Hypaethros
Encyclopedia
Hypaethros, or hypaethral opening is the Greek
term quoted by Vitruvius
(iii. 2) for the opening in the middle of the roof of decastyle temple
s, of which there was no example in Rome
, but one in Athens
in the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which is octostyle.
However at the time he wrote (c. AD 25) the cella
of this temple was unroofed, because the columns which had been provided to carry, at all events, part of the ceiling and roof had been taken away by Sulla in 80 B.C.. The decastyle temple of Apollo Didymaeus near Miletus
was, according to Strabo
(c. 50 nc.), unroofed, on account of the vastness of its celia, in which precious groves of laurel
bushes were planted.
Apart from these two examples, the references in various writers to an opening of some kind in the roofs of temples dedicated to particular deities, and the statement of Vitruvius, which was doubtless based on the writings of Greek authors, that in decastyle or large temples the centre was open to the sky and without a roof (medium autem sub diva est sine tecto), render the existence of the hypaethros probable in some cases; and therefore C. R. Cockerell's discovery in the temple at Aegina
of two fragments of a coping-stone, in which there were sinkings on one side to receive the tiles and covering tiles, has been of great importance in the discussion of this subject. In the conjectural restoration of the opaion or opening in the roof shown in Cockerells drawing, it has been made needessly large, having an area of about one quarter of the superficial area of the celia between the coltirnns, and since in the Pantheon
at Rome the relative proportions of the central opening in the dome and the area of the Rotunda are I: 22, and the light there is ample, in the clearer atmosphere of Greece it might have been less. The larger the opening the more conspicuous would be the notch in the roof which is so greatly objected to; in this respect Jacques Hittorf would seem to be nearer the truth when, in his conjectural restoration of Temple R. at Selinus, he shows an opaion about half the relative size shown in Cockerells of that at Aegina, the coping on the side elevation being much less noticeable.
The problem was apparently solved in another way at Bassae
, where, in the excavations of the temple of Apollo
by Cockerell and Baron Hailer von Hallerstein, three marble tiles were found with pierced openings in them about 18 in. by fo in.; five of these pierced tiles on either side would have amply lighted the interior of the ceila, and the amount of rain passing through (a serious element to be considered in a country where torrential rains occasionally fall) would not be very great 01 more than could be retained to dry up in the ceila sunk pavement In favor of both these methods of lighting the interior of th~ cella, the sarcophagus tomb at Cyrene
, about 20 ft. (6m) long, carved in imitation of a temple, has been adduced, because, on the tor of the roof and in its centre, there is a raised coping, and a similar feature is found on a tomb found near Delos
; an example from Crete
now in the British Museum
shows a pierced tile on each side of the roof, and a large number of pierced tiles have been found in Pompeii
, some of them surrounded with a rim identical with that of the marble tiles at Bassae.
On the other hand, there are many authorities, among them Dr Wilhelm Dörpfeld
, who have adhered to their original opinion that it was only through the open doorway that light was ever admitted into the celia, and with the clear atmosphere of Greece and the reflections from the marble pavement such lighting would be quite sufficient. There remains still another source of light to be considered, that passing through the Parian marble tiles of the roof; the superior translucency of Parian to any other marble may have suggested its employment for the roofs of temples, and if, in the framed ceilings carried over the celia, openings were left, some light from the Parian tile roof might have been obtained. It is possibly to this that Plutarch
refers when describing the ceiling and roof of the temple of Demeter
at Eleusis, where the columns in the interior of the temple carried a ceiling, probably constructed of timbers crossing one another at right angles, and one or more of the spaces was left open, which Xenocles
surmounted by a roof formed of tiles.
James Fergusson
put forward many years ago a conjectural restoration in which he adopted a clerestory
above the superimposed columns inside the cella; in order to provide the light for these windows he indicated two trenches in the roof, one on each side, and pointed out that the great Hall of Columns
at Karnak
was lighted in this way with clerestory windows; but in the first place the light in the latter was obtained over the flat roofs covering lower portions of the hail, and in the second place, as it rarely rains in Egyptian Thebes, there could be no difficulty about the drainage, while in Greece, with the torrential rains and snow, these trenches would be deluged with water, and with all the appliances of the present day it would be impossible to keep these clerestory windows watertight. There is, however, still another objection to Fergussons theory; the water collecting in these trenches on the roof would have to be discharged, for which Fergussons suggestions are quite inadequate, and the gargoyle
s shown in the celia wall would make the peristyle
insupportable just at the time when it was required for shelter.
No drainage otherwise of any kind has ever been found in any Greek temple
, which is fatal to Fergussons view. Nor is it in accordance with the definition open to the sky. English cathedrals and churches are all lighted by clemstory windows, but no one has described them as open to the sky, and although Vitruviuss statements are sometimes confusing, his description is far too clear to leave any misunderstanding as to the lighting of temples (where it was necessary on account of great length) through an opening in the roof.
There is one other theory which has been put forward, but which can only apply to non-peristylar temples,that light and air was admitted through the metopes
, the apertures between the beams crossing the cella, and it has been assumed that because Orestes
was advised in one of the Greek plays to climb up and look through the metopes of the temple, these were left open; but if Orestes could look in, so could the birds, and the statue of the god would be defiled. The metopes were probably filled in with shutters of some kind which Orestes knew how to open.
, India
houses one among the five existing rare monuments of Hypaethral temples dedicated to 64 yogini
s in India (the other four are Chausath Jogini Temple at Hirapur
near Bhubaneswar
, Khajuraho
and Bheraghat near Jabalpur) and Dudhai near Lalitpur
.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
term quoted by Vitruvius
Vitruvius
Marcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
(iii. 2) for the opening in the middle of the roof of decastyle temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s, of which there was no example in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, but one in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
in the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which is octostyle.
However at the time he wrote (c. AD 25) the 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...
of this temple was unroofed, because the columns which had been provided to carry, at all events, part of the ceiling and roof had been taken away by Sulla in 80 B.C.. The decastyle temple of Apollo Didymaeus near Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
was, according to Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
(c. 50 nc.), unroofed, on account of the vastness of its celia, in which precious groves of laurel
Lauraceae
The Lauraceae or Laurel family comprises a group of flowering plants included in the order Laurales. The family contains about 55 genera and over 3500, perhaps as many as 4000, species world-wide, mostly from warm or tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America...
bushes were planted.
Apart from these two examples, the references in various writers to an opening of some kind in the roofs of temples dedicated to particular deities, and the statement of Vitruvius, which was doubtless based on the writings of Greek authors, that in decastyle or large temples the centre was open to the sky and without a roof (medium autem sub diva est sine tecto), render the existence of the hypaethros probable in some cases; and therefore C. R. Cockerell's discovery in the temple at Aegina
Aegina
Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...
of two fragments of a coping-stone, in which there were sinkings on one side to receive the tiles and covering tiles, has been of great importance in the discussion of this subject. In the conjectural restoration of the opaion or opening in the roof shown in Cockerells drawing, it has been made needessly large, having an area of about one quarter of the superficial area of the celia between the coltirnns, and since in the Pantheon
Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
at Rome the relative proportions of the central opening in the dome and the area of the Rotunda are I: 22, and the light there is ample, in the clearer atmosphere of Greece it might have been less. The larger the opening the more conspicuous would be the notch in the roof which is so greatly objected to; in this respect Jacques Hittorf would seem to be nearer the truth when, in his conjectural restoration of Temple R. at Selinus, he shows an opaion about half the relative size shown in Cockerells of that at Aegina, the coping on the side elevation being much less noticeable.
The problem was apparently solved in another way at Bassae
Bassae
Bassae or Bassai, Vassai or Vasses , meaning "little vale in the rocks", is an archaeological site in the northeastern part of Messinia Prefecture that was a part of Arcadia in ancient times. Bassae lies near the village of Skliros, northeast of Figaleia, south of Andritsaina and west of Megalopolis...
, where, in the excavations of the temple of Apollo
Temple of Apollo
Temple of Apollo can refer to:*Greece**Temple of Apollo, Corinth**Temple of Apollo **Temple of Apollo at Bassae**Temple of Apollo Patroos*Cyprus**Temple of Apollo Hylates, Limassol*Italy**Temple of Apollo Palatinus, in Rome...
by Cockerell and Baron Hailer von Hallerstein, three marble tiles were found with pierced openings in them about 18 in. by fo in.; five of these pierced tiles on either side would have amply lighted the interior of the ceila, and the amount of rain passing through (a serious element to be considered in a country where torrential rains occasionally fall) would not be very great 01 more than could be retained to dry up in the ceila sunk pavement In favor of both these methods of lighting the interior of th~ cella, the sarcophagus tomb at Cyrene
Cyrene, Libya
Cyrene was an ancient Greek colony and then a Roman city in present-day Shahhat, Libya, the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times.Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar...
, about 20 ft. (6m) long, carved in imitation of a temple, has been adduced, because, on the tor of the roof and in its centre, there is a raised coping, and a similar feature is found on a tomb found near Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
; an example from Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
now in 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...
shows a pierced tile on each side of the roof, and a large number of pierced tiles have been found in Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, some of them surrounded with a rim identical with that of the marble tiles at Bassae.
On the other hand, there are many authorities, among them Dr Wilhelm Dörpfeld
Wilhelm Dörpfeld
Wilhelm Dörpfeld was a German architect and archaeologist, the pioneer of stratigraphic excavation and precise graphical documentation of archaeological projects...
, who have adhered to their original opinion that it was only through the open doorway that light was ever admitted into the celia, and with the clear atmosphere of Greece and the reflections from the marble pavement such lighting would be quite sufficient. There remains still another source of light to be considered, that passing through the Parian marble tiles of the roof; the superior translucency of Parian to any other marble may have suggested its employment for the roofs of temples, and if, in the framed ceilings carried over the celia, openings were left, some light from the Parian tile roof might have been obtained. It is possibly to this that Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
refers when describing the ceiling and roof of the temple of Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
at Eleusis, where the columns in the interior of the temple carried a ceiling, probably constructed of timbers crossing one another at right angles, and one or more of the spaces was left open, which Xenocles
Xenocles
Xenocles or Zenocles was an Ancient Greek tragedian.There were two Athenian tragic poets of this name, one the grandfather of the other...
surmounted by a roof formed of tiles.
James Fergusson
James Fergusson (architect)
James Fergusson , was a Scottish writer on architecture.-Life:Fergusson was born at Ayr, the son of William Fergusson an army surgeon. After being educated first at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and then at a private school in Hounslow, he went to Calcutta as a partner in a mercantile house...
put forward many years ago a conjectural restoration in which he adopted a clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
above the superimposed columns inside the cella; in order to provide the light for these windows he indicated two trenches in the roof, one on each side, and pointed out that the great Hall of Columns
Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
The Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak, located within the Karnak temple complex, in the Precinct of Amon-Re, is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt. The design was initially instituted by Hatshepsut, at the North-west chapel to Amun in the upper terrace of Deir el-BahriThe hall covers...
at Karnak
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
was lighted in this way with clerestory windows; but in the first place the light in the latter was obtained over the flat roofs covering lower portions of the hail, and in the second place, as it rarely rains in Egyptian Thebes, there could be no difficulty about the drainage, while in Greece, with the torrential rains and snow, these trenches would be deluged with water, and with all the appliances of the present day it would be impossible to keep these clerestory windows watertight. There is, however, still another objection to Fergussons theory; the water collecting in these trenches on the roof would have to be discharged, for which Fergussons suggestions are quite inadequate, and the gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s shown in the celia wall would make the peristyle
Peristyle
In Hellenistic Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden. Tetrastoon is another name for this feature...
insupportable just at the time when it was required for shelter.
No drainage otherwise of any kind has ever been found in any Greek temple
Greek temple
Greek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them...
, which is fatal to Fergussons view. Nor is it in accordance with the definition open to the sky. English cathedrals and churches are all lighted by clemstory windows, but no one has described them as open to the sky, and although Vitruviuss statements are sometimes confusing, his description is far too clear to leave any misunderstanding as to the lighting of temples (where it was necessary on account of great length) through an opening in the roof.
There is one other theory which has been put forward, but which can only apply to non-peristylar temples,that light and air was admitted through the metopes
Metope (architecture)
In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...
, the apertures between the beams crossing the cella, and it has been assumed that because Orestes
Orestes
Orestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , by Euripides*Orestes, the character in Sophocles' tragedy Electra*Orestes, the character in Aeschylus' trilogy of tragedies, Oresteia...
was advised in one of the Greek plays to climb up and look through the metopes of the temple, these were left open; but if Orestes could look in, so could the birds, and the statue of the god would be defiled. The metopes were probably filled in with shutters of some kind which Orestes knew how to open.
Temples in Orissa, India
Ranipur-Jharial, OrissaOrissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
houses one among the five existing rare monuments of Hypaethral temples dedicated to 64 yogini
Yogini
Yogini is the complete form source word of the masculine yogi- and neutral/plural "yogin." Far from being merely a gender tag to the all things yogi, "Yogini" represents both a female master practitioner of Yoga, and a formal term of respect for a category of modern female spiritual teachers in...
s in India (the other four are Chausath Jogini Temple at Hirapur
Hirapur
See Hirapur for other places with the same name.Hirapur is a census town in Balaghat district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.-Geography:Hirapur is located at . It has an average elevation of 501 metres ....
near Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Orissa, officially Odisha. The city has a long history of over 2000 years starting with Chedi dynasty who had Sisupalgarh near present-day Bhubaneswar as their capital...
, Khajuraho
Khajuraho
The Khajuraho Group of Monuments in Khajuraho , a town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in Chhatarpur District, about southeast of New Delhi, are one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. Khajuraho has the largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous for...
and Bheraghat near Jabalpur) and Dudhai near Lalitpur
Lalitpur, India
Lalitpur is a city and a municipal board in Lalitpur district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is also district headquarters of Lalitpur district.-Demographics:...
.