Excavation of Philippi: Students from the University of Thessaloniki discovered the head of a statue of Apollo

 

Excavation of Philippi: Students from the University of Thessaloniki discovered the head of a statue of Apollo

The statue head at the time of the find

15 students took part in the excavation - The head dates back to the 2nd or early 3rd century. A.D. and probably adorned a fountain at Philippi.

On Friday, September 15, 2023, the excavation research carried out by the team of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Philippi under the direction of the professor of Byzantine Archaeology Natalia Poulos and with direct collaborators the assistant professor of Byzantine Archaeology Anastasios Tantsis, as well as the emeritus professor of Byzantine Archaeology Aristotle Mentzos, was completed.

During the German Occupation of Greece: 37 Towns Pillaged and 17 Illegal Excavations

How Greek archaeological treasures found themselves in German museums, while the question of their return remains open, as D. Reppas stated in the National Assembly.

By Aggeliki Kotti, To Ethnos, 04.04.2012 (Translated from the Greek Original)

Greece paid is own price from the German Occupation as far as its antiquities are concerned. And that price would have been greatly heavier if the archaeologists, dedicated to their science, had not had the forsight to hide our antiquities before the German inasion. And also if they had not protected them, even risking their own lives.

Members of the Archaeological Service hid cultural treasures, in order to save them, in caves, ancient tombs, hidden underground spaces of the museums, even under the stands of statues.

Dimitris Reppas mentioned in the Assembly that Greece will not abandon its claims against the German authorities concerning all that passed during the Occupation. These claims include the antiquities. In 37 towns and regions of the countries antiquities were stolen by the German conquerors. During the Occupation German archaeologists carried out illegal excavations in 17 areas of Greece. The various finds were sent to Germany. During the departure of the Germans from Athens they caused great harm to antiquities. By shooting and using their bayonets they destroyed statues and vases on the Acropolis and in the Kerameikos [Ancient Cemetery]. All of this is described in a report issued in 1946 by the [Greek] ministry of Education.

Just months before the fall of the front and the German invasion of Greece, foresighted workers of the Archaeological Service decided to hide the cultural treasures of the country. In caves (Acropolis), in ancient tombs (Delphoi), in hidden underground parts of the museums (National Archaeological Museum, Athens), even under the stands of statues (the Hermes of Praxiteles in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia) or in the vaults of banks (gold objects and ancient coins), these wise and humble people of the Archaeological Service secured as many as they could. In good order and with every solemnity. The Academic Vasileios Petrakos describes all of this in his book “The Antiquities of Greece during the War 1940-1944”.

He also describes how even from the first months of the Occupation, the Nazis created a special military “service for the protection of art”, supposedly to protect the antiquities. At its head was the archaeologist Hans Ulrich von Seneberg, who held the military rank of  Lieutenant Colonel. The “protection” lasted very little and was soon succeeded by the pillaging with illegal excavations and stealing.

Illegal excavations were carried out in many areas of Crete (even in Knossos itself), on Aigina, Chalkida, in a cave of the Kopais lake, in Laconia, in Hagia Theodora of Arta, in Nea Anchialos of Magnesia, in Larissa, in Volos, in Thessalonike, in Vergina.

In the report of the Ministry of Education characteristic examples of thefts are mentioned:

An ancient head of a woman of the 4^th century B.C. was given as a gift to the Marshal List. From the Museum of the Kerameikos a black-figure plate was stolen. From the museum of Chaironeia a gold leaf-shaped ear-ring and five clay vases. The German military commander of Larissa Coller asked for and received from the prefect a statue of Athena of the 3^rd century B.C.

In Thessalonike, armed German soldiers removed a marble statue of the Herakleiotissa (which was returned in 1947), a geometric vase, a statue of a woman and a late antiquity portrait.

From the Gortyna Museum a statue of a nymphe or Aphrodite of the roman period was stolen, as well as a statue of a sitting woman and a funerary marker of the Hellenistic period. The archaeological collection of Potidea, stored in a school, was pillaged in its entirety by the Germans.

The Occupiers tried using pressure to discover the hidden antiquities, but met with the stubborn resistance of Greek archaeologists. In a characteristic manner Keramopoulos answers to the argument that the antiquities are in danger because of the humidity, that the Greek government has other priorities, as for example to save the people from starvation. And that the interest of the People in antiquities is limited, “as long as the People is starving”.

A Gold Olive Wreath under the Microscope of Archaeologists

The gold wreath, just after its exctraction from the silver amphora.

Source: To Vima, 24.02.2012

Finds from the Agora of Aigai will be presented in a congress on the digs.

Part of a silver Panathinaïc amphora that bears etchings of an image. (Click for larger)

The gold Olive-Wreath that had been discovered a few years ago in a silver panathinaïc amphora during the excavations of the Aristoteleian University of Thessalonike in the Agora of Aigai will be the centre-piece of the speech of the excavation team, that will be presented on the 2^nd March 2012 (at 7:30 P.M.) in the Hall of Ceremonies of the old building of the Philosophical School of the A.U.T. The speech will be part of the Archaeological Congress on the excavations of 2011 in Macedonian and Thrace that will take place in Thessalonike between the 1^st and the 3^rd March and will include more than 68 announcements and 147 participants.

“The work of restoration of the valuable finds of 2008 and 2009 progressed with slow rythms, but with impressive results and the gold wreath has started to recover something of its original form”, is mentioned in the presentaton signed by Chrysoula Paliadeli, Athanasia Kyriakou, Alexandros Tourtas, Nikolaos Chatzidakis, and Paraskevi Papageorgiou who is the one that carried out the restoration of the wreath.

The siler vessel itself, unique of its kind, also has great problems of oxidation on its surface, on exactly the part where the etchings of a once impressive image can be discerned and whose subject for the time being and until the restoration is completed, remains undefined.

On a different subject, that of the protection and showing in the best light of monument, the excavation team of the University in Aigai will propose in the coming days for the approval of the Central Archaeological Council a study for the light intervention on selected sectors of the research of the archaeological site, so that they be restored and rendered visitable. The study was compiled by N. Hatzidakis.

It must be noted that this year’s archaeological meeting on the excavations in Macedonia and Thrace is organised for the 25 time and in it are presented a plethora of new archaeological material, important announcements are made public and observations and synthetic interpretations concerning the antiquities of the region are expressed. The works of the congress will be saluted by the Dean of the A.U.T., professor Giannis Mylopoulos on Thursday 1 March at 9:30.

Old Cases Re-examined

By Vicky Charisopoulou
Translated from the Greek: Ta Nea, 05.03.2012

Common elements with four cases of illegal commerce of antiquities that concerned objects of great value, have been detected with the new case in Chalkidiki. A common point of all the cases is the geographical origin of the culprits, but also of the objects that also come from the same regions of Northern Greece.

2000 The Golden Crown
An inhabitant of the village Melissourgos of Thessolonike was the worker that discovered under uncertain circumstances a gold crown of the 4th century B.C. which he handed to the authorities. The circumstances of the discovery were considered curious, especially given the past of the worker who had previously been arrested (in the Summer of 1987) for possesing ancient objects and a metal detector. It was found that the gold crown of Apollonia had been offered for sale for more than six months with an asking price of 60 mil. drachmas [t.n.: approx. 180.000 Euros].

2007 The Illegal Dig
A large-scale illegal dig of the prehistoric cemetery of Palaios Panteleimonas of Olympus was reported by the archaeologists of the 26th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Pieria in September 2007.

2009 Vergina
The case of an important case of illegal commerce of antiquities from the Vergina archaeological site in September 2009, was filed just a year and a half later under the heading "unknown culprits". Unknown persons had entered before the dawn of the 16th August into the interior of the tombs (the time of entry was recorded by the temperature detectors) broke of the arms of the throne of Eurydice and removed six small sculptures (Korai and Sphinxes of the 4th century B.C.). No-one knew anything about the case, the theft was discovered 20 days later (9 September 2009), but the investigation was fruitless.


2011 11 million loot [see here]
An inhabitant of Gerakarou of Thessalonike (on the border with Chalkidiki) was one of the three persons arested last October during a large scale operation of the police, when objects worth a total of 11 million Euros were confiscated.
The 44 arrests carried out the day before yesterday, in the region between Phthiotis to Kavala, are considered by archaeologists and the police to be the tail end of this case. Apart from the large quantity of coins (9.200), as in the case of October, the accused had in their possetion golden mouth-pieces (from graves of the 6th century) and other grave good of the same period, which are thought to come from illegal digs in Archondiko of Giannitsa.





It is noteworthy that during the last archaeological congress on the work in Macedonia last year, last Thursday, the head of excavations at Archondiko of Pella, Pavlos Chrysostomou reported that last summer alone he discovered more than 10 illegal excavation trenches in the unguarded, because of lack of funds to pay guards, region of the ancient graveyard of Archontiko of Pella.



Photos of the objects confiscated by the police during all the cases mentioned. Source: Ta Nea, 05.03.2012






See also:

• Kathimerini, 06.03.2012

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A.M. Note

The same remarks couls be made concerning the two men arrested for thying to sell a Lysippos (?) statue of Alexander the Great two years ago in Thessalonike...

An Important Case of Antiquities Smuggling (Thessalonike, Greece)

by Kostas Onisenko

Ancient objects similar to those that were confiscated by the Department of Illegal Antiquities Trade of the Greek Police last Thursday will be admired by visitors of the large exhibition at the Louvre in Paris "Ancient Macedonia - The Kingdom of Alexander the Great". The antiquities that were located by the police are similar to those that have been discovered in various localities of Central Macedonia, such as Sindos, Archondiko of Pella and elsewhere. "It is certain that these come from an illegal dig, certainly in Central Macedonia" commented a source in the Ministry of Culture. They total 70 objects of great archaeological importance, probably of the 6th century BC. The police handed over to archaeologists four helmets, golden masks, golden mouth-pieces, clay and metal vessels, pieces of an iron sword, various gold pieces and more. The archaeologists have not et determined their exact provenance.

The antiquities were handed over to the Archaeological Museum on the day that they wer e confiscated, in the presence of the Minister of Culture, P. Geroulanos, and the heads of Greek Police.

A source from the Ministry of Citizen Protection speaking to "Kathimerini" spoke of the great interest and the dimensions that this operations took on, and are related not only to the importance of the finding and saving such an important archaeological treasure: 'The geographic provenance of the objects and the fact that they seem to be related to the culture of Alexander the Great's Macedonia is of special importance, as it was imperative that they were not exported. In that case it would have been possible that they be "rediscovered" in an official "excavation" of one of our neighbouring countries. We have indications that such "discoveries of archaeological treasures" had in fact earlier been sold by illegal antiquity merchants from Greece. However this is something extremely difficult to prove", according to the same source.

The Greek Prime Minister Georgos Papandreou and the Minister of Culture Pavlos Geroulanos examine the antiquities.

"People of the Night"

According to information it was about three months ago that the police received the first information pertaining to the case. They contacted the illegal antiquities merchants in the guise of potential buyers and agreed to "buy" the treasure for the sum of 10 mil. euros. During the deal two people were arrested and two more are now wanted. According to police sources the were "people of the night" (mafia).

Source: Kathimerini, 08.10.2011


Supplementary information, taken from the article by Aggeliki Kopi, Ta Nea.

It appears that the finds come from four or maybe five separate graves. Given that there are four helmets and some objects related to a woman's burial there must be at least five separate graves. It appears that they come from a hitherto unknown burial site.

The objects include: Four helmets, two golden masks with the features of the dead person, gold mouth-pieces, gold plates and jewellery that was attached to the clothes (tainies, circular pieces with the Macedonian star and more), gold rings, pins, and a small silver spoon are amongst the most important of the 70 antiquities recovered. We must also mention a miniature glass amphora with beautiful colours and designs, a phiale bearing the well known ray-decoration (star), an exceptional oinochoe, whose handle ends near the lip in the form of three lion heads, silver vessels, the upper part of a large bronze oinochoe, small clay figurines and a large selection of gold leaf decorated with Macedonian motifs.

According to the report of Aggeliaforos, 25.10.2011 one of those accused in this case disclosed information about the whereabouts of the unknown cemetery: it is said to be located in the larger area of Gerakarou. The archeologists where guided to the spot by the accused, but no announcement has yet officially been made.

Aggeliki Kopi, Ta Nea, 08.10.2011

See also:

• Kathimerini, 06.10.2011
• BBC News, 07.10.2011
  
• Aggeliaforos, 25.10.2011
  

The Tomb of Aeneia (Nea Michaniona, Thessalonike, Macedonia, Greece)

The Tomb of Aeneia
By Vicky Charisopoulou
Source: Ta Nea, 05.08.2011

In the centre of the great hall of the permanent exhibitions of the Archaeological Musem of Thessalonike an entire tomb has been placed. It is well worth the effort to climb the two steps to the elevated floor that surrounds it to look into its interior, hidden from view for 2300 years. The tomb was removed in its entirety during the excavations of the toumba on the south shores of the peninsula of Megalo Emvolo or Karabournou, to the NW of modern Nea Michaniona of Thessalonike. The area has been identified based on information given by Herodotus and Livy as the ancient city of Aeneia. The poros cist grave (named by archaeologists "of Aeneia") was found intact. Its interior is painted, its walls covered with murals of excellent quality (a multy-colour decoration band running along the four sides with plants, flowers, doves, ribbons) and personal items of the young woman were found inside. The burial is dated to 250-325 B.C.

The your aristocrat (judging by the finds) rested for 2300 years accompanied by her entire boudoir. The visitor can immerse himself into the exploration of the symbols that decorate the multy-coloured decoration that runs around the entire tomb. The burial symbols - doves, pine-combs and flowers - and the objects of everyday life (crown, ribbons, bust of a woman, case for toiletry goods) provide an excellent ensemble for painting of the 4th century B.C., one of the earliest in Macedonia. The are indicative of the luxurious life style and of the religious beliefs of the young aristocrat.

The town of Aeneia (modern Nea Michaniona) was named after its founder Aeneas, the legendary hero of Troy, son of the goddess Aphrodite and of Anchises. When, after the ten-year siege Troy was conquered by the Greeks, Aeneas smuggled his old father out of the city, carrying his on his shoulders. His left his home followed by his wife Creousa (daughter of the king of Troy Priam and of Hecuba) and their children, including his daughter Anthemone, after whom the town of Anthemous (Anthemusias) was named.

The final destination of the journey was Latium, in modern Italy, but Aeneas was forced to stop on modern Megalo Karabourbnou. Here, having buried his father who did not survive the journey, he built the city of Aeneia. Since then what is now know as Megalo Karanournou (t.n.: Karabournou is its Turkish name) was named Aeneia Akra and Ainaion Akroterion (t.n. Peninsula of Aenea).

Aeneas continued his journey to Italy, but his wife Creousa with their son Askanius and their daughters remained in the newly-founded city, where she reigned until her death.

From the Bosporous to the Adriatic – French Photographers discover the monuments of the Balkans

Image from: agelioforos.gr

One of the most important monuments of Thessalonike, the Rotonda, opens its gates to host an exhibition of photographs from the beginning of the 20th century entitled “From the Bosporous to the Adriatic – French Photographers discover the monuments of the Balkans”.

The 180 black and white photographs, dated from 1878 to 1914, where captured with the lenses of French photographers. Temples, markets, Muslim mosques and other monuments from Greece, Turkey, Albania, FYROM, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina where captured photographically composing a “journey of the common in the Balkans”, as the director of the Museum of Photography of Thessalonike and member of the organising committee, Vaggelis Ioakimides said.

The works cover five historical periods of the countries of South-Eastern Europe. The first concerns monuments of antiquity, the second Byzantine buildings, the third is linked to the architecture influenced by the Venetians along the Dalmatian coast, the fourth is dominated by Oriental perfumes, while the fifth discusses the meaning of the term city.

“This exhibition shows the possibility of photographs to capture facets of places that are today lost”, underlines mr Ioakimides.

The exhibition is a production of the National Centre for Historical Monuments of France and was first presented in the Conciergerie in Paris.

It was co-organised by the French Institute of Thessalonike, the Museum of Photography of Thessalonike, the Department of Architecture of the Aristoteleian University of Thessalonike and the 9^th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, under the care of the Metropolis of Thessalonike and the General Consulate of France in Thessalonike and the Prefecture of Thessalonike as part of the Photobienale.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Friday 28^th May and will last till the 31^st July. It will then travel to other Balkan Countries.

Source: Kathimerini.gr, 20.05.2010

Note: For more information about the Museums mentioned in the text, see here.

Venue: Rotonda-Church of St. George (tel. 2310968860)
Opening Hours: Tue-Sun 08.00-19.00
Duration: 28.05.2010-31.07.2010

Thessalonike: The Hagia Sophia (Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία; Holy Wisdom) and the Crypt of Hagios Ioannis; Monuments To Pontiac Greeks.

The photographs in this post are all originals. If they are useful, feel free to use them, but please reference them properly, preferably with a link back to this site! They were taken in March 2010.

Monument to Pontiac Greeks, opposite Saint Sophia Church.

Monument to the "Defenders of Hellenism in the Pontus"