. Artemisia lived for only two years
   after the death of her husband. The urns with their ashes were placed
   in the yet unfinished tomb. As a form of sacrifice ritual the bodies of
   a large number of dead animals were placed on the stairs leading to the
   tomb, then the stairs were filled with stones and rubble, sealing its
   access. According to the historian Pliny, 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."

The construction of the Mausoleum

   The Mausoleum in ruins, as it stands today
   Enlarge
   The Mausoleum in ruins, as it stands today

   Artemisia decided that no expense was to be spared in the building of
   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 at Ephesus. Other famous
   sculptors such as Bryaxis, Leochares and Timotheus joined him well as
   hundreds of other craftsmen. The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking
   the city. The whole structure sat in an enclosed courtyard. At the
   centre of the courtyard was a stone platform on which the tomb sat
   itself. A stairway, flanked by stone lions statues, led to the top of
   the platform. Along the outer wall of this were many statues depicting
   gods and goddess. At each corner stone warriors, mounted on horseback,
   guarded the tomb. At the centre of the platform was the tomb itself.
   Made mostly of marble, the structure rose as a square, tapering block
   to one-third of the Mausoleum's 45-meter (135-foot) height. This
   section was covered with relief sculpture showing action scenes from
   Greek mythology/history. One part showed the battle of the centaurs
   with the lapiths. Another depicted Greeks in combat with the Amazons, a
   race of warrior women. On the top of this section of the tomb
   thirty-six slim columns, nine per side, rose for another third of the
   height. Standing in between each column was another statue. Behind the
   columns was a solid object that carried the weight of the tomb's
   massive roof. The roof, which comprised most of the final third of the
   height, was in the form of a pyramid. Perched on the top was a
   quadriga: four massive horses pulling a chariot in which images of
   Mausolus and Artemisia rode.

The Mausoleum in medieval and modern times

   The design of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne was inspired by
   that of the Mausoleum
   Enlarge
   The design of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne was inspired by
   that of the Mausoleum

   The Mausoleum overlooked the city of Halicarnassus for many centuries.
   It was untouched when the city fell to Alexander the Great in 334 BC
   and still undamaged after attacks by pirates in 62 and 58 BC. It stood
   above the city ruins for some 16 centuries. Then a series of
   earthquakes shattered the columns and sent the stone chariot crashing
   to the ground. By 1404 only the very base of the Mausoleum was still
   recognizable. In the early 15th century AD, the Knights of St John of
   Malta invaded the region and built a massive castle. When they decided
   to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum. In 1522
   rumors 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 within the
   castle walls. Sections of polished marble from the tomb can still be
   seen there today. At this time 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 on 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 Knights claimed that Moslem villagers were responsible
   for the theft, but it is just as likely that some of the Crusaders
   themselves plundered the graves. On the walls of the small museum
   building next to the site of the Mausoleum we find a different 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 were placed in the grave chamber. This explains why no bodies
   were found.
   Grant's Tomb in New York is based on a more scholarly reconstruction of
   the Mausoleum
   Enlarge
   Grant's Tomb in New York is based on a more scholarly reconstruction of
   the Mausoleum

   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. At that time the British ambassador obtained several
   of the statues from the castle, which now reside in the British Museum.
   In 1852 the Museum sent the archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton to
   search for more remains of the Mausoleum. He had a difficult job. He
   didn't 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 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 figure out 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 2
   metres (7 feet) 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. From 1966 to
   1977, the Mausoleum was thoroughly researched by Prof. Kristian
   Jeppesen of Aarhus University, Denmark. He has produced a six-volume
   work on the Mausoleum called "The Maussolleion at Halikarnassos". The
   beauty of the Mausoleum is 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. These were tens of life-size as well as under
   and over life-size free-standing statues of people, lions, horses, and
   other animals. 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. Nowadays, the massive castle of the Knights of Malta
   still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the
   Mausoleum can be spotted within the walls of the structure. At the site
   of the Mausoleum itself, only the foundation remains of the once
   magnificent Wonder, together with a small museum. Some of the
   sculptures survived and are today on display at the British Museum in
   London. These include fragment 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 forever watch over the few broken remains of
   the beautiful tomb she built for him and that is now lost to eternity.
   Modern buildings based upon the Mausoleum of Maussollos include:
   Grant's Tomb in New York City; Los Angeles City Hall; the Shrine of
   Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia; the spire of St. George's Church
   Bloomsbury in London; the Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis; and the
   Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction's headquarters,
   the House of the Temple in Washington D.C.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Maussollos"
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