| From the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C., the western Anatolian kingdom of Lydia was the home of a distinctive local tradition of ashlar masonry construction. Ashlar masonry is found in tumulus tomb chambers throughout Lydia, and in both tombs and civic structures at the capital city of Sardis. This study considers the monuments of Sardis and environs, paying special attention to the evidence of unfinished structures for techniques of construction.; The earliest securely datable example of ashlar masonry in Lydia is the tomb of Alyattes, father of Croesus, who died ca. 560 B.C. Most other Lydian tombs seem to postdate the Persian invasion in the mid-sixth century. The known examples of ashlar masonry in Lydian civic architecture include terraces, towers, and monumental platforms. Historical considerations and stratigraphic evidence indicate that these monuments all predate the Persian invasion. A later structure is an altar in the precinct of Artemis.; Typological parallels for ashlar masonry in Lydian architecture point to Near Eastern influence, but in terms of building methods, Lydian masonry is closest to Greek architecture. "Megalithic" ashlar masonry appeared in Greece for the first time in the late seventh or early sixth century, and Lydia (and Lydia's Near Eastern connections) may have been instrumental in promoting the development of this technology, especially in Ionia. The presence of both Lydian and Ionian masons in Persia after the mid-sixth century is attested in documentary as well archaeological evidence, and Lydia in particular may have contributed to the development of Achaemenid building types, such as the monumental platform. |
