Nereid Monument
Encyclopedia
The Nereid Monument is a sculptured tomb from Xanthos
in classical period
Lycia
, close to present-day Kinik in Antalya Province
, Turkey
. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friezes, and is thought to have been built in the early fourth century BCE as a tomb for Arbinas (Lycian
: Erbbina, or Erbinna), the Xanthian dynast who ruled western Lycia.
The tomb is thought to have stood until the Byzantine era
before falling into ruin. The ruins were rediscovered by British traveller Charles Fellows
in the early 1840s. Fellows had them shipped to the British Museum
: there some of them have been reconstructed to show what the East façade of the monument would have looked like.
for the Achaemenid
Persian Empire in approximately 540 BCE, and his conquest of Xanthos is described by both Herodotus
and Appian
. For much of the 5th century BCE, Athens dominated the lands bordering the Aegean Sea
, and many of them, including Lycia, were paying protection money into the exchequer of the Athenian maritime empire, the Delian League
, and land tax to the Persians. There is evidence of a fire that destroyed the wooden tombs and temples of Xanthos in around 470 BCE. This fire was probably caused by Cimon of Athens when he attacked the sacred citadel in retaliation for the destruction of the Athenian Acropolis
by the Persians and their allies, including the Lycians, in 480 BCE . The Xanthians, under their dynast, Kuprilli, rebuilt the buildings in stone.
In around 440 BCE, Kheriga, Kuprilli's grandson, succeeded him, and in turn Kheriga's brother, Kherei, is thought to have succeeded him in around 410 BCE. Arbinas was Kheriga's son, but had to take conquer Xanthos and other Lycian cities by force of arms in around 390 BCE in order to reclaim his birthright. Arbinas then ruled Western Lycia from Xanthos, and he built the Nereid Monument as his tomb. He died in around 370BC.
, the monument is built in a Greek style, influenced by the Ionic temples of the Athenian Acropolis. The rich narrative sculptures on the monument portray Arbinas in various ways, combining Greek and Persian aspects.
The temple-like tomb had four columns on its east and west faces, and six on the north and south. It stood elevated on a substantial podium, decorated with two friezes: a shallower upper frieze above a deeper lower frieze. In the reconstruction in the British Museum, the podium consists simply of the two friezes above one layer of blocks, whereas Fellows's sketch of the monument showed a much taller structure with two substantial rows of blocks below the lower frieze, and a further two rows separating the lower from the upper frieze. There are also reliefs on the architrave
, cella
walls, and in the pediment.
There were many large free-standing sculptures, including those of Nereids between each pair of main columns.
s, and the frieze is thought to represent Arbinas's conquest of Lycian cities so as to ensure his succession to the leadership.
Arbinas is represented in various ways, including sitting in Persian style, shaded with a parasol, and with his feet supported off the ground by a footstool. There is also variety in the soldiers, including heavily armed hoplite
s and archers, and there are prisoners being led away, and besiegers scaling city walls with ladders.
on top of the columns is carved in a simpler, more naive style than the podium friezes. It again portrays scenes of combat, but also a boar hunt, figures bearing offerings, and preparations for a banquet.
would have been the least visible, being screened by the columns. It contains scenes of sacrifices and banqueting. There are two figures at the banquet who dine on couches of their own. One is taken to be Arbinas, and he is larger than all the other banqueting figures, and the other may be his son. Here Arbinas is shown with hair and beard like the kings of Persia or Assyria, and he holds a Persian drinking horn.
s (gable ends) of the monument was decorated with a relief, rather than with the fully rounded sculptures found on pediments of most buildings of the period in Greece. The relief on the east pediment shows Arbinas and his wife seated, and Ian Jenkins
suggests that this was inspired by the portrayal of Zeus and Hera on the east frieze of the Parthenon
. Smaller figures are thought to represent the children and pet dog of the ruling family. Only one of the two panels that made up the west pediment relief survives. In contrast to the static family scene on the east side, this shows soldiers moving in battle.
inscription, which was discovered a few kilometres to the south of the site of the Monument.
, crowning the angles and apex of the pediment. Each of the two main surviving acroteria involves a young man and a young woman, and they are variously interpreted as representing the rape of the daughters of Leukippos by the twins Castor and Pollux
, or as the Nereid Thetis
being carried off by Peleus
, or as exploits of Herakles.
, and then to have been destroyed by local Christians for its stones and metals.
The ruins and sculptures were rediscovered in the early 1840s by an expedition led by the British archaeologist, Charles Fellows
, and also including George Scharf
. Fellows' immediate conclusion was that the monument was to Harpagus
, who is the main figure in Lycian history recorded by Herodotus
, placing it in the 6th century BCE. Although it was soon realised that the style of the architecture and sculpture meant that it must date from at least a century later, it was only in the late 20th century that a consensus was reached that the tomb must date from around 390 to 380 BCE, and was probably the tomb of Arbinas.
Fellows arranged for the shipping of the remains to the British Museum
. Without detailed records of where each item was found, the Museum had to rely on expedition drawings, marks on the stones, and the composition and style of the sculpture to estimate how the blocks and sculptures fit together. The current reconstruction of the East façade in the museum dates from 1969. It is in room 17 of the Museum, which also houses many other parts of the monument.
Xanthos
Xanthos was the name of a city in ancient Lycia, the site of present day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey, and of the river on which the city is situated...
in classical period
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
, close to present-day Kinik in Antalya Province
Antalya Province
Antalya Province is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean sea.Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visiting Turkey. The province of Antalya corresponds to the lands of...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friezes, and is thought to have been built in the early fourth century BCE as a tomb for Arbinas (Lycian
Lycian language
Lycian language refers to the inscriptional language of ancient Lycia, populated by Lycians, as well as its presumed spoken counterpart.-The speakers:...
: Erbbina, or Erbinna), the Xanthian dynast who ruled western Lycia.
The tomb is thought to have stood until the Byzantine era
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
before falling into ruin. The ruins were rediscovered by British traveller Charles Fellows
Charles Fellows
Sir Charles Fellows was a British archaeologist.-Bigography:Fellows was born at Nottingham, where his family had an estate. When fourteen he drew sketches to illustrate a trip to the ruins of Newstead Abbey, which afterwards appeared on the title-page of Moore's Life of Lord Byron...
in the early 1840s. Fellows had them shipped to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
: there some of them have been reconstructed to show what the East façade of the monument would have looked like.
Arbinas
Lycia was conquered by HarpagusHarpagus
Harpagus, also known as Harpagos or Hypargus , was a Median general from the 6th century BCE, credited by Herodotus as having put Cyrus the Great on the throne through his defection during the battle of Pasargadae.-Biography:According to Herodotus' Histories, Harpagus was a member of the Median...
for the Achaemenid
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
Persian Empire in approximately 540 BCE, and his conquest of Xanthos is described by both Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
and Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
. For much of the 5th century BCE, Athens dominated the lands bordering the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, and many of them, including Lycia, were paying protection money into the exchequer of the Athenian maritime empire, the Delian League
Delian League
The Delian League, founded in circa 477 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars...
, and land tax to the Persians. There is evidence of a fire that destroyed the wooden tombs and temples of Xanthos in around 470 BCE. This fire was probably caused by Cimon of Athens when he attacked the sacred citadel in retaliation for the destruction of the Athenian Acropolis
Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification...
by the Persians and their allies, including the Lycians, in 480 BCE . The Xanthians, under their dynast, Kuprilli, rebuilt the buildings in stone.
In around 440 BCE, Kheriga, Kuprilli's grandson, succeeded him, and in turn Kheriga's brother, Kherei, is thought to have succeeded him in around 410 BCE. Arbinas was Kheriga's son, but had to take conquer Xanthos and other Lycian cities by force of arms in around 390 BCE in order to reclaim his birthright. Arbinas then ruled Western Lycia from Xanthos, and he built the Nereid Monument as his tomb. He died in around 370BC.
Description
Although Arbinas ruled Lycia as part of the Persian EmpireAchaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
, the monument is built in a Greek style, influenced by the Ionic temples of the Athenian Acropolis. The rich narrative sculptures on the monument portray Arbinas in various ways, combining Greek and Persian aspects.
The temple-like tomb had four columns on its east and west faces, and six on the north and south. It stood elevated on a substantial podium, decorated with two friezes: a shallower upper frieze above a deeper lower frieze. In the reconstruction in the British Museum, the podium consists simply of the two friezes above one layer of blocks, whereas Fellows's sketch of the monument showed a much taller structure with two substantial rows of blocks below the lower frieze, and a further two rows separating the lower from the upper frieze. There are also reliefs on the architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
, cella
Cella
A cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture...
walls, and in the pediment.
There were many large free-standing sculptures, including those of Nereids between each pair of main columns.
Greater podium frieze
The larger and lower frieze on the podium was made up of 22 blocks, of which seven are lost apart from fragments. The surviving panels represent heroic battle scenes, with no apparent overall narrative, mostly involving male soldiers dressed in Greek costume and armour. Unlike many friezes from the same period, they are not pitched against Amazons, centaurs or obvious foreigners.Upper podium frieze
The upper, shallower frieze on the podium also consisted of 22 blocks, and three have been lost. Each of the four sides of this frieze represents the siege of a city. The cities are portrayed with characteristic Lycian merlonMerlon
In architecture, a merlon forms the solid part of an embattled parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures. The space between two merlons is usually called a crenel, although those later designed and used for cannons were called embrasures.-Etymology:...
s, and the frieze is thought to represent Arbinas's conquest of Lycian cities so as to ensure his succession to the leadership.
Arbinas is represented in various ways, including sitting in Persian style, shaded with a parasol, and with his feet supported off the ground by a footstool. There is also variety in the soldiers, including heavily armed hoplite
Hoplite
A hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...
s and archers, and there are prisoners being led away, and besiegers scaling city walls with ladders.
Architrave frieze
The frieze on the architraveArchitrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
on top of the columns is carved in a simpler, more naive style than the podium friezes. It again portrays scenes of combat, but also a boar hunt, figures bearing offerings, and preparations for a banquet.
Cella frieze
The frieze at the top of the outside wall of the cellaCella
A cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture...
would have been the least visible, being screened by the columns. It contains scenes of sacrifices and banqueting. There are two figures at the banquet who dine on couches of their own. One is taken to be Arbinas, and he is larger than all the other banqueting figures, and the other may be his son. Here Arbinas is shown with hair and beard like the kings of Persia or Assyria, and he holds a Persian drinking horn.
Pediments
Each of the two pedimentPediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s (gable ends) of the monument was decorated with a relief, rather than with the fully rounded sculptures found on pediments of most buildings of the period in Greece. The relief on the east pediment shows Arbinas and his wife seated, and Ian Jenkins
Ian Jenkins (curator)
Ian Dennis Jenkins OBE is a Senior Curator at the British Museum and is an expert on Ancient Greece and specializes in Ancient Greek sculpture. Jenkins has a number of books published, and over a hundred articles...
suggests that this was inspired by the portrayal of Zeus and Hera on the east frieze of the Parthenon
Parthenon Frieze
The Parthenon frieze is the low relief, pentelic marble sculpture created to adorn the upper part of the Parthenon’s naos. It was sculpted between ca. 443 and 438 BC, most likely under the direction of Pheidias. Of the of the original frieze, survives—some 80 percent...
. Smaller figures are thought to represent the children and pet dog of the ruling family. Only one of the two panels that made up the west pediment relief survives. In contrast to the static family scene on the east side, this shows soldiers moving in battle.
Nereids
The monument is now named after the life-size female figures in wind-blown drapery. Eleven survive, which would have been enough to fill the spaces between columns on the east and west sides, and the three on the north. Jenkins speculates that there might never have been figures on the south side. They are identified as sea-nymphs because various sculpted sea creatures were found under the feet of seven of them, including dolphins, a cuttlefish, and a bird that may be a sea-gull. They have generally been called Nereids, though Thurstan Robinson argues that this is imposing a Greek perspective on Lycian sculptures, and that they should rather be seen as eliyãna, Lycian water-nymphs associated with fresh-water sources and referenced on the Letoon trilingualLetoon trilingual
The Letoon trilingual is an inscription in three languages: standard Lycian or Lycian A, Greek and Aramaic covering the faces of a four-sided stone stele called the Letoon Trilingual Stele, discovered in 1973 during the archeological exploration of the Letoon temple complex, near Xanthos, ancient...
inscription, which was discovered a few kilometres to the south of the site of the Monument.
Other figures
As well as the Nereids, there were sculptures of various other figures, including several that served as acroteriaAcroterion
An acroterion or acroterium is an architectural ornament placed on a flat base called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the Classical style. It may also be placed at the outer angles of the pediment; such acroteria are referred to as acroteria angularia...
, crowning the angles and apex of the pediment. Each of the two main surviving acroteria involves a young man and a young woman, and they are variously interpreted as representing the rape of the daughters of Leukippos by the twins Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...
, or as the Nereid Thetis
Thetis
Silver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths...
being carried off by Peleus
Peleus
In Greek mythology, Pēleus was a hero whose myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BCE. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly; he was the father of Achilles...
, or as exploits of Herakles.
Rediscovery and reconstruction
The monument is thought to have stood until the Byzantine eraByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, and then to have been destroyed by local Christians for its stones and metals.
The ruins and sculptures were rediscovered in the early 1840s by an expedition led by the British archaeologist, Charles Fellows
Charles Fellows
Sir Charles Fellows was a British archaeologist.-Bigography:Fellows was born at Nottingham, where his family had an estate. When fourteen he drew sketches to illustrate a trip to the ruins of Newstead Abbey, which afterwards appeared on the title-page of Moore's Life of Lord Byron...
, and also including George Scharf
George Scharf
Sir George Scharf KCB was an English art critic, illustrator, and director of the National Portrait Gallery.-Early years:...
. Fellows' immediate conclusion was that the monument was to Harpagus
Harpagus
Harpagus, also known as Harpagos or Hypargus , was a Median general from the 6th century BCE, credited by Herodotus as having put Cyrus the Great on the throne through his defection during the battle of Pasargadae.-Biography:According to Herodotus' Histories, Harpagus was a member of the Median...
, who is the main figure in Lycian history recorded by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, placing it in the 6th century BCE. Although it was soon realised that the style of the architecture and sculpture meant that it must date from at least a century later, it was only in the late 20th century that a consensus was reached that the tomb must date from around 390 to 380 BCE, and was probably the tomb of Arbinas.
Fellows arranged for the shipping of the remains to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Without detailed records of where each item was found, the Museum had to rely on expedition drawings, marks on the stones, and the composition and style of the sculpture to estimate how the blocks and sculptures fit together. The current reconstruction of the East façade in the museum dates from 1969. It is in room 17 of the Museum, which also houses many other parts of the monument.