Guest post by Maria Spathi, Early Career Material Culture Fellow in Hellenic Studies 2022-23

Research topic during fellowship: The Sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis in Ancient Messene, Peloponnese. The Votive Deposit from the Campaign on Site in 2018

The sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis was founded in Early Hellenistic times on the southern slope of Ithome, far from the city center but within the vast fortification wall of the city of Messene. Philippe Le Bas discovered the cult site in the first half of the 19th century. The identification is confirmed by a Hellenistic inscription found in the temple's ruins, naming two Limnatis priestesses (IG V, 1, 1442). From 2006 to 2018, excavation work was carried out on the sanctuary revealing the temple, four more buildings around it, and numerous finds. The main building appears to be the Ionic temple, with two Corinthian columns in antis, a deep porch, and a wide cella with a pebble floor. The cult statue stood in the center of the cella on a plinth. In front of the temple to the east and at a distance of 15 m is a rectangular altar; immediately to the south lie four buildings of different dimensions (A-D). Below the plateau of the temenos complex, and about 15 m to its south, there is a large and long but narrow terrace.

The excavation conducted in 2018 on the area along Building D, which is located along the southwestern part of the temenos, at the edge of the natural plateau on top, revealed a dispersed deposit, probably originally from the west of the temple. The excavation yielded many terracotta figurines of Artemis represented as a huntress in a short chiton with an overfold and an animal skin wrapped around the body, but also fragmentary marble and bronze statuettes of the goddess. Quite a few bronze finds exist as well. These comprise several vessel handles (swinging handles from bowls and others belonging to mirrors and bronze boxes), jewelry such as bracelets and rings, pins, miniature eye-ointment bottles, and all sorts of clamps and rivets. Also, fragments of marble pyxides and flasks were recovered. According to the study of the pottery and the inscriptions, the sanctuary was inaugurated immediately after the founding of the city in 369 BC by the Theban general Epameinondas.

All of the above are characteristic finds in the sanctuaries of Artemis, where the goddess is worshiped mainly by young women during the festivals of transition from childhood to adulthood. Artemis cults are numerous in the Peloponnese, and her worship is clearly fundamental for the city of Messene. These cults have already attracted much scholarly attention. In spite of this, however, many important questions regarding the aspects of her character and the ritual practices in her cult remain unanswered. The completion of the study of the sanctuary and the related finds will give answers not only on the character of the worshipped deity but also on how the natural terrain, the cultic traditions of the wider region, and the political circumstances and pursuits of the newly founded city affected the foundation of the sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis on Mount Ithome and help us reconstruct the religious topography of the city.

On receiving the CHS research fellowship

I am more than grateful for the warm hospitality and substantial support of Harvard´s Center for Hellenic Studies. Their input and assistance created the possibility to study part of the excavation finds in a rather difficult period for humanities with limited financial resources.

About Maria Spathi

Maria Spathi obtained her diploma degree in History and Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, followed by a doctorate in Classical Archaeology at the Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg in Germany. She is a research associate of the systematic excavations of Ancient Messene in the Peloponnese; she has worked in different departments of the Archaeological Service in the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, in the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin and Athens and was also employed as a Lecturer in the University of Crete and as an Assistant Professor at the University of Rostock in Germany. She mainly works with archaeological sources and data. She specializes in material from ancient sacred sites while discussing their interpretation in relation to the archaeological context, specific rituals, and textual evidence. This approach is discernible in her recently submitted monograph on the sanctuary of Demeter in Messene.

Early Career Fellowships in Hellenic Studies in Greece and Cyprus

The Early Career Fellowships in Hellenic Studies in Greece and Cyprus program aims to support postdoctoral researchers whose work requires continued access to material on-site. For 2022-2023, in the context of this fellowship award, CHS appointed two additional fellows whose work specializes in Material Culture. Learn more about this research opportunity on the Early Career Fellowships in Hellenic Studies webpage.