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8 - Water and Water Management

from Part I - The Urban Fabric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

By
Jutta Stroszeck
Edited by
Jenifer Neils  and
Dylan K. Rogers
Jenifer Neils
Affiliation:
American School of Classical Studies, Athens
Dylan K. Rogers
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

This chapter explores water management in ancient Athens, including the local climate and natural resources of water in the city, underground water installations (e.g. wells, cisterns, aqueducts, and drains), and fountain-houses and bathing facilities. The archaeological evidence is supplemented by inscriptions and ancient texts referring to water legislation, illustrating the role of water in cult and in many other aspects of everyday life.

Keywords

hydrogeologywater managementwellscisternsspringsnymphs
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens , pp. 110 - 123
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

For more on springs, rivers, and nymphs of Athens, see Ammermann 1996, Brewster 1997, Larson 2001, and Kypraiou 2004. On the water supply of Athens, consult Camp 1977 and Chiotis 2011. For more on wells and cisterns throughout the city, see Klingborg 2017 and Stroszeck 2017. Glaser 1983 and Longfellow 2011 (9–13) offer good overviews of Greek fountains and fountain-houses, along with Paga 2015 on the Southeast Fountain-House of the Agora. For more on Greek bathing, see Lucore and Trümper 2013. On fountains of Roman Athens, see Longfellow 2011 and Leigh 2018, with bibliography therein. See Christaki et al. 2017 for a discussion of Athenian water supply until the nineteenth century ad.

Bibliography

Additional resources to accompany this chapter can be found at: www.cambridge.org/NeilsRogers

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Brewster, H. 1997. The River Gods of Greece: Mythos and Mountain Waters in the Hellenistic World. London.Google Scholar
Camp, J.M. 1977. “The Water Supply of Ancient Athens from 3000 to 86 bc.” PhD dissertation, Princeton University.Google Scholar
Camp, J.M. 1982. “Drought and Famine in the 4th Century bc.” In Studies in Athenian Architecture and Topography, Princeton, 9–17.Google Scholar
Camp, J.M. 1990. The Athenian Agora. PrincetonGoogle Scholar
Chiotis, E. 2011. “Water Supply and Drainage Works in the Agora of Ancient Athens.” In The Agora in the Mediterranean from Homeric to Roman Times, ed. by Giannikouri, A., Athens, 165–180.Google Scholar
Christaki, M., et al. 2017. “Water Supply Associated with the Development of the City of Athens from the Hellenistic Period until the End of the 19th Century.” Water History 9.4: 389–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaser, F. 1983. Antike Brunnenbauten (KPHNAI) in Griechenland. Vienna.Google Scholar
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Leigh, S. 2018. “The Monumental Fountain in the Athenian Agora: Reconstruction and Interpretation.” In Great Waterworks in Roman Greece: Aqueducts and Monumental Fountain Structures, ed. by Aristodemou, G.A. and Tassios, T.P., Oxford, 218–234.Google Scholar
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Paga, J. 2015. “The Southeast Fountain House in the Athenian Agora: A Reappraisal of its Date and Historical Context.” Hesperia 84.2: 355–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroszeck, J. 2014. Der Kerameikos in Athen. Geschichte, Bauten, und Denkmäler im archäologischen Park. Bad Langensalza.Google Scholar
Stroszeck, J. 2017. “Wells in Athens: The Contribution of the Kerameikos Wells.” In Cura Aquarum in Greece, ed. by Wellbrock, K., Siegburg, 43–88.Google Scholar
Tanoulas, T. 2017. “Waterworks at the Northwest End of the Athenian Acropolis from Prehistory to Date.” In Cura Aquarum in Greece, ed. by Wellbrock, K., Siegburg, 175–191.Google Scholar
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