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The sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron (Hellenic: ; or ''Vravrona'' or ''Vravronas'') is an early sacred site on the eastern coast of Attica near the Aegean Sea in a small inlet. The inlet has silted up since ancient times, pushing the current shoreline farther from the site. A nearby hill, c. 24 m high and 220 m to the southeast, was inhabited during the Neolithic era, c. 2000 BCE, and flourished particularly from Middle Helladic to early Mycenaean times (2000–1600 BC) as a fortified site (acropolis).〔Hellenic Ministry of Culture〕 Occupation ceased in the LHIIIb period, and the acropolis was never significantly resettled after this time. There is a gap in the occupation of the site from LHIIIb until the 8th century BCE.〔"This settlement was abandoned before the end of the Bronze Age, and in the Classical period only a sanctuary remained." — Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.〕 Brauron was one of the twelve ancient settlements of Attica prior to the ''synoikismos'' of Theseus, who unified them with Athens. The cult of Artemis Brauronia connected the coastal (rural) sanctuary at Brauron with another (urban) sanctuary on the acropolis in Athens, the Brauroneion, from which there was a procession every four years during the Arkteia festival. The tyrant Pisistratus was Brauronian by birth, and he is credited with transferring the cult to the Acropolis, thus establishing it on the statewide rather than local level. The sanctuary contained a small temple of Artemis, a unique stone bridge, cave shrines, a sacred spring, and a pi-shaped (Π) stoa that included dining rooms for ritual feasting. The unfortified site continued in use until tensions between the Athenians and the Macedonians the 3rd century BCE caused it to be abandoned. After that time, no archaeologically significant activity occurred at the site until the erection of a small church in the 6th century CE. Votive dedications at the sanctuary include a number of statues of young children of both sexes, as well as many items pertaining to feminine life, such as jewelry boxes and mirrors. Large numbers of miniature kraters (''krateriskoi'') have been recovered from the site, many depicting young girls — either nude or clothed — racing or dancing. The Archaeological Museum of Brauron — located around a small hill 330 m to the ESE — contains an extensive and important collection of finds from the site throughout its period of use. == Mythology and history == As the Greek fleet was preparing to sail to Troy to force the return of Helen, they gathered in Aulis near the Euripus Strait.〔The Temple of Artemis at Aulis is located at .〕 While there, king Agamemnon killed a stag sacred to the goddess Artemis. The enraged deity caused a contrary wind and eventually forced the king to agree to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia in order to ensure a favorable wind for the Greek fleet. In one version of the myth, a surrogate sacrifice was provided through the divine intervention of Artemis, and the saved girl then became a priestess of the goddess among the ''Tauri'', a people living near the Black Sea in the Crimean peninsula.〔This version underlies the ''Iphigenia in Aulis'' of Euripides.〕 Subsequent to these events, Iphigenia returns from among the Tauri with the assistance of her brother Orestes. In Euripides' version of the myth, the goddess Athena reveals that Iphigenia will make landfall in Brauron and there be the priestess of Artemis, die, and be buried:
The poet asserts a close connection between the nearby sanctuary of Artemis Tauropolos at Halai (modern day Loutsa) and the Sanctuary at Brauron, where Iphigenia is to receive honors in the cult of Artemis.〔The site of the Temple of Artemis Tauropolos at ancient Halai is 6.1 km to the north: .〕 As is often the case, there were multiple competing versions of the relevant myths, but the mythical connection between the three coastal sanctuaries of Artemis is clear. ''Halai Araphenides'' (the Salt Fields of ''Araphen'', modern Rafina) was the ancient name of modern Loutsa, a beach resort half-way between Rafina and Vravrona, where the ruins of a small temple to Artemis Tauropolos have been excavated from underneath the sand dunes originally covering the area. Cult activity is known from the 8th century BCE forward from dedications in the sacred spring, and a temple was built in the 6th century BCE. In the 420s BCE, there was a period of significant architectural activity at the site, including the addition of the Π-shaped stoa, the bridge and reconstruction work on the temple. Since Artemis was connected in myth to both plague and healing — as was her brother Apollo — it may be that this activity was taken as a result of the plague that struck Athens in this period. The unfortified site continued in use until the 3rd century BCE, when tensions between Athens and the Macedonians caused it to be abandoned, perhaps after the site was damaged in a flood. In the 2nd century CE the periegetic writer Pausanias has uncharacteristically little to say concerning the Sanctuary at Brauron or its mythology/history, but what he does relate contradicts Euripides:
The author does not describe a visit to the sanctuary or enumerate its structures since there was apparently nothing impressive to see at that time. The site was preserved from dilapidation by the silting of the nearby Erasinos river; however, a Christian basilica was built in the 6th century CE on the other side of the valley using spoliated material from the sanctuary.〔Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. This church may have gone out of use by the 7th century CE.〕 After that time, no archaeologically significant activity occurred at the site until the erection of a small church dedicated to ''Hagios Georgios'' in the 15th century CE was erected immediately adjacent to the temple platform on the southwest side, perhaps on the remains of a small shrine. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brauron」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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