Lecture at Kings College London by Dimitris Kourkoumelis

Dimitris Kourkoumelis is giving a talk this evening organised by the Greek Archaeological Committee UK at Kings College London on new finds on the wreck of the Mentor off the island of Kythera. The Mentor was of course one of the ships used by Lord Elgin to transport the Parthenon Marbles back to the UK from Greece. It sank in a storm and the sculptures had to be retrieved the following year by sponge divers from Kalymnos.

Underwater excavations of The Mentor off Kythera

From:
Kings College London

Greek Archaeological Committee UK Annual Lecture
Locatio Great Hall, King’s Building, Strand Campus
Category: Lecture, Other
When: 22/11/2016 (19:00-20:30)
Contact: This event is open to all and free to attend. Booking is not required.

Please direct enquiries to chs@kcl.ac.uk.
Recent research and new finds from the MENTOR shipwreck at Cythera (1802)

The recent archaeological expeditions (2009, 2011-15) conducted by the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities at the wreck of the brig Mentor, which sank in 1802 off Kythera, have been focused mainly on excavating the section of the hull that is still well preserved, as well as collecting information about the passengers, the crew and the cargo of the ship. The brig, owned by Lord Elgin, was transporting some of the antiquities and sculptures taken from the Acropolis monuments, and sank off the small port of Avlemonas in September 1802. From the 19th to the 21st century, there have been several underwater investigations on the wreck undertaken with the aim to discover the “marble” sculptures, which, according to rumour, should still remain at the site.
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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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Excavations of Lord Elgin’s Ship, the Mentor, which was wrecked of Kythera, have continued this year, following on from the successful work that was done last summer.

The article below is a computer translation. If you follow the link at the start, you can read the original Greek version.

From:
Ta Nea

Under the microscope the wreck of archaeologists carrying the sculptures in England
Published: Friday, July 13, 2012
Last update: 07.13.2012 14:29

The hull of the ship that transported the sculptures in England and sank southwest of Kythira, in 1802, excavations revealed the Inspectorate of Underwater Antiquities. We also found dozens of items crew with great historical value.

The ship “MENTOR” was sunk in September 1802 at the entrance of the port of Avlaimona. This ship is always the motivation of the research on the possible discovery of other sculptures in the sand. The underwater survey lasted 17 days.
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More coverage of the excavations on the wreck of the Mentor, the ship that was carrying the Parthenon Sculptures to Britain before it sank in a storm.

You can also view a press release about the project with some photos & further details here.

From:
Greek Reporter

Research on the Shipwreck “Mentor” Which Carried Elgin Marbles
Posted on 10 August 2011 by Lia Pavlou

According to an article in the Greek newspaper “Eleftherotypia”, research was conducted by the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities from July 6-15 on the wreck of the ship “Mentor” which had once carried some of the Elgin marbles. The research was financed by the Australian Foundation “Kytherian Research Group.”

The ship, originally chartered by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799–1803, was a brig, built in 1780, that set sail from Piraeus on September 16th, 1802. However, near Cape Tainaro, strong winds made the voyage difficult and in Avlemonas, on the island of Kythyra, the ship ran upon the rocks and sank. Elgin, at his own expense, made great efforts to salvage the stolen treasures from the sunken ship. This operation lasted more than two years and, in the end, bankrupted Elgin. It was for this reason that he eventually sold the marbles to the British Museum for a very low price.
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A team of divers, led by archaeologist Demetris Kourkoumelis have organised new excavations of the remains of the ship, the Mentor, which was lost in a storm off Kythera whilst transporting many of the Parthenon Sculptures to London. The sculptures were subsequently recovered by sponge divers from Kalymnos.

From:
Bloomberg News

Team Explores 19th Century Parthenon Marble Shipwreck in Greece
By Natalie Weeks – Aug 8, 2011 1:40 PM GMT

A team of underwater explorers in Greece examined the shipwreck of the Mentor, which sunk in 1802 as it transported marbles from the Parthenon to London.

The sculptures, part of the Parthenon collection taken and sent to England by Lord Elgin, were recovered after the ship sunk and no additional pieces were found in last month’s or in three previous explorations, the Athens-based Culture and Tourism Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today.
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