Andron_A

To the left of the Oikoi Building, to the south, stands the second banqueting hall (the so-called Andron A), presumably built by Idrieus (351-344 BC). This is the most well-preserved building at the site, with its southern wall standing to a height of 7.9 meters above the level of the foundation of the pronaos floor. In plan it is almost identical to Andron B but it is slightly larger, being 12.26 meters wide and 22.13 meters long, including the niche. Its original height was ca. 10 meters to the apex of the pediment at the front. One distinctive difference from Andron B lies in the enormous thickness of the entrance wall, which is 1.85 meters. Possibly this wall construction was intended to safeguard the building against earthquake damages.

In ancient times the surrounding topography of the building was different. On the southern side there was no terrace. Here the andron was resting on a podium of coarsely worked ashlars, of which only the uppermost course can be seen today. The front of the building, entirely of marble, had the same unusual combination of Ionic columns and a Doric entablature as Andron B. Above the present gneiss walls the architrave, triglyph frieze (with four metopes to the span) and geison encircled the building on all sides. The roof was covered with tiles, probably also of marble. The inscription on the architrave, of which only three short sections are preserved (marked in black), shows that this building was also called andron:

View of Andron A from the south

Andron A from the east.

Restored front of Andron A.

(T. Thieme)

The entrance to the cella is ca. 3.7 meters wide by 5.7 meters high, but was originally slightly smaller since the marble door frame is missing. Two of the lintel beams of gneiss are still in place, and the fragments of the two that have fallen can be seen outside and inside. Inside the cella, which has never been cleared from fallen blocks, the walls had a thick plaster coat. At the rear end and along the side walls there was a low, one-meter-wide, slightly elevated, plaster platform for dining couches. As in Andron B, there was room for about 20 couches, sufficient for the double amount of very important participants in the sacred meals.

[IΔPIEYΣ EKATOMNΩ MYΛAΣEYΣ AN]EΘHK[E TON] ANΔPΩ[NA ΔII ΛAMBRAYN]ΔΩI

[Idrieus, son of Hekatomnos, Mylasan,] dedicated the andron to [Zeus Lambraun]dos

The name of the builder is unfortunately not preserved. Various details such as architectural style and chronology, topographical position, epigraphical probabilities and lack of other reasonable alternatives all indicate Idrieus as the most likely dedicator. However, since the name of the builder is not preserved, it has not been possible to call the two andrones Andron of Maussollos and Andron of Idrieus, avoiding the names of Andron B and Andron A.

There is thus no way to avoid the confusing disorder of an older andron called B, followed by a later one, called A. The origin of this confusion is that Alfred Laumonier in 1933 identified two almost identical buildings, which he called Temple A and Temple B, two names that were inherited by the Swedish archaeologists in 1948. In the excavations the two buildings soon changed names to Andron A and Andron B. Only later it turned out that Andron B is the older building and Andron A the later one.

Since its 19th century discovery this building has received much attention due to its ten large windows, three in each side wall of the cella, two in the pronaos walls and two in the wall between pronaos and cella. Those were not quite as large as they now appear, ca. 1.7 x 2.1 meters on the outside. There were window frames of marble, not only sills, of which those in the north wall are still preserved, which would make the openings ca 1.3 meters wide by 1.9 meters high, or somewhat less. There were presumably wooden shutters to keep out winter rains and snow. The gneiss walls were in all probability coated with a white plaster on the outside to make them look like marble. The southern wall is partly preserved up to the level where the lowest course of marble, the architrave, was placed.

Plan of Andron A with suggested positions of couches.

(T. Thieme)

This is also fairly solid evidence for the height of the columns, which were ca 7.5 meters high including base and capital. The marble stylobate of the front is missing but an inset in the bottom course at the front of the southern wall indicates the level of the stylobate. Two column drums are now placed where the columns were standing, but only the southern one belongs to the andron. The northern one comes from the Oikoi Building. The only partly preserved column capital is placed to the right at the entrance. On its side is a decoration of lotus flowers and palmettes similar to that of the Andron B capital. In the porch, to the north, two frieze blocks are standing, one above the other, with one metope between two triglyphs. At the top of the triglyph sides are little projections with holes in them, apparently to hold an object like a wreath, hanging in front of the metope.

Side of Andron A column capital.

The rectangular niche at the back is ca 4.8 meters wide, ca. 1.3 meters deep and is placed ca. 2.3 meters above the level of the threshold; it was presumably used for a statue of Zeus and possibly also statues of the royal couple Idrieus and Ada, brother and sister. There is no evidence to explain why Idrieus erected a second andron, when he became the ruler of Karia after the death of Maussollos in 352 and Artemisia in 351. One possibility is that Andron B was primarily built for and used by the representatives of the villages of the Karian League and that the second identical building, Andron A was erected for the needs of the council of Mylasa. This could also explain why Idrieus called himself Mylasan in his inscriptions at Labraunda, whereas Maussollos never used any toponym at all.

15.The Spring House 16.The Temple Terrace and the North Stoa 17.The Temple of Zeus 18.The Oikoi Building 19.Andron A