Altar of the Twelve Gods

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The Altar of the Twelve Gods was an ancient altar dedicated to the twelve gods worshipped in ancient Greece (Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite and Hermes). Located north of the Ancient Agora of Athens and situated near the Temple of Ares, it was an important point from which distances were reckoned inside the city.[1]

Information of the exact location of the altar was scarce due to the lack of ancient sources, however excavations in 1891 and 1934 (the American excavation of the Agora) point south of the Athens-Piraeus Railway (ISAP) where findings of the south-west corner of the altar were discovered deep under the Roman and Byzantine levels.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ plato-dialogues.org/tools/agora.htm, URL accessed on June 2, 2008.
  2. ^ The Altar of the Twelve Gods in Athens, by Margaret Crosby © 1949 American School of Classical Studies at Athens.