Robert Ballard is an oceanographer, best know for the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic in 1985. Since his discovery of the wreck, he notes that there has been extensive damage to the site from salvage & submarines. He reflects that this unthinking desecration of the site is similar to the nineteenth century looting of ancient sites throughout countries such as Greece & Egypt in order to bring home souvenirs to show others. At that time people could not conceive how easy it now is for people from other countries to visit these sites. He suggests that in the future, a similar situation will occur where people can easily visit underwater sites, but find that their contents have already been taken to museums on land rather than left in-situ.

From:
Voice Of America News

Oceanographer Who Discovered the Titanic Makes Science Education a Priority
By Keming Kuo
Washington, D.C.
03 April 2006

Oceanographer Robert Ballard is one of America’s best-known scientists. Twenty years ago, Ballard made his most famous discovery, the wreck of the legendary ocean liner Titanic, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. He now directs the Institute for Exploration at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. He also teaches oceanography at the University of Rhode Island and is an explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, where he is probing both the depths of both the oceans and space.
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In recent months, Sweden appears to be leading the way in returning artefacts to their countries of origin. Last year, a Swedish woman returned a marble fragment to Greece which was originally from The Erechtheion on the Acropolis. Now, in a completely separate case, the Universities of Lund & Uppsala have agreed to return forty-eight ancient coins excavated in Greece in 1922.

From:
Independent Online (Zaire)

Ancient coin trove returned to Greece
April 01 2006 at 02:57PM

Athens – A collection of 48 ancient Greek coins considered lost for decades was returned to Greece from Sweden on Friday.

Culture Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis took delivery of the collection from Greece’s ambassador in Sweden, Evangelos Karokis.
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Giorgos Voulgarakis, the Greek Minister of Culture has given an interview on Austrian television about the Parthenon Sculptures held in the British Museum. This is of particular interest, as it is his first in depth statement on the issue since he became Minister of Culture.

From:
Hellenic Ministry of Culture

Interview given by the Greek Minister of Culture Mr George Voulgarakis to the Austrian TV network ORF concerning the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British museum
Ministry of Culture
Press Office
Athens 28 March 2006

Innumerable antiquarian works of art are scattered all over the world. What, in your opinion, makes the Parthenon sculptures so unique?

The Parthenon is the unique, top-ranking monument that symbolises the spirit of Europe. It encapsulates the basic humanist principles. The sculptures have been ripped off from their historic location and the Parthenon stands mutilated. To use a term from ancient Greek tragedy this constitutes ‘hubris’. Seen from this point of view, the demand for the return of the sculptures and their reunification with the temple acquires a very special significance. The duty of restitution owed to the Parthenon is, essentially, the duty of humanity as a whole to global civilisation.
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In the run up to the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Parthenon 2004 campaign in Britain played a prominent role in publicising the case for the reunification of the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum with the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in Athens. While the Parthenon 2004’s parent organisation, the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles dealt with academia & the museums world, through lectures & conferences etc, Parthenon 2004 aimed their campaign towards a wider audience, specifically focusing on politicians and the general public. Through presenting the case in a more exoteric way & highlighting it in ways that appealed to people who had not previously thought about it, the campaign raised awareness of the issue throughout Britain.
Since the 2004 Olympics, a name change was clearly required for the organisation, along with a rethink of strategies so that their campaign could continue to look forward to the future of the Elgin Marbles. Last week the decision was taken that the organisation would be change its name to Marbles Reunited : Friends of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles although generally it will be know by its abbreviated form as: Marbles Reunited. The previous website at www.parthenon2004.com has been replaced with a new website at www.marblesreunited.org.uk, the details of which will be updated as the efforts of the campaign are refocused and new events are announced.
If you would like further information about the Marbles Reunited campaign, please contact them using the details given on their website.

As the construction of the New Acropolis Museum progresses, the details of the displays inside the building are also being finalised.
For some time, those who feel that the Elgin Marbles should be retained in Britain have argued that the Greeks have kept many of their artefacts from the Acropolis site hidden away in storerooms. The main reason for the limited number of items on display previously was the small size of the existing Acropolis Museum. Details released today suggest that once the New Museum is complete, it is planned that it will display more than ten times the number of artefacts viewable in the existing museum.

From:
Canoe (Quebec, Canada)

Ancient artifacts from Acropolis to be displayed for first time

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Thousands of ancient artifacts from the Acropolis never seen by the public will be showcased at a landmark new Athens museum expected to open next year, Greek officials say.

The exhibition area will contain more than 4,000 works – 10 times the number currently on display at a cramped museum on the Acropolis. Some have been kept in storage for decades.
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Leon Levy who died in 2003 & his widow Shelby White are known for their philanthropic efforts, including the donation of twenty million dollars to the Metropolitan Museum in New York for the construction of a new gallery there. Shelby White is also a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum.
For many years, the art collection of Levy & White has been regarded by many as highly contentious due to the fact that it contains many artefacts which are believed to have been looted. It has also been argued that by working closely with the Met, they have used the museum’s resources to authenticate items in their collection, while at the same time donating or loaning pieces to the museum, which included some whose provenance is disputed.
In this article, Michael Balter looks at another scandal involving the Leon Levy Foundation – that of the funding of a centre for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Questions about Levy & White’s association with looting of artefacts has already led to one NYU archaeologist resigning in protest.

From:
Science

HIGHER EDUCATION
31 MARCH 2006 VOL 311 SCIENCE
$200 Million Gift for Ancient World Institute Triggers Backlash

When New York University (NYU) officials announced last week the creation of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, it was widely seen as a major coup. The new Ph.D.- granting research institute, devoted to the art, archaeology, history, literature, and geography of ancient societies, was made possible by a private gift of $200 million in cash and real estate, one of the largest donations the university has ever landed. Yet some NYU faculty members, along with outside archaeologists, are aghast that the school accepted the money. One leading NYU archaeologist has already resigned from the university’s existing ancient studies center to protest the decision.
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In the last three hundred or so years, archaeologists, artists, architects & mathematicians have begun to rediscover some of the secrets designed into the Parthenon – from the geometric corrections in the angles of its columns, to the way in which the sculptures were carved. A seminar at the copy of the Parthenon in Nashville will help explain these using the most accurate replica existing of the original building (but bear in mind that although the building itself may be similar, much about the Parthenon is derived from its context on the Acropolis rock – something that Nashville’s Centennial Park can never hope to emulate.)

From:
Nashville City Paper

Symposium explains Parthenon’s structural oddities, sculptural secrets
By Alexa Hinton
March 31, 2006

A closer look at the façade of Centennial Park’s Parthenon will reveal that the columns do not stand exactly vertical but instead all lean inward slightly, said Parthenon Director Wesley Paine. The temple’s horizontal lines curve slightly, and the columns, which appear to taper off evenly in width from bottom to top, are actually widest in diameter about a third of the way.

“There are mathematical and structural oddities that make the building look so perfect,” Paine said. “The Parthenon is not the only ancient temple to have these refinements, but it is regarded that they all come together most beautifully in this building.”
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