The British Museum is proud of its current exhibition off artefacts from the town of Herculaneum (and rightly so – from all the reviews I’ve seen, it is an amazing exhibition, including many items that have never been on public display before.

The interesting story though, is one of joining together pieces of a panel of carved marble – that have been separate since the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. Surely if they see the benefits in doing this with one panel, they can understand why the same should be done with far larger numbers of panels – from the Parthenon Frieze?

From:
Guardian

British Museum reunites Roman marble panels split for 2,000 years
Maev Kennedy
Sunday 10 March 2013 19.27 GMT

Shimmering as if still lit by the Mediterranean sun, two spectacular Roman marble panels have been reunited at the British Museum for the first time in almost 2,000 years.

Both come from a seaside mansion in Herculaneum, the town overwhelmed by a torrent of boiling mud from Vesuvius, when the wind changed direction 12 hours after Pompeii had already choked to death. They will be seen in the most eagerly awaited archaeological exhibition in decades, on life and death in the Roman towns when it opens at the museum later this month.
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More coverage of the effects that the Euro Crisis & Greece’s austerity plans are having on the country’s ancient sites.

From:
USA Today

Greek treasures take a hit
by Nikolia Apostolou, Special for USA TODAY
Updated 9/14/2012 12:05 AM

ATHENS — They survived wars, plunderers, earthquakes, millions of tourists and nearly 2,000 years of time. But they may not survive Greece’s debt crisis.

The great ruins of ancient Greek civilization are being imperiled by massive budget cuts Greece is imposing to qualify for European bailout funds after years of overspending, say preservation experts.
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Since the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in 2009, the old museum has sat there next to the the Parthenon, unused & half forgotten.

While it pales in comparison to the new museum, for a long time, it was the showcase for many of the amazing finds from the site. Now it appears that its future is uncertain.

I’m in two minds about this – they should never really have built a permanent structure right in the middle of a historic site in the first place – however, if it is there & in good repair, surely it would make more sense to utilise it in some way that enhances the visitor experience, rather than just abandoning it? Particularly considering the cash strapped situation of the Greek state at present.

From:
Archaeology & Arts (Greece)

Greek archaeologists concerned about the old Acropolis Museum
The Central Archaeological Council decided not to declare it a preservable monument
Friday, 1 February 2013

Regarding the recent decision of the Central Archaeological Council not to declare the old museum as a preservable monument, the Association of Greek Archaeologists issued a press release expressing their concern about the old museum’s fate.

In particular, the press release starts with a brief description of the history of the Museum, which is more or less known. Its construction started in mid-19th century. It was designed by architect Panages Kalkos. After various expansions, it took its final form in mid-20th century, as it has been designed by Patroklos Karantinos. It is the first building that was constructed in Greece in order to house a museum. For 150 years it hosted not only the finds of the Acropolis’ excavations but also innumerable visitors: by telling the story of the movable finds it added to the breathtaking experience of an archaeological site with monuments of great significance.
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Marbles Reunited’s campaign Manager, Maria Koutsikou attended a lecture given in Athens yesterday by John Fardoulis, the person in charge of the excavations of Lord Elgin’s ship, The Mentor, which was wrecked off Kythera en-route to England via Malta.

You can read the full writeup of the event here.

Over the last couple of years, Greek Australian John Fardoulis has been carrying out archaeological excavations on the wreck of Elgin’s ship, the Mentor. The boat sank in a storm off the coast of Kythera, and at the time was carrying many of the Parthenon sculptures, although these were later retrieved by sponge divers from Kalymnos. The new excavations of the wreck site, have revealed some interesting artefacts that were in Elgin’s posession – although nothing so far that relates directly to the Parthenon Marbles.

From:
Greek Reporter

Greek Antiquities Found On Mentor Shipwreck
By Christina Flora on November 20, 2012

The underwater shipwreck excavation of the wreck of the ship Mentor, that sank off the island of Kythera in 1802 while carrying goods plundered from the Parthenon by British diplomat Lord Elgin has proved to be a treasure trove of personal items from the passengers and crew.

A greater number of coins were also found, at least two ancient silver coins which were antiquities acquired by Elgin, passengers or the crew,along with two gold coins, used as currency at the time, from the late 1700’s. Other coins were also recovered but require conservation before they can be identified. Some of these may also be ancient.
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The New Acropolis Museum in Athens has won the 2012 Keck award. The Keck award is given by the International Institute for Conservation and Historic Art Works and goes each year to the individual or group who has played the greatest role in promoting public understanding and appreciation of the accomplishments of the conservation profession.

From:
The National Herald

September 19, 2012
The Acropolis Museum receives the 2012 Keck Award

ATHENS. On Friday 14 September 2012, the Acropolis Museum was awarded by the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) in Vienna, with the Keck Award 2012. The award concerns the conservation and restoration of the Caryatids, the Kore from the south porch of the Erechtheion temple, with the use of laser technology. In 1994, the IIC Council announced the establishment of the IIC Keck Award, generously endowed by Sheldon and Caroline Keck, pioneers of art conservation. The award is presented every two years to ‘the individual or group who has contributed most towards promoting public understanding and appreciation.

Following on from the topic of the Caryatids from the last article I posted, this article looks at how the whole idea of the Caryatids originated from & how they have been perceived through the ages.

From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)

Six headstrong women confidently raise the roof
Monday October 8, 2012 (01:36)
By Camille Paglia*

When is the burden of the gods lighter than air? Six stately young women stand like sentinels on a marble parapet atop the Athenian Acropolis. They are gazing at the Parthenon, the great temple of Athena that, even in its present ruin, is one of the marvels of the world.

Casual and relaxed, the women balance a heavy stone roof on their heads. It is a remarkable display of female power: voluptuous curves combined with massive, muscular strength.
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Now that the Caryatids are in the New Acropolis Museum, it is much easier to see all sides of them than it once was. I have often noticed that while from a distance they all appear to be almost identical, if you look closely at them there are differences in their hairstyles. Professor Katherine Schwab at the University of Fairfield has put extensive research into their hairstyles, trying to determine whether they are based on real styles of the day, or just a fanciful artistic interpretation.

You can view more details of the Caryatid Hairstyling Project, including photos at Fairfield University’s website.

From:
Greenwich Citizen

Grecian formula: Archeologist unravels the ancient hairdos of the Caryatids
Published 2:58 p.m., Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Professor Katherine “Kathy” Schwab is fixated on hair. Not just any hair mind you. No, Schwab, who teaches Art History at Fairfield University, is fascinated by the long, wavy, thick, textured hair sported by the young women of ancient Greece.

Yes, ancient Greece.

Schwab told a group of members and guests of the Greenwich Archeological Associates at the Bruce Museum recently just how this hair fixation began during a regular study trip to Athens a few years ago.
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For travellers who want to plan their trips in advance & have limited time, booking tickets online and skipping the queue has been a great way to maximise the time actually spent inside the museums, particularly those such as the Vatican Museum that are prone to lengthy queues. Greece has now announced that a similar service will be available for many of their archaeological sites. This is great news, although the benefits are probably not as great as somewhere like Rome, as in my experience, the queues to actually get into sites such as the Acropolis have never been as problematic as they are in some countries.

From:
Greek Reporter

E-tickets for Greek Museums, Archaeological Sites
By Christina Flora on November 3, 2012 in News

The Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports has begun a special ticket issuing program for museums and archaeological sites using computers and mobile phones.

The e-ticket program is going to operate within the next few months and will include 30 frequent visited museums and archaeological sites such as Acropolis, Delphi, Ancient Olympia and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Visitors will be able to get their ticket with a single click on the link which is going to be created soon.
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The second full moon in August, was celebrated with late night, free opening of many of Greece’s archaeological sites – although, unfortunately, due to issues with overcrowding & people slipping on the rocks in previous years, the Acropolis will not be open for the event.

From:
Demotix

August “Blue Moon” – Greece celebrates at 125 archaeological sites
September 1st, 2012 by Alexandros Michailidis
Alexandros Michailidis

The last day of summer brings an unique sky phenomenon of the August full moon, the so-called Blue Moon. The moon rises above the horizon to the delight of rational sky watchers and touch romantic souls.

However nobody should expect to see the full moon dipped in blue color. Tonight’s full moon will be silver or yellow depending on the weather conditions. Then “Blue Moon” is just an expression. Blue Moon refers to describe rare happenings: farmers used to call “Blue Moon” the forth full moon in a season (spring, summer, winter and fall) that has normally three full moons.
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The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 led to international outcry. Looking back at it today though, their are different points of view over what should happen to the site now. As with sites such as the Acropolis, there are those who want to restore it to how it was originally, whereas others think that it should be stabilised in its current state, rather than attempting any sort of rebuilding. As with the Acropolis, this is the sort of issue, which has no clear right or wrong answers.

From:
BBC World Service

13 August 2012 Last updated at 00:44
Bamiyan Buddhas: Should they be rebuilt?
By Stephanie Hegarty

The destruction of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 led to global condemnation of the Taliban regime. But the decision by Unesco not to rebuild them has not put an end to the debate about their future.

When the Taliban were at the height of their power in Afghanistan, leader Mullah Omar waged a war against idolatry.
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A temporary exhibition at the New Acropolis Museum in Athens aims to give visitors a better idea of the colours that the sculptures on the Acropolis would originally have been, rather than the pristine while marble that we see today.

From:
Acropolis Museum

Archaic Colors

Commencing Tuesday 31 July 2012 and for the next twelve months, the Acropolis Museum wants to conduct research on its unique collection of archaic statues, which retain their colors to a small or large degree, and to open a very extensive discussion with the public and various experts on color, its technical issues, its detection using new technologies, its experimental use on marble surfaces, its digital reconstruction, its meaning, as well as the archaic period’s aesthetic perception of color. So far, scientific research into the color found on ancient sculpture has made great progress and reached surprising conclusions that to a large degree refute the stereotypical assumptions regarding ancient sculpture. It turns out that color, far from being just a simple decorative element, added to the sculpture’s aesthetic quality.
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