Temenos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the municipality in Crete see Temenos, Greece.
Greek Temenos (τέμενος[1], from the Greek verb τέμνω "to cut") (plural = temene) is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, a sanctuary, holy grove or holy precinct: The Pythian race-course is called a temenos, the sacred valley of the Nile is the Νείλοιο πῖον τέμενος Κρονίδα, the Acropolis is the ἱερὸν τέμενος (of Pallas).
For example, Olympia is the temenos of Zeus. There were many temene of Apollo, as he was the patron god of settlers.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
