TIRUPATI, or Tripetty, a town of British India, in the North Arcot district of Madras, with a station on the Madras railway, 84 m. N.E. of Madras city. Pop. (1901), 15,485. It is famous for a temple on the neighbouring hill of Tirumala, 2500 ft. above the sea, which is one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in southern India. The town contains numerous temples connected with the shrine of Tirumala, and is noted for its brass-work and wood-carving.
TIRYNS, the Τίρυνς τειχιόεσσα of Homer (Il. ii. 559), a small Peloponnesian city, in the prehistoric period of the Achaean race, long before the Dorian immigration. It stood on a small rock in the marshy plain of Argolis, about 3 m. from the sea, and was fabled to have been founded by King Proetus, the brother of Acrisius, who was succeeded by the hero Perseus. It was the scene of the early life of Heracles, who is hence called Tirynthius. The massive walls, which appear to be of earlier type than those of Mycenae, were said to have been the work of Cyclopean masons. Its period of greatest splendour was probably between the 14th and 12th centuries B.C.; in Homeric and subsequent times it was usually subject to Argos. The palace was probably burnt at the time of the Dorian conquest. After the Spartan defeat of Argos in 494 B.C. Tiryns regained temporary independence, and the Tirynthians fought on the Greek side at Plataea, while the Argives held aloof. Soon after, in 468 B.C., Tiryns was finally destroyed through the jealousy of the Argives, and the site has been deserted ever since, but for a brief occupation in Byzantine times.
Fig. 1.—Plan of the Palace in the Upper Part of Tiryns.
| 1, Main gate in the outer wall. |
| 2, Inner gate, approached between massive walls. |
| 3, Main propylaeum. |
| 4, Inner propylaeum. |
| 5, Court (αὐλή) surrounded by a colonnade on three sides: the altar to Zeus Herceus is by the entrance. |
| 6, Αἴθουσα, portico of the megaron. |
| 7, Πρόδομος, inner porch. |
| 8, Megaron, with roof supported on four columns, and the circular hearth in the middle. |
| 9, Bath-room and small θάλαμοι. |
| 10, 10, Chambers round the great court. |
| 11, 11, Guard chambers by the main propylaeum. |
| 12, Passage (λαύρη) from the main propylaeum to the second house. |
| 13, 13, Courts of the second house. |
| 14, Megaron. |
| 15, Chambers (θάλαμοι). |
| 16, Passage to the rock-cut stairs. |
| 17, Small postern door in the semicircular bastion, approached by flight of rock-cut steps. |
| 18, 18, Massive outer wall of city. |
| 19, Inner wall to guard the entrance passage. |
| 20, Part of outer wall, with intermediate passage and rows of chambers, as shown in fig. 2. |
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Excavations made in 1884-1885 by Schliemann and Dörpfeld
over part of the rock on which Tiryns stood have exposed a most
interesting building, which offers the most complete example of a
palace of the Mycenaean age in Greece. The rock on which Tiryns
is built is of an irregular oval shape, about 330 yds. long by 112 at
the widest part, and is surrounded by a very massive wall, varying
from 30 to 40 ft. in thickness and averaging when complete about
50 ft. in height, measuring from its base outside. Inside, the wall
was probably not more than 10 or 12 ft. high above the ground, so
the masonry acts as a retaining wall to a considerable depth of earth
which covers the rock (see fig. 2 belowabove). The wall is built of very
large hammer-dressed blocks, some as much as 10 ft. long by 3 ft. 3 in.
or 3 ft. 6 in. wide, with smaller ones to fill up the interstices. The
whole was bedded, not in mortar, but in clay, which has mostly
been washed out of the joints; originally the surface was probably
protected with a coating of stucco. The only important gateway,
which was on the east side, away from the sea, probably resembled
the “lion gate” at Mycenae. The other entrances are mere slits
in the wall. One of these and the chief gate are shown in fig. 1.
Internally the area of the city was divided by cross walls into three
parts at successive levels. The lowest and middle divisions have
not yet been excavated; the upper part at the south end of the rock
was completely exposed in 1884-1885 by Schliemann and Dörpfeld,
and the almost complete plan of the various structures clearly made
out. This division contains the palace of the ruler of Tiryns, a
building which shows careful and skilful construction, elaborate
decoration, and a well-arranged plan, suitable to the wants of a
wealthy autocratic chief, who lived in a manner which partly recalls
the luxury of an Oriental king, and also resembled the feudal state
of a medieval baron, surrounded by a crowd of vassals. From the
main gate, which was defended by a tower, a strong passage led
between the outer wall and an inner one to an inner gate, thence to
a propylaeum or double porch, with two wooden columns on each
side, adjoining which were chambers for guards. Then came another
similar, but smaller propylaeum, and opposite to that was the
entrance to the great court (αὐλή), nearly 53 by 70 ft., in which
stands an altar or pit of sacrifice, in a position similar to that occupied
by the altar of Zeus Herceus in the later Greek house. This court
was surrounded by wooden columns supporting a roof, like a medieval
cloister; on the south side are chambers for attendants (θάλαμοι).
On the north side is the great hall (μέγαρον), with an outer portico
supported by two columns (αἴθουσα) and an inner vestibule (πρόδομος)
with three doors. The hall is about 40 by 30 ft., with a circular
hearth in the centre (ἑστία or ἐσχάρα). Four columns supported
the roof, the central part of which probably rose above the rest
like a medieval “lantern.” On the west side of the hall are a
number of small chambers (θάλαμοι), and a bathroom about 12
by 10 ft., with its floor formed of one great slab of stone, sloped
so as to drain out at one side through a pipe which passes through
the wall. In addition to this there is also a second system, with
open courts, hall and chambers; this has been generally supposed
to be the women's quarters, but there is no authority for such
duplication, and it is possible that it should rather be explained as
another house. It is approached in a very circuitous way, either
by a passage (λαύρη) leading from a side door in the main propylaeum
or by another long passage which winds round the back of the chief
hall, and so leads by a long flight of steps, cut in the rock, to the little
postem door in the semicircular bastion. A staircase led to an
