Aeolic order

The Aeolic order or Aeolian order was an early order of Classical architecture. It has a strong similarity to the better known Ionic order, but differs in the capital, where a palmette rises between the two outer volutes, rather than them being linked horizontally by a form at the top of the capital. Many examples also show simplified details compared to the Ionic.

Drawing of an Aeolic capital

"Proto-Aeolic" capitals of Southern Levant

Decorated stone structures reminiscent of the Aeolic order, widely known as "Proto-Aeolic" or "Proto-Ionian" capitals, were especially common in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Capitals of this style were discovered in royal buildings and fortified city gates. They were built up for some ashlar masonries, an architectonic style reserved to Israelite royal structures. One of them is 110 x 28 x 60 cm of dimension and also differs from the canon for its ornamental details, showing a triangular shape in the center as the point of juncture of the capital volutes.[1]

Proto-Aeolic capital unearthed in the City of David, Jerusalem

Proto-Aeolic capitals were unearthed in sites in modern-day Israel and in the West Bank: 27 capitals were discovered in sites belonging to the northern Kingdom of Israel, including Hazor, Megiddo, Dan, and Samaria, and on Mount Gerizim. 11 additional structures were discovered at archeological sites associated with the Kingdom of Judah, including the City of David, Ramat Rachel and in the 'Ain Joweizeh spring, near Al-Walaja.[2][3] Proto-Aeolic capitals have also been found at archeological sites in modern-day Jordan: 6 items have been found at sites associated with the kingdom of Moab. Fragments of another capital were found in the Amman Citadel, the site of ancient Rabbath Ammon, capital of the Ammonites. The capitals originating in the Kingdom of Israel date to the days of the reign of Omri in the 9th century BCE, whilst the capitals associated with Judah, Ammon and Moab date to the end of the 8th century or the beginning of the 7th century BCE.[3][4][5]

The more appropriate and neutral name "Iron Age volute capitals from the Levant" has been offered. The connection to the Aeolic order, which they precede, is rather complex and probably based on a general use of palm-tree decoration throughout the Ancient Near East.[6][7][8]

Aeolic order of Asia Minor

The Aeolic form developed in northwestern Asia Minor, out of Syrian and Phoenician capitals. It is also seen in some temples in Sicily,[6] and is named from the Aeolian colonies of northwestern Asia Minor.[9] The earliest surviving examples of the Aeolic order are contemporary with the emergence of the Ionic and Doric orders in the 6th century BC. Some authorities have suggested that the Ionic style represents a development of the Aeolic, but others disagree.[10]

Aeolic capital from the Temple of Athena in Old Smyrna

The Aeolic order fell out of use at the end of the Archaic Period.

Other associated forms

Some Etruscan tombs show a similar capital, with two large volutes that do not lie flat, but no palmette in the centre as in the Tomb of the Reliefs.

Aeolic column with half-capital, in the Bardo National Museum from Tunis (Tunisia)

See also

References
  1. Y. Shilow - Hebrew University of Jerusalem (April 1, 1976). "New Proto-Aeolic Capitals Found in Israel". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 222 (1): 67–77. doi:10.2307/1356300. ISSN 0003-097X. JSTOR 1356300. OCLC 7931001310. S2CID 163470552. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  2. "Proto-Aeolic Capital Associated with Judah's Longest Spring Tunnel". Biblical Archaeology Society. 2014-05-01. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  3. Lipschits, Oded (2011-07-21), "The Origin and Date of the Volute Capitals from the Levant", The Fire Signals of Lachish, Penn State University Press, pp. 203–226, doi:10.5325/j.ctv1bxh0bf.18, ISBN 9781575066295, retrieved 2022-02-24
  4. Finkelstein, I. and Silberman, N. A. 2001, The Bible Unearthed
  5. Franklin, Norma, From_Megiddo_to_Tamassos_and_Back_Putting_the_Proto_Ionic_Capital_in_its_Place
  6. Shiloh, Yigal (1979). "The Proto-Aeolic Capital and Israelite Ashlar Masonry". Qedem. Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 11: III–95. JSTOR 43588582. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  7. Wiener, Noah (1 May 2014). "Proto-Aeolic Capital Associated with Judah's Longest Spring Tunnel: Investigating royal iconography and large-scale construction in Iron Age Judah". Biblical Archaeology Society. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. Lipschits, Oded. The Origin and Date of the Volute Capitals from the Levant, in: Finkelstein, Israel and Na'aman, Nadav (eds). The Fire Signals of Lachish. Eisenbrauns (Winona Lake, 2011), pp. 203-225. Accessed 4 September 2020.
  9. Philip P. Betancourt. The Aeolic Style in Architecture: A Survey of its Development in Palestine, the Halikarnassos Peninsula, and Greece, 1000-500 B.C (Princeton University Press) 1977.
  10. The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480 B.C., p. 132, Cornell University Press, 1987 (rev. edn.), ISBN 9780801494017

Aeolic order

Proto-Aeolic capital
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