Hymettos 2

On the peak Evzonas, almost half a mile north of the highest point of Mount Hymettos, lies the site of the ancient Sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios.

It remains little-known, since on many maps Zeus’ worship is still attributed to another ancient temple site by Profitis Elias, above Koropi – an old estimation based on the connection of Elias to Zeus as his ‘heir apparent’ in Greek Orthodox Christianity. 

Excavations on Hymettos

The site now known to be that of Zeus Ombrios (‘Showery Zeus’) was first excavated in 1923 by Carl Blegen. Merle Langdon confidently identified the site’s connection to Zeus after further work in 1976.

It centres around a natural hollow, in which a heap of ceramics was uncovered that would capture the attention of archaeologists and linguists alike.

Several structures helped secure this interpretation, alongside the ceramic material: an enclosure/open-air altar structure; an altar within the enclosure, formed by flat paving stones; a stone-lined pit in the adjacent hollow, forming a store for votive objects.

The earliest literary evidence for this altar is Pausanias (writing in the second century CE):

On Pentelicus there is a statue of Athena, and on Hymettos there is a statue of Zeus Hymettios;  there are also altars of both Rainy Zeus and Foreseeing Apollo.  (Pausanias 1.32.2)

The excavation and interpretation of the Hymettos material have faced several challenges – not least the interruption of earlier excavations by the Second World War (after which an unknown amount of pottery was lost). 

Furthermore, until recently, the whole summit was inaccessible. Like many mountain peaks in Greece, Evzonas was a military zone for some decades. Langdon himself was allowed to visit the site only once.

This has been a great barrier for archaeological work on Greek mountains, which are already understudied. 

Alphabet inscriptions

The ceramic material from the votive pit is largely fragmentary, with few whole pots. Many of these fragments were found with graffiti.

A curious trend shows that many potsherds were actually written on after fragmentation. Fragments from drinking vessels were often favoured, apparently because they were easier to write on.

Most of the inscriptions contained up to four letters only, and in a rather primitive form. The consecutive letters form ‘abecedaria’ – essentially alphabet writing practice (see below).

Left: retrograde abecedarium (–ΑΒΓΔΕ–) from votive dump. Right: retrograde abecedarium (–.ΛΜΝΟ–) from altar area. Langdon (1976), Fig. 7; Pl. 4.

It may seem funny to the modern reader to think that these little scraps of alphabet constituted something worthy of dedication to the mighty Zeus. However, the chronology of these pieces is telling. 

Young proved that the vessels these came from were made from the eighth to seventh centuries BCE. The large number of retrograde (right-to-left) inscriptions also indicates their novelty; prograde writing (left-to-right) only became as common towards the end of the seventh century BCE. 

The fact that writing was still a relatively new phenomenon to the early votaries is precisely why they chose to dedicate these pieces; it was demonstrating ‘mastery’ of a new skill, and the effort of writing was, in itself, a gift.

Votaries held a sense of pride in their work, with later inscriptions even containing words like ΕΓΡΑΦΣΕ: ‘he himself wrote it’. The example below shows an attempt at writing this — though the unpractised votary seemingly missed a few letters and later corrected them!

Cup fragment with retrograde inscription ‘ὅσπερ ἔγραφσεν’ from the votive dump. Langdon, (1976), Fig. 8; Pl. 4.

Some of the more developed Hymettos inscriptions indicate that, by the end of the seventh century, the extent of literacy (at least in the surrounding area) was more widespread than scholars have previously thought.

Other fragments contain references to Zeus, helping to prove that the site was the sanctuary of Zeus Ombrios mentioned by Pausanias.

Zeus, the rain god

A mountain’s highest peak was considered sacred to Zeus not only because of his Olympian supremacy, but also his status as a weather god; mountain summits were historically looked to for an indication of weather.

Langdon believes most offerings brought to the sanctuary of Zeus on Hymettos were thus weather-related: pleas for rain. He draws a compelling connection between the chronological distribution of the votive remains and the agricultural history.

The material in the votive pit demonstrates that the sanctuary of Zeus was used primarily during the Protogeometric, Geometric, and Archaic periods (which span ca. 1,025 – 479 BCE), and then the Late Roman period (most material being from the late fourth to fifth centuries CE).

Some Protogeometric skyphoi. Langdon, ‘A Sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Hymettos‘ (1976), Pl. 18.

The first of those periods was a time when a large number of Athenians were practising arable agriculture: in that context the concern with rainfall in religious practice is not surprising.

Zeus’ importance to agriculture is evident in the literature. In one Athenian prayer Zeus is specifically called upon for rain for the sake of agriculture:

A prayer of the Athenians: “Send rain, send rain, O fond Zeus, upon the Athenians’ ploughland and plains.” Either don’t pray at all or do it plainly and honestly like this. (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.7)

However, once grain began to be imported, Attic-grown grain lost its importance, and thus so did the preoccupation with rain. Importation began in the late seventh to early sixth century BCE, at which point the votive evidence at Hymettos decreases significantly.

So, why did activity return in the Late Roman period, under a vast, trade-dominating empire?

Two Late Roman lamps, from Young, ‘Excavation on Mount Hymettos’ (1939), Fig. 6.

Langdon theorises that the turmoil of a divided empire (between Emperor Theodosius I’s sons in the aftermath of his death), alongside the besieging of the city by the Visigoth Alaric in the late fourth century CE, might have led to a recurrence of activity around this time at the sanctuary on Hymettos, thanks to an increase in economic instability.

‘Alaric in Athen’, Ludwig Thiersch, c. 1879. 

However, similar patterns of dedications reappearing in this later period are seen on other mountains too (for other examples see these posts on Olympus and the Cave of Pan on Mount Parnitha).

The reasons for that are not always clear: there is a lot more to learn from these fascinating sites.

The route

The sanctuary on Hymettos was approachable from other localities of Attica, and would not have served Athens alone. 

However, the steeper, eastern side was (and still is) less accessible. Thus, the chosen route allows you to walk in the footsteps of the Athenians, ascending the west side of the mountain. 

It starts at the car park by Kaisariani Monastery. After the forest the ascent is steep (by mile two you will be very close to the summit) – be sure to take water and breaks!

Further along, the site lies just off the road (here), where some of the structures uncovered by the excavations are still visible.

A bird’s-eye view may help visualise the site:

Left: A Google Earth satellite image. Google (2024). Retrieved from https://earth.google.com [Accessed 26/01/26]. Right: Young’s original excavation sketch. Young, (1939), Fig. 4.

Walking back via the road northwards from the site you are met with the rather industrial view of many communication towers.

But when you turn the corner sharply to the left you are soon rewarded with an unparalleled view of the city.

Descending the mountain you can retrace your steps (as indicated in the map below), or else with a short detour you can join up with this route on the way down.

The total route is about  8km, with 650 metres of ascent.

The start point is here. The downloadable GPX file is below.