Discussion begins between the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum

"Stray" fragments of the Parthenon, from its sculptural decoration mainly, which are in the British Museum may return to Greece _if not in their entirety, but at least some of them _ as long as cooperation is achieved, which he proposed at the last UNESCO session last June, the Acropolis Museum.

The issue was raised for the first time and is of course independent of Greece's constant and ongoing request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. In this particular case, the president of the Acropolis Museum, professor Mr. Dimitris Pandermalis proposed the special request for a first reunification of "stray" fragments, which are in the British Museum with the sculptures exhibited in Athens.

In the intentions of the Acropolis Museum like this, is the invitation in the autumn of representatives of the British Museum, in order to see the exhibition of the Parthenon Sculptures together in order to form their own opinion about the possibility of re-positioning fragments found in the British Museum in the places from which they are missing. The main argument of the Greek side is, that the recovery of the overall image of a sculpture, even with the addition of a small broken marble is a matter, first of all, scientific ethics.

But what kind of fragments are these?; For example the back part of the upper torso of Poseidon from the west pediment of the Parthenon (the front part is exhibited in the Acropolis Museum).

 Part of the leg of a Lapithidos being seized by a Centaur from the 12th south pediment of the temple (the composition is preserved almost entirely in the Acropolis Museum).

Part of the chest of a warrior depicted on the frieze, as well as other stray fragments of sculptured heads, hands or feet. Of course, there are also some very small fragments.
Of course, many discussions will need to be held in order to have a positive outcome, but the beginning was made and indeed with a positive sign.

In any case, the willingness of the British side to cooperate on such a delicate issue is highly welcomed. It is also noted that according to the standard practice applicable to the Intergovernmental Commission of UNESCO, the two sides negotiated on the sidelines of the Meeting a relevant "Recommendation" draft (Recommendation), which was unanimously adopted by the Commission.

In addition to this, the representative of the British Ministry of Culture Mrs. Bower positively assessed the Greek proposal for a 3D digital scan of the Parthenon frieze in terms of its parts that are in the British Museum. The digital scanning of the stones found in the Acropolis Museum is already being completed in the autumn - it started about a year ago - and at the end the digital composition of the entire frieze will be done in order to obtain "more accurate scientific knowledge", as Mrs. Bauer mentioned.

The same, however, in Greece's constant request for the return of the Sculptors, which was presented at the meeting by the general director of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Education and Culture Mrs. Maria Andreadaki – Vlazakis and professor Mr. Pandermali repeated the familiar arguments of the British side, that this matter falls under the exclusive supervision and management of the Board of Governors of the British Museum.

As for the fragments of the Acropolis, however, it should be noted that they have already started to be returned to Greece. We recall the marble part of the corner capital, which was in the possession of a Dutch privateer, who had taken it as a souvenir on a visit in his decade’ 50. Another large fragment from the north frieze of the Parthenon depicting a man's head and part of a boat supported by him, which was returned by the Vatican (it was in the Etruscan Museum of the Vatican).

One foot man, fragment of the north frieze returned by the University of Heidelberg. And even on loan from the Salina Museum of Palermo, Italy, found for a few months in the Acropolis Museum a fragment of the relief decoration of the Parthenon in which the extreme right leg and the fringes of the garment of the goddess Artemis are depicted. Fragments of the Parthenon frieze can be found in many European cities: Paris, Vienna, Copenhagen, Munich and Würzburg.

Very often, however, the political leadership of the Ministry of Culture had expressed the country's willingness to provide "in return" in the event of a donation or long-term loan, even of fragments of the Parthenon sculptures, and to cooperate in the organization of exhibitions in foreign museums by lending antiquities..

A problem that has not been solved yet is the embargo of the Greek Ministry of Culture (current Secretariat) to the British Museum. A tactic, which was adopted in the 80s by Melina Merkouri, perfectly understandable and useful for that time, when the request for the return of the Sculptures was first raised, όχι όμως απαραίτητα και σήμερα.

Οι καιροί έχουν αλλάξει, οι άνθρωποι επίσης, ακόμη και τα μέσα διεκδίκησης, so that now the embargo creates problems instead of acting as a bargaining chip. Η αδυναμία επίσημης συνεργασίας με το Βρετανικό Μουσείο «απαγορεύει» ακόμη και την απ΄ ευθείας συζήτηση ανάμεσα στα δύο μέρη, δυσκολεύει την συνεννόηση, exchange of views and communication, let alone the organization of joint exhibitions or other cultural activities. Something that does not apply to private Greek museums, which do not follow this line.

However, the development of relations is now imperative and this is of course not related to the request for the return of the Sculptors, που θα παραμένει πάντα στην πρώτη γραμμή ώσπου να ικανοποιηθεί.

At altitude 900 meters – Dated from 1.600 up to 1.400 B.C.

Minoan building, dating from 1.600 up to 1.400 B.C. brought to light by the archaeological hoe at the site of Gaidourofas, in East Ierapetra, in altitude 900 meters.

The first indications, according to archaeologists, they speak of an important building, which with the so far features resulting from the excavation, it could be classified as a mansion.

And the British archaeologist Arthur Evans when he passed by the point 1898, he noted in his diary that he found that in the area - and despite the embankments- there were architectural elements that testified to the presence of a Minoan building.

During this year's first two-week excavation period, archaeologists managed to excavate, down to the floor, the interior of two rooms.

The building – according to archaeologists- he saves all his embankments, it has not been subjected to subsequent circulation and the main thing, the occupants left it after its destruction without taking with them the objects that were inside it.

The causes of destruction and the reasons for the building's abandonment have not yet been clarified and further evidence is expected to emerge as the excavation progresses., according to them.

Yet, as they emphasize, archaeologists such mansions exist in other parts of Crete but so far they have only been recorded and excavated in lowland areas, at an altitude of up to 400 meters, where they are traditionally associated with agricultural cultivation.

On the contrary, the building in the East is much higher, and is the second building to be excavated at such a high altitude after the one in Zominthos by Yiannis and Efi Sakelarakis.
The excavation is carried out as part of a five-year research program implemented and financed by the University of Athens, with the financial support of institutions from Greece and abroad, led by the Prehistoric Archeology lecturer at the Department of History and Archeology Yiannis Papadatos, and Gerapetri archaeologist Kostis Halikias as deputy director, PhD from the University of Heidelberg.

"With this excavation we are trying to understand the importance of the mountains for the Minoan economy, i.e. the natural resources and wealth-producing sources that the Minoans exploited at these altitudes, emphasizes the head of the excavation, Yiannis Papadatos.

Mr. Papadatos emphasized that "the second goal is to begin to understand what was happening in Minoan Ierapetra where the evidence is minimal. Despite the timeless importance of the Ierapetra plain, we have not the slightest idea about the location of the Minoan settlement, and we do not know whether there was any kind of administrative or even palatial center, such as those excavated at neighboring sites, in Gournia, in Makri Gialos and Myrtos.

» Yi’ this and we are looking for indirect evidence in the mountains hoping that the excavation in the East will provide us with it".

How with the transition to the Christian world the goddess Athena was "replaced" in the religious consciousness by the Virgin Mary

General, patron saint and virgin. She is the goddess Athena or the Virgin Mary; Protector of women, of children and childbirth. It is Artemis the Child-giver and Midwife or perhaps the Virgin Mary; Prudent, worlds, benevolent, gentle and merciful, who experienced unbearable pain and experienced much suffering. Is it the goddess Isis or is it the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ;
There, in the turning of the Greek world from polytheism to Christianity, when the latter slowly began to prevail in religious consciousness and devotional practice, mixing elements of the pagan past with the new religion would not only not cut it, but it would greatly contribute to its consolidation. Standards of centuries, besides, were difficult to remove. On the contrary, their assimilation by Christianity was the connecting link that people needed to accept it more easily. Result, many of the ancient deities and rituals to remain in the Christian calendar and to adapt to the formality and traditions of the new religion.
It is a coincidence that the great feast of Panagia on the fifteenth of August coincides with the birthday of the goddess Athena on 28 of the ancient month of Hecatombaion (mid July – mid August), when the Panathenaia was celebrated, the biggest celebration of ancient Athens; Or is it a coincidence that the temple of the virgin Athena on the Acropolis was transformed into a temple of the Virgin Mary; Besides, it was not only the Parthenon that became a Christian church, since according to Justinian's decree all ancient sanctuaries had to be converted into temples in order to purify. In many of them, where women were worshipped, pagan deities, temples were built dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which very often also took on the attributes of the ancient deities.

The properties
The recurring seasonal cycles of death and rebirth and the cults associated with the land, vegetation and a good harvest were also associated with the Virgin Mary, as the great folklorist Georgios Megas has written. The Entrances of the Virgin are associated with sowing and the Virgin takes on the characteristics of the goddess Demeter, sometimes acquiring the nickname Aposporitissa and sometimes Mesosporitissa. In fact, the ancient custom of panspermia remains, the polyspores, as we say today.
Aeiparthenos, such as the ancient goddesses Athena and Artemis, it was called Panagia from the 6th century. But at the same time, she is the protector of pregnant women who, in order to have a good delivery, keep a plant amulet, "the grass of the Virgin Mary", as it is called. There were other ancient mother deities: Astarte, Leto, Gaia, the Isis, with roots lost in the depths of the Neolithic era. The archetype of all, however, is considered to be the Great Mother or Mother Earth or Great Mother Goddess, which according to Jung is a matriarchal model that exists in humans before and from conception.
After all, the Great Mother was the main deity in Minoan Crete, from a certain time even alongside the "young god" (either as her "uncle infant" or as her husband). According to nature's cycle of death and rebirth the Great Mother continually marries the young god who is born and dies each year.

Protectors
General of generals, the Virgin Mary protects her faithful – as did the goddess Athena the Athenians – in every difficult moment. The 626, in the siege of Constantinople by Avars and Persians, the faithful who have gathered in the Great Church will suddenly see in front of them the Virgin Mary has spread her protective veil over the city (remember Athena's veil at Panathenaia). And the biggest proof: "I fight the battle, I strategize the victorious ones" sing the besieged Christians at the last mass of Hagia Sophia, the 1453.
The Akathistos Hymn, however, is somewhat similar to the "equal aretalogies", that is, the hymns to the goddess Isis, as the Archeology professor says. Michael Tiberios. Many of the characteristics of the Egyptian goddess, which had been Hellenized, they also went to Panagia. "Like the Virgin Mary, so this goddess acquired a myriad of nicknames, in other words, she was myrionymi, such as “almighty” and “queen of the sky, of the earth and the underworld”" notes Mr. Tiberius.

The Parthenon Basilica
It is unknown exactly when the Parthenon was converted into a Christian temple, but what is certain is that under Justinian (482-565) consecrated and designated as the "Catholic Church of Athens". The cult of the pagan virgin thus gave way to the Christian Virgin and the church took the name Panagia Athiniotissa. Indeed, for this purpose and in order to serve the needs of the new cult, the Parthenon underwent many operations and was transformed into a three-aisled basilica.
The prestige of the temple was great, since even Vasilios B’ Bulgaroktonos celebrated his victory against the Bulgars at Panagia Athiniotissa. After all, it was a magnificent temple, with the golden icon of the Virgin Mary and wonderful mosaics. Only 188 mosaics were saved from them and transferred the 1848 in the British Museum, while today little traces of the original performances can be seen. But what is preserved are the hundreds of engravings with the names of generals, bishops etc., but also simple inscriptions of names, deaths, titles and occupations, prayers and symbolic representations inscribed over the centuries on the columns of the temple. During the Fall of Athens by the Latins, however, the church was captured and converted into a Catholic church under the name "Santa Maria di Atene", while later it became a mosque.
The alleged similarity of the representation of a marble metope of the Parthenon with the scene of the Annunciation is also due to its rescue during the Middle Ages by fanatics of the new religion who destroyed the ancient decoration of the temple. The metope is today in the Acropolis Museum.

Source : tovima.gr