Editing Eleusinion (section)

==History==
The site was occupied in the [[Neolithic period]] and in the [[Middle Bronze Age]], because of the nearby [[Klepsydra (Acropolis)|Klepsydra spring]].{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=11}} The middle terrace contained housing from ca. 850 BC,{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=15}} while the terracotta figurines found in the upper terrace indicate that it was a religious sanctuary for a female deity at this time.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=15, 19}} The absence of signs of habitation in the area may indicate that it was already a sacred site before this.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=14-15}} The upper terrace was enclosed by the Archaic peribolos wall ca. 575-550 BC.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=25-26}} This may have been the work of the tyrant [[Peisistratus]], but this is not certain; it may pre-date him. No literary sources refer to a connection between him and the Eleusinian cult.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=27-28}}

At the end of the sixth century or the beginning of the fifth century, the middle terrace was cleared of housing and added to the sanctuary, more than doubling its size.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=15, 28-29}} The first evidence specifically identifying the site as the Eleusinion are a pair of altars associated with the new temple, which are inscribed with the regulations of the Eleusinian Mysteries and date to ca. 510-500 BC.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=8}} Construction of the temple of Triptolemus began around 500, was interrupted by the [[Persian Wars]], and was completed between 475 and 450 BC.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=39-40}} Three deposits indicate that the sanctuary was damaged during the [[Persian sack of Athens]] in 479 BC.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=41}} It is likely that a new temple of Demeter and Kore was built at this time as well, although there is no archaeological evidence for this, since it has not been excavated.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=33}}

The sanctuary was one of the few sites in Athens not to be occupied by refugees from the countryside at the outbreak of the [[Peloponnesian War]], according to [[Thucydides]], because its walls and gates allowed it to be locked.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=12}} In 414 BC, following the conviction of [[Alcibiades]] and others for the [[profanation of the mysteries]] and [[mutilation of the Herms]], their property was seized and auctioned off. A set of ten inscriptions known as the "Attic Stelae", which listed all the property, sales prices, and purchasers, were erected in the Eleusinion, where most of the 77 known fragments have been found.<ref name="ASA">{{cite web |title=IGI3 421: Sale of property confiscated from those condemned for mutilating the Herms and profaning the Mysteries (A) |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/421 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}; {{cite web |title=IGI3 425: Sale of property confiscated from those condemned for mutilating the Herms and profaning the Mysteries (B) |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/425 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}; {{cite web |title=IGI3 426: Sale of property confiscated from those condemned for mutilating the Herms and profaning the Mysteries (C) |url=https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/426 |website=Attic Inscriptions Online |access-date=27 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=65-66}} All the Eleusinian officials uttered curses against the convicts, except for the priestess of Demeter and Kore, Theano, who declared that she was "a praying priestess not a cursing priestess."<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Life of Alcibiades'' 22</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=66}} A series of inscribed accounts describe the contents of the sanctuary in 408/7 BC, including many gold votives, as well as construction materials.<ref name="IGI33867"/>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=9}}

A financial account from 329/8 BC describes extensive repairs to the Eleusinion in that year,<ref>''IG'' II<sup>2</sup> 1672.</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=9}} as part of the wider revitalisation of Athens and its cults spearheaded by [[Lycurgus of Athens|Lycurgus]]. This was also the period when most votive relief plaques were dedicated.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=68}}

In the second century BC, a major renovation to the sanctuary took place, involving the construction of the South Stoa, the Hellenistic Propylon, and the circular building.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=84}} Two inscriptions honour individuals for undertaking construction in the sanctuary at this time. One is fragmentary; the other honours Satyra priestess of the [[Thesmophori]] for repairing all the temples, the sanctuary of Plouton, and paying for annual sacrifices.<ref name="AXVI277"/>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=84}} The period from the 3rd century to the early 1st century BC is also the time when most of the honorific decrees were erected in the sanctuary - seventeen are known, mostly honouring ''epimeletai'' (organisers) of the Eleusinian Mysteries.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=84}}

The [[Panhellenion]], established by Emperor [[Hadrian]] in 131/2 AD, seems to have had a role in the administration of the Eleusinion and the Eleusinian cult. They had a letter from an Imperial official inscribed on a stele on the outer west side of the sanctuary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hesperia 10 (1941) 78,34 |url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/235449 |website=PHI Greek Inscriptions |access-date=27 August 2023}}</ref>{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=88}}
The section of the Panatheniac Way running along the west side of the sanctuary was lowered and paved in two stages in the first and second centuries AD. A branch from the aqueduct of Hadrian was built behind the sanctuary in the mid-second century AD. In the same period, the inner propylon seems to have been built and the circular building was renovated.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=88-89}}

=== Late Antiquity and after ===
[[File:Remains of the Late Roman Wall of Athens in Ancient Agora on 25 May 2021.jpg|thumb|The [[Post-Herulian Wall]] at the Eleusinion, seen from the northwest.]]
The sanctuary's continued importance is shown by the fact that, after the [[Herulian Sack]] in 267 AD, it was placed inside the Post-Herulian wall (much of the city, including most of the [[Agora]] was left outside this new circuit wall).{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=1}} That the sanctuary continued in use is shown by the fact that, unlike many other structures, it was not spoliated to provide building material for the wall.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=93}} The Eleusinian cult remained active until at least 375 AD,{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=93}} but is unlikely to have survived the [[persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire#Theodosius I (381–395)|Anti-pagan legislation]] of [[Theodosius I]]. The South Stoa and perhaps the Temple of Triptolemus were demolished at the end of the fourth century, probably as a result of [[Alaric the Goth]]'s sack of Athens in AD 396.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=80}}

The area was then covered over with houses{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=1, 56-57}} and a laundry complex was built on the western end of the south stoa in the 7th century AD, taking advantage of the water supply still provided by the aqueduct of Hadrian.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=76}} There was a large fire in the area in the reign of [[Constans II]] (641-668), which destroyed the laundry and would have seriously damaged any Classical structures that were still standing.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=56, 93}} Spoliation of masonry and sculpture from the area took place throughout the [[Byzantine Greece|Byzantine]] and [[Ottoman Greece|Ottoman]] periods, but especially in the 9th-10th centuries, when there was a quarry on the lower terrace.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=56, 93}} The churches of Hypapanti and of Christ were built at the south and north ends of the area respectively, in the 17th century, incorporating the gates of the Post-Herulian wall and parts of the sanctuary into their foundations.{{sfn|Miles|1998|pp=79, 87, 94}} The Church of Christ had fallen into ruin by the 1850s, but its northern wall is still in situ and its wall paintings are faintly visible.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=87}} The Church of Hypapanti was deconsecrated and demolished in 1936 to allow the excavations to take place.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=94}} At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the area had a reputation as a good source of [[marble]] for use as building material.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=3}} Marbles from the Eleusinion have been found in old buildings throughout the old centre of Athens, notably in the [[Little Metropolis]]. It remained a residential area until excavated in the twentieth century.{{sfn|Miles|1998|p=1}}