Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 55‐68
Copyright © 2009 MAA
Printed in Greece. All rights reserved.
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
George Pantazis1*, Evangelia Lambrou1, Konstantinos Nikolitsas1,
Maria Papathanassiou2, Athanasios Iliodromitis3
1
National Technical University of Athens School of Rural and Surveying Engineering,
Department of Topography
2 National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Mathematics,
Department of Algebra and Geometry, e‐mail: mpapatha@math.uoa.gr
3 Rural and Surveying Engineer, NTUA
Received: 22/3/2008
Accepted: 7/8/2008
Corresponding author: gpanta@central.ntua.gr
ABSTRACT
Apollo’s sacred island, Delos, is an extended archaeological site, which contains im‐
portant monuments dating from prehistoric to Hellenistic times. In this article the orien‐
tation of some of the most significant monuments of the site are studied.
Each monument has been measured by means of modern accurate geodetic and as‐
trogeodetic methods and instrumentation so that its plan, its main (longitudinal) axis,
the profile of the perceptible horizon as seen from the monument and the astronomical
azimuth of the main axis are determined.
Special attention and study have been reserved to the Cave of Kynthos (Andron), as
the latter was considered as an ancient observatory.
This study attempts also a possible dating of the measured monuments based on
their orientation and its relation to special celestial bodies.
All data deduced by measurements and calculations, as well as historical information
have been used for the creation of a database in Macromedia software.
KEYWORDS: Geometric documentation, astrogeodetic observations, azimuth, Dating,
data base, Delos monuments.
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
56
valley by the sea. The cult of Apollo was
established there in very early times and
by about the 9th century BC Delos was
already considered the birthplace of
Apollo and his Sanctuary had been built.
The earlier Propylaea of the Sanctuary,
as well as the Oikos of the Naxians, were
built by the Naxians (Pic. 1). The earlier
building, the “Pro‐Oikos”, considered as
the earliest temple of Apollo, is dated
back to the 7th century BC or earlier. In
the second half of the 7th century the
Oikos of the Naxians took its final form;
its foundation was of large granite
blocks and its main entrance was on its
east side. The saved building dates in the
575 BC and has another entrance in the
west side, which became its main en‐
trance.
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
Delos was the most famous and sa‐
cred of all Greek islands in antiquity
(Fig.1). According to Homeric Hymn to
Apollo, Goddess Leto, pregnant by Zeus,
wandered in the Aegean Sea because of
Hera’s rage, the Zeus’s wife. Only a
small and “invisible” (a‐delos) rock float‐
ing around the Aegean sea dared to offer
its ground to Leto to give birth. When
Zeus anchored the floating rock to the
sea floor, the rock became “visible”
(delos), the Delos island! Leto gave birth
first to Artemis and next day to Apollo.
Remains of a prehistoric (probably Mi‐
noan) settlement, dating in the 3rd mil‐
lennium BC, were found on the summit
of Kynthos mountain. In the late 15th
century BC, the Myceneans settled in the
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Figure 1. The archaeological site of Delos Island.
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
57
marble for its construction. It was an
amphiprostyle Doric temple, with six
columns on each narrow side and thir‐
teen on each of the long ones. The Tem‐
ple of the Athenians has been inaugu‐
rated very probably in 417 BC by Nikias.
Picture 1. The Oikos of the Naxians.
Immediately after the Oikos of the
Naxians, the three temples of Apollo are lo‐
cated, one next to the other. All three tem‐
ples have their entrance on the west side.
The oldest among them is the Poros Temple
built during the rulership of Peisistratos,
tyrant of Athens in 540‐528 BC (Pic. 2).
Picture 3. The Apollo’s Great temple.
Picture 2. The Poros Temple and the Apollo’s
temple of the Athenians.
In the same area other sanctuaries are
the following; The Artemision, a sanctu‐
ary sacred to Artemis, Apollo’s sister,
has been built during the Independence
on much earlier remains; inside the cella
are clearly seen a rectangular structure,
dating in the early 7th (or late 8th) century
BC, and parts of a much longer
Mycenean building. Large granite blocks
are still visible in its foundation. The en‐
trance of this prostyle temple is faced
towards east and it had a portico with
six Ionian columns (Pic. 4).
Two years later, in 476 BC, the con‐
struction of the second temple of Apollo,
the Great Temple, in Doric order began.
It is the only peripteral temple on Delos,
the construction of which was inter‐
rupted in 454 BC, when the League’s
funds had been transferred to Athens,
and went on again during the Independ‐
ence (314‐166 BC), but the temple was
never completed (Pic. 3). Finally, in 425‐
420 BC the Athenians built the third
temple of Apollo, sending white Pentelic
Picture 4. The Artemision
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
58
The Dodecatheon contained altars of
the twelve gods, whose archaic statues are
dated to 500 BC. It was a small Doric am‐
phiprostyle temple dating in the early 3rd
century BC. The Letöon is a temple being
dated in the 6th century BC (Pic. 5,6).
Picture 5. The Dodecatheon.
Picture 6. The Letöon.
Far up the hill the later Heraion, is a
Doric temple being dated in circa 500 BC,
which has been built upon an older temple
being dated in the 7th century BC. A marble
altar is located south of the temple (Pic. 7).
Picture 7. The Heraion.
On the way towards the summit of
the Kynthos mountain, the Antron
(Cave), regarded as the most ancient
temple of Apollo, is formed in a natural
cavity in the rock, roofed by enormous
granite slabs and closed in front by a
wall. In the center of its interior there is
the granite pedestal of Heracles’s Helle‐
nistic statue and a table of offerings in
front of it. In the outside court there are
two tables and a cylindrical altar. On the
summit of Kynthos mountain, there is
the sanctuary of Zeus Kynthios and
Athena Kynthia. Evidence of the cult of
Zeus being dated in the 6th century BC,
but that of Athena was later introduced
(Pic. 8).
Picture 8. The sanctuary of Zeus Kynthios and
Athena Kynthia.
TECHNICAL INTRODUCTION
To investigate the orientation of the
monuments geodetic and astrogeodetic
measurements were carried out with
adequate accuracy by means of modern
digital total stations. The geodetic meth‐
odology, developed for this purpose and
used for the study of several monuments
with reliable results, has been applied
for the determination of the accurate as‐
tronomical orientation of ten significant
monuments in the archaeological site on
Delos Island.
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
The application of this modern accu‐
rate astrogeodetic method in the deter‐
mination of the main axis of a monu‐
ment, as far as it is possible according to
its present state of preservation, aims to
the optimization of the tracing the main
axis and in this way to minimize the er‐
rors in the measurements of its orienta‐
tion, and consequently of that of the
monument. It becomes then clear that
the so resulting accurate data refer to our
efforts for a better understanding of the
orientation of an ancient monument and
not to any attempt to estimate and criti‐
cize the accuracy of the orientation of the
monument planned or achieved by its
architect and builders.
The method for the determination of
the accurate astronomical orientation of
a monument is based both on precise
measurements and calculations, so that
the exact plan of the monument is cre‐
ated, and on astrogeodetic observations
to the star Polaris (alpha Ursae Minoris),
so that the astronomical orientation of
the monument is precisely calculated
(Pantazis 2002). Shortly, this method re‐
quires the determination of the astro‐
nomical azimuth of one side of the poly‐
gonometric network, a work done
through observations of the Polaris with
a digital total station. Actually, through
50 sightings of Polaris made in 15 min‐
utes the astronomical azimuth of one
side of the polygonometric network has
been determined with an accuracy of
±0.5 arcsec, which is much higher than
any other achieved by using classical
methods with poles and compass.
Under the condition that these
monuments have been oriented towards
the Sun (rising or setting), we are able to
calculate their possible date. For this rea‐
son the profile of the perceptible hori‐
zon, as it is seen from the monument
59
should be measured very accurately, so
that the accurate drawing of it may be
created. Moreover, the investigation is
extended to other fixed stars, whose path
could intersect the main (longitudinal)
axis of the monument in the specific
point on characteristic dates of the year.
In this investigation the following
temples are included:
- The three temples of Apollo
- The Artemision (temple sacred to
Artemis)
- The Letöon (temple sacred to Leto)
- The Dodecatheon (temple sacred to
the twelve gods)
- The Heraion (temple sacred to Hera)
- The Oikos of the Naxians
- The Kynthion (temple on the top of
Kynthos mountain)
- The Cave of Kynthos mountain
THE ORIENTATION
MONUMENTS
OF
THE
The astronomical orientation of each
one of the monuments was determined
according to the following steps:
- The drawing of the accurate plan of
the monument. We used modern geo‐
detic methods in order to measure it
and draw it digitally in an arbitrary lo‐
cal reference system. Figure 2 illus‐
trates the plans of the monuments. The
orientation of the plan relative to the
astronomical North. The orientation of
the local reference system was based
on astrogeodetic observations to Po‐
laris.
- The determination of the main (longi‐
tudinal) axis of the monument. The
method of the least squares is used for
the determination of the best fitting
line to selective characteristic points of
the monument.
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
60
- The calculation of the astronomical
azimuth of the main axis of the
monument.
The astronomical azimuths (Αz) of
the surveyed monuments as well as their
uncertainties are shown in Table 1, while
Figure 3 illustrates the same values on a
circular (mathematical) horizon.
The differences observed in the de‐
termined uncertainties regarding the
main axis of the monuments are due to
two very important factors:
a) the size of the monument, espe‐
cially its length, and
b) the number of points used for the
determination of its main axis.
The reason becomes obvious: the
greater is the length of a monument, the
greater also is the number of points used
in the measurements and consequently,
the greater is the accuracy achieved in
the tracing of the line of its main axis.
In Table 1 there are also given the ori‐
entations of these monuments according
to the old measurements and calcula‐
tions of H. Nissen (Nissen 1907) and to
the recent ones of M. Papathanassiou –
Z. Papadopoulou (M.P.) (Papathanas‐
siou ‐ Papadopoulou 1997), who have
used the simple classical method of
poles, compass and altimeter for their
measurements. According to M. Pa‐
pathanassiou the accuracy of their ob‐
servations is between ±1/4 and ±1/2 of
the degree.
Monument
Αz (o΄)
Apollo’s Great temple
83ο 20΄
Apollo’s Poros temple
83ο 35΄
Apollo’s temple of the Athenians
83ο 18΄
Dodecatheon
97ο 02΄
Artemision
107ο 14΄
Heraion
351ο 28΄
Letöon
5ο 25΄
Oikos of the Naxians
77ο 11΄
Kynthion (South wall)
102ο 50΄
± 3΄
92ο 12΄
± 8΄
91ο
97ο 55΄
± 8΄
99ο
Kynthion
(South‐East wall)
Cave of Kynthos mountain
σAz (′)
± 3΄
± 6΄
Αz (o΄) by Nissen
Αz (o΄) by M.P
84ο 45΄
83ο
83ο
± 3΄
83ο 30΄
± 3΄
97ο
± 10΄
106ο
± 3΄
± 5΄
± 2΄
352ο
4ο 45΄
5ο
77ο 30΄
102ο 30΄
Table 1: The astronomical azimuths of the ten monuments.
‐
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
Fig.2: The oriented plans relative to the astronomical north and the dating diagrams.
61
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
62
Fig. 3: The astronomical azimuths of the ten monuments.
( )
95
100
15
15
= AD year
= BC year
10
02
60
80
2
40
2
20
Altitude (ο)
The exact date of the monuments was
determined according to our methodol‐
ogy which is based on the exact drawing
of three lines for each one of them. The
date of the foundation of the monument
is given by the point of intersection of
these three lines, namely, the main (lon‐
gitudinal) axis of the monument, the
profile of the perceptible horizon as it is
seen from the monument and the path of
the Sun (Fig. 4).
In order to find the Sun’s path the
most approximate to the point of inter‐
section of the profile of the perceptible
horizon and the line of azimuth of the
main axis of a monument, we checked
different lines of the Sun’s path in differ‐
ent days and years. Figure 4 illustrates
the example in the case of the Apollo’s
Great Temple.
10
95
2
90
2
70
2
50
2
2
30
2
99
2
2
10
2
02
70
10
02
2 3
2
2
2
2 60 80
30 02 702
0
1
5
1
2
15
2
40
02
90 2
19
0
11
2
0
02 2
21
12 140 602 02
1 18
2
0
20
20
Αzimuth (o)
Altitude (ο)
THE DATING OF THE MONU‐
MENTS
10
100
Fig. 5: The change of the apparent path of the
Sun through the centuries.
Fig. 4: The dating of the Apollo Great Temple
Two symmetric dates have been
found for each monument. Table 2 illus‐
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
63
•
trates the results. Figure 5 displays the
progressive change of the apparent path
of the Sun through the last thirty centu‐
ries, namely, from the 1000 BC to 2100
AD, based on made by the digital plane‐
tarium Skymap Pro Version 8 (Marriot
2001). The uncertainty of the dating of
each temple it is calculated according to
the formula:
Date uncertainty
•
tronomical azimuth of the main
axis (table 1).
d Sun is the annual change of the
diurnal path of the Sun in the year
of the estimated date (the uncer‐
tainity on their estimated ʺdates of
foundationʺ depend also on the er‐
rors made by the builders in align‐
ing the monuments, and that such
errors are, of course, unknown).
= ± σ Αz /d Sun where:
Monument
Apollo’s Great temple
Apollo’s Poros temple
Apollo’s temple of the Athenians
Dodecatheon
Artemision
Oikos of the Naxians
Cave of Kynthos mountain
Kynthion (South wall)
Kynthion (South‐ East wall)
σ Αz is the uncertainty of the as‐
1st date
14/04/500 BC
15/04/510 BC
15/04/420 BC
09/10/600 BC
25/02/700 BC
29/08/600 BC
26/04/900 BC
26/10/575 BC
05/10/550 BC
2nd date
11/09/475 BC
11/09/510 BC
09/09/420 BC
17/03/600 BC
30/10/700 BC
29/04/600 BC
05/09/900 BC
28/02/575 BC
23/03/550 BC
Uncertainty (years)
± 21
± 38
± 20
± 17
± 72
± 13
± 55
± 22
± 47
Table 2: The dates of the monuments
We should point out that the calcu‐
lated foundation dates of these monu‐
ments are in agreement with both the
related historical and archaeological evi‐
dence.
The temples of the Heraion and the
Letöon can’t be dated by using the Sun
path as their main axis is oriented to‐
wards the North.
that this cave has been used “for the
observation of the sky”.
The front of the cave is closed by a
wall having an entrance (Pic. 9) the
height of which is about 4.25m. In the
center of its interior there is the pedestal
of Heracles statue and in the outside
court there is a cylindrical altar.
THE CAVE OF KYNTHOS MOUN‐
TAIN
Special reference should be done to
the Cave of the Kynthos mountain. It is
the only cave in the island, formed in a
natural cavity of the ground. Its strange
construction and its orientation are
unique. Some scholars identified it with
the “cave of the Sun” mentioned by
Homer, while others were of the opinion
Picture 9. The entrance of the cave.
64
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
The cave is roofed by enormous gran‐
ite slabs which form a gap (picture 10)
permitting to the sunrays to pass
through during some hours in special
days during the year.
Figure 6: The plan of the cave.
Picture 10. The profile of the gap projected to
the sky as it is seen from the interior of the
cave.
For a better study of the construction
of the cave we have drawn both its plan
(Figure 6) and its West‐East longitudinal
section (Figure 7). The main axis of the
cave is defined by the line passing
through the center of the altar outside
the cave and that of the pedestal of the
statue in the middle of its interior.
The calculated astronomical azimuth
of the main axis of the cave is 97ο 55΄±8′.
The results of our research for a possible
orientation related to the annual path of
the sun are as follows:
• The sunrays crossed the main axis
of the cave through the gap on the
roof in the two equinoxes, namely
in 26/4/900 BC (vernal equinox)
and in 5/9/900 BC (fall equinox).
• The Sun was visible from the place
of the statue during three hours
per day from the spring equinox to
the summer solstice and also at its
return to the autumn equinox,
namely during six months.
Figure 7: The longitudinal section of the cave.
INVESTIGATION RELATIVE
THE FIXED STARS
TO
We should point out that we have
checked especially two constellations
which mythology and tradition have
closely related to Delos island, namely
the cluster of Pleiades in Taurus and the
Orion.
Although a possible explanation
based on a stellar orientation seems not
convincing because of the lack of any
historical or archaeological evidence,
there are some very important relations
between Orion and Apollo in Greek my‐
thology; Orion, «the tallest and most beau‐
tiful of men», was a huge and brave
hunter who felt in love to Eos (namely,
the Dawn), Pleione (η Tauri), the hyper‐
borean virgin Opis and other maiden.
He actually was an old solar deity of the
region of the Aegean who did not sur‐
vive Apollo’s new cult. He was killed
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
either by Artemis’s arrows in the island
of Ortygia (Homer, Odyssey, V 123) or by
a scorpion’s sting and then he became a
constellation in the sky (Aratos,
Phaenomena, 635). It is well know that
whenever a new deity rivals an older
one to impose his cult, the new cult in‐
corporates in itself many rituals and tra‐
ditions of the old one. Usually both old
and new deities are identified or they
silently share the same cult. Conse‐
quently, the orientation of Apollo’s
Great temple towards delta Orionis, one
out of three stars of Orion’s belt (delta,
epsilon and zeta Orionis), seems to be an
indication of a strong link between the
two solar deities of the island. Taking
into account also that both Apollo and
Artemis were archers and killed with
their arrows their rivals and enemies, it
seems very likely that the three stars of
Orion’s belt were linked with the sacred
triad of Delos, namely, Apollo, Artemis
and Leto.
On the other hand, Aries (the ram
played a very important role in temple
orientation, as from about the middle of
the second millennium BC until about
the third century AD, he was the constel‐
lation of the vernal equinox. According
to F.C. Penrose, at least eight Greek tem‐
ples at various places and dates ranging
from 1580 to 360 BC were oriented to the
star alpha Arietis; those of Zeus and his
daughter Athena being especially thus
favored, as Aries is the symbol of Zeus
in the sky. Therefore no wonder that the
Kynthion, sacred to Zeus and Athena,
has been oriented to Aries. We should
also point out that the axis of Oikos of
the Naxians is oriented towards the ris‐
ing Sun in 29/04/600 BC, very likely indi‐
cating the beginning of spring.
The star beta of the Little Bear ( Ur‐
sae Minoris) might have been considered
65
by the Greeks as the pole‐star, for it was
near the north celestial pole about 1000
BC.
So our search included the following
prominent stars:
of Pleiades; , ,
and of Orion; , and of the South
Cross; and of Libra; of Leo, of
Virgo; of Dragon; of the Little Bear
(Ursa Minor). The results of this search
are shown in Table 3.
Star
Monument
Hour
Apollo’s Great
Setting
δ Orionis
temple
21h 24m22sec
Oikos of the
Rising
a Arietis
Naxians
4h 35m 50sec
Setting
a Arietis
Kynthion
5h 53m 4sec
β Ursae
Letöon
Rising
Minoris
Date
14/4/500
BC
29/4/600
BC
26/10/575
BC
26/10/575
BC
Table 3: Possible orientation towards promi‐
nent fixed stars.
THE DATABASE
A data base had been created, so that
any visitor can easily acquire all neces‐
sary information
regarding these
monuments (Picture 11).
Picture 11. The first page of the data base.
The data base created in Macromedia
software is easily accessible by any user.
As the file has an executable extension
(.exe), the user does not need any special
software in order to open and run this
GEORGE PANTAZIS et al
66
file in any pc. As the total size of the file
is 70Mb, the data base is accessible and it
can be widely used.
More analytically the pages of the
data base are as follows:
- About Delos. In this page there are
given geographic, mythological and
historical information regarding the
island, the archaeological site and
the excavations. This page also in‐
cludes the final conclusions regard‐
ing the astronomical orientation of
the monuments (Picture 12).
-
-
level have been registered (Picture
14).
Photographs. All photographic mate‐
rial displayed here for the documen‐
tation of the monument is taken dur‐
ing the measurements “in situ”.
Historical data. This page refers
shortly to the most significant his‐
torical data related to the monument
with an emphasis to its date accord‐
ing to other sources.
Picture 14. The positioning page.
Picture 12. The page “About Delos.”
-
There follows a series of pages refer‐
ring to each one of the monuments (Pic‐
ture 13).
-
The plan. This page displays the ac‐
curate digital plan of the monument,
measured by means of modern geo‐
detic instruments (total station) and
oriented in relation to the astronomi‐
cal North.
Orientation. This page gives the as‐
tronomical azimuth of the main lon‐
gitudinal axis of the monument and
the uncertainty of its calculation (Pic‐
ture 15).
Picture 13. The initial page referred to a
monument.
-
Positioning. Here, the coordinates of
a selected point of the monument in
the World geodetic reference system
(WGS 84) and in the Hellenic geo‐
detic reference system (GGRS 87) as
well as its height above the mean sea
Picture 15. The orientation page
THE ORIENTATION OF DELOS’ MONUMENTS
-
-
Dating. Here the following are given:
a) the foundation date of the monu‐
ment under the presupposition that
it has been oriented according to the
apparent path of the Sun, as it is seen
from the monument.
b) the diagram of the profile of the
perceptible horizon in which there
are also shown the following lines:
- The main longitudinal axis of the
monument with the correspond‐
ing figure of its astronomical
azimuth.
- The apparent path of the Sun at
the specific date of its founda‐
tion.
So it is clearly seen the point of in‐
tersection of these three lines on the
diagram.
67
odology and the results of the search
for a possible relation between the
orientation of the monument and the
rising or setting of some prominent
fixed stars (Picture 16).
CONCLUSIONS ‐ REMARKS
Picture 16. The page referred to the dating.
The same page includes also the
uncertainty of the calculation of the
year of the foundation of the monu‐
ment according to the applied meth‐
The geodetic methodology used in
the search of a monument’s orienta‐
tion has been proved both as very
accurate and easy in its application.
The time needed for the detailed in‐
vestigation of a monument, includ‐
ing measurements and the elabora‐
tion of the data, covers one day of
fieldwork and two days of calcula‐
tions.
By using the geodetic methodology
we can calculate the coordinates x, y,
z of each measured point of the
monument. Then, based on them,
any horizontal plan or longitudinal
section of the monument can be
drawn in order to facilitate the fur‐
ther research and have a better
documentation of the monument.
This data base is very useful both for
the registration and the spreading of
the results of the project.
The choice of its software makes the
data base easily accessible to any
visitor who is interested in it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors express their many thanks to the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, sponsor of
this project.
REFERENCES
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using Digital Geodetic Instruments, PhD Thesis (in Greek), NTUA, School of
Rural and Surveying Engineering.
68
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Lambrou E., Pantazis G. (2003) On the date of Early Christian Basilicas (Central Greece),
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