The construction of a new highway near Dublin threatens to damage the sacred valley of Tara - a 6,000-year-old site considered to be the place where Ireland's national identity was shaped * Also the oldest temple in Athens is in danger of being demolished for a real estate project
The kings of Ireland are turning over in their graves
By Brian Lavery
Tara hill. The oldest finds on the site were built in 4,000 BC, and every student in Ireland knows how to proudly recite that they predate the Egyptian pyramids at Giza by 1,500 years. The kings of Ireland were crowned on the holy hill and buried there
Tara, Ireland
Ancient England has "Stonehenge", but ancient Ireland has the holy hill of Tara. The sacred site, 6,000 years old, is located in the center of quiet fields and is considered the burial site of 140 kings and the place where the country's national identity was shaped.
Modern Ireland also has Dublin, in which live 1.5 million of the country's 4 million inhabitants. However, the continued expansion of the city causes a conflict that affects the entire country, since lovers of mythical and prehistoric Ireland try to preserve the tranquility of Tara, contrary to the needs of the residents who struggle to reach the capital every day on ancient and unsuitable roads.
More than four years ago, these hardships prompted the need to plan a highway that would reach Meath County, where the population has grown significantly in the past decade. The drivers were happy that they would be able to get out of the endless traffic jams on the road leading to Dublin, where there are currently only two lanes. The current traffic load on the road is double
Tara, Ireland. from here
of its capacity, and it winds through agricultural areas and between new residential neighborhoods, which have sprung up outside of all the small towns.
However, the proposed new route should pass near Tara, about 2.4 km east of it, and cross a valley where some of the oldest archaeological sites in Europe are located. As a result, the plan became a focus for the conflict between ancient history and contemporary politics. Archaeologists and activists for the preservation of the national tradition are waging legal battles to copy the route of the road, and claim that if it is not changed, this will prove that Ireland - which was nicknamed the "Celtic Tiger" because of its economic prosperity in recent years - has lost touch with its roots.
Construction of the new road should begin early next year and be completed by 2008, but if the protests continue it may be delayed.
The campaign to preserve the valley has the support of senior members of parliament - one of whom called the road "an act of cultural vandalism" - and even gained wide international support on the Internet. Tara "is important to our soul, our nation and our identity", said Julieta Clancy, secretary of the Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, which opposes the construction of the road through the valley that runs from the statues at Tara to the picturesque ruins of a stone church on a nearby hill in Skrein. "It is also very important for our archeology, and for what I think future generations will want to receive from us."
Supporters of the construction of the highway, which is supposed to be the longest in Ireland - about 64 km - and 900 million dollars will be invested in its construction, claim that it does not pose a threat to the hill itself. They point out that the alternative routes pass too close to dozens of houses. They also claim that the 38 archaeological sites that have already been discovered along the route will be excavated, documented and stored in a museum.
"History and culture have a place, but I'm not ready to accept that they will necessarily dictate development decisions," said Michael Agan, a senior official at the National Highway Administration, the government body responsible for building roads. "It is impossible to sacrifice the entire population for the sake of archaeology."
This argument finds a listening ear among people such as Alan Carton, who bought a house in Meath with his fiancee four years ago. The trip to Dublin, a distance of about 50 km from their home, takes almost two hours every day, which does not leave him much time for his one and a half year old son. "It upsets me that my babysitter sees him more than I do," said the 30-year-old Carton, "She sees him doing things for the first time, which I don't."
At a recent hearing of the Irish Parliament's Environment Committee, the opponents of the new route claimed that the Tara-Scryne Valley is an entire archaeological area, full of dozens if not hundreds of sites that have yet to be excavated, for example a ring of defensive citadels surrounding the holy hill. They fear that Tara's stunning scenery, which can be seen on a clear day from 13 of Ireland's 22 counties, will be ruined by gas stations and restaurants.
Unlike Stonehenge or other archeological sites, such as the burial mound at Newgrange in Smith, Tara requires a lot of imagination from visitors. The oldest finds in it were built in 4,000 BC, and every student in Ireland knows how to proudly recite that they predate the Egyptian pyramids at Giza by 1,500 years. The kings of Ireland were crowned on the holy hill until the arrival of Christianity in the region. However, most of the ancient buildings in Tara are buried and can only be distinguished as bumps covered in grass or as ridges in the ground.
Despite this, many people define Tara as the heart of Celtic spirituality - many modern-day druids still hold ceremonies there - and as a central part of Irish identity.
On one windy day, Clancy led a group of about twenty local residents on a tour of the area, pointing out sites such as two parallel bumps of land, which may have been a boulevard used for processions or a large hall. "In short, it's about the Celtic Tiger turning its back on the Celtic past," Clancy said.
Adele Bartanach, a historian from Dublin who has studied Tara for more than a decade, told the parliamentary committee that paving the planned route will cost more money and time than the alternative route from the east, which the opponents support - this is due to the legal disputes and the excavations that will be required by law, before paving can begin. "The destruction will be irreversible," she said, "it will damage the credibility of the Irish as defenders of the common European heritage."
The bulldozers threaten the Greek temple
The remains of a temple from the fifth century BC, the golden age of Athens, have recently been at the center of a dispute between developers and preservationists. While the Central Archaeological Council of Greece is debating whether to allow construction on the site, preservationists fear that one of the most sacred places in ancient Athens is in danger of extinction.
The Ionian temple was built in honor of the goddess Artemis Agrotera (the huntress). "Places like this are part of a world heritage that goes far beyond the country's borders," said Iosif Apramidis, an architect leading the campaign to prevent the bulldozers from entering the site.
Archaeologists believe that the temple, which overlooks an avenue leading to the Acropolis, was built by Callicrates, Pericles' chief architect, and is believed to be where Socrates and his students debated the principles of philosophy.
But even the temple's most ardent supporters admit that its remains are extremely limited. In fact, only a supporting wall remains - the Ottoman governor used the temple's marble stones to build the walls of Athens in 1778.
However, according to the Greek archeology law, any site where evidence of being ancient - from prehistoric times to 1830 (when modern independent Greece was founded) was found - deserves protection.
In 1993, the former Minister of Culture, Melina Mercury, stated that the owners of the land on which the remains of the temple are located would receive a large financial compensation, and that the site would be included in a huge archaeological park. However, the Ministry of Culture was unable to finance the compensation.
Guardian
History connoisseur - ancient times
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