Excavations at Old Paphos. 18. Preliminary Report: Excavation Campaigns of 2007–2008

Abstract

The sanctuary of Aphrodite at Old Paphos (Kouklia) was systematically investigated by the Swiss-German Expedition in the excavation campaigns of the years 1970, 1973–1979 and 1993–1997. Only the north-east corner of the north hall had remained inaccessible as it was covered by a late 19th century building. Its demolition in 2005 made a follow-up excavation possible in that area in 2007, in the course of which the building lines and foundations of the outer walls and podium walls were established. Evaluation of the stratification, in some places still ascertainable and undisturbed, confirms the chronology that had been determined in the western part of the building, which mainly served as a banqueting hall. Construction of the north hall, the plan of which is now complete, can therefore be dated to the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century A.D. Investigation of the north-east corner of the podium wall furthermore led to the discovery of spolia, among them fifteen architectural elements from a votive shrine in the form of a tholos. This exceptional miniature temple is the first architectural feature to be documented in the Paphian sanctuary that may be indicative of direct Ptolemaic-Alexandrian influence.