Italian police bust ancient artefact trafficking gang

Police in four countries made scores of arrests on Wednesday, after busting an international criminal gang who stole artefacts from Sicilian archaeological sites, the EU's police agency said. Some 25,000 objects, including ancient coins, statues and pottery, as well as fake artefacts, were recovered in the operation.

The pre-dawn raids on over 40 houses were the culmination of a four-year investigation led by Italy's Carabinieri art heritage police, Europol said. The group illegally exported many of the stolen artefacts to Germany, where they were granted fake certificates of origin and sold by auction houses in Munich, Italian police said.

Some of the 25,000 objects recovered included ancient coins, statues and pottery, as well as fake artefacts that were estimated to be worth over €40 million ($46.5 million). Police also seized some 1,500 tools used by the gang to illegally excavate archaeological sites in central Sicily where Greek and Roman artefacts can be found.

A total of 23 people have been arrested in relation to the gang, with eight in custody, seven under house arrest in Italy, and three subject to European arrest warrants in Germany, Spain and Britain. A 61-year-old Italian was arrested in Ehingen, in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and €30,000 in cash was seized from his home. William Veres, a British art dealer, was served an international arrest warrant and was detained in London. Another Italian was arrested in Barcelona.

• Saturday, July 7, 2018
  archeology current affairs Italy modern Greece

PAT ritual announcement: the Diisoteria

Today, I would like to announce the last PAT ritual for Skirophorion, the Diisoteria. It will be held on 13 July, 10 am EDT--our usual time--and we would like you to join us in honoring Zeus, Athena, Asklēpiós, and Hygeia.

The Diisoteria was held on the last day of Skirophorion in the Piraeus, the ancient port of Athens. Fourth century accounts show that a large number of bulls were sacrificed at the festival. The sum set aside for the sacrifice in 323 BC is reported as either 50 talents or 30 talents but neither figure can be regarded as wholly realistic since Demosthenes, who was put in charge of the sacrifice for that year, was expected to pay the bulk of an outstanding fine from the money allocated. It was presided over by the archon.

The sacrifice was performed to mark the end of the old year and beginning of the new. It was held in honor of Zeus Soter and Athene Soteira, as well as Asklēpiós and Hygeia. The purpose of the sacrifice was to place the state under the protection of the God and Goddess during the upcoming year.

Will you join us in this PAT ritual to reign in the new year? You can find the ritual here and join the community here.

• Friday, July 6, 2018
  Asklēpiós Athena Athena Soteira Diisoteria Elaion festivals Hygeia PAT Zeus Zeus Soter

Three new "Greece is...' magazines!

Have you heard of the 'Greece is...' magazine? It was inaugurated in the summer of 2015, with its first issue dedicated to Santorini, one of the world’s most beloved and coveted travel destinations. The second issue, 'Greece Is Athens - Summer Edition', is a treasure trove of information on Athens from past to present, distributed exclusively at the Acropolis Museum. The third was about the Peloponnese and the fourth issue, 'Greece Is Democracy', was on the occasion of the 3D Athens Democracy Forum, celebrates and relates to the birth, reality and influence of Athenian democracy, through a compilation of original articles by esteemed Greek and international academics, authors and journalists. If you have not read them yet, you might want to invest the time!

After those came more magazines, on the Greek city Thessaloniki, the Greek city of Athens, the Greek island Mykonos and the last was on The Olympics. Then on Athens again, on wine, on the peninsula and regional unit of Greece named Halkidiki and on democracy. Then on the Greek city Thessaloniki again, Athens again, the new subject of health and what do you know, wine again! Then it was back to parts of the country, namely Santorini again, Kos-Nisyros, and Mykonos again.  Then came three more, about Rhodes, Athens, and democracy again. 

I'd like to add three today: about Thessaloniki again, about winter in Athens, and about health. Enjoy!

• Thursday, July 5, 2018
  current affairs modern Greece

Byzantine shipwreck discovered off the Sicilian coast

Last May, a diving enthusiast noticed some objects that appeared to have some historic interest on the seabed just two metres deep off the coast in the Portulisse area, in the Sicilian Municipality of Ispica (RG).

After retrieving some of these items and recording with the GPS the exact location of the discovery, which turned out to be part of an ancient shipwreck buried in the sand, he handed them over to the Guardia di Finanza of Pozzallo. After cataloguing the finds (amphorae and pottery), specialists informed the authorities of Ragusa and the R.O.A.N. of Palermo for the direction and coordination of activities and to inform the Superintendence of the Sea of Palermo.

Last month, divers from the Guardia di Finanza and the R.O.A.N. carried out an inspection in the marine area confirming what the Council had said. In view of the importance of the discovery, the procedure for recovering the wreck and its cargo will be initiated.

The wreck, says the Department of Cultural Heritage, dates back to the sixth century AD and appears to be a Byzantine ship that sank near the coast with a load of amphorae scattered over a large sandy area. Investigation operations have already been planned and will be launched in collaboration with the submarine team of the Guardia di Finanza. The Councillor for Cultural Heritage of Tusa:

"It is a discovery of great value. That is added to the many made in recent years on the Sicilian seabed. A discovery that contributes to enriching one of the happiest moments in the history of the island: the Byzantine."

During the Byzantine period, Sicily had intense contacts with Asia Minor and especially with Constantinople and the finding testifies precisely to these commercial relations between East and West that will now be further understood.

The wreck of Marzameni, currently being excavated by a joint Italo-US mission, and another Byzantine ship found in Pantano Longarini, Syracuse, still in the depots of the Aretus Superintendence, are also part of this context.

As part of an agreement in the process of being formalized, the newly discovered wreck will be investigated and studied in the coming months by Dr. Massimo Capulli pursuant to an agreement with the University of Udine.

• Wednesday, July 4, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs

Ancient jars over 2,000 years old found in cliffside cave in Israel

Ancient cookware and other pottery vessels well over 2,000 years old have been salvaged from the unlikeliest of places: a tiny cave on a sheer cliffside, in which nobody could possibly have lived. The pieces had to be lowered more than 30 meters – very gingerly, in padded bags – by rope.

Credit: Dr. Yinon Shivtiel

The cave was found about six months ago by Dr. Yinon Shivtiel, a speleologist from the Safed Academic College. He has been surveying the Galilee for 20 years, seeking and documenting caves where Jewish rebels hid from the infuriated Roman soldiers during the Great Jewish Revolt (66-70 CE). The shape of the jars and amphorae found in this cliffside hole indicate that the pieces were made, and presumably placed in the cave, centuries before the year 70, when the Romans vanquished the Jews.

Remarkably, the two amphorae were still intact. The archaeologists also found a bowl, other storage jars, two juglets and broken shards. Dr. Danny Syon of the IAA states: 

"As a first impression, the finds seem to date to the Hellenistic period—between the 3rd and 1st centuries B.C.E. Considering that cooking and serving vessels were found, it would appear that those who brought them planned to live there for a while." 

Shivtiel is confident that nobody lived in that cave, if only because nobody could. For one thing, it was too small, only about 1x2 meters square, he says. For another, anybody going to the trouble to access it was, according to him, under terrific stress.

"You can't climb into that cave. It's completely impossible. It's 30 meters above the ground and the cliff face up to it is absolutely sheer.  From the top, the cave is under an overhand. Only people in dire straits would drop down a rope to that cave." 

Which begs the questions of what pottery vessels including large amphorae (jars used to store wine and sometimes olive oil), other pottery vessels, and even a cooking pot were doing there.

"My theory is that these people in stress were hiding in other caves in the area. This one served as a sort of storage cave for food." 

Generally the Galilee at the time was populated by Phoenicians, and there were some Jews as well, Shivtiel says. Research in ancient Hellenic and Roman sources might reveal information on what people were experiencing trouble in the Galilee back then. Perhaps this odd refuge can be tied to a known historic event.

I am going to offer an alternative explanation: it all sounds a lot like a prison to me. Like forced or voluntary exile as penance for some kind of crime. Think about it: obviously it would be torture to live in that little cave for a few days or even weeks. You'd need to have food and water on hand, and things to cook them with. You'd be lowered down by rope, accept your food and drink daily as it was lowered down to you, and once your time was up, you would be hoisted back up--if you hadn't slipped and fallen by then, or tossed yourself down. Makes sense to me!

• Tuesday, July 3, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs

Some ancientHellenic proverbs for you to sink your teeth into

A proverb is a short, pithy saying that expresses a traditionally held truth or piece of advice, based on common sense or experience. Nothing defines a culture as distinctly as its language, and the element of language that best encapsulates a society's values and beliefs is its proverbs.


“People suffer less because of their enemies than their friends. For they guard against their enemies because they fear them while they remain open to their friends. They too are slippery and likely to conspire.” [Arsenius 7.7a]

“An Iliad of Evils”: this proverb is uses for great evils. This is because there were myriad evils in Ilium” [Zenobius 4.43]

“You ate some lotus”: [this proverb is applied to those] who are forgetful of things in the household and are slow in matters of hospitality. It is based on the lotus which imbues one who eats it with forgetfulness.” [Michael Apostolios, 11.15]

“When I fled the smoke, I fell into the fire”:  [this proverb is applied] to those who flee rather minor troubles only to fall upon greater ones. [Diogenianus, 8.45]

“The doors of the muses are open”: a proverb applied to those readily acquiring the best things in their education.” [Zenobius 1.89]

“Teaching dolphins to swim: [this proverb] is applied to those who are teaching something among people who are already well versed in it.” [Zenobius 3.30]

“A fool laughs even when nothing is funny.” [Arsenius, 5.29b]

“A Fox can’t be bribed” this is applied to those who are not easily captured by gifts." [Zenobius 1.71]

“The Graces are Naked”: [a phrase asserting that] it is right to give thanks for a gift without envy or vanity.” [Michael Apostolios 1.82]

“If you are able to give thanks, don’t tarry, but give it—since you know that these acts are not everlasting.” [Arsenius, 6.38b]

Source.

• Monday, July 2, 2018
  ancient Hellenic culture Apostolios Arsenius Zenobius

Rediscovering ancient Hellenic music

Armand D'Angour, Associate Professor of Classics at Oxford and a musician, recently put together this lovely write-up of the evolution of understanding ancient Hellenic music. I found it to be very educational and I hope you will enjoy it as well. For the full article, go here.

"Music was as central to Greek life as it is to ours. Greeks believed that music had the power to captivate and enchant. In the fifth century BC, the music of Athenian theatre was enjoyed by tens of thousands of listeners. Top performers were treated like pop stars.

We know that music—singing, playing instruments, and dancing—was a significant part of ancient Greek life, from the time of Homer in the 8th century BC for hundreds of years. It was used in religious worship, formal and informal entertainment and banquets, ceremonial occasions such as weddings and victory celebrations, and even in work settings where the aulos (double-pipe) was said to provide a rhythm for workers. Above all, however, we know that the surviving texts of most ancient poetry were sung to music.

The principal components of Greek music—as of all music—were the voice, instruments, rhythms, and melodies. The instruments are well known from ancient paintings and surviving relics, some in excellent condition. Two main kinds of instrument, the double-pipe (aulos) and the lyre, were used to accompany song. 

Until recently, people thought we knew nothing of ancient tunes, but scholarship has now accurately deciphered marks on stone and papyrus that reveal songs and scraps of tunes, some of which haven’t been heard for 2000 years. The extraction of melody from the markings was allowed thanks to a comprehensive set of tables preserved from around the 5th century AD, by an otherwise unknown author called Alypius. Alypius listed the notations used to indicate vocal and instrumental melody, informing us what modes different marks could refer to and explaining the relative intervals.

A later author, the mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy, who also wrote about music in the 2nd century AD, gives us very precise details of the tuning of the seven- or eight-stringed lyres. He constructed an 8-stringed ‘octachord’ with moveable bridges, and measured the proportions of the strings in order to specify their pitch. As a result, we are able to reconstruct stringed instruments and tune them exactly as they would have been tuned in his time.

Scraps of papyrus with musical notation began to appear as early as the 16th century, and Florentine musicians were excited to try and rediscover the music of ancient Greece. However, they found that the indications were too slight for them to make good sense of the music, and they went their own way in creating opera and oratorio.

Over the past few hundred years, however, more papyri have come to light, as well as stone inscriptions with large amounts of musical notation. From them we are able to reconstruct the sounds of music that would have been sung and played. There are around two dozen melodies that have been transcribed and are able to be performed along with texts which provide the intrinsic rhythm—Greek words consisted of long and short syllables."

• Sunday, July 1, 2018
  Alypius ancient Hellenic culture archeology current affairs music Ptolemy