The Correlation of the `Romano-Celtic' Temples

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60. The Correlation of the `Romano-Celtic' TemplesAuthor(s): G. R. H. WrightSource: Man, Vol. 65 (May - Jun., 1965), pp. 67-70Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2797213 .

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No. 6o MAN MAY-JUNE, 965

_5 0 10

Hf p-Lo W PIOT4

FIG. I. TWO ROMANO-CELTIC TEMPLESIN SOUTHERNENGLAND

Temple t Harlow fter Wheeler, emplet Worth fter nitiq. .,Vol. VIII, I928, p. 77.N.B.Similar rienitationnd cale o he astern

examples

quite unwarranted; e the mmediate xplanation f the occur-rence f the typc n this eltic context hat t may. n point ffact hese xamplesbelong to a type widespread hrough heIranian ast, nd rivalling he lassicalmegaron n themarches fthe West see fig. ).

0'~~~~~~~~~

NAS4TAVLAN

50

-1PA RQT I AN

SASSANIAN

FIG. 2. EASTERN EXAMPLESOF THE SQUARE PLAN WITHSURROUNDING AMBULATORY

(i) Ayadania t Susa after odard, ig. 2, p. I2). (2) Temple f aadlShamin t Si',Ancient eeia.3) TemplefDushara t Si' (after utler,SectionA, part 6, illus. 324). (4) Temple t Sahr after ope, Vol. I,p. 348 fig. II2b). (5) Temple n Main Palace at Hatra (after ope,Vol. I, p. 430, fig. I03). (6) Fire Temple Car-Taq near Gira (qfter

Herzefeld.i-. 3)

First et us define he lements f the ubject matter-the lanand siting f the Romano-Celtic' temple. This may be donemost conveniently y abstracting rom Wheeler's rticle. Hesays: The structure onsists ssentially f a square, or nearlysquare, ella urrounded n all four ides y portico r verandah.6In some nstances hefloor f the ella rose t the back to a lowplatform. his platform resumably arried he altar r statues.More often, owever, square basis n the centre f the floorindicates he position f the cult object. t is likely nough hatin many ases an altar may have stood outside he temple....The site chosen for these temples was frequently hill top .... Incertain ases pools or springs re ssociated ith he emple. hesacred emenos s often urrounded y a precinct all. Withinthe temenos uildings ther han those of the main temple rtempleswere frequently ncluded. n some cases hese may havebeen maller hrines nd n other ases ath uildings r residencesconnected ith he ult.' Additionally n mportant actor s theorientation, nd again this s unexpected. t is, in the main,diagonal, .e. the angles of the structure re oriented n thecardinal oints f the ompass.

FIG. 3. TEMPLE OFJUPITER AT ALTBACHTAL NEAR TRIER

RecotnstructionfterMylius

Having defined hephenomenon, Wheelergoes on to drawhis nferences rom he rchaeologicalacts.t s only air o presentthese t the utset. hechronological ccurrence f he ype eems

to be from he first o the fourth enturies f the Christian ra,i.e. the siteswere n use throughout he full Roman period. Asfor hegeographical istribution, hetype does not occur outhof the district djoining yons nd Clermont-Ferrard, or eastof Lake Constancewith he exception f the tray pecimen arawayat St. Paul, south-west f Vienna.

Analysed n more detail the archaxological acts yield toWheeler hefollowing nformation:

I. The type s absent rom he Mediterranean ands, ndfrom he first nd most ntensively omanizedprovinlce fGaul;nor was t known o Vitruvius.

2. It is detached rom he more official pheres f militarylife y tsnon-occurrencen the military rontier ones.

3. Although t is found ccasionallyn highly omanizedurban ites, t occurs more frequently n country istricts, ron openhill opsbordered y woodland nd close o springs.

4. The cults renative n character.Proceeding rom hisWheeler raws is onclusions s follows:

'These four onsiderations oint to the origin f the type n anative nvironment omewhere ithin he Celtic regions orthof Provence nd west of the Rhine. On the other hand there snot a particle f evidence or the assumption f a pre-Romanorigin or he ype.8

Are these onclusionsustified Indubitably rom heevidenceadduced there s the valid conclusion hat the type does notderive from classical GraTco-Roman) xemplar. eyond thisthe rguments re x silentio.What durable rchitectural emains

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MAY-JUNE, I965 MAN No. 60

might one expect from pre-Romnan imes? The geographicaldistribution uoted s precisely he area of the most ntensivearchocologicalctivity n lands occupied by the ancient Celts.What may new nterest n excavation n Danubian ands eveal?Wheeler's ocalization n time nd placeof the origin f the ypeis not convincingly stablished y hisfacts.

His positive rguments o account or the origin f the planone is hesitant o recapitulate t is simply ot an architecturalsolution. Briefly, e sees the peripheral mbulatory, hich herightly egards s the distinctive eature f the . series,' as aversion f he lassical eristyle ssimilatedhrough he xample fa centralized, lassical lan, .e. the round temples. hat is, thefundamental eature f an integrated lan s explained dventi-tiously. his is indeed errant nd vitiates he substantive on-clusion hat he plan s the result f the adoption f essentiallyRoman elements y native rchitects.'

So much for he nalysis f what Sir Mortimer Wheeler ays.We now turn o the more ignificant atter f what he does notsay. His mention f analogous material ther than classic slimited o the following isparaging entence: Attempts hichhave been made to find uscanor evenEgyptian rototypes reso fantastic s to render iscussion f them nnecessary.' here,or by whom these fantastic' ttempts eremade, do not knowand t s not my concern o discuss hem;but can only xpressconcern t the omission f a body of analogousmaterial hich,at the ime f Sir Mortimer's rticle, asreasonably ellknown.

The work of de Vogue and Butler 0brought olight groupof temples n the Hauran Southern yria), or he basicdescrip-tion of which the remarks bstracted rom Wheeler's articlecould stand almost unchanged. hese temples, ating to thecommencement f the Christian ra,were n the Nabataan realmdedicated o Nabataan gods and, although other Nabataanmonuments ave since been discovered n this plan,", t wasimmediately eenthat he plan was alien to its general ontext.When the work of M. Dieulafoy t Susarevealed monumentof dentical lan, the Ayadana c. 450 B.C.), there ould be littledoubt hat his lanhad made tsway to Syria rom ersia.

The plan was also represented t Hatra n Parthian imes nd

subsequentnvestigation y Herzefeld2 and Godard3

showed tspersistencen Persia hrough arthian o Sassanian imes when,with new arcuated tructure, t became he tandard ire Templewhich still has modern epresentativesmong the adherents othat ult.Finally,most ecently, hework of M. Schlumberger tSurkh KhotalI4 in Afghanistan as brought o light anothernotable xampleof this ype dating from he first alf of thesecond entury .D.

What are the defining eatures f this roup f templeswhichstands ver against he classicalmegaron nd disputes ith t nmarginal eriods nd regions?Essentially he square cella andthe urrounding orridor hich solates he acred lacefrom heprofane orld. Thissurround s not an addition, n adoption, nadaptation, s Wheeler's ccount f the Celtic temples uggests.It is a basicelement f the functional lan, conditioned y theritual equirements.

Now the ature nddevelopment fPersian eligious ractices sa vexed ubject, omplicated y the nterweaving f Zorostrian-ism with the old religion. owever, ecent work has broughtmeasure f understanding o the subject. ortunately he detailsdo not concern s. It suffices o remark hat, hroughout, heritual endance n the acred irewas carried ut only by priestsin a state f utmost urity-the anks f the faithful ere keptrigorously t a greater r less distance. his, to the Greeks witltheir emocratic deas,meant hat he Persians ad no temples,asHerodotus ays5 in a famous assage; nd f we define empleessentially s 'a placeof publicworship,' heywere essentially

right. r again, s they might ave aid, he ella naos) f this'temple' as n dyton, ore krupta. henwe reflect hat he'places f he ire'were anctuariesf doration here nly hemost ure f the riests ntered nce dayfor n hour, are-footed, ithout loaks, heir mouths nd nostrils overed oavoid ossibleoiling f he acred lement, e canwell ee hevirtue f this urroundingmbulatory.s it not possible hatoriginal eltic eligiousdeas,with he verwhelmingmphasisonthe anctityf he ruids, ight ave een f he ame rder?

Such t any ratewas the ype f the Achoemenidyadana,mentioned y Dariusn hisfamousnscriptiont Behistun ndthence, erhaps isleadingly,ranslatedtemple.' . Dieulafoy'slabour nd nsight t Susa evealous the etails f he lan ndshow s that t stood t the head f ourpresent ubject atter.'C'est un beaumonument ont a composition, 'une ranchiseadmirable,ccuse ettement'endroit ssentiel,e saint e saints,qu une double nceinte rotege ontre oute rofanation,'ate-shgah roprement it, 1lieudu feu" u centre uquel ruflaitle feu ivin t ternel.'6

Other lements f the ype ollowogically. asically, s iswellknown rom erodotusI7nd trabo,I8he ersiansdoredthenatural lements, ire, arth, ir winds), ater; nd oughtout open high places o perform heir doration. hus thePersian tructures,lthough ventuallyccommodatedo urbanrequirements, ere lways t home n withdrawn, igh laceswith djacent prings;ourts ould ave een uilt p fneces-sary. This s a feature f the Nabataan sanctuaries,I9 nd is notof the Romano-Celtic' temples? The site chosen for thesetempleswas frequently hill top ... In certain asespools orsprings re associated ith he emple.'20

Again the closerestriction f entry o the Persian anctuarywith ts principal, entral ella,demands court where he esssacerdotal f the community ayassemble. his n turn s pro-videdwith ceremonial ltars. inally hesiting f the sanctuaryin a withdrawn ocality mports peribolos enclosingbothdomestic nd ervice tructures. uch re he Nabatocananctuariesin the Hauran, ndagainWheeler's elineation f the Celtic ype,quoted above, runs parallel: '. . . a square basis in the centre of

the [cella] floor ... an altar ... outside the temple ... Thesacred temenos ... surrounded by a precinct wall. Within thetemenos uildings ther han hose f the main emple r temples... smaller shrines .. bath buildings or residences connectedwith the cult.'21

Finallywe may note the orientation f these astern uildings.Aswith heCelticgroup, where significant hoice s available,this s almost nvariably iagonal. n the astern radition his s amatter f some mport-it denotes acred rchitecture.22 urelythe congruence f these haracteristics s sufficiently triking owarrant mention n a discussion f the origin f the type f the'Romano-Celtic' emples.

It is within eithermy province or my capacity osettle hefundamental Kunstgeschichte'f this form and account con-vincingly or ts widedispersal.t sdifficult nough okeep ightof ts origin nd developmentn the heartland f Persia.

On structural onsiderations heform would seemproper o aprimitive omical radition. his gives quarerooms, quinchedor corbelled,with the surrounding orridor oofed t lowerheight, aking he hrust xerted y the dome. f here sanythingin Stryzagowski's ltai-Iran heories f domes nd their rigins,this uggests ersianmemories f the primitive rchitecture ftheir raditional ome.Be this s it may, the form bursts ntooverwhelming rominence n the mperial rchitecture t Perse-polic.Here the new nsistence n squareunits s unmistakable.23The hareem f the palaceconsist f an amazingmultiplication fthese quare nitswith urrounding orridors.24n this onnexion,

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Nos. 6o, 6i MAN MAY-JUNE, I965

of ourse, here xists cognate unctionalecessityor solatingthe sacred haram) halamos.owever, his first, ensationalappearancef the ype s structurallyompletely ivorcedromany ossible rcuatedrigins.n nunwoodedand,t s perverse'megaxylic' rchitecture,25hichwas the expressionf theresourcesf world mpire ndvanished ith t.This s perhapsits nly xplanation,or omes nd aults npre-Romanntiquity

seem lways o have beenheld mean nd humble orm farchitecture. hen he lanbecame rolificn Sassanianimes,domed nd vaultedn the raditional edium,26t was capableof being xpressedn almost ny cale, rom he Great all ofFiruzabad,oasmall iosque,nd n the Moslem eriodnspiredthe reat anctuariesf he hi-ite mamsn raq nd ran.27

Such s brief ccount f his ital ype fplan n ranianands.Othersmore earned, ith pecializednformationt their is-posal,maywork ut he etailsf he orrelation f he Romano-Celtic' emples. s t s, n the ace f thismaterial doubt hatit can be longermaintainedhat he Romano-Celtic' emples'originatednsome ingle pot in Gaul] .. presumablyromsingle, nknown Gallic]rchitect.. shortly fter he onquestofGaul.'

ReferencesButler, H. C., Publications f the Princeton niversity rchceological

Expeditionn Syria, 904-05 and 909: Div. II, Ancient rchi-tecture n Syria, Leyden, 909.

Dieulafoy, L'Acropole e Suse, Vol. IV.Frankfort, ., The Art ndArchitecturef he Ancient rient, ondon

(Penguin), 1958.Godard, A., 'Les Monuments du Feu,' in Athar-i-Iran, ol. III

(I938), p. 7.Herzefeld, E., Archrological History of Iran (Schweich Lectures,

London, 935.Hubert, H., 'Les Celtes depuis 'epoque de la Tene: La civilization

celtique,' Chapter XXI in L'evolution u 'humanite, aris, 950.Plommer, H., Ancient nd ClassicalArchitecture, ondon, I956.Pope, A. U., A Survey f PersianArt, Oxford, 938.Schlumberger, D., 'Descendants non-mediterraneens de l'art

grecque,' Syria, Vol. XXXVII (I960).Wheeler, R. E. M., 'A Romano-Celtic Temple near Harlow,

Essex; and a Note on the Type,' Antiq.J., Vol. VIII (I928),p. 300.

NotesIThat is available to me.2 Wheeler, p. 3I7.3 Plommer, p. 32I: 'Those strange Romano-Celtic temples, n

plan two concentric quares.' This cursory nd uncritical eferenceby one habitually iven to incisive nalysis, s significant.

4 Hubert, . 294.5 The elevation s not certain ince the temples are 'always too

ill preserved for us to restore he roof or even its nner supports'(Plommer, . 322).

6 The description f the ambulatory s a portico or a verandah sslightly endentious, ince n many examples the enclosing wall mayeither e entirely uilt up or form high balustrade earing dwarfcolumns.

7Wheeler, passim.8 Wheeler, p. 370.9 Ibidem.IO See (for convenience)Butler, passim.I" Eg. Khirbet et Tannur in Jordan see N. Glueck, Amer. J.Archwol., 957, p. 36I).I2 Herzefeld, p. cit.I3 Godard, op. cit.'4 Schlumberger, p. cit.I5 Herodotus I, 13I.i6 Godard, p. I3.I7 Herodotus I, 13 I.i8 Strabo, XV, III, I3.I9 Butler, Section A, part 6, illus. 324, opposite p. 372; 'Ancient

Seeiawas not a town or a village .. but an ancient High place"or sacredprecinct . .' 10c.cit., p. 367.

20 Wheeler, quoted above.2' Ibidem.22 Such seems to be the traditional Mesopotamian practice.23 Compared with PasargadaeFrankfort, . 2I8).24 Frankfort, ig. IO.25

Godard, p. 8: 'Fantaisie Royale.'26 The arcuated structure may mislead the non-technical eaderinto seeing a fundamental hange in plan, since it breaks the lineof the cella wall, but this s solely a matter f construction, ot ofdesign. Likewise the four nternal olumns of the more pretentiousmembers of the earlier group are simply a necessary tructuraldevice to support n extensive lat imber oof. The roofing f theCeltic examples is uncertain Plommer, p. 32I) but is generallyrestored n the form of a pyramidal, hipped roof.

27 Herzefeld, p. 93: ' . . . the cupola over the square room astomb chamber, he cenotaph t the place of the fire ltar, vaultedpassage around for the tawaf. . .'

Some Zande Animal Tales from the Gore Collection. By

Professor. E. Evans-Pritchard, .A., Ph.D., F.B.A.6J Institute f ocialAnthropology, niversityf OxfordIn I93I the ate Mrs. E. C. Gore of the C.M.S.

published a RikaAnyana Asanza, collection f stories boutanimals nd toriesllustrating roverbial ayings. second ditionappeared n 1954.Both editions re now out of print. here s noEnglish ranslation n print or, ofar s havebeen ble to ascer-tain, n manuscript; o the ales re accessible o only very ewpeople ther han he Azande hemselves;nd hey re of ufficientinterest o be recorded n English. ince nobody lse s likely oundertake hetask have ast year ranslated hemmyself, singthe 1954edition.

I will not now discuss he difficulties f translating rom heZande text without earing t spoken. have only to say thathavingmade translation f these tories nd others ublished yMrs. Gore arranged orMr. Angelo Beda, a Zande student tthe University f Khartoum, whose services Professor . G.Cunnison btained or me, to make an independent ranslationas a check n mine. Therewereno serious iscrepanciesetweenthe two versions nd I have used whichever endering eemedmost ppropriate n any particular lace.The numbers fter achtitle re those f the Zandetexts n Mrs. Gore's ollection.

HOW HATRED BEGAN BETWEEN CHICKEN AND KITE(I3)

Chickenhappened o lie in the courtyard, preading er wingsand with her egstucked nder hem. Kitecame nd sawher ndaskedher, Daughter f my maternal ncle,why do you ie n thecourtyard?' hicken eplied,I tore ffmy eg and gave t to mychildren ogo andhunt nimals ith t, oI had myself o ie herein the ourtyard. henever hey o with my eg to hunt hey illmany nimals.'

Kitewent home nd beat his drum, nd all his children nd all

his ubjects athered. e tore ff is egandgave t to his hildrento go andhunt with t. When hey et ff e ay n the ourtyard npain rom hewound ear o death. e sent messageohis hildrenfor hem o return. hen they amebackhe said to his children,'It was Chickenwho deceivedme, aying hehad torn ff er egandhad given t to her hildren ogo and hunt nimals ith t, othat heymight illmany nimals; nd that swhy am about odie. Whenever ousee a chicken o not spare t, and wheneveronehatches er hicks eize hem ll.'

Chicken ummoned ll her relatives nd saidto them, do notdrink water without ooking p. If you do Kite will catch you.'After his he kites tarted o catch ll chickens ecauseof that

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The Correlation of the `Romano-Celtic' Temples