On the Way to a New Museum of Underwater Antiquities in Piraeus, Greece

April 10, 2022

The Ministry of Culture and Sports announced that the Museum Council unanimously approved the architectural, static, electromechanical and museography preliminary studies and the modification of the building programme of the Museum of Underwater Antiquities on the Ietionian Coast of Piraeus. Thus the industrial Silo building on the site of the Piraeus Port Authorities (PPA) will be transformed into an innovative Museum of Underwater Antiquities highlighting the treasures of the Greek seas and becoming an emblematic cultural landmark in the country’s largest port.

After the Council’s approval, Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni made the following statement: “A vision of decades is about to be realized, thanks to our cooperation with the PPA, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation which financed the preliminary studies – and the project’s financing through the Recovery Fund. The unique wealth of the Greek seas acquires an ideal home in the old Silo building , which has been associated with Piraeus’ history since the mid-1930s. It is the most suitable place to house the numerous and already conserved underwater finds, which have remained for years in the Ephorate of Antiquities’ warehouses. The main purpose of creating the Museum of Underwater Antiquities is to highlight our country’s connections with the sea and the long history of Greek culture through the underwater findings. There are only a handful of museums in the world that exhibit exclusively marine antiquities. It is obvious that the Museum will be able to introduce Piraeus as one of the international cultural destinations”.

An ancient greek trireme Source: Tsolakis Architects

The Museum of Underwater Antiquities will house finds salvaged from all the Greek seas: Statues, parts of sculptures, hulls and ship components, rigging equipment, inscriptions, toiletries, utensils and table ceramics, tools and a variety of artefacts from underwater surveys, research and excavations, as well as items handed over by individuals or confiscated.

Experience of a Byzantine ship. Source: Tsolakis Architects

The Museum of Underwater Antiquities will offer visitors the experience of diving into the past, with stops in various periods of time, sunken settlements, shipwrecks, ship models, hulls and cargoes of merchant ships, maps and diagrams, digital applications and projections, with a special emphasis on educational activities and projects.

Sea Bottom and Shipwrecks. Source: Tsolakis Architects

With the planned new extension, the Museum facilities will exceed 13,000 sq.m. It will include exhibition spaces for permanent and temporary exhibitions, spaces for educational programmes and scientific activities (amphitheatre, library, multimedia room), conservation workshops and service areas for visitors (reception hall, cloakroom, museum shop, cafeteria, restaurant, infirmary, administration offices).

By Archaeology wiki

14 Best-preserved and Most Amazing Ancient Theatres of Graeco-Roman Antiquity

March 27, 2022

Scattered around the Mediterranean lie the remains of the ancient theaters of the Greek and Roman world. The Greek theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slope of a hill. Roman theaters, although heavily influenced by the Greeks, have specific differences, such as being built upon their own foundations.

The theater originates from the city-state of Athens where it was used for festivals honoring the god Dionysus and the famous Athenian tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays. The Romans, being a little bit less philosophical in spirit than the Greek, wanted more pure entertainment with lots of laughs and excitement. Popular entertainments in Roman times included mime plays, acrobatics, jugglers, animal fights and gladiator fights although the later two were more common in the Roman amphitheater.

14. Theater of Taormina

Taormina was a Greek colony on the east coast of the island of Sicily. The theater of Taormina was built by the Greeks in the 2nd century BC and restructured and widened by the Romans. The ancient theatre is beautiful situated, overlooking the bay of Naxos and mount Etna. Today it is the center of the Taormina’s international film festival.

13. Jerash Theatres

Jerash is a popular archaeological site in Jordan, second only to Petra. The city’s golden age came under Roman rule and the site is now generally acknowledged as one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world. Jerash contains not one but two Roman theatres. The north theatre, with a capacity of 1600, was built in 165 AD and was mainly used as the city council chamber. The larger south theatre was built between 90-92 AD and could seat more than 3000 spectators.

12. Odeon of Herodes Atticus

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus, cut into the southern slope of the Athenian Acropolis, was built in 161 AD by Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife. The structure was used as a theatre in ancient Athens for various plays and music concerts. It originally had a wooden roof and could seat up to 5,000 people.

11. Roman Theatre of Merida

According to an inscription, the Roman Theatre of Merida in present-day Spain was built in 16 BC by order of Agrippa, a general and friend of emperor Augustus. The ancient theatre could house up to 6,000 spectators. In later centuries the theater underwent several restorations which introduced new architectonic elements and decorations. The structure was restored to the current state in the 1960s-1970s.

10. Roman Theatre of Amman

The Roman Theatre of Amman in Jordan was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century AD. The large and steeply raked theatre could seat about 6,000 people. It is cut into the hillside and oriented north to keep the sun off the spectators. The theatre was built on three tiers: the rulers, sat closest to the action, the military had the middle section, and the general public sat on the highest section. Although far from the stage, even there the actors could be clearly heard, owing to the steepness of the theatre.

9. Pergamum Theatre

Pergamum was an ancient city founded by Greek colonists on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Although Pergamum is one of Turkey’s lesser known archaeological sites it contains a number of notable structures, including the theater. The Pergamon theater was built in the 3rd century and could seat 10,000 spectators. It is one of the steepest ancient theaters in the world.

8. Theatre of Side

Side is a popular resort town on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. The city was founded by Greek settlers in the 7th century BC and was one of most important trade centers in the region. In 25 BC Side became part of the Roman province Galatia and prospered through its trade in olive oil and slaves. The roman ruins of Side that are in fairly good condition today include a temple, city gate and an ancient theatre which could seat about 15,000 to 20,000 people.

7. Theatre of Sabratha

Located in Libya, Sabratha’s was established around 500 BC as a Phoenician trading-post and reched its peak under Roman rules as a coastal outlet for the products of the African hinterland. The Theatre of Sabratha was built in the 2n century AD. The structure appears largely intact owing to its reconstruction by Italian archaeologists in the 1930s. The theatre had 25 entrances and could seat approximately 5,000 spectators.

6. Roman Theatre of Orange

The Roman Theater of Orange in France is a well preserved theatre build in the 1st century AD for watching theatrical performances. After the Roman Empire declined the theatre was closed by official edict in 391 AD as the Church opposed what it regarded as uncivilized spectacles. The ancient theatre was restored in the 19th century and today it is home of the summer opera festival, the Chorégies d’Oran.

5. Great Theatre of Ephesus, Asia Minor

The ruins of Ephesus are a popular tourist attraction on the west coast of Turkey. The city of Ephesus was once famed for the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, which was destroyed by a mob led by the archbishop of Constantinople in 401 AD. Some of the structures can still be seen however including the impressive Great Theater. This large theatre, which was capable of holding 25,000 spectators, was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times it was also used for gladiator fights.

4. Aspendos Theatre, Asia Minor

Aspendos boasts one of the best preserved ancient theatres of antiquity. Located in south-west Turkey, the theatre of Aspendos was build in 155 AD during the rule of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and could seat between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators. Because the stage area was later used as a caravanserai (a roadside inn) in Seljuk times, it was continuously repaired and maintained. Thus, the Aspendos Theatre has been able to survive to this days without losing almost any of its original qualities.

3. Delphi Theatre, Greece

In ancient times Delphi was the most important site in ancient Greek religion, home to the sanctuary and oracle of Apollo. The ancient theatre of Delphi in Greece was built on a hill giving spectators a view of the entire sanctuary and the spectacular landscape below. It was originally built in the 4th and could seat 5,000 spectators.

2. Bosra Theater, Syria

Situated 140 Km south of Damascus in Syria, Bosra is an ancient city that was already mentioned in the 14th century BC by Egyptians hieroglyphs. The city was conquered by the Romans in 106 AD who made it the capital of their Arabia province. The theatre of Bosra was built in the 2nd century AD and could seat up to 15,000 people. Because a fortress was built around the theatre by the Ayyubids it is now one of the best preserved Roman theatres in the world.

1. Epidaurus Theater, Greece

The theatre of Epidaurus, located on the northeastern corner of the Peloponnesus in Greece, was constructed in the 4th century BC. It is still one of the most beautiful Greek theatres in the world. Unlike Roman theatres the view on a lush landscape behind the scene is an integral part of the theater itself. The theatre of Epidaurus is famous for its exceptional acoustics. Actors on stage can be perfectly heard by all 14,000 spectators, regardless of their seating.

Roman Aqueduct of Nikopolis, Greece: The Ancient Technological Marvel that harnessed the Headwaters of Louros River

March 24, 2022

The Romans managed to build an impressive, unique for the time, aqueduct that supplied water to an ancient megalopolis

BY HARRY SIMVOULIDIS - TRANSLATED BY ANGELIKI KOUROUTZI - TRAVEL.GR

Thanks to its excellent preservation over the centuries, ancient Nikopolis gives modern visitors the opportunity to admire the architecture and urban planning of the Romans. What is still impressive, however, is its aqueduct: a unique project for its time, based on a 50-kilometre-long network, which allowed the exploitation of the headwaters of the Louros river.

Nikopolis is the “child” of a transitional but pivotal period in which Rome was transformed from a republic to an empire. It was built in 31 BC, as a symbol of Octavian Augustus‘ great victory at Actium, against Marc Antony and Cleopatra – in a naval battle that always had a Greek “colour”, since Cleopatra was the last queen of Egypt descended from the Macedonians who arrived there with Alexander the Great.

Nikopolis also became a lever of Romanization and control of the whole of western Greece, since many inhabitants of other cities of Epirus and Acarnania were forced to leave them, moving there permanently. It survived until the 11th century, when it was abandoned by the Bulgarians. However, it was not destroyed in terms of infrastructure. And the fact that no later settlement was founded in its place helped to keep it in good condition, given its age.

The monumental aqueduct may well have been constructed as early as the time of Octavian, although the views of more recent scholars converge towards the 2nd century AD, during the period when Hadrian was emperor. Until it was built, the Nikopolitans obtained water through barrels, which they filled either at various wells or from small springs.

Through the aqueduct, we estimate that the needs of about 150,000 people were served

Photo: Pericles Merakos

The Romans were renowned for their engineering and topographic skills, thanks to which they had already equipped their country with an exemplary water supply system. Even so, however, in Nikopolis they achieved a technological wonder for their time, creating an extensive 50-kilometre-long network using Louros’ headwaters, ensuring an adequate water supply for Nikopolis. Today we believe that it was not a medium-sized city, but a megalopolis of about 150,000 inhabitants.

As a whole, the project consists of alternating systems of arched, overhead aqueduct systems with arches (necessary for the bypass of the Louros valley), combined with above-ground trench pipelines, as well as a tunnel dug in the hills of Kokkinopilos. Through a pipeline, water was transferred from Louros’ headwaters to two reservoirs in the Nymphaeum of Nikopolis, from where it was then piped through smaller pipelines to the rest of the city.

Remains of the aqueduct can still be seen at various points in the wider area, giving the visitor the opportunity to admire the mastery with which the Romans made use of the difference in altitude between Louros’ headwaters and Nikopolis – which amounts to about 80 metres –, ensuring that the aqueduct sloped slightly as it approached the sea. They even ensured that there were ventilation openings on the slopes and piers in the lowlands.

Around 350 the Emperor Julian financed extensive maintenance work, so we are sure that the aqueduct was still in operation in the early Byzantine years. It seems to have been abandoned when the area entered irreversible decline after the chaos caused by the disastrous Ostrogothic invasion in 551.

How to get there

Built on the peninsula that separates the Amvrakikos Gulf from the Ionian Sea, ancient Nikopolis is located 8 km north of the town of Preveza. The access by road is very easy, via the Preveza-Ioannina highway.

The remains of the aqueduct at various points along its route to Nikopolis can also be visited. You can therefore pass by the sites of Archangelos, Stefanis and Skala Louros, as well as the section that survives at Louros’ headwaters – in the village of Agios Georgios, a few kilometres north of the small town of Filippiada.

Source: https://www.travel.gr/en/experiences-ee/un...

Scene from the Greek War of Independence. Second siege of the acropolis by the Greeks (november 1821 - june 1822). Assault on the Serpentze on 24 november 1821. Painting by Panagiotis Zografos, under the guidance of Yannis Makriyannis.

When Greeks Gave Lead Bullets to the Turks, so they Would Stop Destroying Parthenon Columns - A Story from the Greek War of Independence

March 23, 2022

In the first siege of the Acropolis (1821), the Greek besiegers gave lead bullets to the Turks, so that they would stop destroying the ancient monuments!

Between 1458-1640 the surface of the Acropolis was covered by many houses, where the ottoman families, the garrison and the commander resided. Due to its importance as a military fortress, the entrance to the Acropolis was denied to all christians unless they had a special license. The Parthenon as a mosque aroused the admiration of visitors as except for minor modifications needed for muslim worship, it still stood in a fairly good condition.

General view of the Acropolis during the first years of Ottoman occupation. The Parthenon is converted into a mosque and the whole surface is covered by houses. By ***www.ancientathens3d.com***

Athens at the beginning of the 19th century did not look at all like a typical urban center of the time like Tripoli or Nafplio. The Turks as a whole were not more than 600 in a total of 11,000 while the Greek inhabitants lived around Acropolis under the pressure of the Turks of the area who lived among them armed. The area around the Acropolis also had a weak wall, which in combination with the Turkish military presence could repel any possible attack. The wall started from the conservatory of Herodus Atticus, passed through the gate of Hadrian, continued along the current Amalia Avenue and included the current areas of Psyrri and Thissio in a total area of 11,000 sq.m.

The First Siege of the Acropolis in 1821–1822 involved the siege of the Acropolis of Athens by the Greek revolutionary forces, during the early stages of the Greek War of Independence.

Following the outbreak of the Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire in March 1821, Athens fell into Greek hands on 28 April without a fight. Its garrison and Muslim inhabitants, along with the Greek population's leaders as hostages, retired to the Acropolis, which served as the garrison commander's residence. The initial Greek force, some 600 Athenians led by Meletios Vasileiou, was soon augmented by volunteers from Aegina, Hydra, Cephallonia and Kea to ca. 3,000, and maintained a loose siege of the fortified hill. A handful of Ottoman soldiers managed to break through the siege, and went to Karystos in Euboea to request the aid of the local governor, Omar Bey, and of the general Omer Vrioni. The two Ottoman leaders united their forces and descended on Attica. The Greek rebels scattered before them, and the Ottoman forces entered Athens on 20 July. Vrioni remained in Attica to pursue the Greek forces, while Omar of Karystos returned to his home province. After Vrioni's departure, however, the siege recommenced. In spring 1822, the Greek forces were reinforced with artillery commanded by French Philhellenes, under Olivier Voutier, who began a bombardment of the fortress. The Ottoman garrison surrendered on 9 June 1822.

Great destruction occurred in the temple (nave walls and columns) during this siege. A destruction that could have been infinitely greater, if not for the intervention of the fighter of 1821 and antiquarian Kyriakos Pittakis. Later, Pittakis, although he had not studied archeology, was to take responsibility for the antiquities from the newly formed Greek state.

As the walls of the monuments have not survived to this day, the unsuspecting visitor can imagine that the ancient public buildings had only columns. It is not like that at all. All the monuments had walls and between them the Parthenon, in which the marble walls of the nave (of the interior, that is, where the cult statue was kept) were equally impressive.

Kyriakos Pittakis

After Greek independence, he became Greece's first General Keeper of Antiquities. From 1837 to 1840, Pittakis supervised the reassembly of the Erechtheion. He campaigned to collect epigraphical material in Athens, gathering inscriptions in the church of Megali Panagia, the Theseum, the Stoa of Hadrian and the Tower of the Winds. Such preservationary efforts have been considered significant contributions to Greek archaeology. He also carried out the first excavations at Mycenae in 1841. He also restored the Lion Gate.

The wall of the nave was partly blown up by the eruption that followed the bombardment of Morosini (1687) but suffered even greater damage during the siege of the Acropolis in 1822, when the Turks broke the ancient stones to remove the pencil.

"The section that was kept intact until 1822 was dismantled within a month to get the lead and the stones remained there. Nobody wanted the stones, they wanted the lead", said academician Manolis Korres, and chairman of the Acropolis Monuments Preservation Committee, at a meeting of the Central Archaeological Council.

Pittakis played a special role in preventing their further destruction, as he stated in a solemn speech at the Academy of Athens. According to Manolis Korre, the amateur archaeologist and later curator of Antiquities of the newly formed Greek state, expressed to Odysseus Androutsos the pious desire to be given bullets to stop the destruction of the monument. Something that happened. The incident, which we know from the literature, is reinforced by studies and research on the Parthenon, where the dissolved stones were found and the binder was missing.

"The Turks severely destroyed 500 stones. They left five hundred "injured" behind because they were in a hurry. They could have destroyed 50 and the 450 could have been '' healthy ''," the academic added. Of the 500, 200 were dismantled for various uses and construction works.

Emmanouil Korres (Greek: Εμμανουήλ Κορρές, born 1948) is a major Greek restoration architect, civil engineer and professor of architectural history at postgraduate studies at the National Technical University of Athens. Currently he is head of the Acropolis Restoration Service (YSMA) and a casual member of the Academy of Athens since 2017.

The famous Greek archaeologist who discovered The Royal Macedonian Tombs at Vergina, Manolis Andronikos, has written about the incident in his book "History and poetry":

"During the siege of the Acropolis of Athens by the Greeks, in the very first months of the Revolution of 1821, the danger of destruction for the monuments of the Acropolis was great. That is why the Provisional Administration asked Colonel Voutier, the commander of the Greek artillery, to respect the ancient monuments, during his attack against the Turks, who were enclosed inside the Acropolis. And yet this energy, so characteristic of the ethos of the Greek revolutionaries, is overcome by an unbelievable and yet true incident that is accidentally mentioned in the funeral of Kyriakos Pittakis. And this is related to the siege of the Acropolis. When the besiegers were informed that the Turks were chipping the ancient buildings to remove the lead that exists in the joints of the stones, after the suggestion of Pittakis, they sent them bullets to stop the destruction!”

Manolis Andronikos made one of the most important excavations in the history of archeology. On November 8, 1977 he discovers the tomb of the Macedonian king Philip II

The Greek fighters of the Greek War of Independence had an emotional bond and did what they could to protect antiquities all over Ottoman-occupied Greece. Although they knew a little about history, only the grandiosity and beauty of these monuments would mobilize those ordinary people who felt proud of their glorious ancestors.

On-Site Museum of Naxos Mitropolis: The first museum of this particular type in Greece

March 18, 2022

The Site Museum of Naxos Mitropolis was created in 1999 and it is the first museum of this particular type in Greece and internationally one of the few museum institutions where visitors have the opportunity to admire the antiquities in situ, at the exact location where they were unearthed during the excavations. A Mycenaean workshop of vessels, a tomb dating back to the Geometric period, and residences of the 2nd century AD. have been found on the site.

The first inhabitants of Naxos considered being Thracians that dominated two hundred years in the island. Later, came the Kares. They came from Asia Minor having as their leader Naxos who gave his name to the island.

Archeological finds we have from the end of the 4th millennium B.C. The 3rd millennium B.C., Naxos presents a big population to the west of the island. At Panormos were found earnests of their civilization. In the town of Naxos was found a developed built-up-area with square houses and tiled roofs.

More finds there are in relation to the cemeteries of the region. Many graves are masterpieces of art and date back to the 3rd millennium B.C.

There were found also earthen and marble vessels and marble statuettes of the prehistoric era.

After the end of the Cycladic civilization flourishes to the same place the marble material. Afterwards, about the 2nd millennium B.C. when it is developed the Mycenaean civilization, falls the Cycladic. When in 1400 B.C. Crete retires, Naxos helps to the spreading of the Mycenaean civilization to the East.

From the Mycenaean city of the last centuries of the second century BC. millennium, part of the brick wall has been preserved on its stone wall platform. Through the wall, areas of pottery workshops were discovered: benches on which were still leaning uncooked vessels, basins for painting the latter with kaolin, an oven for baking, near which was found one of the largest known Mycenaean craters.

It is one of the few and best preserved laboratory area of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean. The constructions and findings provided a lot of information about the craft infrastructure of the settlement and the extensive network of contacts of Naxos with mainland Greece, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean during the 12th and 11th centuries BC. The revelation of the ceramic workshop makes Naxos the only center for many luxury vessels of 12th century.

Naxos' population is transferred to the northwest in the main Greece. So, it is created the town of Grotta about at 1000 B.C.

The 7th century B.C., it was created a society with rich people who lived, up on the hill where today is the Castle of Chora. The people had been living from agriculture, cattle, fishery and commerce. At 734 B.C. gives its fleet to Chalkida for sending settlers to the West and in return gives its name to one from the new towns. So, it arises Naxos, in Sicily. Many battles took place against the island around and particularly, against Paros. At one of them, it was killed the great poet of Paros, Arhilohos.

The worship in the religious centre of Delos affected Naxos. The old buildings and the most important offerings in Delos, come from Naxos. The municipality of Naxos dedicates valuable monuments to Apollo of Delos, as the Sphinx. The marble is a plentiful material in Naxos and it is extracted in Delos for the large labours. For the final smoothing of these labours it is used the emery, principal product of Naxos.

In Naxos we find male and feminine nude statues as: Artemis of the National museum (about 650 B.C.), the marble Apollo in Delos, the huge lions in Delos as also the two Kouros in Melanes and Dionysus in Apolonas with length of 10 metres. The most important building in the sacred island is the house of the Naxos' people.

**Illustration:** ***Dimosthenis Vasiloudis***

The Mycenaean Word 'DAMOS': Its Importance and its Connection with the Classic Greek 'Demos' (municipality)

February 25, 2022

By Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

Mycenaean Linear B script, the earliest form of Greek that we have any record of, is a truly fascinating artifact from antiquity. Developed around 1450 BCE in the Late Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization, Linear B evolved from the earlier Linear A script, used by the Minoan civilization. However, while Linear A remains largely undeciphered, Linear B was successfully deciphered in the mid-20th century by the British architect and cryptographer Michael Ventris. Unlike its predecessor, Linear B is not an ideographic script but rather a syllabic script used primarily for administrative purposes, such as recording transactions and inventory. It provides a unique window into the economic, social, and religious life of Mycenaean society, long before the classical era of Greece.

The Linear B inscriptions in Knossos and Pylos were interpreted to contain the Mycenaean-Greek term "damos" (da-mo). The phrase most likely relates to split collective landowners or to groups of people living in a rural farming community. According to the palace records that have been found so far, the term "forest" refers to a particular group of landowners or landowners who control the cultivation of large tracts of land and sell a portion of the produce to the wa-na-ka, ra-wa-ke-ta, and other officials of the palace in exchange for their services. The da-mo, an organized group of the people-community, served as the inspiration for the potential ra-wa-ke-ta military corps.

Damos and telestai (te-re-ta, "master of ceremonies") are also used interchangeably, indicating that perhaps landowners occasionally served as the people's representative. Damokoro, a compound adjective made from the Mycenaean words for municipality and the ko-re-te, was one of the axioms described in Pylos (governor). The damokoro were representatives chosen by the wanaka (supreme king). The term kerosija, which is etymologically related to the senates (gerousia) of classical Athens and Sparta, is only referenced once. The senate must have been a municipal council that gathered under the toparch during the Mycenaean era.

The term is connected to the later Doric Greek type "δᾶμoς" (damos) of the Ionian word "δῆμος" (demos) according to linguists. However, there is currently no proof that the term may have had political significance during the Mycenaean palace period, unlike in the later Archaic and Classical periods, when it also had the meaning of "ordinary people" (who did not come from an aristocratic race), the democratic portion in an ancient city, and the assembly of citizens, in addition to its significance for provincial or country land.

Ancient Greek Demos and Political Organization of Attica

The municipality (ancient Greek: δῆμoς) referred to the assembly of inhabitants as the main political body and later the administrative division of ancient Attica, the continuation of which is today's Attica, a region of Greece. Demes appear to have existed as rudimentary rural land divisions as early as the 6th century BC, but it wasn't until Cleisthenes' reforms in 508 BC that they really took on any significance. Prior to those changes, citizenship was determined by membership in a phratry, or familial group.

As a result of those changes, citizenship is now dependent on enrollment in the citizen lists of a state. At the end of Cleisthenes' reforms, Attica was divided into 139 demes, to which can be added Berenikidai (established in 224/223 BC), Apollonieis (201/200 BC), and Antinoeis (added in 126/127 BC). At the same time, demes were established in Attica's capital city itself, where they had not previously existed. The introduction of demes as the primary political subdivisions of the state reduced the genealogies, or aristocratic family groups, that had previously dominated the phratries.

Map of demes and tribes. Each color stands for one of the 10 tribes, each mark for an individual deme.

A deme served as a kind of smaller polis, and some demes, like Eleusis and Acharnae, were in reality important cities. There were numerous other civil, religious, and military functionaries in different demes, and each deme had a demarchos who oversaw its operations. Demes held their own religious celebrations and made money to spend.

The 10 tribes, or phylai, of Athens were formed by combining demes from the same region to form trittyes, bigger population groups. There was one tritty in each tribe, one from the city, one from the coast, and one from the interior.

New York: 55 Greek Antiquities Return to their Country of Origin

February 25, 2022

Today is the "Nostimon Imar" (νόστιμον ἦμαρ, “day of homecoming” in Homer's Odyssey), the sweet day of returning home after years of wandering, deals between illegal owners, fake purchase documents. But the antiquities always keep their truth, a truth intertwined with the history of the place that gave birth to them ".

With these words, the Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni received yesterday in New York in a special ceremony that took place in the Manhattan Prosecutor's Office the stolen antiquities that were in the hands of the collector Michael Steinhard as well as some more, coming from another investigation.

In total, 55 archeological finds of high art with historical and symbolic value return from New York to Greece, 47 of them were confiscated by Steinhardt and eight of the Prehistoric era from Thessaly.

The Greek antiquities were handed over by the new Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg, who expressed his enthusiasm for his contribution to the completion of this investigation, awarding the credit to the team of Greek expatriates, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Boctus Homeland Security Service Ricky Patel, emphasizing his appreciation for Greece and the Greek Minister of Culture.

He even described the team of Mathios Bogdanos as a "dream team", which, as he said, is synonymous with this research.

"It is my honor," he said in his address, "that I am here and to be a part of this work. Thank you for the very good work our partners, special agent Ricky Patel and of course our international partner. Madam Minister, it is a great privilege for us that you have trusted us and that we have you here and also that we are returning these archeological findings to you. Also to mention Matthew Bogdano and his team, which is synonymous with this research. "It's a dream team."

Loud message

In the "methodical and tireless effort" on the part of the Attorney General, with a special reference to both Alvin Bragg and his predecessor, Cyrus Vance, Mrs. Mendoni mentioned also in her speech.

In addition, she spoke warmly about Matthew Bogdanos and the contribution of the services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, which provided key information that allowed the full documentation of the projects in the context of this difficult investigation.

"Your huge success," she said, "is not only the antiquities returning to their countries of origin, including Greece, but the loud message to all those involved in the illicit trafficking of cultural goods, that sooner or later the time will come , that their illegal transactions will be revealed and they themselves will be confronted with the consequences of their actions ".

Ms. Mendoni also expressed her belief that "the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property is won with patience, perseverance and method, but above all with the close cooperation of people, institutions and states that consciously fight against the great crime of antiquity."

"The illegal trafficking of the cultural treasures of our country is a serious trauma that hurts all Greeks around the world."

'Discovering Sparta': A Unique Digital Representation of Ancient Sparta based on Pausanias Descriptions!

February 18, 2022

In 2021, a uniquely wonderful 3D animation video was posted on the internet entitled: ‘Discovering Sparta’, in which its creator under the pseudonym flipped prof, based on the descriptions of the traveler Pausanias, makes a digital representation of ancient Sparta, with the form of a trek, presenting the city, its monuments and heroes.

FlippedProf is a multidisciplinary multimedia platform curated by Italian professor Marco Mellace, lecturer at the IIS Technical Institute Luca Paciolo, who is also the creator of animation video for the needs of digital support of students' learning processes.

In the middle of the 2nd AD. century (period of decline of Sparta), the traveler Pausanias, although he records, as he states, only the most remarkable monuments of the city, the number he mentions is impressive:

"In the area of the city within the walls it mentions 63 temples, sanctuaries and mosques, 20 heroes, 22 tombs of important men, 24 statues of gods and statues of heroes, 2 galleries, the Agora with its buildings, many squares and public spaces, etc.

Statuses of Thanatos (Death), Hypnos (Sleep) and Aphrodite. The Greek poet Hesiod established in his Theogony that Thánatos is a son of Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) and twin of Hypnos (Sleep).

So the stereotype of the militarized city could be overcome and through my three-dimensional reconstruction I can now get a real idea of what Sparta might have been like (…) I might not have imagined it that way as a child, but I always suspected that Sparta was an amazing city!'“

Argos, Greece: A Copy of the Magnificent 'Farnese Hercules' Statue was placed in the most central part of the town

February 18, 2022

The Statue of Hercules was placed yesterday in Agios Petros Square, in the most central part of Argos, in front of the old town hall!

This is an exact copy of the statue created by the ancient Greek sculptor Lysippos. Hercules of Lysippos (also known as Farnese Hercules [Italian: Ercole Farnese]) is a statue in one of the most famous depictions of the demigod Hercules. The astonishing style and posture of the body to create this special and unique morphological rendering of the human body, the so-called opposite or cross posture, which is the posture of the body in sculpture.

It was first attributed in the middle of the 5th century BC. by Greek sculptors of the strict rhythm, in the prominent sculptural arrangement of the body according to which the human form is positioned so that the weight falls on one leg releasing the other which is bent at the knee, this "calm force" that became symbolic in world art.

It was copied, probably under magnification, as some report, by Glykonas the Athenian for the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. This copy of the Athenian Glykonas was found there in the year 1545. Here Lysippos presents us in a stop after a feat where, here are the apples of Hesperides and he holds them in his hand. It is the last feat and Hercules of the Greeks is presented here with a feeling of tiredness after the Twelve Feats.

Statue of Herakles at rest carrying fruit in his right hand. Roman copy of the Imperial era after a Greek original of the Early Hellenistic era; the left forearm is restored in plaster.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples

The Mayor of Argos-Mycenae Dimitris Kamposos wrote: "Hercules has returned to his homeland! An exact copy of the statue of Hercules created by the great ancient sculptor Lysippos, adorns the center of the oldest city in Europe from today! "

Illustration: Paweł Moszczyński for Mówią Wieki Magazine, Feb. 2010.

The Hellenistic Giant Galley 'Tessarakonteres', one of the largest human-powered vessels in history!

February 14, 2022

The Early Successors of Alexander gave a boost in the use and the development of the polyeres-type warships (multimeremes), using them widely in their wars (321 BC – early 3rd century BC). The Successors have built fleets comprised of numerous large warships, reaching the building of colossal vessels such as the ‘eikoseres’ (20reme, with twenty oarsmen on each vertical group of oars) and the enormous ‘tessarakonteres’ (40reme, with forty oarsmen on each vertical group of oars). These warships resembled to floating fortresses, very similar in size to the modern large battleships and aircraft carriers. The tessarakonteres had a crew of 6.000 men (officers, oarsmen, sailors, marines and others), as many as a modern aircraft carrier.

Tessarakonteres (Greek: τεσσαρακοντήρης, "forty-rowed"), or simply "forty" was a very large catamaran galley reportedly built in the Hellenistic period by Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt. It was described by a number of ancient sources, including a lost work by Callixenus of Rhodes and surviving texts by Athenaeus and Plutarch. According to these descriptions, supported by modern research by Lionel Casson, the enormous size of the vessel made it impractical and it was built only as a prestige vessel, rather than an effective warship.

The name "forty" refers not to the number of oars, but to the number of rowers on each column of oars that propelled it, and at the size described it would have been the largest ship constructed in antiquity, and probably the largest human-powered vessel ever built.

Speculative illustration of the Tessarakonteres with catamaran hulls

The maximum practical number of oar ranks a ship could have logistically was three (Greek and Latin tri-). Beyond three, the number in the type name did not refer to the number of ranks of oars any more (as for biremes and triremes, respectively two and three ranks of oars with one rower per oar), but to the number of rowers per vertical section, with several men on each oar. Indeed, just because a ship was designated with a larger type number did not mean it necessarily had or operated all three possible ranks: the quadrireme may have been a simple evolution of a standard trireme, but with two rowers on the top oar; it may also have been a bireme with two men on each oar; or it may just have had a single rank with four men on a each single oar. Classes of ship could differ in their configuration between regions and over time, but in no case did a "four" ship have four horizontal ranks of oars.

Depiction of the position of the rowers in three different levels (from top: *thranitai*, *zygitai* and *thalamitai*) in a Greek trireme.

As a catamaran of two "twentys" with 4,000 oarsmen, there would be 2,000 per hull and therefore 1,000 per side. The 130m length would allow ample room for the 50 vertical sections of three oars each, with each vertical section accommodating 20 rowers (hence the designation "twenty"). Thus there would be 150 oars per side. Casson has suggested that it was possible that the two internal sides were not equipped with oars and that the rowers there acted as reserve crew for those on the outer side, so the "forty" would have had either 300 or 600 oars.

PROCESS of alphabets

From Phoenician to Etruscan.

The Very First Alphabet Scripts of Eastern Mediterranean and Europe: Phoenician - Euboean - Etruscan

February 13, 2022

A script is any particular system of writing or the written means of human communication. It is also a kind of early human technology, a basic form of communication that began simply as lists of goods and evolved into a more sophisticated means of conveying thoughts and feelings, and this, in time, became the script in which the literature of the culture was set down.

The Phoenician alphabet

The Phoenician alphabet is an alphabet (more specifically, an abjad) known in modern times from the Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions found across the Mediterranean region.

The Phoenician alphabet is also called the Early Linear script (in a Semitic context, not connected to Minoan writing systems) because it is an early development of the pictographic Proto- or Old Canaanite script into a linear, alphabetic script, also marking the transfer from a multi-directional writing system, where a variety of writing directions occurred, to a regulated horizontal, right-to-left script. Its immediate predecessor, the Proto-Canaanite, Old Canaanite or early West Semitic alphabet, used in the final stages of the Late Bronze Age, first in Canaan and then in the Syro-Hittite kingdoms, is the oldest fully matured alphabet, thought to be derived from Egyptian hieroglyphs.

"Phoenician proper" consists of 22 consonant letters only, leaving vowel sounds implicit—in other words, it is an abjad—although certain late varieties use matres lectionis for some vowels. As the letters were originally incised with a stylus, they are mostly angular and straight, although cursive versions steadily gained popularity, culminating in the Neo-Punic alphabet of Roman-era North Africa. Phoenician was usually written right to left, though some texts alternate directions (boustrophedon).

Beginning in the 9th century BC, adaptations of the Phoenician alphabet thrived, including Greek, Old Italic, and Anatolian scripts. The alphabet's attractive innovation was its phonetic nature, in which one sound was represented by one symbol, which meant only a few dozen symbols to learn. The other scripts of the time, cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, employed many complex characters and required long professional training to achieve proficiency, which restricted literacy to a small elite.

Another reason for its success was the maritime trading culture of Phoenician merchants, which spread the alphabet into parts of North Africa and Southern Europe. Phoenician inscriptions have been found in archaeological sites at a number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and Carthage in North Africa. Later finds indicate earlier use in Egypt.

The alphabet had long-term effects on the social structures of the civilizations that came into contact with it. Its simplicity not only allowed its easy adaptation to multiple languages, but it also allowed the common people to learn how to write. This upset the long-standing status of literacy as an exclusive achievement of royal and religious elites—scribes who used their monopoly on information to control the common population.

The Euboean alphabet

The Euboean alphabet was a western variant of the early Greek alphabet, used between the 8th and 5th centuries BC. It was used in the island of Euboea (notably the cities of Eretria and Chalkis) and in related colonies in southern Italy, notably in Cumae and in Pithikoussai. It was through this variant that the Greek alphabet was transmitted to Italy, giving rise to the Old Italic alphabets, including Etruscan, and ultimately the Latin alphabet. Some of the distinctive features of Latin as compared to the standard Greek script are already present in the Euboean model. In Greece, this and other local variants were replaced by the standard Greek alphabet, which is based on eastern Ionic Greek variants from the 4th century BC.

Euboean alphabet tended to use certain variant forms of the standard letters, several of which also foreshadowed the forms adopted by the Italic scripts. Γ was written like a (rounded or pointed) Latin C. Δ was written with the left edge vertical and the other two sides oblique, like a pointed Latin D. Λ was often written more like a Latin L, with a rightward hook at the bottom. Π was often written with a rounded top, approaching the shape of Latin P (but without the curve touching the vertical stem in the middle). Ρ, in turn, often had a downward tail, resembling Latin R.

The Marsiliana abecedarium (ca. 700 BC) shows an archaic variant of the Etruscan alphabet practically identical to the Western Greek alphabet, except for the presence of a Ξ or Samek.

Apart from the omission of samek (Ξ) and the addition of ΥΧΦΨ, the alphabet is identical to the Phoenician alphabet.

The Etruscan alphabet

The Etruscan alphabet was the alphabet used by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization of central and northern Italy, to write their language from about 700 BC to sometime around 100 AD.

The Etruscan alphabet derives from the Euboean alphabet used in the Greek colonies in southern Italy, which belonged to the "western" ("red") type, the so-called Western Greek alphabet. Several Old Italic scripts, including the Latin alphabet, derived from it (or simultaneously with it).

The Etruscan alphabet originated as an adaptation of the Euboean alphabet used by the Euboean Greeks in their first colonies in Italy, the island of Pithekoussai, and the city of Cumae in Campania. In the alphabets of the West, X had the sound value [ks], and Ψ stood for [kʰ]; in Etruscan, X = [s], Ψ = [kʰ] or [kχ] (Rix 202–209).

The earliest known Etruscan abecedarium is inscribed on the frame of a wax tablet in ivory, measuring 8.8×5 cm, found at Marsiliana (near Grosseto, Tuscany). It dates from about 700 BC and lists 26 letters corresponding to contemporary forms of the Greek alphabet, including digamma, san, and qoppa, but not omega, which had still not been added at the time.

The shapes of the Archaic Etruscan and Neo-Etruscan letters had a few variants, used in different places and/or in different epochs. Notably, opposite letters were used for /s/ and /ʃ/, depending on the locality. Shown above are the glyphs from the Unicode Old Italic block, whose appearance will depend on the font used by the browser. These are oriented as they would be in lines written from left to right. Also shown are SVG images of variants shown as they would be written right to left, as in most of the actual inscriptions.

Lord's Byron Graffiti in The Temple of Sounio in Greece

February 4, 2022

Lord Byron was a British Romantic poet and satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. Although made famous by the autobiographical poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–18)—and his many love affairs—he is perhaps better known today for the satiric realism of Don Juan (1819–24).

The reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi

He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a folk hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi.

It is also known that Lord Byron had inscribed his name on the columns of the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion.

The inscribed name possibly dates from his first visit to Greece, on his Grand Tour of Europe before he acquired fame. Byron spent several months in 1810–11 in Athens, including two documented visits to Sounion. There is, however, no direct evidence that the inscription was made by Byron himself. Byron mentions Sounion in his poem Isles of Greece:

"Place me on Sunium's marbled steep,
Where nothing, save the waves and I,
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep..."

While graffiti is unacceptable on any public monument , Byron did pay for weapons for the Greek Revolution and would eventually "die for Greece".

At the end of the Sounio Peninsula at the southernmost point of Attica, lies the Temple of Poseidon within a fort that protects the coast of Attica. Made entirely of white marble, it was erected in the middle of the 5th century BC and built to honour Poseidon, god of the sea.

**Illustration by** **Dimosthenis Vasiloudis**

Did Classical Greeks Know About their Earlier 'Linear B' Writing System?

January 28, 2022

By Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

Did classical Greece remember its Linear B heritage?

The Linear B writing system is an ancient script used by the Mycenaean Greeks from around 1450 to 1200 BC, a period which predates the later classical Greek civilization. The script was deciphered in the 20th century by British archaeologist Michael Ventris, and it was found to be an early form of the Greek language. But did the ancient Greeks of the classical period know about this earlier script? In this article, we will explore this question by delving into a fascinating story recounted by Plutarch about the tomb of Alcmene, mother of Hercules, and the discovery made by Agesilaus of Sparta (444–360 BC).

The Tomb of Alcmene and The Discovery of a ‘Bronze Tablet’

According to Greek mythology, Alcmene was the mortal mother of the demigod Hercules, who was fathered by Zeus. Her tomb was said to be located in the ancient city of Haliartus in Boeotia. Diodoros Siculus (5.57.3–5) and Plutarch (De Genio Socratis 577e–579b) give us some interesting stories about the very first writing system of the Greeks and tell us a story about Agesilaus, the king of Sparta, who visited the tomb while on a campaign against Thebes in 370 BC.

According to Plutarch, when Agesilaus of Sparta (444–360 BC) opened the tomb of Alcmene, mother of Hercules, located at Haliartos city in Boeotia, he and his men discovered a bronze tablet engraved with peculiar letters. Plutarch describes these symbols as "very ancient" and "barbaric" letters (“ἔχων γράμματα πολλὰ θαυμαστὰ ὡς παμπάλαια... αλλ' ίδιος τις ο τύπος και βαρβαρικός των χαρακτήρων”) that Agesilaus had to send to Egypt for decipherment. It is speculated that these symbols might have been an example of the Linear B writing system.

Agesilaus, who was an educated man and well-versed in the Greek language, found these symbols unfamiliar and indecipherable. The Egyptians' answer was not very convincing, so apparently they could not read the inscribed text.

Could this tablet be inscribed with Linear B characters?

Linear B was used primarily for administrative purposes in the Mycenaean palatial centers, such as Knossos and Pylos. The symbols on the bronze tablet found in Alcmene's tomb might be an example of this ancient script. If so, it is likely that Agesilaus and the ancient Greeks of his time were unaware of their civilization's earlier writing system.

Echoes of Oblivion: The Catastrophic Flood Described by Diodorus Siculus and its Impact on Ancient Civilizations

There is also the testimony of Diodoros Siculus, who talks to us about the lost knowledge of writing during a big flood that took place in prehistoric Greece. Diodorus Siculus was a first-century BC Greek historian, known for his extensive work, "Bibliotheca Historica," a universal history from mythological times to 60 BC. In his narratives, he recounted a significant flood event that allegedly wiped out almost all written documents and records, leading to an immense loss of historical knowledge and collective memory.

In his accounts, Diodorus spoke of a catastrophic flood, a deluge of epic proportions that wreaked havoc on ancient civilizations. This flood was said to be so devastating that it destroyed nearly all written monuments and records of the time. The devastation wrought by this flood not only resulted in material loss, but also led to a significant loss of cultural and historical memory. Entire civilizations were reduced to ruins, and their histories were lost to the abyss of time.

Diodorus Siculus also mentioned that the Athenians, despite being the founders of the city of Saïs in Egypt, were ignorant of their own history due to the effects of this flood. Saïs was an ancient Egyptian city located in the western Nile Delta. It is known to have had strong connections with ancient Greek civilization. The Athenians, being influential in Saïs's establishment, should ideally have had an extensive record of their interactions and achievements. However, the cataclysmic flood erased this part of their history, leaving them, like other civilizations affected by the disaster, oblivious to their historical achievements.

The flood that Diodorus Siculus spoke of had such a profound impact on the ancient world that it upended civilizations, obliterating their histories, and leading to an era of historical and cultural amnesia. This account is a poignant reminder of the fragility of human history and the consequences of natural disasters on our collective memory.

These accounts, however, must be read critically. While Diodorus Siculus' narrative provides a compelling view of an ancient catastrophe, it's important to remember that his writings are based on various sources and hearsay. His reports are yet to be validated by tangible archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, his accounts provide a fascinating glimpse into the understanding of ancient civilizations and their perception of catastrophic events.

Excerpt from the work of Diodoros Siculus about the Heliades Tenages and Actis:

[5.57.2] The most highly endowed of them by nature was Tenages, who was slain by his brothers because of their envy of him; but when their treacherous act became known, all who had had a hand in the murder took flight. Of their number Macar came to Lesbos, and Candalus to Cos; and Actis, sailing off to Egypt, founded there the city men call Heliopolis, naming it after his father; and it was from him that the Egyptians learned the laws of astrology.

[5.57.3] But when at a later time there came a flood among the Greeks and the majority of mankind perished by reason of the abundance of rain, it came to pass that all written monuments were also destroyed in the same manner as mankind;
[5.57.4] and this is the reason why the Egyptians, seizing the favourable occasion, appropriated themselves the knowledge of astrology, and why, since the Greeks, because of their ignorance, no longer laid any claim to writing, the belief prevailed that the Egyptians were the first men to effect the discover of the stars.
[5.57.5] Likewise the Athenians, although they were the founders of the city in Egypt men call Saïs, suffered from the same ignorance because of the flood. And it was because of reasons such as these that many generations later men supposed that Cadmus, the son of Agenor, had been the first to bring the letters from Phoenicia to Greece; and after the time of Cadmus onwards the Greeks were believed to have kept making new discoveries in the science of writing, since a sort of general ignorance of the facts possessed by the Greeks.

'Theoi': The Greek Term that Refers to Gods till Today, Found in Myceanaean Linear B Tablets!

January 21, 2022

By Dimosthenis Vasiloudis

Emerging from the Mycenaean civilization around 1450 BCE, Linear B stands as an invaluable artifact and the earliest deciphered form of the Greek language. The evolution of Minoan Linear A and Linear B's status remained a mystery until the mid-20th century, when British cryptographer Michael Ventris unlocked their secrets. Unlike the still-mysterious Linear A, Linear B was used primarily for administrative tasks, detailing transactions, and keeping inventory within the Mycenaean society. The wealth of information it provides allows us a unique look into the economic, religious, and societal structures of the Late Bronze Age in Greece.

The Greek term “Gods," which refers to the supernatural beings of ancient Greek worship and is still used today by modern Greeks, is found since prehistoric times in Linear B tablets of the Mycenaean period in Knossos.

3 alternatives in Minoan Linear A for *pasiteoi* = “to all the gods” in Mycenaean Greek

The concept of "pasi/pantes theoi" [pa-si-te-o-i], “to all the gods,” as deciphered in specific tablets referring to worship practices exclusively of Knossos, refers theonymically to a set of deities that probably contain the whole of the Minoan "pantheon." According to the researchers, this report bears similarities with similar practices in the Near East, which use similar reports to appease foreign or non-local deities. Evidence of the continuity of the Minoan religion (or at least the worship of the Minoan gods) during the Mycenaean period in Knossos may be found here as well.

A fresco at Mycenae showing a ritual, a priestess in a cape holds a sword while another across from her holds a spear, two small men hover between them. In the lower panel a priestess is attended by a griffin. 1,400-1,200 BC.

In Homer there are also many references to "all Gods", but only in the religious comparison of Hellenistic civilization do we see a special cult that addresses all the gods, especially in the region of Asia Minor.

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *tʰehós (whence also Mycenaean Greek [te-o]), a thematicization of Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁s, from *dʰeh₁- (“to do, to put, to place”) + *-s. Cognate with Phrygian δεως (deōs, “to the gods”), Old Armenian դիք (dikʿ, “pagan gods”) and Latin fēriae (“festival days”), fānum (“temple”) and fēstus (“festive”).

Despite its superficial similarity in form and meaning, the word is not related to Latin deus; the two come from different roots. A true cognate of deus is Ζεύς (Zeús).

The Greek deities Athena and Hera as depicted in mycenaean religious art

Main drive wheel of the Antikythera mechanism, as seen in a photograph of its present state. Credit: 2005 National Archaeological Museum in Athens

The Antikythera Calculation Mechanism Reveals New Secrets

January 13, 2022

Scientists have a new understanding of the mysterious Antikythera mechanism that challenges assumptions about ancient technology

In 1900 diver Elias Stadiatis, clad in a copper and brass helmet and a heavy canvas suit, emerged from the sea shaking in fear and mumbling about a “heap of dead naked people.” He was among a group of Greek divers from the Eastern Mediterranean island of Symi who were searching for natural sponges. They had sheltered from a violent storm near the tiny island of Antikythera, between Crete and mainland Greece. When the storm subsided, they dived for sponges and chanced on a shipwreck full of Greek treasures—the most significant wreck from the ancient world to have been found up to that point. The “dead naked people” were marble sculptures scattered on the seafloor, along with many other artifacts. Soon after, their discovery prompted the first major underwater archaeological dig in history.

One object recovered from the site, a lump the size of a large dictionary, initially escaped notice amid more exciting finds. Months later, however, at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the lump broke apart, revealing bronze precision gearwheels the size of coins. According to historical knowledge at the time, gears like these should not have appeared in ancient Greece, or anywhere else in the world, until many centuries after the shipwreck. The find generated huge controversy.

The lump is known as the Antikythera mechanism, an extraordinary object that has befuddled historians and scientists for more than 120 years. Over the decades the original mass split into 82 fragments, leaving a fiendishly difficult jigsaw puzzle for researchers to put back together. The device appears to be a geared astronomical calculation machine of immense complexity. Today we have a reasonable grasp of some of its workings, but there are still unsolved mysteries. We know it is at least as old as the shipwreck it was found in, which has been dated to between 60 and 70 B.C.E., but other evidence suggests it may have been made around 200 B.C.E.

In March 2021 my group at University College London, known as the UCL Antikythera Research Team, published a new analysis of the machine. The team includes me (a mathematician and filmmaker); Adam Wojcik (a materials scientist); Lindsay MacDonald (an imaging scientist); Myrto Georgakopoulou (an archaeometallurgist); and two graduate students, David Higgon (a horologist) and Aris Dacanalis (a physicist). Our paper posits a new explanation for the gearing on the front of the mechanism, where the evidence had previously been unresolved. We now have an even better appreciation for the sophistication of the device—an understanding that challenges many of our preconceptions about the technological capabilities of the ancient Greeks.

ANCIENT ASTRONOMY

We know the Greeks of that era were accomplished naked-eye astronomers. They viewed the night sky from a geocentric perspective—every night, as Earth turned on its axis, they saw the dome of stars rotating. The stars’ relative positions remained unchanged, so the Greeks called them the “fixed stars.” These early astronomers also saw bodies moving against the background of stars: the moon goes through a rotation against the stars every 27.3 days; the sun takes a year.

The other moving bodies are the planets, named “wanderers” by the Greeks because of their erratic motions. They were the deepest problem for astronomy at the time. Scientists wondered what they were and noticed that sometimes the wanderers move in the same direction as the sun—in “prograde” motion—then come to a stop and reverse direction to move in “retrograde.” After a while they reach another stationary point and resume prograde motion again. These rotations are called the synodic cycles of the planets—their cycles relative to the sun. The seemingly strange reversals happen because, as we know now, the planets orbit the sun—not, as the ancient Greeks believed, Earth.

In modern terms, all the moving astronomical bodies have orbits close to the plane of Earth’s motion around the sun—the so-called ecliptic—meaning that they all follow much the same path through the stars. Predicting the positions of the planets along the ecliptic was very difficult for early astronomers. This task, it turns out, was one of the primary functions of the Antikythera mechanism. Another function was to track the positions of the sun and moon, which also have variable motions against the stars.

*The Antikythera mechanism, with its precision gears bearing teeth about a millimeter long, is completely unlike anything else from the ancient world.*

Much of the mechanism’s design relies on wisdom from earlier Middle Eastern scientists. Astronomy in particular went through a transformation during the first millennium B.C.E. in Babylon and Uruk (both in modern-day Iraq). The Babylonians recorded the daily positions of the astronomical bodies on clay tablets, which revealed that the sun, moon and planets moved in repeating cycles—a fact that was critical for making predictions. The moon, for instance, goes through 254 cycles against the backdrop of the stars every 19 years—an example of a so-called period relation. The Antikythera mechanism’s design uses several of the Babylonian period relations.

One of the central researchers in the early years of Antikythera research was German philologist Albert Rehm, the first person to understand the mechanism as a calculating machine. Between 1905 and 1906 he made crucial discoveries that he recorded in his unpublished research notes. He found, for instance, the number 19 inscribed on one of the surviving Antikythera fragments. This figure was a reference to the 19-year period relation of the moon known as the Metonic cycle, named after Greek astronomer Meton but discovered much earlier by the Babylonians. On the same fragment, Rehm found the numbers 76, a Greek refinement of the 19-year cycle, and 223, for the number of lunar months in a Babylonian eclipse-prediction cycle called the saros cycle. These repeating astronomical cycles were the driving force behind Babylonian predictive astronomy.

Credit: Tony Freeth and Jen Christiansen (*graphic*), UCL Antikythera Research Team (*model*)

The second key figure in the history of Antikythera research was British physicist turned historian of science Derek J. de Solla Price. In 1974, after 20 years of research, he published an important paper, “Gears from the Greeks.” It referred to remarkable quotations by Roman lawyer, orator and politician Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.). One of these described a machine made by mathematician and inventor Archimedes (circa 287–212 B.C.E.) “on which were delineated the motions of the sun and moon and of those five stars which are called wanderers ... (the five planets) ... Archimedes ... had thought out a way to represent accurately by a single device for turning the globe those various and divergent movements with their different rates of speed.” This machine sounds just like the Antikythera mechanism. The passage suggests that Archimedes, although he lived before we believe the device was built, might have founded the tradition that led to the Antikythera mechanism. It may well be that the Antikythera mechanism was based on a design by Archimedes.

FIENDISHLY COMPLEX

For decades researchers were stuck trying to decipher the workings of the device by looking at the surface of its disintegrating fragments. In the early 1970s they finally got to peek inside. Price worked with Greek radiologist Charalambos Karakalos to obtain x-ray scans of the fragments. To their astonishment, the researchers found 30 distinct gears: 27 in the largest fragment and one each in three others. Karakalos, with his wife, Emily, was able to estimate the tooth counts of the gearwheels for the first time, a critical step in understanding what the mechanism calculated. The machine was looking more complicated than anyone had conceived.

The x-ray scans were two-dimensional, meaning that the structure of the gearing appeared flattened, and they revealed only partial pictures of most of the gears. Scientists could only infer the number of teeth on many of the gears. Despite these shortcomings, Price identified a gear train—a set of linked gears—that calculated the average position of the moon on any specific date by using its period relation of 254 sidereal rotations in 19 years. Driven by a prominent feature on the front of the mechanism called the main drive wheel, this gear train starts with a 38-tooth gear (two times 19, as a gear with just 19 teeth would be a bit too small). This 38-tooth gear drives (via some other gears) a 127-tooth gear (half of 254; the full number would require too large a gear).

It seems that the device could be used to predict the positions of the sun, moon and planets on any specific day in the past or future. The maker of the machine would have had to calibrate it with the known positions of these bodies. A user could then simply turn a crank to the desired time frame to see astronomical predictions. The mechanism displayed positions, for instance, on a “zodiac dial” on the front of the mechanism, where the ecliptic was divided into a dozen 30-degree sections representing the constellations of the zodiac. Based on the x-ray data, Price developed a complete model of all the gearing on the device.

Price’s model was my introduction to the Antikythera mechanism. My first paper, in fact, “Challenging the Classic Research,” was a comprehensive demolition of most of Price’s proposed gearing structure for the machine. Nevertheless, Price correctly determined the relative positions of the major fragments and defined the overall architecture of the machine, with date and zodiac dials at the front and two large dial systems at the back. Price’s achievements were a significant step in decoding the Antikythera mystery.

A third key figure in the history of Antikythera research is Michael Wright, a former curator of mechanical engineering at London’s Science Museum. In collaboration with Australian professor of computer science Alan G. Bromley, Wright carried out a second x-ray study of the mechanism in 1990 using an early 3-D x-ray technique called linear tomography. Bromley died before this work bore fruit, but Wright was persistent, making important advances, for example, in identifying the crucial tooth counts of the gears and in understanding the upper dial on the back of the device.

In 2000 I proposed the third x-ray study, which was carried out in 2005 by a team of academics from England and Greece in collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. X-Tek Systems (now owned by Nikon) developed a prototype x-ray machine to take high-resolution 3-D x-ray images using microfocus x-ray computed tomography (x-ray CT). Hewlett-Packard used a brilliant digital imaging technique called polynomial texture mapping for enhancing surface details.

The new data surprised us. The first major breakthrough was my discovery that the mechanism predicted eclipses in addition to the motions of the astronomical bodies. This finding was connected to the inscription Rehm had found that mentioned the 223-month saros eclipse cycle. The new x-rays revealed a large, 223-tooth gear at the rear of the mechanism that turns a pointer around a dial that spirals out, making four turns in total that are divided into 223 sections, for 223 months. Named after the customary name of the Babylonian eclipse cycle, the saros dial predicts which months will feature eclipses, along with characteristics of each eclipse as described by inscriptions in the mechanism. The finding revealed an impressive new feature of the device, but it left a massive problem: a group of four gears lying within the circumference of the large gear that appeared to have no function.

It took months to understand these gears. When I did, the results were astonishing. These gears turned out to calculate the variable motion of the moon in a very beautiful way. In modern terms, the moon has variable motion because it has an elliptical orbit: when it is farther from Earth, it moves more slowly against the stars; when it is closer, it moves more quickly. The moon’s orbit, however, is not fixed in space: the whole orbit rotates in a period of just under nine years. The ancient Greeks did not know about elliptical orbits, but they explained the moon’s subtle motion by combining two circular motions in what is called an epicyclic theory.

I figured out how the mechanism calculated the epicyclic theory by building on a remarkable observation by Wright. He had studied two of the four mysterious gears at the back of the mechanism. He saw that one of them has a pin on its face that engages with a slot on the other gear. It might seem to be a useless arrangement because the gears will surely just turn together at the same rate. But Wright noticed that the gears turn on different axes separated by just over a millimeter, meaning that the system generates variable motion. All these details appear in the x-ray CT scan. The axes of the gears are not fixed—they are mounted epicyclically on the large 223-tooth gear.

Wright discarded the idea that these gears calculated the moon’s variable motion because in his model, the 223-tooth gear turned much too fast for it to make sense. But in my model, the 223-tooth gear rotates very slowly to turn the pointer for the saros dial. Calculating the epicyclic theory of the moon with epicyclic pin-and-slot gears in this subtle and indirect way was an extraordinary conception by the ancient Greeks. This ingenuity reinforces the idea that the machine was designed by Archimedes. This research on the back dials and gearing completed our understanding of the back of the mechanism, reconciling all the evidence to date. My colleagues and I published our findings in 2006 in Nature. The other side of the device, however, was still very much a mystery.

Hidden message: X-ray CT scans made in 2005 revealed previously unseen inscriptions on the Antikythera mechanism, including a list of planetary cycles on the front cover (*shown here*) and a “user's manual” on the back cover. Credit: © 2005 Nikon X-Tek Systems

THE FRONT OF THE MECHANISM

The most prominent feature of the front of the largest fragment is the main drive wheel, which was designed to rotate once a year. It is not a flat disc like most of the other gears; this one has four spokes and is covered in puzzling features. The spokes show evidence that they held bearings: there are circular holes in them for turning axles. The outer edge of the gear contains a ring of pillars—little fingers that stick up perpendicularly, with shoulders and pierced ends that were clearly intended to carry plates. Four short pillars held a rectangular plate, and four long pillars held a circular plate.

Following Price, Wright proposed that an extensive epicyclic system—the two-circles idea the Greeks used to explain the odd reversing motions of the planets—had been mounted on the main drive wheel. Wright even constructed an actual model gearing system in brass to show how it worked. In 2002 he published a groundbreaking planetarium model for the Antikythera mechanism that displayed all five planets known in the ancient world. (The discovery of Uranus and Neptune in the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively, required the advent of telescopes.) Wright showed that the epicyclic theories could be translated into epicyclic gear trains with pin-and-slot mechanisms to display the planets’ variable motions.

When I first saw Wright’s model, I was shocked by its mechanical complexity. It even featured eight coaxial outputs—tubes all centered on a single axis—that brought information to the front display of the device. Was it really plausible that the ancient Greeks could build such an advanced system? I now believe that Wright’s conception of coaxial outputs must be correct, but his gearing system does not match the economy and ingenuity of the known gear trains. The challenge our UCL team faced was to reconcile Wright’s coaxial outputs with what we knew about the rest of the device.

One crucial clue came from the 2005 x-ray CT study. In addition to showing the gears in three dimensions, these scans made an unexpected revelation—thousands of new text characters hidden inside the fragments and unread for more than 2,000 years. In his research notes from 1905 to 1906, Rehm proposed that the positions of the sun and planets were displayed in a concentric system of rings. The mechanism originally had two covers—front and back—that protected the displays and included extensive inscriptions. The back-cover inscription, revealed in the 2005 scans, was a user manual for the device. In 2016 Alexander Jones, a professor of the history of astronomy at New York University, discovered definitive evidence for Rehm’s idea within this inscription: a detailed description of how the sun and planets were displayed in rings, with marker beads to show their positions.

Any model for the workings of the mechanism should match this description—an explanation literally inscribed onto the back cover of the device describing how the sun and planets were displayed. Yet previous models had failed to incorporate this ring system because of a technical problem that we could not solve. Wright had discovered that the device used a semisilvered ball to show the phase of the moon, which it calculated mechanically by subtracting an input for the sun from an input for the moon. But such a process appeared to be incompatible with a ring system for displaying the planets because the outputs for Mercury and Venus prevented the moon-phase device from accessing the input from the sun gear system. In 2018 Higgon, one of the graduate students on our UCL team, came up with a surprisingly simple idea that neatly fixed this technical problem and explained a mysterious pierced block on one of the spokes of the main drive wheel. This block could transmit the “mean sun” rotation (as opposed to the variable “true sun” rotation) directly to the moon-phase device. This setup enabled a ring system for the front of the Antikythera mechanism that fully reflected the description in the back-cover inscription.

In trying to decipher the front of the device, it was imperative to identify the planetary cycles built into the mechanism because they define how the gear trains calculated planetary positions. Earlier research assumed that they would be based on the planetary period relations derived by the Babylonians. But in 2016 Jones made a discovery that forced us to discard that assumption.

The x-ray CT of the front-cover inscription shows it is divided into sections for each of the five planets. In the Venus section, Jones found the number 462; in the Saturn section, he found the number 442. These numbers were astonishing. No previous research had suggested that ancient astronomers knew them. In fact, they represent more accurate period relations than the ones found by the Babylonians. It seems that the makers of the Antikythera device discovered their own improved period relations for two of the planets: 289 synodic cycles in 462 years for Venus and 427 synodic cycles in 442 years for Saturn.

Jones never figured out how the ancient Greeks derived both these periods. We set out to try ourselves. Dacanalis, our other UCL graduate student, assembled a comprehensive list of the planetary period relations and their estimated errors from Babylonian astronomy. Could combinations of these earlier relations be the key to the more accurate Antikythera period relations? Eventually we found a process, developed by philosopher Parmenides of Elea (sixth to fifth century B.C.E.) and reported by Plato (fifth to fourth century B.C.E.), for combining known period relations to get better ones.

Fragments: Over the years the original mass of the Antikythera mechanism has split into 82 pieces. Figuring out how they all fit together has been a challenging puzzle for researchers. The largest fragment (*top left*) holds the main drive wheel. Credit: © 2005 National Archaeological Museum in Athens

We proposed that any method the Antikythera creators used would have required three criteria: accuracy, factorizability and economy. The method must be accurate to match the known period relations for Venus and Saturn, and it must be factorizable so the planets could be calculated with gears small enough to fit into the mechanism. To make the system economical, different planets could share gears if their period relations shared prime factors, reducing the number of gears needed. Such economy is a key feature of the surviving gear trains. Based on these criteria, our team derived the periods 462 and 442 using the idea from Parmenides and employed the same methods to discover the missing periods for the other planets where the inscriptions were lost or damaged.

Armed with the period relations for the planets, we could now understand how to fit the gear trains for the planets into the tight spaces available. For Mercury and Venus, we theorized economical five-gear mechanisms with pin-and-slot devices, similar to Wright’s mechanisms for these planets. We found strong supporting evidence for our reconstruction in one four-centimeter-diameter fragment. Inside this piece, the x-ray CT shows a disk attached to a 63-tooth gear, which turns in a d-shaped plate. The number 63 shares the prime factors 3 and 7 with 462 (the Venus period). A gear train using the 63-tooth gear could be designed to match a bearing on one of the spokes of the main drive wheel. A similar design for Mercury matches the features on the opposite spoke. These observations gave us great confidence that we were on the right track for Mercury and Venus.

For the other known planets—Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—our team conceived of very compact systems to fit the available space. These designs were a radical departure from Wright’s systems for these planets. Working independently, Christián C. Carman of the National University of Quilmes in Argentina and I had shown that the subtle indirect gearing system for the variable motion of the moon could be adapted for these planets. Our UCL team proved that these gearing systems could be extended to incorporate the new period relations for the planets. This system allowed the Antikythera makers to mount several gears on the same plate and design them to precisely match the period relations.

These economical seven-gear trains could intricately interleave between the plates on the pillars of the main drive wheel so that their outputs conformed to the customary cosmological order of the celestial bodies—moon, Mercury, Venus, sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—that determines the layout of the ring system. The dimensions of the available spaces between the plates were exactly right to accommodate these systems, with some spare capacity and some evidence still unexplained.

We added a mechanism for the variable motion of the sun and an epicyclic mechanism for calculating the “nodes” of the moon—the points at which the moon’s orbit cuts through the plane of the ecliptic, making an eclipse possible. Eclipses happen only when the sun is close to one of these nodes during a full or new moon. Medieval and renaissance astronomers called a double-ended pointer for the nodes of the moon a “dragon hand.” The epicyclic gearing for this dragon hand also exactly explained a prominent bearing on one of the spokes that had previously appeared to have no function. We had finally explained all the features on the main drive wheel; we published our findings in March 2021 in Scientific Reports.

A BEAUTIFUL CONCEPTION

We now understood how the front display matched the description in the back-cover user’s manual, with the sun and planets shown by marker beads on concentric rings. The front cover also displayed the moon’s phase, position and age (the number of days from a new moon), and the dragon hand that showed eclipse years and seasons.

With the concentric rings for the planets, we realized that we could now make sense of the front-cover inscription as well. This writing is a formulaic list of the synodic events of each planet (such as its conjunctions with the sun and its stationary points) and the intervals in days between them. On the back plate, the eclipse inscriptions are indexed to markings on the saros dial. On the front plate, inscriptions about the risings and settings of stars are indexed to the zodiac dial. Our insight was that the inscriptions on the front could refer to index letters on the planetary rings: if the sun pointer is at one of these letters, then the corresponding inscription entry describes the number of days to the next synodic event. Because the left-hand side of the inscription, where we would expect these index letters to be, is missing, we cannot prove the hypothesis—but it is a compelling explanation.

The device is unique among discoveries from its time. It single-handedly rewrites our knowledge of the technology of the ancient Greeks. We knew they were highly capable—they built the Parthenon and the Lighthouse of Alexandria even earlier than the Antikythera mechanism. They had plumbing and used steam to operate equipment. But before the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism, ancient Greek gears were thought to be restricted to crude wheels in windmills and water mills. Aside from this discovery, the first precision-geared mechanism known is a relatively simple—yet impressive for the time—geared sundial and calendar of Byzantine origin dating to about C.E. 600. It was not until the 14th century that scientists created the first sophisticated astronomical clocks. The Antikythera mechanism, with its precision gears bearing teeth about a millimeter long, is completely unlike anything else from the ancient world.

Why did it take centuries for scientists to reinvent anything as sophisticated as the Antikythera device, and why haven’t archaeologists uncovered more such mechanisms? We have strong reasons to believe this object can’t have been the only model of its kind—there must have been precursors to its development. But bronze was a very valuable metal, and when an object like this stopped working, it probably would have been melted down for its materials. Shipwrecks may be the best prospects for finding more of them. As for why the technology was seemingly lost for so long before being redeveloped, who knows? There are many gaps in the historical record, and future discoveries may well surprise us.

With the Antikythera mechanism, we are clearly not at the end of our story. We believe our work is a significant advance, but there are still mysteries to be solved. The UCL Antikythera Research Team is not certain that our reconstruction is entirely correct because of the huge loss of evidence. It is very hard to match all of the surviving information. Regardless, we can now see more clearly than ever what a towering achievement this object represents.

AUTHOR: Tony Freeth is a member of the University College London Anti-kythera Research Team. A mathematician and an award-winning filmmaker, Freeth has conducted research on the Antikythera mechanism and promoted it through films and presentations since 2000. Credit: Nick Higgins

Case for Return of Parthenon Marbles ‘Compelling’, The Times Says

January 12, 2022

The case for returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece has become “compelling,” The Times has said, in what marks a shift in the British newspaper’s editorial position.

The paper notes the recent precedent set by Italy which returned a fragment of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. The “Fagan fragment” was taken, like the Parthenon sculptures, from Ottoman-controlled Athens in the early 19th century, and later sold to the University of Palermo.

“The treatment of the Parthenon in past centuries has long been used as a reason to deny Greece the sculptures’ return,” the newspaper said in its leading editorial titled “Uniting Greece’s heritage,” about the fifth century BC antiquities currently on display at the British Museum.

“For more than 50 years, artists and politicians have argued that artefacts so fundamental to a nation’s cultural identity should return to Greece. The museum and the British government, supported by The Times, have resisted the pressure,” it said.

“But times and circumstances change. The sculptures belong in Athens. They should now return.”

Cyprus Completed Underwater Works and Digital Mapping of the Ancient Port of Amathous

January 11, 2022

The Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works of Cyprus announced this August that the underwater works and digital mapping of the ancient port of Amathous was completed under the framework of the European cross-border programme with the acronym ANDIKAT. The programme aims to highlight and promote the underwater archaeological and natural heritage through the creation of diving routes in marine protected areas in Greece and Cyprus.

The next stage of promoting this unique underwater ancient monument includes the installation of signs both on land and in the sea, which will inform and guide the visitor of the ancient port of Amathous, as well as the development of a mobile phone application and the publication of an information brochure.

Amathus or Amathous (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles (39 km) west of Larnaca and 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Limassol. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.

Colorized image of the artificial harbour with the three parts, two of which are perpendicular and one almost parallel to the coast.

Construction of the Ancient Port

The Port of Amathus (or Amathous) was probably constructed during the period of Demetrius Poliorcetes for his fleet. Whether this project was completed as planned or not is not known as various sources suggest that the port was not used except maybe for a few years. Three moles of around 380 meters where build forming a almost closed harbour. 5000 blocks were used each having a weight of around 3 tons tons. Each block was 3 meters long and 0.8 m wide. The artificial harbour provided a protection for the ships from the sometimes strong south wind. These blocks formed the center of each mole.

Cranes with winches were used for hoisting the blocks. The crane moved along the mole that was already constructed.

Sicily returns the 'Phagan Fragment' of the Parthenon to Greece

January 8, 2022

The Acropolis Museum in Athens received a fragment of the Parthenon frieze from the Museo Archeologico Antonio Salinas located in Palermo, Italy, the Culture Ministry announced on Wednesday.

It is an excerpt from stone VI of the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, which depicts the gods of Olympus sitting and watching the procession and handover of a veil to goddess Athena. The fragment depicts the foot of goddess Artemis as she watches the procession of the Panathinaia festival.

The fragment is also known as the “Fagan” fragment as it was previously part of the collection of Robert Fagan, former British consul for Sicily and Malta.

The fragment will return to Greece under a long-term loan agreement for a period of eight (four plus four) years.

In return, Greece will provide the Museo Archeologico Antonino Salinas with a headless statue of goddess Athena from the end of the 5th century BC, which will then be replaced by a protogeometric vase of the first half of the 8th century BC.

The agreement also foresees the development of joint cultural initiatives by the Acropolis museum and the Museo Archeologico Antonio Salinas.

A significant cultural agreement

Cultural authorities in Greece and Sicily consider the agreement to be of significant importance as discussions continue and focus on the return of the Parthenon fragment to Athens on a permanent basis.

According to Alberto Samonà, Sicily regional councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, “this is a cultural agreement of outstanding international significance”.

“Sicily has become a forerunner on the issue of the return to Greece of the Parthenon marbles, also contributing to the discussion that has been taking place globally for a long time,” he said.

On her part, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni thanked the regional government of Sicily for its contribution to the efforts being made to repatriate Greek antiquities.

The Acropolis Museum, under the Parthenon light, Athens, Greece

“I express my gratitude for the tireless and consistent efforts of the government of Sicily and Councilor Alberto Samonà for the legal settlement [of the issue] under Italy’s code of cultural heritage, in order for the fragment to permanently return to Athens,” she said.

The return of the fragment confirms the brotherly relationship between Sicily and Greece, based on their common Mediterranean roots, ancient and deep ties between the two lands.

The agreement came at the end of the year celebrating the anniversary of the start of Greece’s struggle for independence, and just over three months after the UNESCO Intergovernmental Commission for the Return of Cultural Property to Countries of Origin (ICPRCP) called on the United Kingdom to “reconsider its position and begin negotiations with Greece”. which, since 1984, has been demanding the return of the Parthenon sculptures kept in the British Museum in London.

Altar site for Greek goddess Demeter found in Turkey's Blaundus

January 2, 2022

BY ANADOLU AGENCY

An altar site for the ancient Greek goddess Demeter was unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Blaundus, located within the borders of the western Anatolian city of Uşak.

Blaundus, also known as Blaundos, was first built by Macedonians who came to Anatolia, present-day Turkey, following the military campaign of Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great. The Romans later occupied the ruins of the ancient city.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Birol Can, an archaeology professor at Uşak University, said that the altar site was discovered in the courtyard of the temple of the goddess Demeter, which symbolizes agriculture, grain and harvest in mythology.

"It has at least two steps, measuring approximately 5 meters by 4 meters (16.4 feet by 13.1 feet)," Can said. "We do not have much data on its superstructure."

"Thanks to its foundations, we are able to deduce its plan. Again during the work, a piece of an altar table, which we think was located on this altar, was found," he added.

Altars, Can said, are one of the structures that people who come to the site for worshipping have direct contact with, adding that people who come here do not enter the temple but the courtyard.

"If they are going to sacrifice or make any offering, they do it in front of this altar. Therefore, the altar is a structure from the same period, the same age as the temple," he added.

The Temple of Demeter was highly respected at that time, Can said, and they plan to continue the work in the region next year and complete the restoration work.

He also said that the team discovered cisterns dating back to the Byzantine period during the excavations.

'Alakasandu' - Alexander: A Greek Name in Hittite Cuneiform Text?

January 2, 2022

BY DIMOSTHENIS VASILOUDIS

Cross-Cultural Echoes: The Intriguing Case of 'Alakasandu', a Hellenic Echo in Hittite Cuneiform?

In the ancient landscapes of human civilization, two cultures stood tall among the rest: the Hittites of Anatolia and the Mycenaean Greeks of Helladic Mainland. Unbeknownst to many, these cultures had surprising connections in antiquity. One such connection has to do with the fascinating correlation between the Greek name 'Alexander' and a Hittite name: 'Alakasandu'. Scholars have long debated whether these two names, separated by centuries and civilizations, could in fact be one and the same, finding their home in ancient Hittite cuneiform texts.

A total of 11,000 tablets with cuneiform texts were discovered after the 19th-century excavations of the Frenchman Charles Texier revealed Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite kingdom, in the hamlet of Boğazköy in modern-day Turkey. The Czech philologist Bedřich Hrozný (1879–1952) conducted the first decipherment of the language on these tablets in 1915 and demonstrated that they were written in the extinct Hittite language.

We may learn a lot about the Middle and Late Bronze Ages in Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the prehistoric Aegean from the archive of the tablets at Hattusa and texts discovered at other Hittite sites. The discovery of Greek names (such as Eteoklis, "Tawagalawa," and Atreas, "Attarissiya") in the Hittite archives by the Swiss archaeologist Emil Forrer in 1924 gave the sense that the shadowy time of the Trojan War may finally come into the light. The Czech philologist Bedich Hrozn (1879–1952) conducted the first decipherment of the language on these tablets in 1915 and demonstrated that they were written in the extinct Hittite language.

The identification of the names that emphasize the historical context of the Homeric poetry brought the interest to a close. It was also crucial to make mention of a conflict involving the city of "Wilusa" (Ilion/Troy). The monarch of Wilusa, who was a slave to the Hittites (thus referring to the Hittite records), and who had signed a treaty with the Hittite king Muwatali II in the 13th century BC, owes a dowry to the king of "Ahhiyawa" (Achaia), whose name has not been saved. His name was "Alaksandu," and his dowry included some nearby islands (perhaps Tenedos, Imbros, Lemnos, or Lesvos) ("Alaksandu", alternatively called Alakasandu or Alaksandos).

Clay cuneiform tablet; fragment. Hittite treaty between Muwattalli II of Hatti and Alakšandu of Wiluša. Nineteen lines., 1300 BC.

The Hittite Empire and the Name 'Alakasandu'

The Hittite Empire (c. 1600–1178 BCE) thrived in the region that now constitutes modern-day Turkey. The Hittites left behind a rich archive of cuneiform texts, a treasure trove of information for historians and archaeologists. Among these texts, the name 'Alakasandu' appears as the moniker of a significant king. This king was reportedly involved in a treaty with the Hittite ruler Muwatalli II (c. 1295–1272 BCE) in the late Bronze Age.

'Alakasandu' is documented as the king of Wilusa, an ancient city identified with classical Ilios or Ilion, known in the Western tradition as Troy. The debate over whether 'Alakasandu' could be an ancient rendering of 'Alexander' primarily arises from this connection.

The Greek Name 'Alexander'

'Alexander' is a name steeped in Greek tradition, with its roots tracing back to the language's ancient form. It is derived from the Greek 'Alexandros,' literally translating to 'defending men' or 'protector of men,' a compound of 'alexein' (to defend) and 'andros' (of men).

The most famous bearer of this name, Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), ruled over a millennium after the Hittite king 'Alakasandu.' Alexander's conquests and expeditions spread Greek influence throughout the ancient world, marking a significant period of Hellenistic culture.

The Connection Between 'Alakasandu' and 'Alexander'

The idea that 'Alakasandu' could be a Hittite rendering of 'Alexander' has its roots in historical linguistics, particularly the study of Luwian, a close relative of Hittite. Scholars suggest that the Luwians, like the Hittites, resided in Anatolia and interacted with the Greeks, facilitating the sharing of names and titles.

Several phonetic and linguistic parallels are drawn between 'Alakasandu' and 'Alexander'. Some researchers suggest that the Hittite and Luwian languages might have phonetically rendered 'Alexander' as 'Alakasandu.' Given the position of Wilusa (Troy) near the Aegean Sea, close to the ancient Greek world, there could have been ample opportunity for cultural and linguistic exchange.

Map of anatolian languages distribution.

Counterarguments and Challenges

Despite these compelling links, there remain significant challenges in definitively asserting that 'Alakasandu' is an ancient form of 'Alexander'.

The complexities of ancient language translation and phonetic rendering often lead to discrepancies and ambiguities. There's always a possibility that similarities between 'Alakasandu' and 'Alexander' are coincidental rather than indicative of a linguistic link.

The question of whether 'Alakasandu' is an early form of 'Alexander' gives us a fascinating glimpse into the interconnections and interactions between ancient cultures. While it might never be conclusively proven, the debate itself illuminates the richness and complexity of our human past. It is a testament to the incredible journey of cultural transmission and the enduring legacy of names across ages and civilizations.

Given that in the Homeric poems everything happened on the occasion of the abduction of Helen by Alexander or Paris, maybe during a "marriage", how close are we to connecting these events with the Trojan War?