Maussollos'mnema

Elisabeth Mcgowan (1)

1 Department of Art [Williamstown, MA]

Undoubtedly the most renowned example of intramural burial in antiquity was the Maussolleion at Halicarnassus. Since its rediscovery within the writing of Vitruvius, Pliny and other ancient authors by Renaissance architects its form has been a frequent subject of speculation. The results of the archaeological campaigns of the 19th and 20th centuries have allowed the discussion to encompass an aesthetic evaluation of the temple-tomb's actual remains. The Maussolleion's seemingly disparate assortment of architectural forms, which samples motifs from prominent Mediterranean cultures (Lykian podium, Greek temple, and Egyptian pyramid) has been characterized as the ultimate statement in bad taste by a self-aggrandizing satrap. In order, however, to understand the architect's and patron's intentions it is necessary to reach beyond the superficial reading of the Maussolleion as an omnium-gatherum of architectural and sculptural ornament. An analysis of the iconography of the architectural and sculptural elements which (according to Roman sources and corroborated by archaeological evidence) were combined in the Mausolleion's design reveals that the motifs were chosen to bring to mind, and to improve on previous, well-known building programs. Not only does the temple architecture central to the design justify the building visually as a place of worship, but specific architectural forms and sculptural subjects appear to draw on the religious buildings of the most important city of the Mediterranean in the 5th century BC, Athens. In the case of the Mausolleion it is a question not of Maussollos's (or his architect's) lack of understanding of the conventions that govern architectural forms and styles, but rather of a highly informed, positive solution to the unusual problem of how to incorporate a massive burial monument within the walls of the redesigned city of Halikarnassos, promote Maussollos on a divine scale, and signal Halikarnassos as a major urban center of the Mediterranean in the 4th century BC.

Mots clés: Maussolleion at Halicarnassus; Turkey; Lydian; funeral architecture; royal tombs

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Elisabeth Mcgowan. Maussollos'mnema. 2èmes Rencontres d'archéologie de l'IFEA : Le Mort dans la ville Pratiques, contextes et impacts des inhumations intra-muros en Anatolie, du début de l'Age du Bronze à l'époque romaine., Nov 2011, Istanbul, Turkey. pp.157-174. ⟨halshs-00808257⟩