Building Catalog Name: Halikarnassos, Maussolleion

Plan:

The Maussolleion was rectangular in ground plan, and was designed to be situated in a walled temenos enclosure entered through a propylon in the east wall. Recent reconstructions of the tomb show a two- or three-stepped podium supporting a pteron of nine by eleven columns. The roof of the Maussolleion consisted of a pyramid of twenty-four steps, surmounted by a statue base supporting the crowning element of quadriga and statuary. The building was decorated with much free-standing and relief sculpture, carried out by Skopas, Bryaxis, Leochares and Timotheos, and was known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Dimensions of peribolos or temenos enclosure 105 m. x 242.5 m.; dimensions of podium at base 38.4 x 32.5 m.; dimensions of stylobate of pteron (= top of podium) 32 m. x 26 m. (thus the podium contracted between base and summit, through the use of steps). Height of central colonnaded element 12 m. Interaxial spacing of colonnade ca. 3 m. Height of pedestal at apex of pyramid, including chariot: 6.6 m. Total height of monument 57.6 m. A further note on the dimensions: according to Pliny, the height of the structure was 44.80 m. or 140 feet, based on a foot measure of 32 cm. There are inconsistencies in Pliny's text, however, and the archaeological evidence is more consistent with a basic module of 30 cm.

The sculptural display of the Maussolleion is restored as follows (in broad outline): on the lower parapet or step of the podium stood life-size groups and single figures representing fighting warriors on horseback and on foot; on the upper parapet of the podium were represented hunting scenes and a sacrificial procession. Crowning the podium was a marble relief frieze representing an Amazonomachy. In the intercolumniations of the cella were free-standing sculptures; a relief depicting a Centauromachy may have been placed at the top of the cella wall. Above the sima of the cella, on the lowest step of the pyramidal roof, were lions in confronting rows. The crowning element of the structure was a statue group consisting of a quadriga containing colossal figures of either Mausolus (in the guise of Helios?) and Artemisia, or representing ancestors of the dynast (for the interpretation, see Waywell 1978, 40-43).

Architecturally, the Maussolleion displays affinities to Egyptian pyramids, not only in the form of its roof with definite apex, but also in its monumental scale; Egypt and Caria had long-standing connections. The tomb of the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great, at Pasargadae, a rectangular gabled tomb on a tall stepped substructure, is also cited as a possible influence on the Maussolleion. Close to home, the Nereid Monument at Xanthos (Lycia) and the Heroon of Perikles at Limyra (Lycia) may also have provided inspiration. The incorporation, however, of elements commonly found in Greek temple architecture, for example the Ionic pillars and relief friezes, suggests that the Greek sculptors and craftsmen who worked on the Maussolleion were trained in the area of religious architecture, and that precedents for such a monumental tomb structure were few.

Newton 1862; Dinsmoor 1908, 3ff., 141ff; Krischen 1956, 72 ff; Jeppesen 1958, 1-67; Jeppesen 1961, 218ff; Jeppesen 1967, 29ff; Vermeule 1968b, 223; Jeppesen 1974, 735 ff; Dinsmoor 1975, 71-74; Jeppesen 1976, 47-99; Jeppesen 1977/78, 169-211; Waywell 1978; Jeppesen 1981, 9-110; Hornblower 1982, 223-274; Jeppesen 1986; Jeppesen 1989, 15-22; Fedak 1990, 71-74.

See Also: London 1000London 1001London 1002London (1008)

(Sarah Cormack)

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