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History of The Acropolis

The Acropolis rock in Athens sits on a limestone ridge about 70 meters above the surrounding basin. Its flat top, which measures 300 by 150 meters, is the result of numerous landfills added over centuries to support fortifications and temples. During the Neolithic period starting around 3000 BCE, the small caves around the Acropolis and a nearby spring were inhabited. In the Mycenaean period beginning in the 14th century BCE, the Acropolis was fortified with massive walls and likely hosted palaces and temples. The Mycenaeans built an underground well for a water supply. Athens emerged as an important Mycenaean center and survived the collapse of other centers around 1200 BCE, possibly due to the un

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93 views3 pages

History of The Acropolis

The Acropolis rock in Athens sits on a limestone ridge about 70 meters above the surrounding basin. Its flat top, which measures 300 by 150 meters, is the result of numerous landfills added over centuries to support fortifications and temples. During the Neolithic period starting around 3000 BCE, the small caves around the Acropolis and a nearby spring were inhabited. In the Mycenaean period beginning in the 14th century BCE, the Acropolis was fortified with massive walls and likely hosted palaces and temples. The Mycenaeans built an underground well for a water supply. Athens emerged as an important Mycenaean center and survived the collapse of other centers around 1200 BCE, possibly due to the un

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Bella Artist
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History of the Acropolis

Geography

The Acropolis rock is part of a Late Cretaceous limestone ridge (Higgins) that cuts
through the Attica plateau in the northeast to the southwest axis and includes the
Likavitos hill, the Philopappos (Museum) hill, the hill of the Nymphs, and the Pnyx.

The rock rises from the basin about 70 meters and levels to a flat top 300 meters long by
150 meters wide. Its flat top is due to the numerous landfills that have accommodated
construction of fortifications and temples since the Mycenaean era. With its many
shallow caves, the abundant percolating water springs and steep slopes, the Acropolis
was a prime location for habitation and worship location for Neolithic man.

Prehistoric Era

While the area around Attica was inhabited during the Upper Paleolithic period (30000
– 10000 BCE), archaeological evidence suggests that the small caves around the
Acropolis rock and the Klepsythra spring were in use during the Neolithic Period (3000-
2800 BCE).

Mycenaean Period
The chronicle of the Acropolis of Athens is lost in prehistory, to a time even before the
plane of Attica began to be cultivated. In Mycenaean times small towns developed
around a fortified citadel where the king resided and controlled the surrounding area.

Acropolis in Greek literally means “the highest point of the town”. While virtually
every city had an Acropolis, like Mycenae and Tyrins, the Athenian citadel became
synonymous with the word in the minds of most people during the last two millennia.
The Mycenaean civilization established many important centers, one of which was
Athens. The first inhabitants we can trace to the Acropolis of Athens were Mycenaean
Kings who fortified the rock with massive eight-meter tall walls, and built their palaces
there in the 14th century BCE. Very little remains from these buildings today, but the
most obvious evidence of this era is still visible at the southwest end of the Acropolis,
right behind the later Temple of Athena Nike, next to the Propylaia, in the form of a
cyclopean wall that was built as part of the fortifications. According to Dontas,
Mycenaean kings built a palace at the north end of the rock “where the Archaic temple
of Athena was later built, or a little further east on the summit of the hill” (The
Acropolis and its Museum, 6). Besides a fort and a place of royal residence, the
Acropolis functioned as a place of worship for the Goddess of fertility and nature, and
for her companion male god Erechtheus.

Just like Mycenae and Tyrins, the Acropolis of Athens had its own underground water
supply in the form of a deep well, dug at the north end of the rock, which could be used
by the defenders during a siege.

The city of Athens

Athens was a thriving Mycenaean center that very early in its existence became the
center of a “synoikismos”, an alliance and peaceful coexistence of all the adjacent towns.
According to legend, king Theseus united the towns into one administrative entity, and
this synoikismos appears to be instrumental in the city’s survival when all other
Mycenaean centers were destroyed around 1200 BCE by invading hordes from
mainland Greece, or due to a possible invasion of tribes from the North (what many
refer to as the Doric invasion). While all other Mycenaean centers, including mighty
Mycenae, were deserted during this period, Athens was the only town to remain
inhabited and active. According to tradition, the city owes its survival to the heroic
personal sacrifice of king Kordos.
In subsequent years Athens was ruled not by one king but by a group of men, the
Aristocrats. Administrative functions moved away from the Acropolis towards other
parts of the city where later the Agora developed. The Acropolis then became
exclusively a place of worship and never hosted another ruler, partly because the new
realities of city administration made it inconvenient, and partly because the Athenians
wanted to eliminate all references to a monarchy.

REFERENCE: https://ancient-greece.org/history/acropolis.html

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