43 Posts in Archaeology

Named 'Cosmote Chronos', the application combines the capabilities of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with the signal strength of 5G networks to present scientifically documented recreations of the Acropolis. These include the Parthenon, the sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia and the Chalkotheke (housing metal votive offerings), of which the latter two have not survived. The application also includes the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the monuments of the southern slope of the Acropolis, viewed from the Acropolis Museum. It also presents emblematic pieces exhibited on the Museum's 3rd floor, where the Parthenon sculptures are displayed. The application can be used live in a point-and-view manner when visiting the site, or at home. Speaking about the app, Culture & Sports Minister Lina Mendoni said that accessibility to the Acropolis "now extends to the digital realm, as real or virtual visitors anywhere in the world can share into this historical knowledge." Digital technologies "can be catalytic to the preservation and promotion of our rich cultural heritage at a global level," noted Cosmote CEO Michalis Tsamaz. Cosmote is Greece's main telecommunications provider and co-creator company of the app. The app is available free of charge, in both Greek and English, for Android and iOS in the relevant app stores.

Quoting a Vatican statement that the decision was prompted by a “ sincere desire to follow in the ecumenical path of truth,” the author noted that the 50th anniversary of the return of democratic rule to Greece in 2024 will be an "ideal opportunity" for such a gesture. The article presents the Greek arguments in favour of the sculptures' return and the efforts of the Parthenon Project, which is working with both the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum to find a solution, while noting the UK government's refusal to change a 1963 law that forbids the museum "from disposing of its holdings". The anniversary of the restoration of democratic rule in Greece on July 24, 2024 will be an opportunity for "an unencumbered gift of the marbles" to the people of Greece, the article proposes, noting that the UK has over a year to make perfect copies and replace the sculptures in the British Museum. It also notes that such debates represent a "sea change" in global public discourse regarding the return of works of art, and a global rethink of "giving back something when it is wrongly there."

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna has a tiny collection of marbles – just 2 fragments from the Parthenon’s northern frieze. But Greece hopes that with each agreement to return pieces to Athens there will be growing “positive momentum” in talks on returning pieces being kept elsewhere. “I am very pleased that technical discussions are taking place between the Kunsthistorische Museum and the Acropolis Museum on mutual loans of the Parthenon frieze,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told a news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias. “I am very hopeful that the talks can move on very quickly and the marbles will be on display in Athens.” Dendias said the talks were important in the context of discussions about bigger collections, particularly that of the British Museum in London.           Since independence in 1832, Greece has repeatedly called for the return of the sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th Century, when Greece was under Ottoman rule. “The regional government of Sicily in 2022 and Pope Francis in 2023 returned to Greece part of the Parthenon sculptures so this will be the third one and this for us is of huge, huge importance,” Dendias said. “And also beyond the very fact of this, we believe that will create a momentum which we could use in our discussions with London.” Moreover, in related news, Issues of energy, investments, and developments in Sudan were discussed by Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias during a meeting with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna on Tuesday. In joint statements after their meeting, Dendias spoke of the electrical interconnection between Greece, Austria and Germany through Albania and the Western Balkans as an important element of the future energy cooperation between the two countries. The Greek minister also commended Austria for ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) even though it is a landlocked country, and expressed the hope that other countries will follow Austria's example. Although "there are not many that have not subscribed to it, there is one, it is quite important for us," he said. Asked about Greek-Turkish relations, Dendias noted, "We are pragmatists. We hope that after the Turkish elections we may be able to try again to find a way out on our difference with Türkiye. But, of course, that can only be based on International Law and the International Law of the Sea." Dendias was also queried about his scheduled meeting in Vienna with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. He said Greece was concerned about neighbouring Türkiye's plan to build a nuclear plant at Akkuyu, and about the existing nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia, in Ukraine, which he said "poses a direct threat to the overall region." Regarding Sudan, Dendias pointed out that the situation in Khartoum and Darfur is not getting any better, and expressed his hope to help facilitate that refugees "stay next to the Sudanese border, while we are trying our best to bring a truce and a normalisation at a later stage. Then, leaving Sudan for Europe, I don’t think that helps them and I don’t think that helps you," he pointed out. Dendias thanked Schallenberg for his country's decision to lend to Greece two fragments from the Parthenon's northern frieze, of 25 cm and 65 cm. The pieces are currently at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. After meeting with Schallenberg, Dendias met with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

The file will be submitted by the ministry in September for evaluation and comments by the competent UNESCO committee. The nomination will be officially submitted in January 2024. Ministry sources said that each of Crete’s archaeological sites had its own challenges for inclusion. The most demanding was the surrounding area of Knossos. To improve the site’s image, some interventions are planned, such as enlarging the parking area and access for wheelchair users.

Hellenic Culture Minister Lina Mendoni led a ceremony Friday for the repatriation of three sculpture fragments — representing a horse and two male heads — from the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis which had been kept at the Vatican Museums. “Initiatives like these show the way, how the pieces of the Parthenon can be reunited, healing the wounds caused by barbaric hands so many years ago,” Mendoni said. “This takes us to the just and moral demand of the entire Greek people, and of this government and its prime minister, for the final return of all the sculptures of the Parthenon.” The fragments will be added to the collection at the Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009 at the foot of the ancient site in the center of the Greek capital. Mendoni said Greece would be willing to lend the British museum ancient Greek artifacts for exhibition to “fill the gap” if the marbles were returned. “Greece cannot recognize possession and ownership by the British Museum because it considers the sculptures to be there as a product of theft,” she said. The Vatican called the return an ecumenical “donation” to Greece’s Orthodox Church, but the gesture added pressure on the London museum to reach a settlement with Greece following a campaign launched by Athens 40 years ago. “This act by Pope Francis is of historical significance and has a positive impact on all levels … We hope it sets an example for others,” the leader of Greece’s Orthodox Church, Archbishop Ieronymos II, said. Greece argues that the Parthenon sculptures are at the core of its ancient heritage, while supporters of the British Museum maintain that their return could undermine museum collections and cultural diversity globally. Carved in the 5th century BC, the sculptures from the Parthenon were taken in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin before Greece won independence from the Ottoman Empire. Culture Ministry officials in Greece have played down remarks made last month by British Museum chair George Osborne that the U.K. and Greece were working on an arrangement to display the Parthenon Marbles in both London and Athens. Last year another marble sculptural fragment from the Parthenon temple — depicting a foot of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis — was returned to Athens from a museum in Palermo, Sicily. Bishop Brian Farrell, a Vatican secretary for promoting Christian unity, headed the visiting delegation to Athens and said the return of the three fragments from the Vatican had been discussed during a visit to Athens by Pope Francis in 2021. “The gifting of the fragments of the Parthenon which had been held in the Vatican Museums for more than two centuries, shows itself as cultural and social gesture of friendship and solidarity with the people of Greece,” Farrell said. “We assure you of our intimate joy at the realization of your legitimate wish to have the ... fragments at home in their place of origin,” he added.

The three fragments include the part of the head of a youth, one of the two horses pulling the goddess Athena's chariot, and a male figure with a beard that belongs to a southern metope, where the Centauromachy is depicted. These fragments from the metopes, the frieze and the pediments of the Parthenon were gifted personally by Pope Francis to the Archbishop Hieronymos of Athens and All Greece. The agreement to that effect was signed in Rome by Greek and Vatican officials on March 7, as the pieces were being kept at the Vatican Museums. Attending the event, Culture & Sports Minister Lina Mendoni said that "the Pontiff's gesture comes to the aid of the Greek people's fair and moral demand - but also to the diligent effort of the Greek government and personally of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis - for the definitive return and reunification of all the Parthenon Marbles in Athens," referring to marbles kept at the British Museum in London. Mendoni also relayed the Greek premier's warm thanks, who was scheduled to attend but was delayed due to the ongoing European Council meeting in Brussels. Pope Francis' gesture "is of historical significance and has very positive ramifications on multiple levels," noted Archbishop Hieronymos. Also welcoming the gift was Acropolis Museum Director Nicolas Stampolidis, who noted that the gift of the fragments, "which until the beginning of March were being exhibited in the Vatican for more than 200 years, carries both a substantial as well as a symbolic character." Vatican delegation Four members of a Catholic delegation from the Vatican who arrived in Athens on Thursday also attended. The delegation included its head, Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Under-Secretary Monsignor Andrea Palmieri, Director of the Vatican Museums Dr Barbara Jatta, and Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski, Apostolic Nuncio to Greece. Bishop Farrell spoke about the importance of the Pope's gesture, an "ecclesiastical, cultural and social gesture of friendship and solidarity with the people of Greece", which he noted "confirms even more strongly the friendship and the spiritual closeness between our Churches."

The meeting will be held ahead of the ceremony on Friday to return the three marble fragments from the Parthenon to the Acropolis Museum. Kept at the Vatican Museums, the three pieces were gifted personally by Pope Francis to the archbishop, and an agreement to that effect was signed in Rome by Greek and Vatican officials on March 7. The reunification event will be held at at the Museum at 17:30 on Friday, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Archdiocese said. The Catholic delegation is headed by Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and includes Under-Secretary Monsignor Andrea Palmieri, Director of the Vatican Museums Dr Barbara Jatta, and Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski, Apostolic Nuncio to Greece.

Sunak said there are no plans to amend the legislation, which states the museum can only dispose of objects within its collection in limited circumstances. However, the museum could still arrange a loan of the sculptures. Since independence in 1832, Greece has repeatedly called for the return of the sculptures – known in Britain as the Elgin Marbles – that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century, when Greece was under Ottoman rule. Sunak is unlikely to break with the stances of his two predecessors who were both against any kind of loan of the marbles to Greece.   “The UK has cared for the Elgin Marbles for generations. Our galleries and museums are funded by taxpayers because they are a huge asset to this country,” Sunak told reporters on his plane as he flew to the United States.           “We share their treasures with the world, and the world comes to the UK to see them. The collection of the British Museum is protected by law, and we have no plans to change it.” The former finance minister George Osborne, the chair of the British Museum, has been working on a new arrangement with Greece through which the sculptures could be seen both in London and in Athens. The Parthenon Project, which has been backed by British politicians from different political parties to settle the issue, said on Sunday the British Museum’s Parthenon collection could be returned to Greece under a long-term cultural partnership agreement.

Manolis Psarros, an employee of the State archaeological service, was beaten by an unidentified man with a possible accomplice in Athens last week and was left unconscious and bleeding in the street. The 53-year-old was taken to a State hospital in the Greek capital and is currently recovering at home. Archaeologists employed by the Culture Ministry staged a 5-hour work stoppage to protest what their association described as a “mafia-style attack.” Despina Koutsoumba, the head of the protesting archaeologists’ association, said Psarros has dealt with multiple cases involving alleged violations on Mykonos and had been called as a witness in the past in trials resulting from those cases. “He has no trouble in his personal life ‒ debts or anything like that ‒ that would justify anything like this. This was a professional attack,” Koutsoumba told The Associated Press. “He was struck from behind before getting into his car. He lost consciousness and was hit after that. He has broken ribs and extensive bruising.” The protest was joined by ministry employees in Athens as well as the national Association of Archaeological Conservators. They are seeking additional police protection for public officials involved in contentious inspections and will refuse to handle cases from Mykonos until the end of the month when they plan to visit the island. Planning permission in Greece is often subject to a veto by the local archaeological service, which is tasked with protecting the country’s ancient heritage. One of Greece’s best known holiday destinations, Mykonos was settled in ancient times and hosts an archaeological museum. It is located next to the tiny and uninhabited island of Delos, an ancient commercial, religious and political center that is considered one of Greece’s most important archaeological sites. “There are problems caused by the high level of tourism development on many islands, but Mykonos is by far the worst,” Koutsoumba said. The Hellenic Culture Ministry condemned the assault, while Mykonos Mayor Constantinos Koukas described the beating as a “criminal and brazen attack that has shocked us all.”

Greece has asked for others to imitate the Vatican Museums after they agreed this month to return three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon. London and Athens are in talks over the Parthenon Sculptures held by the British Museum. The Parthenon, which is on the Acropolis in Athens, was completed in the fifth century BC as a temple to the goddess Athena, and its decorative friezes contain some of the greatest examples of ancient Greek sculpture. Greece has repeatedly called for the permanent return of the sculptures, which British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the temple in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Greece's then-ruler. The Parthenon Project, which has been backed by British politicians from different parties, said the British Museum's Parthenon collection could be returned to Greece under a long-term cultural partnership agreement. They would be reunited with Greece's artefacts in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, "as a complete artistic work consistent with its creators’ vision," the campaign group said. The plans, which have been discussed with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and British Museum Chair George Osborne, would see a rotation of Greek masterpieces offered to the British Museum, including some that have never been seen outside Greece. The Parthenon Project said the agreement would be predicated on "the acceptance by both sides that this transformative cultural partnership is possible, despite the absence of a shared position on ownership of the Parthenon Collection." That would mean the arrangement sidesteps the requirement for a change in the law to allow the British Museum to dispose of its artefacts. Osborne has played down the prospect of a permanent return of the marbles, citing the potential legal hurdles, and instead suggested an arrangement where the marbles can be seen in both London and Athens.

The Vatican has termed the return an ecumenical “donation” to the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, not necessarily a state-to-state transfer. But it nevertheless puts pressure on the British Museum to conclude a deal with Greece over the fate of its much bigger collection of Parthenon sculptures. The head of the Vatican city-state, Cardinal Fernando Vergez, signed an agreement to implement the “donation” during a private Vatican Museums ceremony with Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and a representative of the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos II. The envoy, Father Emmanuel Papamikroulis, told The Associated Press that the Greek Orthodox Church and archbishop were grateful to Pope Francis for the deal. “It has taken place at a difficult time for our country, and it will hopefully provide some sense of pride and happiness. I hope this initiative is followed by others,” he said in a telephone interview from the Vatican, where he was touring the gardens after the signing ceremony. “This initiative does help heal wounds of the past and it demonstrates that when Christian leaders work together, they can resolve issues in a practical way,” Papamikroulis added. The fragments are expected to arrive in Athens later this month, with a March 24 ceremony planned to receive them. The British Museum has refused decades of appeals from Greece to return its much larger collection of Parthenon sculptures, which have been a centerpiece of the museum since 1816. Earlier this month, however, the chair of the British Museum said the U.K. and Greece were working on a deal that would see his institution’s Parthenon Marbles displayed in both London and Athens. The 5th century B.C. sculptures are mostly remnants of a 160-meter-long (520-foot) frieze that ran around the outer walls of the Parthenon Temple on the Acropolis, dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom. Much of the frieze and the temple’s other sculptural decoration were lost in a 17th-century bombardment, and about half the remaining works were removed in the early 19th century by a British diplomat, Lord Elgin.

George Osborne said talks with the Greek government had been “constructive.” “I think there is a way forward where these sculptures ... could be seen both in London and in Athens, and that will be a win-win for Greece and for us,” he told the BBC. The antiquities, also known as the Elgin Marbles, mostly consist of the remnants of a frieze that ran around the outer walls of the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis in Athens. Carved in the 5th century BC, they were taken in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin and ended up in the British Museum, which for decades rebuffed Greek demands for their return. Athens argues the sculptures were taken illegally when Greece was under Ottoman Turkish occupation and should be returned for permanent display beside the other surviving Parthenon sculptures that are in the Greek capital’s Acropolis Museum. The British Museum i nsists it will not break up its collection, but there has been a change of tone recently as museums around the world seek to address concerns about the way ancient artifacts were acquired during periods of imperial domination and colonial expansion. The museum has said it wants a “Parthenon partnership” with Greece. Osborne, a former U.K. Treasury chief, said he was “reasonably optimistic” about striking a deal, but cautioned that “it may well not come to anything.” “It’s a very hard problem to solve but I think there is a way forward,” he said. In December, Pope Francis said he would send back to Greece three smaller fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon that the Vatican Museums have held for 2 centuries.