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DESCRIPTION: Hardcover with dustjacket. Publisher: Oxford University (1993). Pages: 256. Size: 12¼ x 9¼ x 1 inch; 3½ pounds. Summary: This lavishly illustrated catalogue is devoted to the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection of silver and gold from the Hellenized Near East--one of the largest collections ever assembled. Among the objects included are rhyta, bowls, cups, jewelry, and decorative gold and silver ornaments for horse bridles and clothing. In an extensive introduction, the author dates the various groups of objects and places them within a wider cultural and archaeological context, providing a detailed stylistic analysis of the ornamental motifs of many pieces. Of particular importance is the inclusion of illustrations of some fifty little-known comparative objects as well as extensive bibliographic references.

CONDITION: LIKE NEW. HUGE unread/merely flipped through hardcover with dustjacket in acetate sleeve. Oxford University (1993) 256 pages. Book is entirely unblemished except for faint edge and corner shelfwear to dustjacket. Inside the book is pristine; pages are pristine; clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, and seemingly unread - though perhaps flipped through - but with no discernible reading wear. The book is "unread" in the sense that it is quite clear no one has ever "read through" the book. Of course it's always possible that a few bookstore browsers may have flipped through the book while it was on the bookseller's shelf - which is always a possibility with any book which traveled through normal retail distribution channels which would include traditional shelved ("brick and mortar") book stores. In addition to that it's also possible the original owner may have flipped through the book, perhaps looking at the illustrations. Frankly with a book this large with such heavy stock papers it's hard to say that the book has never even been flipped though. However there are no indications the book has ever been read, we're just presuming that with the book being 30 years old...someone, somewhere, at some time must have flipped through it least the first few pages...or through the illustrations...even if there are no such indications. With respect to the "shelfwear" described above, the dustjacket is in an acetate cover, beneath which one can observe very, very faint crinkling here and there , principally at the spine head and heel. But by "very faint", we mean just that. It requires that you hold the book up to a light source and inspect it intently (yeah, we're nitpicking at this point) to discern this shelfwear. It's very faint and not discerned with cursory inspection. However it is our duty (in the interest of full disclosure) to mention it, regardless of how faint it is. Beneath the dustjacket the full cloth, gray-colored covers are without wear or blemish. We describe the book as "like new" given the faint and superficial shelfwear, but frankly most book sellers would simply grade this as "new". And indeed, except for the faint shelfwear to dustjacket the overall condition of the book is consistent with what might pass as "new" stock from a traditional brick-and-mortar open-shelf book store (such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, or B. Dalton, for example) wherein patrons are permitted to browse open stock, and so otherwise "new" books often show a little handling/shelf/browsing wear.
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PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES BELOW FOR DETAILED REVIEWS AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.

PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.

PUBLISHER REVIEWS:

REVIEW: Dates the collections of silver and gold rhyta, bowls, cups, jewelry, and decorative ornaments, and places them in a wider cultural and archaeological context.

REVIEW:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Seleucids, Parthians, Kushans, and the Getty Silver.

Treasure I:

Ornamental Horse Trappings.

Silver Bust of a Woman.

Decorated Vessels.

Undecorated Vessels.

Jewelry.

Treasure I Summary.

Treasures II and III:

Lion Rhyton and Related Rhyta.

Other Vessels in Treasure II.

Treasure II Summary.

Net Pattern Bowl.

Treasure IV:

Leaf Calyx Cup.

Leaf Calyx Bowl.

Hemispherical Cup, Kettle, and Shallow Bowl.

Gold Cup.

Indo-Scythian Jewelry.

Camel Rider.

Blossom.

Harness Ornaments.

Treasure IV Summary.

Medallion Bowl With Dionysos and Ariadne.

Bull's Head Cup.

Catalogue.

Note to the Reader.

Color Plates:

Treasure I.

Treasure II.

Treasure III.

Related Rhyta Without Contexts.

Treasure IV.

Bowl.

Cup.

Profiles.

Index.

Chart of Flower Types.

READER REVIEWS:

REVIEW: Magnificent. Plates are remarkable. Textual content is very illuminating. The artifacts are incredible. So happy I did not miss it! The exhibition must have been fantastic. Wish I had seen it in person, but this certainly is worthwhile.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

Ancient Hellenic Greece: "The Hellenic World" is a term which refers to that period of ancient Greek history between 507 B.C. (the date of the first democracy in Athens) and 323 B.C. (the death of Alexander the Great). This period is also referred to as the age of Classical Greece and should not be confused with The Hellenistic World which designates the period between the death of Alexander and Rome's conquest of Greece (323 - 146 - 31 B.C.). The Hellenic World of ancient Greece consisted of the Greek mainland, Crete, the islands of the Greek archipelago, and the coast of Asia Minor primarily (though mention is made of cities within the interior of Asia Minor and, of course, the colonies in southern Italy). This is the time of the great Golden Age of Greece and, in the popular imagination, resonates as "ancient Greece".

The great law-giver, Solon, having served wisely as Archon of Athens for 22 years, retired from public life and saw the city, almost immediately, fall under the dictatorship of Peisistratus. Though a dictator, Peisistratus understood the wisdom of Solon, carried on his policies and, after his death, his son Hippias continued in this tradition (though still maintaining a dictatorship which favored the aristocracy). After the assassination of his younger brother (inspired, according to Thucydides, by a love affair gone wrong and not, as later thought, politically motivated), however, Hippias became wary of the people of Athens, instituted a rule of terror, and was finally overthrown by the army under Kleomenes I of Sparta and Cleisthenes of Athens.

Cleisthenes reformed the constitution of Athens and established democracy in the city in 507 B.C. He also followed Solon's lead but instituted new laws which decreased the power of the aristocracy, increased the prestige of the common people, and attempted to join the separate tribes of the mountain, the plain, and the shore into one unified people under a new form of government. According to the historian Durant, "The Athenians themselves were exhilarated by this adventure into sovereignty. From that moment they knew the zest of freedom in action, speech, and thought; and from that moment they began to lead all Greece in literature and art, even in statesmanship and war". This foundation of democracy, of a free state comprised of men who "owned the soil that they tilled and who ruled the state that governed them", stabilized Athens and provided the groundwork for the Golden Age.

The Golden Age of Greece, according to the poet Shelley, "is undoubtedly...the most memorable in the history of the world". The list of thinkers, writers, doctors, artists, scientists, statesmen, and warriors of the Hellenic World comprises those who made some of the most important contributions to western civilization: The statesman Solon, the poets Pindar and Sappho, the playwrights Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus and Aristophanes, the orator Lysias, the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the philosophers Zeno of Elea, Protagoras of Abdera, Empedocles of Acragas, Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the writer and general Xenophon, the physician Hippocrates, the sculptor Phidias, the statesman Pericles, the generals Alcibiades and Themistocles, among many other notable names, all lived during this period.

Interestingly, Herodotus considered his own age as lacking in many ways and looked back to a more ancient past for a paradigm of a true greatness. The writer Hesiod, an 8th century B.C. contemporary of Homer, claimed precisely the same thing about the age Herodotus looked back toward and called his own age "wicked, depraved and dissolute" and hoped the future would produce a better breed of man for Greece. Herodotus aside, however, it is generally understood that the Hellenic World was a time of incredible human achievement. Major city-states (and sacred places of pilgrimage) in the Hellenic World were Argos, Athens, Eleusis, Corinth, Delphi, Ithaca, Olympia, Sparta, Thebes, Thrace, and, of course, Mount Olympus, the home of the gods.

The gods played an important part in the lives of the people of the Hellenic World; so much so that one could face the death penalty for questioning - or even allegedly questioning - their existence, as in the case of Protagoras, Socrates, and Alcibiades (the Athenian statesman Critias, sometimes referred to as `the first atheist', only escaped being condemned because he was so powerful at the time). Great works of art and beautiful temples were created for the worship and praise of the various gods and goddesses of the Greeks, such as the Parthenon of Athens, dedicated to the goddess Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin) and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia (both works which Phidias contributed to and one, the Temple of Zeus, listed as an Ancient Wonder).

The temple of Demeter at Eleusis was the site of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries, considered the most important rite in ancient Greece. In his works The Iliad and The Odyssey, immensely popular and influential in the Hellenic World, Homer depicted the gods and goddesses as being intimately involved in the lives of the people, and the deities were regularly consulted in domestic matters as well as affairs of state. The famous Oracle at Delphi was considered so important at the time that people from all over the known world would come to Greece to ask advice or favors from the god, and it was considered vital to consult with the supernatural forces before embarking on any military campaign.

Among the famous battles of the Hellenic World that the gods were consulted on were the Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.) the Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis (480 B.C.), Plataea (479 B.C.,) and The Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.) where the forces of the Macedonian King Philip II commanded, in part, by his son Alexander, defeated the Greek forces and unified the Greek city-states. After Philip's death, Alexander would go on to conquer the world of his day, becoming Alexander the Great. Through his campaigns he would bring Greek culture, language, and civilization to the world and, after his death, would leave the legacy which came to be known as the Hellenistic World. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

Greek Colonization: Ancient Greek Colonization. In the first half of the first millennium B.C., Greek city-states, most of which were maritime powers, began to look beyond Greece for land and resources, and so they founded colonies across the Mediterranean. Trade contacts were usually the first steps in the colonization process and then, later, once local populations were subdued or included within the colony, cities were established. These could have varying degrees of contact with the homeland, but most became fully independent city-states, sometimes very Greek in character, in other cases culturally closer to the indigenous peoples they neighbored and included within their citizenry.

One of the most important consequences of this process, in broad terms, was that the movement of goods, people, art, and ideas in this period spread the Greek way of life far and wide to Spain, France, Italy, the Adriatic, the Black Sea, and North Africa. In total then, the Greeks established some 500 colonies which involved up to 60,000 Greek citizen colonists, so that by 500 B.C. these new territories would eventually account for 40% of all Greeks in the Hellenic World. The Greeks were great sea-farers, and traveling across the Mediterranean, they were eager to discover new lands and new opportunities.

Even Greek mythology included such tales of exploration as Jason and his search for the Golden Fleece and that greatest of hero travelers Odysseus. First the islands around Greece were colonized, for example the first colony in the Adriatic was Corcyra (Corfu), founded by Corinth in 733 B.C. (traditional date), and then prospectors looked further afield. The first colonists in a general sense were traders and those small groups of individuals who sought to tap into new resources and start a new life away from the increasingly competitive and over-crowded homeland.

Trade centers and free markets (emporia) were the forerunners of colonies proper. Then, from the mid-8th to mid-6th centuries B.C., the Greek city-states (poleis) and individual groups started to expand beyond Greece with more deliberate and longer-term intentions. However, the process of colonization was likely more gradual and organic than ancient sources would suggest. It is also difficult to determine the exact degree of colonization and integration with local populations. Some areas of the Mediterranean saw fully-Greek poleis established, while in other areas there were only trading posts composed of more temporary residents such as merchants and sailors.

The very term 'colonization' infers the domination of indigenous peoples, a feeling of cultural superiority by the colonizers, and a specific cultural homeland which controls and drives the whole process. This was not necessarily the case in the ancient Greek world and, therefore, in this sense, Greek colonization was a very different process from, for example, the policies of certain European powers in the 19th and 20th centuries A.D. It is perhaps here then, a process better described as 'culture contact'. The establishment of colonies across the Mediterranean permitted the export of luxury goods such as fine Greek pottery, wine, oil, metalwork, and textiles, and the extraction of wealth from the land - timber, metals, and agriculture (notably grain, dried fish, and leather), for example - and they often became lucrative trading hubs and a source of slaves.

A founding city (metropolis) might also set up a colony in order to establish a military presence in a particular region and so protect lucrative sea routes. Also, colonies could provide a vital bridge to inland trade opportunities. Some colonies even managed to rival the greatest founding cities; Syracuse, for example, eventually became the largest polis in the entire Greek world. Finally, it is important to note that the Greeks did not have the field to themselves, and rival civilizations also established colonies, especially the Etruscans and Phoenicians, and sometimes, inevitably, warfare broke out between these great powers.

Greek cities were soon attracted by the fertile land, natural resources, and good harbors of a 'New World' - southern Italy and Sicily. The Greek colonists eventually subdued the local population and stamped their identity on the region to such an extent that they called it 'Greater Greece' or Megalē Hellas, and it would become the most 'Greek' of all the colonized territories, both in terms of culture and the urban landscape with Doric temples being the most striking symbol of Hellenization.

Some of the most important poleis in Italy were Cumae (the first Italian colony, founded circa 740 B.C. by Chalcis), Naxos (734 B.C., Chalcis), Sybaris (circa 720 B.C., Achaean/Troezen), Croton (circa 710 B.C., Achaean), Tarentum (706 B.C., Sparta), Rhegium (circa 720 B.C., Chalcis), Elea (circa 540 B.C., Phocaea), Thurri (circa 443 B.C., Athens), and Heraclea (433 B.C., Tarentum). On Sicily the main colonies included Syracuse (733 B.C., founded by Corinth), Gela (688 B.C., Rhodes and Crete), Selinous (circa 630 B.C.), Himera (circa 630 B.C., Messana), and Akragas (circa 580 B.C., Gela).

The geographical location of these new colonies in the centre of the Mediterranean meant they could prosper as trade centers between the major cultures of the time: the Greek, Etruscan, and Phoenician civilizations. And prosper they did, so much so that writers told of the vast riches and extravagant lifestyles to be seen. Empedokles, for example, described the pampered citizens and fine temples of Akragas (Agrigento) in Sicily as follows; "the Akragantinians revel as if they must die tomorrow, and build as if they would live forever". Colonies even established off-shoot colonies and trading posts themselves and, in this way, spread Greek influence further afield, including higher up the Adriatic coast of Italy. Even North Africa saw colonies established, notably Cyrene by Thera in circa 630 B.C., and so it became clear that Greek colonists would not restrict themselves to Magna Graecia.

Greeks created settlements along the Aegean coast of Ionia (or Asia Minor) from the 8th century B.C. Important colonies included Miletos, Ephesos, Smyrna, and Halicarnassus. Athens traditionally claimed to be the first colonizer in the region which was also of great interest to the Lydians and Persians. The area became a hotbed of cultural Endeavour, especially in science, mathematics, and philosophy, and produced some of the greatest of Greek minds. Art and architectural styles too, assimilated from the east, began to influence the homeland; such features as palmed column capitals, sphinxes, and expressive 'orientalising' pottery designs would inspire Greek architects and artists to explore entirely new artistic avenues.

The main colonizing polis of southern France was Phocaea which established the important colonies of Alalia and Massalia (circa 600 B.C.). The city also established colonies, or at least established an extensive trade network, in southern Spain. Notable poleis established here were Emporion (by Massalia and with a traditional founding date of 575 B.C. but more likely several decades later) and Rhode. Colonies in Spain were less typically Greek in culture than those in other areas of the Mediterranean, competition with the Phoenicians was fierce, and the region seems always to have been considered, at least according to the Greek literary sources, a distant and remote land by mainland Greeks.

The Black Sea (Euxine Sea to the Greeks) was the last area of Greek colonial expansion, and it was where Ionian poleis, in particular, sought to exploit the rich fishing grounds and fertile land around the Hellespont and Pontos. The most important founding city was Miletos which was credited in antiquity with having a perhaps exaggerated 70 colonies. The most important of these were Kyzikos (founded 675 B.C.), Sinope (circa 631 B.C.), Pantikapaion (circa 600 B.C.), and Olbia (circa 550 B.C.). Megara was another important mother city and founded Chalcedon (circa 685 B.C.), Byzantium (668 B.C.), and Herakleia Pontike (560 B.C.). Eventually, almost the entire Black Sea was enclosed by Greek colonies even if, as elsewhere, warfare, compromises, inter-marriages, and diplomacy had to be used with indigenous peoples in order to ensure the colonies' survival.

In the late 6th century B.C. particularly, the colonies provided tribute and arms to the Persian Empire and received protection in return. After Xerxes' failed invasion of Greece in 480 and 479 B.C., the Persians withdrew their interest in the area which allowed the larger poleis like Herakleia Pontike and Sinope to increase their own power through the conquest of local populations and smaller neighboring poleis. The resulting prosperity also allowed Herakleia to found colonies of her own in the 420s B.C. at such sites as Chersonesos in the Crimea.

From the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 431 B.C., Athens took an interest in the region, sending colonists and establishing garrisons. An Athenian physical presence was short-lived, but longer-lasting was an Athenian influence on culture (especially sculpture) and trade (especially of Black Sea grain). With the eventual withdrawal of Athens, the Greek colonies were left to fend for themselves and meet alone the threat from neighboring powers such as the Royal Scythians and, ultimately, Macedon and Philip II.

Most colonies were built on the political model of the Greek polis, but types of government included those seen across Greece itself - oligarchy, tyranny, and even democracy - and they could be quite different from the system in the founder, parent city. A strong Greek cultural identity was also maintained via the adoption of founding myths and such wide-spread and quintessentially Greek features of daily life as language, food, education, religion, sport and the gymnasium, theatre with its distinctive Greek tragedy and comedy plays, art, architecture, philosophy, and science. So much so that a Greek city in Italy or Ionia could, at least on the surface, look and behave very much like any other city in Greece. Trade greatly facilitated the establishment of a common 'Greek' way of life. Such goods as wine, olives, wood, and pottery were exported and imported between poleis.

Even artists and architects themselves relocated and set up workshops away from their home polis, so that temples, sculpture, and ceramics became recognizably Greek across the Mediterranean. Colonies did establish their own regional identities, of course, especially as they very often included indigenous people with their own particular customs, so that each region of colonies had their own idiosyncrasies and variations. In addition, frequent changes in the qualifications to become a citizen and forced resettlement of populations meant colonies were often more culturally diverse and politically unstable than in Greece itself and civil wars thus had a higher frequency. Nevertheless, some colonies did extraordinarily well, and many eventually outdid the founding Greek superpowers.

Colonies often formed alliances with like-minded neighboring poleis. There were, conversely, also conflicts between colonies as they established themselves as powerful and fully independent poleis, in no way controlled by their founding city-state. Syracuse in Sicily was a typical example of a larger polis which constantly sought to expand its territory and create an empire of its own. Colonies which went on to subsequently establish colonies of their own and who minted their own coinage only reinforced their cultural and political independence.

Although colonies could be fiercely independent, they were at the same time expected to be active members of the wider Greek world. This could be manifested in the supply of soldiers, ships, and money for Pan-Hellenic conflicts such as those against Persia and the Peloponnesian War, the sending of athletes to the great sporting games at places like Olympia and Nemea, the setting up of military victory monuments at Delphi, the guarantee of safe passage to foreign travelers through their territory, or the export and import of intellectual and artistic ideas such as the works of Pythagoras or centers of study like Plato's academy which attracted scholars from across the Greek world.

Then, in times of trouble, colonies could also be helped out by their founding polis and allies, even if this might only be a pretext for the imperial ambitions of the larger Greek states. A classic example of this would be Athens' Sicilian Expedition in 415 B.C., officially at least, launched to aid the colony of Segesta. There was also the physical movement of travelers within the Greek world which is attested by evidence such as literature and drama, dedications left by pilgrims at sacred sites like Epidaurus, and participation in important annual religious festivals such as the Dionysia of Athens.

Different colonies had obviously different characteristics, but the collective effect of these habits just mentioned effectively ensured that a vast area of the Mediterranean acquired enough common characteristics to be aptly described as the Greek World. Further, the effect was long-lasting for, even today, one can still see common aspects of culture shared by the citizens of southern France, Italy, and Greece. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

Ancient Hellenic Jerusalem: Jerusalem Dig Uncovers Ancient Greek Citadel. In the shadow of Jerusalem’s city walls, archaeologists have found a fortress that spawned a bloody rebellion more than two millennia ago. What Jews call the Temple Mount rises above the remains of a Greek citadel exposed by an archaeological dig in Jerusalem. Israeli archaeologists have uncovered the remnants of an impressive fort built more than two thousand years ago by Greeks in the center of old Jerusalem. The ruins are the first solid evidence of an era in which Hellenistic culture held sway in this ancient city.

The citadel, until now known only from texts, was at the heart of a bloody rebellion that eventually led to the expulsion of the Greeks, an event still celebrated by Jews at Hanukkah. But the excavation in the shadow of the Temple Mount, called Haram esh-Sharif by Muslims, is stirring controversy in this politically charged land. “We now have massive evidence that this is part of the fortress called the Acra,” said Doron Ben-Ami, an archaeologist with the Israeli Antiquities Authority who is leading the effort.

Situated under what had long been a parking lot between the Temple Mount to the north and the Palestinian village of Silwan to the south, the site is now a huge rectangular hole that plunges more than three stories below the streets. On a recent visit, workers cleared away dirt as Ben-Ami jumped from rock to rock, enthusiastically pointing out newly excavated features. Massive stones as well as smaller rock provided clues to the identity of the fortress. Roman houses and a Byzantine orchard later covered the site, which more recently was a parking lot.

Alexander the Great conquered Judea in the 4th century B.C., and his successors quarreled over the spoils. Jerusalem, Judea’s capital, sided with Seleucid King Antiochus III to expel an Egyptian garrison, and a grateful Antiochus granted the Jews religious autonomy. For a century and a half, Greek culture and language flourished here. Yet archaeologists have found few artifacts or buildings from this important era that shaped Jewish culture. Conflicts between traditional Jews and those influenced by Hellenism led to tensions, and Jewish rebels took up arms in 167 B.C. The revolt was put down, and Antiochus IV Epiphanes sacked the city, banned traditional Jewish rites, and set up Greek gods in the temple.

According to the Jewish author of 1 Maccabees, a book written shortly after the revolt, the Seleucids built a massive fort in “the city of David with a great and strong wall, and with strong towers.” Called the Acra—from the Greek for a high, fortified place—it was a thorn in the side of Jews who resented Greek dominance. In 164 B.C., Jewish rebels led by Judah Maccabee took Jerusalem and liberated the temple, an event commemorated in the festival of Hanukkah. But the rebels failed to conquer the Acra. For more than two decades, the rebels tried in vain to overwhelm the fortress. Finally in 141 B.C., Simon Maccabee captured the stronghold and expelled the remaining Greeks.

Towering Over the Temple? What happened next has confused and divided scholars for more than a century. According to historian Josephus Flavius, a Jew who served Rome in the first century A.D., Simon Maccabee spent three years tearing down the Acra, ensuring that it no longer towered over the temple. The temple was located to the north of the City of David, on ground more than a hundred feet above the boundaries of early Jerusalem, so Josephus’s story explained this geographical puzzle. But the author of 1 Maccabees insisted that Simon actually strengthened the fortifications and even made it his residence.

This discrepancy spawned many theories in the past century, but no solid archaeological evidence. When an Israeli organization named the Ir David Foundation announced plans to build a museum on top of the parking lot, Ben-Ami began a salvage excavation in 2007. His team dug through successive layers, from an early Islamic market, through a Byzantine orchard and a hoard of 264 coins from the seventh century, under an elaborate Roman villa, and then beyond a first-century place for ritual Jewish bathing. Under buildings that pottery and coins demonstrated to be from the early centuries B.C., the archaeologists found layers of what looked like random rubble.

But the rubble turned out to be carefully placed rocks that formed a glacis, or a defensive slope protruding from a massive wall. “The stones are in layers, at an angle of 15 degrees at the bottom and 30 degrees at the top,” Ben-Ami said, gesturing at color-coded cards pinned into each layer. “This wasn’t a building that collapsed; this was put here on purpose.” Archaeologists exposed a Roman villa close to the Greek fortress. After the citadel’s destruction, the site became a residential area.

The team also found coins that date from the time of Antiochus IV to the time of Antiochus VII, who was the Seleucid king when the Acra fell. “We also have Greek arrowheads, slingshots, and ballistic stones,” he added. “And also amphorae of imported wine.” Since observant Jews drank only local wine, that suggests the presence of foreigners or those influenced by non-Jewish ways. Sling stones and arrowheads found in and around the Greek fortress attest to pitched battles fought by Greek and Jewish defenders against those Jews opposed to Hellenistic control of Jerusalem.

Ben-Ami found no sign that the fortress was dismantled abruptly, or that the entire hill was leveled, as Josephus claimed. Instead, the succeeding Jewish kingdom under Hasmonean rule cut into the glacis during construction in later years. Hasmonean and later Roman builders reused the cut stones for other structures, eating away at the Greek citadel. The find lays to rest theories that placed the Acra north of the temple, immediately adjacent to it, or on the high ground to the west that is now covered by the current walled city.

No one is more delighted by the discovery than Bezalel Bar-Kochva, an emeritus historian at Tel Aviv University. He wrote a 1980 article suggesting that the fort could be found exactly where Ben-Ami dug—a few hundred meters south of the Temple Mount, in the midst of the old City of David. “By the time of Josephus,” he said, “Jerusalem had spread to the west and north, and the city of David was a low spot.” Bar-Kochva believes that the author copied a spurious tale by a Greek historian about Simon’s effort to level the Acra in order to account for this.

Oren Tal, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University not associated with the dig, said that Ben-Ami’s discovery is the “best possible candidate” for the Acra. “The find is fascinating,” added Israeli archaeologist Yonathan Mizrachi. “This suggests that Jerusalem was for a longer time a Hellenistic city in which foreigners were dominant, and who built more than we thought.” Mizrachi, who heads a consortium of scholars called Emek Shaveh, opposes the museum development because it will damage the ruins.

An Israeli planning board last June ordered the Ir David Foundation to scale back the size of the complex. Mizrachi also complains that local residents, who are mostly Palestinian, have not been consulted or involved in the dig that is, almost literally, on their doorsteps. He noted that Ir David supports Jewish settlement of the occupied territories, including the Silwan neighborhood. Meanwhile, Palestinians in Silwan said that the work has led to dangerous cracks in walls and foundations of neighboring houses that threaten their safety.

There is a deeper concern among residents that the dig, however illuminating for scholars, is a step toward dismantling their village. “This excavation is not searching for history,” said Jawad Siam, director of the Madaa Community Center based in Silwan. “It’s designed to serve a settlement project.” Ir David officials did not respond to requests for comment. “When Jerusalem calls, you never say no,” said Ben-Ami. “My expertise is in archaeology, not politics.” [National Geographic (2016)].

The Ptolemaic Dynasty & Hellenic Egypt: The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Egypt for almost three centuries, from 305 to 30 BC. It eventually fell to the Roman Empire. While they ruled Egypt the Ptolemies they never became “Egyptian”. Instead they isolated themselves in the capital city of Alexandria, a city envisioned by Alexander the Great. The city was Greek both in language and practice. There were no marriages with outsiders or to Native Egyptians. Brother married sister or uncle married niece. The last Ptolemaic monarch was Queen, Cleopatra VII/ She remained Macedonian but spoke Egyptian as well as other languages.

Except for the first two Ptolemaic pharaohs, Ptolemy I and his son Ptolemy II, most of the family was fairly inept. In the end the Ptolemies were only able to maintain their authority with the assistance of Rome. One of the unique and often misunderstood aspects of the Ptolemaic dynasty is how and why the Ptolemies never became Egyptian. The Ptolemies coexisted both as Egyptian pharaohs as well as Greek monarchs. In every respect they remained completely Greek, both in their language and traditions. This unique characteristic was maintained through intermarriage. Most often these marriages were either between brother and sister or uncle and niece.

This inbreeding was intended to stabilize the family. Wealth and power were consolidated. Although it was considered by many an Egyptian and not Greek occurrence, the mother goddess Isis married her brother Osiris. These sibling marriages were justified or at least made more acceptable by referencing tales from Greek mythology in which the gods intermarried. Cronus had married his sister Rhea while Zeus had married Hera. Of the fifteen Ptolemaic marriages, ten were between brother and sister. Two of the fifteen were with a niece or cousin.

Cleopatra VII was the subject of playwrights, poets, and movies. She was last Ptolemaic Monarch to rule Egypt. However Cleopatra VII was not Egyptian, she was Macedonian. According to one ancient historian she was a descendant of such great Greek queens as Olympias, the overly-possessive mother of Alexander the Great. However Cleopatra VII was also the only Ptolemy to learn to speak Egyptian and make any effort to know the Egyptian people. Of course Ptolemaic inbreeding was less than ideal. Jealousy was rampant and conspiracies were common. Ptolemy IV supposedly murdered his uncle, brother, and mother. Ptolemy VIII killed his fourteen-year-old son and chopped him into pieces.

Rewinding to the origins of the dynasty brings us to the sudden death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. His death brought chaos and confusion to his vast empire. Alexander died without naming an heir or successor. Instead history has him saying instead that the empire was left 'to the best'. Those commanders who had faithfully followed him from Macedon across the desert sands of western Asia were left to decide for themselves the fate of the kingdom. Some wanted to wait until the birth of Roxanne and Alexander’s son, the future Alexander IV. Others chose a more immediate and self-serving remedy, which was to simply divide Alexander’s empire amongst themselves.

The final decision would bring decades of war and devastation. The vast territory was split among the most loyal of Alexander’s generals. They included Antigonus I (“the One-Eyed”), Eumenes, Lysimachus, and Antipater. Last was Ptolemy, often referred to as the 'most enterprising' of Alexander’s commanders. Ptolemy I Soter lived from 366 to 282 BC. The suffix appellation “Soter” meant “savior”). Ptolemy was a Macedonian nobleman. According to most sources he was the son of Lagos and Arsinoe. He had been a childhood friend of Alexander. He was Alexander’s official taster and bodyguard. He may even have been related to Alexander. Rumors abounded that he was the illegitimate son of Philip II, Alexander’s father.

After the death of Alexander Ptolemy had led the campaign to divide the empire among the leading generals and in the partition of Babylon. To his delight Ptolemy received the land he had always craved, Egypt. In Ptolemy’s eyes Egypt was the ideal land, rich in resources. After years of oppression under the Persians the people of Egypt had welcomed Alexander and his conquering army. The Persian conquerors had been intolerant of the Egyptian customs and religion. Alexander was far more tolerant. Alexander publicly embraced their gods and prayed at their temples. He had even built a temple to honor the Egyptian mother goddess Isis.

In Egypt Ptolemy saw vast potential, for himself. There was wealth beyond measure. That wealth was largely derived from agricultural production. Egypt’s borders were easy to defend. Libya lay to the west, Arabia to the east. He was not forced to be dependent upon the good will of the collegial commanders who had also served Alexander. Furthermore Egypt was on friendly terms with his homeland of Macedon. While the partition may have granted Egypt to Ptolemy, there were some who did not trust the cagey commander. Chief amongst those was Perdiccas, the self-appointed successor to Alexander.

Cleomenes of Naucratis was had been named the Egyptian finance minister by Alexander. He was appointed by Perdiccas as an adjunct or hyparchos to keep watch (spy) on Ptolemy. Realizing Perdiccas' ploy, Ptolemy knew he had to free himself of Cleomenes. He accused the unwary minister of 'fiscal malfeasance' - not a completely trumped-up charge - and had him executed. With Cleomenes gone Ptolemy could then rule Egypt without anyone watching over his shoulder. In so doing Ptolemy would establish a dynasty that would last for almost three centuries until the time of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII.

During Ptolemy’s four-decade rule of Egypt he would put the country on sound economic and administrative footing. After the death of Cleomenes Ptolemy began quickly and firmly to consolidate his power within Egypt. His sole purpose was to make Egypt great again. Reluctantly however he became involved in the ongoing Wars of the Successors. These were the destructive wars between Ptolemy’s colleagues, Alexander’s former generals who had each received portions of Alexander’s empire.

While Ptolemy I did not deliberately seek territory outside Egypt, he would take advantage of a fortuitous occurrence if given the chance. Ptolemy occupied the island of Cyprus around 318 BC. Another opportunity found him fighting a Spartan named Thribon who had seized the city of Cyrene on the North Africa coast. After a quick, decisive victory Ptolemy turned the fallen conqueror over to the city who promptly executed him.

Unfortunately Ptolemy could not avoid some involvement with the other commanders. He gave refuge to Seleucus and later supported Rhodes against the invading forces of Demetrius the Besieger, son of Antigonus. And there was his ongoing rivalry with Perdiccas. The hostility did not subside when Ptolemy stole Alexander’s body as it was being transported to a newly built tomb in Macedon. As the king’s chiliarch (or adjutant, commander) Perdiccas had established himself securely after Alexander’s death. Perdiccas had always hoped to reunite under his control what had been Alexander’s Empire before it had been parceled out.

Perdiccas possessed Alexander’s signet ring as well as the Alexander’s remains. The intention was to return Alexander’s remains to Macedon for internment. However at Damascus the body inexplicably disappeared. Ptolemy had stolen and taken the body to Memphis. From Memphis Alexander’s body was taken to Alexandria. It was interred in a golden sarcophagus which was displayed in the center of the city. Perdiccas to say the least was outraged. However to those in Egypt the legitimacy of the Ptolemaic Dynasty lay in its connection to the fallen king. Even in death Alexander played a major role in both the Egyptian and Ptolemaic imagination. And Alexandria was the city conceived by Alexander.

However the theft of Alexander’s body was too much for Perdiccas. The long simmering animosity boiled over into a war between Perdiccas and Ptolemy which lasted from 322 to 321 BC. Perdiccas attempted three military assaults on the Ptolemaic pharaoh. However all three attempts to cross the Nile into Egypt failed. After the loss of over two thousand soldiers his army had had enough and executed Perdiccas. There were few if any tears shed among the other collegial former commanders of Alexander. Perdiccas had not been very popular with any of them.

Ptolemy I died in 282 BC. He named his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus as his successor. “Philadelphus” translates to “sister-loving”. The younger Ptolemy had served as co-regent with his father since 285 BC, when he was 23. Ptolemy II would rule until 246 BC. He married Arsinoe I, the daughter of the Thracian regent/king Lysimachus. Lysimachus you’ll recall was one of Ptolemy I’s colleagues, another former general for Alexander. Lysimachus had married Arsinoe II, the daughter of Ptolemy I and his mistress Berenice around 300 BC. The marriage was for the purpose of maintaining the alliance between Ptolemy and Lysimachus.

The marriage took place after the death of Lysimachus’s first wife. It was a marriage he would regret. Probably to secure the throne of Thrace for her own son Arsinoe II convinced her husband to kill his presumptive heir and oldest son by his first marriage. The trumped-charges used for justification were treason. But though we can presume Arsinoe’s motives, we cannot be certain. It is certain that the murder of the popular young commander caused uproar among many of his fellow officers.

After the death of Lysimachus, Ptolemy I would marry Lysimachus’s widow Arsinoe II, who was also his sister. Unlike many of his successors Ptolemy II expanded Egypt with acquisitions in Asia Minor and Syria. Egypt also reclaimed the Greek/Hellenic colonial city Cyrene in Libya. Originally Cyrene was a Libyan colony of the island of Thera. Cyrene had declared independence from Ptolemaic Egypt. Ptolemy II also fought two wars known as the “Syrian Wars”. They were fought against Antiochus I and Antiochus II. Antiochus I was another of Alexander’s generals and thus collegial to Ptolemy I. Ultimately Ptolemy II would marry his daughter Berenice to Antiochus II.

Unfortunately Ptolemy II also fought the Chremonidean War against Macedon from 267-261 BC. Ptolemy’s forces failed in that endeavor. In Egypt Ptolemy II established trading posts along the Red Sea. He also completed construction on the Pharos, and enlarged the library and museum at Alexandria. To honor his parents Ptolemy II established a new festival, the Ptolemaeia. According to history Ptolemy II was one the last truly great pharaohs of Egypt. Many of those Ptolemies who followed failed to strengthen Egypt both internally and externally. Jealousy and in-fighting were common.

Upon the death of Ptolemy II in 246 BC, Ptolemy III Euergetes came to the throne. “Euergetes” translates to “benefactor”. Ptolemy III ruled until 221 BC. He married Berenice II who was from the Greek city of Cyrene. Among their six children were Ptolemy IV and a princess also named Berenice. The sudden death of Princess Berenice brought about the Canopus Decree in 238 BC. Among other proclamations she was honored as a goddess. Another proclamation was the decree of for a new calendar, one that included 365 days with one additional day every four years. However the new calendar was not adopted.

In 246 BC Ptolemy III invaded Syria to support Antiochus II in the Third Syrian War against Seleucus II. Antiochus II was Ptolemy’s brother-in-law, i.e., his sister’s husband. However Ptolemy III gained little from the war other than the acquisitions of a few towns in Syria and Asia Minor. His successor and son was Ptolemy IV Philopator. “Philopater” translates to “father-loving”. Ptolemy IV ruled from 221 until 205 BC. Keeping with family tradition, he married his sister Arsinoe III in 217 BC. He gained a small degree of success in the Fourth Syrian War which was conducted from 219 to 217 BC against Antiochus III. However Ptolemy IV was otherwise largely ineffective. His only other accomplishment was the building of the Sema. The Sema was a tomb to honor both Alexander and the Ptolemies. Ptolemy IV and his wife were both murdered in a palace coup in 205 BC.

Ptolemy V Epiphanes was the son of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III. “Epiphanes” translates to “made manifest”. Ptolemy V ruled from 205 to 180 BC. Due to the sudden death of his parents inherited the throne as a small boy 5 years of age. At age 17 he married the Seleucid princess Cleopatra I in 193 BC. Unfortunately war and revolt by Seleucid and Macedonian kings with hopes to seize Egyptian lands followed his ascension. Following the Battle of Panium in 200 BC Egypt lost valuable territory in the Aegean and Asia Minor, including Palestine. In 206 BC dissidence arose in the Egyptian city of Thebes, and it would remain outside Ptolemaic control for twenty years.

Ptolemy V’s successor was Ptolemy VI Philometor. “Philometor” translates to “mother-loving. As did his father he began his reign as a small child. He ruled alongside his mother until her unexpected death in 176 BC. Ptolemy VI married his sister Cleopatra II and began his tumultuous reign. He had a seriously troubled relationship with his brother, the future Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II. Egypt was invaded twice between 169 and 164 BC by Antiochus IV, whose army even approached the city of Alexandria. With the assistance of Rome Ptolemy VI regained nominal control of Egypt. However ruling alongside his brother and his wife his reign remained characterized by unrest.

In 163 BC his brother and he (Ptolemy VI and the future Ptolemy VIII) finally reached a compromise whereby Ptolemy VI ruled Egypt while his brother ruled Cyrene. In 145 BC Ptolemy VI died in battle in Syria. Intervening the reign of Ptolemy VI and his brother Ptolemy VIII one presumes would be a Ptolemy VII. However little is known of the reign or person known as Ptolemy VII. Indeed it is not even certain that a Ptolemy VII ever really reigned. However it is certain that upon the death of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII stepped onto the throne in 145 BC.

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II was the younger brother of Ptolemy VI. “Euergetes” translates to “benefactor”. In true Ptolemaic fashion he married his elder brother’s widow, Cleopatra II. However in short order he replaced Cleopatra II with her daughter (his niece) Cleopatra III. A civil war ravaged Egypt lasting from 132 to 124 BC. The capital city of Alexandria which happened to hate Ptolemy VIII was particularly devastated. It was not uncommon for the residents of Alexandria to dislike the reigning Ptolemy. There was little love lost between the city’s citizens and the royal family. This intense loathing brought about extreme persecution and expulsion for the inhabitants of the city. Finally, an amnesty was reached in 118 BC.

Ptolemy VIII was succeeded by his eldest son in 116 BC. Ptolemy IX Soter II ruled from 116 to 80 BC. “Soter” translates to “Savior”, but Ptolemy IX was also known as “Lathyrus”, which translates to “Chickpea”. Like many of his predecessors he would marry two of his sisters. The first was Cleopatra IV, mother of Berenice IV. The second was Cleopatra V Serene who gave him two sons. He ruled jointly with his mother Cleopatra III until 107 BC. In 107 BC he was forced to flee to Cyprus after being overthrown by his brother, Ptolemy X. He regained the throne in 88 BC when in Egypt his brother Ptolemy X was expelled from Egypt and lost at sea. Restored to Egypt’s throne, Ptolemy IX would rule until his death in 80 BC.

The next few Ptolemies made little impact if any on Egypt. For the first time Rome played a major role in the affairs of Egypt. Rome was a rising power in the west. Ptolemy X Alexander I was the younger brother of Ptolemy IX. He had served as governor of Cyprus until his mother brought him to Egypt in 107 BC. Once in Egypt his mother engineered replacing Ptolemy IX on Egypt’s throne with Ptolemy X. In 101 BC he supposedly murdered his mother Cleopatra IV. He then married Berenice III, daughter of his niece Cleopatra V Serene. He ruled Egypt until 88 BC. In 88 BC Ptolemy X left Egypt after being expelled and was lost at sea.

Ptolemy X was succeeded briefly by his youngest son, twelve-year-old Ptolemy XI Alexander II. Ptolemy XI ruled for eight years. He was placed on the throne by the Roman general Cornelius Sulla after the young Ptolemy XI agreed to award Egypt and Cyprus to Rome. Ptolemy XI ruled jointly with his step-mother Cleopatra Berenice until he murdered her. Unfortunately he was then himself murdered by the Alexandrians in 80 BC. Replacing Ptolemy XI was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (also known as “Auletes”). Ptolemy XII was another son of Ptolemy IX. He married his sister Cleopatra Tryphaena. Unfortunately his close relationship with Rome caused him to be despised by the Alexandrians, and he was expelled from Egypt in 58 BC.<> Ptolemy XII regained Egypt’s throne with the assistance of the Roman Syrian governor Gabinius. From that point onward he was only able to remain in power through his ties to Rome. Even then those ties required constant renewal through bribery as the Roman Senate actually distrusted him. The next pharaoh Ptolemaic Pharaoh was Ptolemy XIII, who ruled only through 47 BC whereupon he was executed at age 16. Ptolemy XIII was the brother and husband of the infamous Cleopatra VII. His time on the throne was short-lived consequence of his unsuccessful alliance with his sister Arsinoe in a civil war. They chose to oppose both Julius Caesar and Cleopatra in a fight for the throne.

Initially Ptolemy XIII he had expected to gain favor with Caesar when he killed the Roman general Pompey, who had sought refuge in Egypt. Ptolemy XIII presented Pompey’s severed head to Caesar. However, the Roman commander grew irate because he had wanted to execute Pompey himself. In the civil war which ensued Ptolemy XIII’s army was defeated after an intense battle. Ptolemy XIII himself drowned in the Nile River when his boat overturned. His sister Princess Arsinoe was taken to Rome in chains. She was later to released.

Following Ptolemy XIII was another brother Ptolemy XIV. Ptolemy XIV served briefly as governor of Cyprus. He later married his sister on the wishes of Caesar. He ruled for three years until his abrupt death in 44BC at age 15. His death is attributed by many historians to being poisoned upon the orders of his infamous sister Cleopatra VII. The last pharaoh of Egypt was Cleopatra VII, who is known to history as simply Cleopatra. She ruled Egypt for 22 years and controlled much of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Like many of the women of her era she was highly educated. Cleopatra VII had been groomed for the throne by her father Ptolemy XII in the traditional Greek (Hellenistic) manner. She endeared herself to the Egyptian people. She accomplished this by participating in many Egyptian festivals and ceremonies. She was also the only Ptolemy to learn the Egyptian language. Cleopatra also spoke Hebrew, Ethiopian, and several other languages.

To secure the throne after defeating her brothers and sister in the civil war, she realized she had to remain friendly with Rome. Her relationship with Julius Caesar has been the subject of dramatists and poets for centuries. With the death of Caesar and the balance of power in Rome in question she had the misfortune of siding with the Roman general Mark Antony. Antony and Cleopatra lost it all at the Battle of Actium. She failed to find compassion in Octavian, the future Emperor Augustus. She was left with no other exit other than suicide. Cleopatra VII had a son with Caesar, Caesarion (Ptolemy XV), Caesarion was put to death by Octavian as otherwise Octavian’s status as their heir to Julius Caesar could be challenged.

Cleopatra VII’s other children, Alexander Helos, Cleopatra Serene, and Ptolemy Philadelphus were younger and were brought to Rome to be raised by Octavian's wife. As with the rest of the Mediterranean, frequently described as a Roman lake, Egypt submitted to Roman rule. The power of the Ptolemies ended. One of the most significant features of Ptolemaic rule had been its policy of Hellenization. Hellenization included the integration of Greek language and culture into Egyptian daily life. There was no attempt on behalf of the Ptolemies or the Hellenic population of Alexandria to become assimilated into Egyptian civilization.

At the very outset of Ptolemaic rule one of Ptolemy I’s first moves was to relocate the center of government. The traditional location for the center of Egyptian government was at Memphis. Memphis would remain the religious center of Egypt. However the center of government was relocated by Ptolemy I to the newly built city of Alexandria. Alexandria had a more strategic location, much closer to both the Mediterranean Sea and Greece. Because of this move Alexandria grew into more of a Greek rather than Egyptian city. In fact the Ptolemies would rarely leave the city. Even when they did leave it was only to take a pleasure cruise down the Nile. As with much of the former Alexandrian empire, Greek would become the language of government and commerce.

Ptolemy I also established Alexandria as the intellectual center of the Mediterranean when he built the massive library and museum there. While the museum provided seating for quiet reflection, the library amassed a collection of thousands of papyrus scrolls. The library and museum attracted men of philosophy, history, literature, and science from all over the Mediterranean. Ptolemy I’s advisor on the project was Demetrius of Phaleron. Demetrius was a graduate of Aristotle’s Lyceum in Athens. The Library at Alexandria truly became a center of Hellenistic culture.

Unfortunately the library and its contents were destroyed in a series of fires. Traditionally this is believed to have occurred during its years under Roman control. However many historians believed that the destruction of the library occurred centuries later. In any event, it was eventually lost. In the city’s harbor Ptolemy I began the construction of the Pharos. This was a massive lighthouse eventually completed by his son Ptolemy II. This unique lighthouse was an immense structure of three stories. Its beacon was visible for miles and was lit both day and night. Alexandria’s Lighthouse eventually became one of seven wonders of the ancient world. Aside from Alexandria was built in Upper Egypt. Though less glamorous than Alexandria, Ptolemais was founded as a center for the influx of newly arrived Greek residents.

It may appear that Ptolemy I intended to transform Egypt into another Greece. Nonetheless in many ways he respected the Egyptian people. He recognized the importance of religion and tradition to their society. Both he and his successors supported the many local cults. To curry favor and keep peace with the temple priests he restored numerous religious objects stolen by the Persians. The old Egyptian gods were respected. One did not want to anger the gods. No matter what culture they belonged to, foreign gods could still possess power. Nonetheless two new cults arose in Ptolemaic.

The first was dedicated to Alexander the Great. This cult served as a channel for the Greek population to continue expressing their continued loyalty to the Ptolemies. A second cult never gained traction. It was devoted to the god of healing Serapis. Temple priests of both cults remained as a part of the ruling class. This was yet another inducement to maintain their allegiance to the Ptolemies.

While the capital may have been moved to Alexandria many of the Egyptian scribes had difficulty writing in Greek. Nonetheless overall the basic administrative structure was retained. Egypt had a closely controlled economy. Much of the land was of royal ownership. Permission was needed to fell a tree or even to breed pigs. Record keeping was important. All land was regularly surveyed and livestock inventoried. Naturally since Egypt had an economy based on agriculture, taxes were based on a periodic census thus land surveys were essential. Under Cleopatra VII there was a salt tax, a dike tax, and even a pasture tax. Fishermen even had to relinquish twenty-five percent of their catch [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

The Ancient Greek Antikythera Shipwreck: According to a report in The Guardian, pieces of at least seven different bronze sculptures have been recovered at the site of the Antikythera shipwreck, made famous by the discovery of the Antikythera mechanism in 1901. Brendan Foley of Lund University said the pieces were found among large boulders that may have tumbled over the wreckage during an earthquake in the fourth century A.D. with an underwater metal detector. Recovering any possible additional statue pieces will require moving the boulders, some of which weigh several tons, or cracking them open.

The team also discovered a slab of red marble, a silver tankard, pieces of wood from the ship’s frame, and a human bone. A bronze disc about the size of the geared wheels in the Antikythera mechanism was also found this year. Preliminary X-rays of the object revealed an image of a bull, but no cogs, so it may have been a decorative item. Investigation of the deepwater site will continue next year. “We’re down in the hold of the ship now, so all the other things that would have been carried should be down there as well,” Foley said. [Archaeological Institute of America].

Ancient Greek Port of Salamis: The second phase of an underwater survey of the Classical-era coastline of the island of Salamis has revealed traces of what may have been a public building near its ancient port, according to a report in Tornos News. Aggeliki Simosi of the Underwater Antiquities Ephorate and the Institute of Underwater Archaeological Research and Yiannos Lolos of Ioannina University say the stone plinths indicate the large, solid structure was about 40 feet long. A spiral column pillar, pottery, and marble fragments of columns and statues were also found. In the late nineteenth century, an inscribed marble pedestal for a statue was recovered from the site. Scholars think the structure may have served as a temple or gallery through the late Roman period. The second-century A.D. geographer Pausanias mentioned a similar structure in his writings. [Archaeological Institute of America].

Ancient Greek Pottery: We know the names of some potters and painters of Greek vases because they signed their work. Generally a painter signed his name followed by some form of the verb 'painted', while a potter (or perhaps the painter writing for him) signed his name with 'made'. Sometimes the same person might both pot and paint: Exekias and Epiktetos, for example, sign as both potter and painter. At other times potter and painter were different people and one or both of them signed. However, not all painters or potters signed all their work. Some seem never to have signed their vases, unless by chance signed pieces by these craftsmen have not survived.

Even in the case of unsigned vases, it is sometimes possible, through close examination of minute details of style, to recognize pieces by the same artist. The attribution of unsigned Athenian black- and red-figured vases to both named and anonymous painters was pioneered in the twentieth century by Sir John Davidson Beazley. Other scholars have developed similar systems for other groups of vases, most notably Professor A.D. Trendall for South Italian red-figured wares. For ease of reference Beazley and the others gave various nick-names to the anonymous painters whom they identified.

Some are called after the known potters with whom they seem to have collaborated - the Brygos and Sotades Painters, for example, are named from the potters of those names. Other painters are named from the find-spot or current location of a key vase, such as the Lipari or Berlin Painters. A few, such as the Burgon Painter, take their names from former or current owners of key vases. Others are named from the subjects of key vases, such as the Niobid, Siren or Cyclops Painters, or else from peculiarities of style, such as The Affecter or Elbows Out Painters. [British Museum].

Ancient Greek Sculpture: Greek sculpture from 800 to 300 B.C. took early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art, and over centuries evolved into a uniquely Greek vision of the art form. Greek artists would reach a peak of artistic excellence which captured the human form in a way never before seen and which was much copied. Greek sculptors were particularly concerned with proportion, poise, and the idealized perfection of the human body, and their figures in stone and bronze have become some of the most recognizable pieces of art ever produced by any civilization.

From the 8th century B.C., Archaic Greece saw a rise in the production of small solid figures in clay, ivory, and bronze. No doubt, wood too was a commonly used medium but its susceptibility to erosion has meant few examples have survived. Bronze figures, human heads and, in particular, griffins were used as attachments to bronze vessels such as cauldrons. In style, the human figures resemble those in contemporary Geometric pottery designs, having elongated limbs and a triangular torso. Animal figures were also produced in large numbers, especially the horse, and many have been found across Greece at sanctuary sites such as Olympia and Delphi, indicating their common function as votive offerings.

The oldest Greek stone sculptures (of limestone) date from the mid-7th century B.C. and were found at Thera. In this period, bronze free-standing figures with their own base became more common, and more ambitious subjects were attempted such as warriors, charioteers, and musicians. Marble sculpture appears from the early 6th century B.C. and the first monumental, life-size statues began to be produced. These had a commemorative function, either offered at sanctuaries in symbolic service to the gods or used as grave markers.

The earliest large stone figures (kouroi - nude male youths and kore - clothed female figures) were rigid as in Egyptian monumental statues with the arms held straight at the sides, the feet are almost together and the eyes stare blankly ahead without any particular facial expression. These rather static figures slowly evolved though and with ever greater details added to hair and muscles, the figures began to come to life. Slowly, arms become slightly bent giving them muscular tension and one leg (usually the right) is placed slightly more forward, giving a sense of dynamic movement to the statue.

Excellent examples of this style of figure are the kouroi of Argos, dedicated at Delphi (circa 580 B.C.). Around 480 B.C., the last kouroi become ever more life-like, the weight is carried on the left leg, the right hip is lower, the buttocks and shoulders more relaxed, the head is not quite so rigid, and there is a hint of a smile. Female kore followed a similar evolution, particularly in the sculpting of their clothes which were rendered in an ever-more realistic and complex way. A more natural proportion of the figure was also established where the head became 1:7 with the body, irrespective of the actual size of the statue.

By 500 B.C. Greek sculptors were finally breaking away from the rigid rules of Archaic conceptual art and beginning to re-produce what they actually observed in real life. In the Classical period, Greek sculptors would break off the shackles of convention and achieve what no-one else had ever before attempted. They created life-size and life-like sculpture which glorified the human and especially nude male form. Even more was achieved than this though. Marble turned out to be a wonderful medium for rendering what all sculptors strive for: that is to make the piece seem carved from the inside rather than chiseled from the outside.

Figures become sensuous and appear frozen in action; it seems that only a second ago they were actually alive. Faces are given more expression and whole figures strike a particular mood. Clothes too become more subtle in their rendering and cling to the contours of the body in what has been described as ‘wind-blown’ or the ‘wet-look’. Quite simply, the sculptures no longer seemed to be sculptures but were figures instilled with life and verve. To see how such realism was achieved we must return again to the beginning and examine more closely the materials and tools at the disposal of the artist and the techniques employed to transform raw materials into art.

Early Greek sculpture was most often in bronze and porous limestone, but whilst bronze seems never to have gone out of fashion, the stone of choice would become marble. The best was from Naxos - close-grained and sparkling, Parian (from Paros) - with a rougher grain and more translucent, and Pentelic (near Athens) - more opaque and which turned a soft honey color with age (due to its iron content). However, stone was chosen for its workability rather than its decoration as the majority of Greek sculpture was not polished but painted, often rather garishly for modern tastes.

Marble was quarried using bow drills and wooden wedges soaked in water to break away workable blocks. Generally, larger figures were not produced from a single piece of marble, but important additions such as arms were sculpted separately and fixed to the main body with dowels. Using iron tools, the sculptor would work the block from all directions (perhaps with an eye on a small-scale model to guide proportions), first using a pointed tool to remove more substantial pieces of marble. Next, a combination of a five-claw chisel, flat chisels of various sizes, and small hand drills were used to sculpt the fine details.

The surface of the stone was then finished off with an abrasive powder (usually emery from Naxos) but rarely polished. The statue was then attached to a plinth using a lead fixture or sometimes placed on a single column (e.g. the Naxian sphinx at Delphi, circa 560 B.C.). The finishing touches to statues were added using paint. Skin, hair, eyebrows, lips, and patterns on clothing were added in bright colors. Eyes were often inlaid using bone, crystal, or glass. Finally, additions in bronze might be added such as spears, swords, helmets, jewelry, and diadems, and some statues even had a small bronze disc (meniskoi) suspended over the head to prevent birds from defacing the figure.

The other favored material in Greek sculpture was bronze. Unfortunately, this material was always in demand for re-use in later periods, whereas broken marble is not much use to anyone, and so marble sculpture has better survived for posterity. Consequently, the quantity of surviving examples of bronze sculpture (no more than twelve) is not perhaps indicative of the fact that more bronze sculpture may well have been produced than in marble and the quality of the few surviving bronzes demonstrates the excellence we have lost. Very often at archaeological sites we may see rows of bare stone plinths, silent witnesses to art’s loss.

The early solid bronze sculptures made way for larger pieces with a non-bronze core which was sometimes removed to leave a hollow figure. The most common production of bronze statues used the lost-wax technique. This involved making a core almost the size of the desired figure (or body part if not creating a whole figure) which was then coated in wax and the details sculpted. The whole was then covered in clay fixed to the core at certain points using rods. The wax was then melted out and molten bronze poured into the space once occupied by the wax. When set, the clay was removed and the surface finished off by scraping, fine engraving and polishing. Sometimes copper or silver additions were used for lips, nipples and teeth. Eyes were inlaid as in marble sculpture.

Many statues are signed so that we know the names of the most successful artists who became famous in their own lifetimes. Naming a few, we may start with the most famous of all, Phidias, the artist who created the gigantic chryselephantine statues of Athena (circa 438 B.C.) and Zeus (circa 456 B.C.) which resided, respectively, in the Parthenon of Athens and the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. The latter sculpture was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Polykleitos, who besides creating great sculpture such as the Doryphoros (Spearbearer), also wrote a treatise, the Kanon, on techniques of sculpture. Coryphoros emphasized the importance of correct proportion.

Other important sculptors were Kresilas, who made the much copied portrait of Pericles (circa 425 B.C.), Praxiteles, whose Aphrodite (circa 340 B.C.) was the first full female nude, and Kallimachos, who is credited with creating the Corinthian capital and whose distinctive dancing figures were much copied in Roman times. Sculptors often found permanent employment in the great sanctuary sites and archaeology has revealed the workshop of Phidias at Olympia. Various broken clay moulds were found in the workshop and also the master’s own personal clay mug, inscribed ‘I belong to Phidias’. Another feature of sanctuary sites was the cleaners and polishers who maintained the shiny reddish-brass color of bronze figures as the Greeks did not appreciate the dark-green patina which occurs from weathering (and which surviving statues have gained).

Greek sculpture is, however, not limited to standing figures. Portrait busts, relief panels, grave monuments, and objects in stone such as perirrhanteria (basins supported by three or four standing female figures) also tested the skills of the Greek sculptor. Another important branch of the art form was architectural sculpture, prevalent from the late 6th century B.C. on the pediments, friezes, and metopes of temples and treasury buildings. However, it is in figure sculpture that one may find some of the great masterpieces of Classical antiquity, and testimony to their class and popularity is that copies were very often made, particularly in the Roman period.

Indeed, it is fortunate that the Romans loved Greek sculpture and copied it so widely because it is often these copies which survive rather than the Greek originals. The copies, however, present their own problems as they obviously lack the original master’s touch, may swap medium from bronze to marble, and even mix body parts, particularly heads. Although words will rarely ever do justice to the visual arts, we may list here a few examples of some of the most celebrated pieces of Greek sculpture. In bronze, three pieces stand out, all saved from the sea (a better custodian of fine bronzes than people have been): the Zeus or Poseidon of Artemesium and the two warriors of Riace (all three: 460-450 B.C.).

The former could be Zeus (the posture is more common for that deity) or Poseidon and is a transitional piece between Archaic and Classical art as the figure is extremely life-like, but in fact the proportions are not exact (e.g. the limbs are extended). However, as Boardman eloquently describes, ‘(it) manages to be both vigorously threatening and static in its perfect balance’; the onlooker is left in no doubt at all that this is a great god. The Riace warriors are also magnificent with the added detail of finely sculpted hair and beards. More Classical in style, they are perfectly proportioned and their poise is rendered in such a way as to suggest that they may well step off of the plinth at any moment.

In marble, two standout pieces are the Diskobolos or discus thrower attributed to Myron (circa 450 B.C.) and the Nike of Paionios at Olympia (circa 420 B.C.). The discus thrower is one of the most copied statues from antiquity and it suggests powerful muscular motion caught for a split second, as in a photo. The piece is also interesting because it is carved in such a way (in a single plain) as to be seen from one viewpoint (like a relief carving with its background removed). The Nike is an excellent example of the ‘wet-look’ where the light material of the clothing is pressed against the contours of the body, and the figure seems semi-suspended in the air and only just to have landed her toes on the plinth.

Greek sculpture then, broke free from the artistic conventions which had held sway for centuries across many civilizations, and instead of reproducing figures according to a prescribed formula, they were free to pursue the idealized form of the human body. Hard, lifeless material was somehow magically transformed into such intangible qualities as poise, mood, and grace to create some of the great masterpieces of world art and inspire and influence the artists who were to follow in Hellenistic and Roman times who would go on to produce more masterpieces such as the Venus de Milo.

Further, the perfection in proportions of the human body achieved by Greek sculptors continues to inspire artists even today. The great Greek works are even consulted by 3D artists to create accurate virtual images and by sporting governing bodies who have compared athletes bodies with Greek sculpture to check abnormal muscle development achieved through the use of banned substances such as steroids. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

Ancient Greek Coinage: The coinage of ancient Greece has given us some of the most recognizable images from antiquity as they were stamped with designs to proudly declare the identity of the city which minted them and guarantee their value. One of the great archaeological survivors, coins are an invaluable source of information on cultural practices, important individuals, and ancient international relations. Trade in the ancient world was largely conducted through the exchange of one type of goods for another in a barter system that worked well for millennia.

Eventually, some goods came to be exchanged for large metal bars, such as the bronze or copper talent, which both parties agreed to a value on. The next step was to use metal rods or spits (an obelos from which the obol coin derives its name) which were 1.5 meters in length and six of which could be grasped in the hand. The Greek word for grasp is drattomai and this is the origin of the drachma coin. From these bars and rods sprang the idea for a more portable and universal material which could be exchanged for any goods or service: coinage.

Lydia was credited by the Greeks with inventing coins in the early 6th century B.C. which were stamped by the state to guarantee value and be recognizable as genuine. Coins were usually slightly lighter than the same value weight in the pure metal so that the cost of minting them was covered or even a small profit attained. In later centuries some states would abuse this margin and produce coins with lower and lower precious metal content in an attempt to create value where there really was none.

After public ridicule, Athens was famously forced to withdraw a batch of plated coinage that had been minted following a financial crisis circa 406 B.C. Then, as now, coinage could only function if people had trust in its present and future value. Greek coins of particular city-states carried specific designs which were used for centuries, becoming instantly recognizable symbols of that city. The first Greek coins appeared in Aegina circa 600 B.C. (or even earlier) which were silver and used a turtle as a symbol of the city’s prosperity based on maritime trade.

Athens and Corinth soon followed Aegina’s lead. The birth of coinage in wider Greece, though, was not really an invention of convenience but a necessity, driven by the need to pay mercenary soldiers. These warriors required a convenient way to carry their wages and the state needed a method of payment they could equally apply to everyone. For maritime trade especially, barter continued to be the most common form of exchange as the problem with coinage in the ancient world was that the value of coins between city-states was often different.

Still, for the citizens of a particular city and its surrounding territories coinage became a very useful way to buy and sell goods, and it was convenient for the state to use coins to pay for small public services such as participating in law courts. So convenient was this new portable wealth that poorer Greeks would carry their coins in their mouths when they went to market, and richer Greeks now had a handy means of storing (and hiding) their wealth.

Some larger states were able to impose their currency on other city-states and have it accepted as a means of exchange. The Athenian silver coinage of the 5th century B.C. is an example, and perhaps it was the first case of a single currency being used by different states, the members of the Delian League. Examples of the Athenian silver owl tetradrachms have been found as far afield as Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, and Bactria. The Arcadian League was another organization with a common coinage.

Similarly, Alexander the Great would use his coins across the Macedonian empire with many states still minting them two centuries after his death. Other contemporary states would copy the Greek approach to coins and produce their own similar types, such as the Etruscans and Carthaginians. Greek coins were made using mostly silver but also gold, electrum (a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold), copper alloy, and bronze. The metals were melted in a forge hearth and then, to standardize the size and weight of each blank coin (flans), the molten metal was poured into moulds or pre-prepared hemispherical vessels. Later, another method was to cut slices from metal cylinders made the correct diameter.

Meanwhile, an engraver carved the design (in relief or incised) onto metal dies of hardened bronze or iron, one for each side of the coin (early coins had only one side stamped). In some mints during the Classical period such as in southern Italy and Sicily, the coin engravers even signed their work. One die (usually the obverse side) was set in an anvil and the blank metal disk was placed on top, warmed to make it slightly soft. The minter then held in his hand the other die and hammered it on top of the blank disk. The strike would then leave an impression on both sides of the coin.

Sometimes old coins were restamped with new designs. Different weights of coins were used to create denominations ranging from the obol (six of which equaled one drachma) to the double octadrachm. What could be purchased with coins changed over time, but, as an example, entrance to the theatre festivals at Athens initially cost two obols in the early 5th century B.C., which was a day’s labor. Most coins, though, were minted in silver and so were of relatively high value, perhaps equal to one week’s work for most citizens. Only in the Hellenistic Period did smaller denominations become more widespread.

There were attempts to manufacture counterfeit coins using a low-value core such as lead or bronze covered in a thin layer of the correct metal. As designs became more complex so they became more difficult to copy but early coins often have punch holes suggesting they were repeatedly tested to determine their true composition. Greek coins of particular poleis or city-states often carried specific designs which were used for centuries, becoming instantly recognizable symbols of that city. Gods and figures from Greek mythology were especially popular, but all manner of subjects were chosen to represent particular cities.

Strangely, the reverse side of early coins usually had only a simple geometric shape stamped into them, especially a quartered square. Later, minters and administrators saw that the reverse side was an opportunity to double the visual message. Designs sometimes had a relation to the coin’s value too, as when Athens added an extra olive branch to distinguish the similar hemidrachm and drachma. Perhaps the most famous design of all is the owl of Athena which appeared on the silver tetradrachm coins of Athens. Athena was the patron of the city and she appeared on the reverse side.

Corinth used Pegasus, the winged horse of the Corinthian hero Bellerophon who found him at the fountain of Pirene outside the city. Coins of Knossos depicted the labyrinth from the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. Thebes had the distinctive Boiotian shield. Syracuse used the image of Arethousa with swimming dolphins to symbolize that city’s strength through maritime trade. As we have seen, Aegina did the same but used a sea turtle, to be replaced by a tortoise on later coins. Poseidon appeared on the coins of Poseidonia, and Silenus on those from Naxos.

Local plants and flowers were a popular choice of symbol, too, for example, the celery leaf for Selinus, rose for Rhodes, and ear of wheat for Metapontum. Charioteers seem to have appealed to many city-states and appear on coins from Sicily to Macedon. The lyre is another common emblem, the coins of Delos being just one example. Some coins had short inscriptions, most commonly a single letter such as an Athe for Athens or Koppa for Corinth. By the end of the Classical period, rulers were using coins as a means of propaganda to show their own image throughout their empire and associate themselves with gods and heroes such as Hercules.

The imprecise process of manufacturing coins in the Greek world has been a valuable asset to archaeologists. By examining the precise metal purity of certain coins and the alignments of designs and their imperfections they are able to match different examples of the same coin batch to specific mints and periods, helping to date other objects and places in which the coins have been excavated. On occasion, the mere presence of coins in certain places has helped establish ancient trade relations, for example. Finally, the images on coins are a valuable source of iconography related to the Greek religion and a record of agriculture and architecture. They are, too, a visual reference for all kinds of now lost objects from victory tripods to ships’ prows, and sometimes, as with many Bactrian kings, they are our only source of an individual’s portrait. [Ancient History Encyclopedia].

Ancient Greek Horse Racing: In the Greco-Roman world, racehorses were potent symbols used by both individuals and the state to express power, encourage civic pride, and celebrate special events. For the Greeks, chariot racing likely began sometime around 1500 B.C. and became a central element of their most sacred festivals. A memory of these early contests appears in Homer’s description of the funeral games honoring the fallen warrior Patroclus, during which Greek kings and heroes race once around a tree stump for the prize of a female slave.

Perhaps a century after the founding of the Olympics in 776 B.C., chariot and jockeyed races were included in the games. This provided an opportunity for families to display their “hippic”—or horse—wealth as social and political capital, explains historian Donald Kyle of the University of Texas at Arlington. Yet for the Romans, hippic contests were just as often part of extravagant state-sponsored displays intended to entertain the masses.

The historian Livy says that the first and largest Roman hippodrome, the Circus Maximus, was built by Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the legendary fifth king of Rome (reigned 616–579 B.C.), in a valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills. Though originally a simple open oval space similar to a Greek hippodrome, the Romans gradually created a massive stadium-style building that, by the first century A.D., could accommodate perhaps as many as 250,000 spectators.

While there were certainly other crowd-pleasing events such as gladiatorial contests in ancient Rome, “chariot racing is the earliest and longest-enduring major spectacle in Roman history,” says Kyle. [Archaeological Institute of America].

Scythian Nomads: The Scythians were a nomadic people who originated in the central Asian steppes sometime in the early first millennium, B.C. After migrating into what is present-day Ukraine, they prospered from the fifth to the third centuries, B.C, through trade with the Greek cities on the Black Sea coast.

Scythian graves and burial mounds continue to yield an astonishing wealth of gold and silver objects, many of which are in the salled animal style associated with the central Asian steppes. Other objects reflect influence from ancient Near Eastern cultures, and still other pieces are either strongly in the Greek style or exhibit an intriguing blend of Greek and animal style elements. Many of the recently excavated objects presented here constitute a new chapter, even a new book, on the interrelationships of the ancient Aegean world, the ancient Near East, and the steppes that extend from north of the Black Sea as far as the Altai Republic near Mongolia.

The Scythians: In the 1970s, Scythian art was the subject of one of the first of what are now commonly called "treasure house" shows at American art museums. An exhibition seen in New York and Los Angeles focused on the exquisitely fabricated decorative metalwork so highly prized by the ancient nomads of the region north of the Black Sea--metalwork in some cases made for them by Greek artisans working in Crimea more than 2,300 years ago. Scythian gold was hitherto largely unknown in the West, but the popular exhibition left a gilded icon in its wake: the glittering image of an elk-like deer, its legs tucked beneath its body in a recumbent pose, its antlers transformed into an elegant, rhythmic interlace of serpentine lines.

As nomads, the Scythians were relatively limited in their artistic traditions and capacities. They had migrated from Central Asia around 600 BC. Hunting and gathering (and no doubt plundering) still went on, but in relatively short order they discovered something new. They discovered trade, and especially the meaning of the potentially lucrative term "middleman."

The wandering Scythians found they could take grain grown by indigenous farmers in the north and sell it, at a big profit, to the Greek cities springing up in the south along the Black Sea coast. Eventually their peripatetic nomadism gave way to regular seasonal encampments. Slowly but surely the Scythians were getting rich, and so they did what the newly rich do: They went shopping. What they bought were luxuries.

The Greeks who were building small cities around the Black Sea bought Scythian grain, but they had artistic talent to sell back to their increasingly prosperous traders. Consequently Scythian style and Greek often mingle, merge and mix with one another. One extraordinary example is an elaborately decorated sword and scabbard plated in gold. The refined and cleverly composed reliefs show scenes of fierce animal combat. The pommel of the sword carries a single crouching stag, typically Scythian, while the blade cover is arrayed with fantastic griffins--half eagle, half lion--of Near Eastern heritage. Elsewhere a half-goat figure of Pan, Greek god of the forests, turns up. And asymmetrical dynamism, which speaks of a worldview based on continuous movement and dramatic flux, begins to be transformed into a more relaxed balance and equilibrium, an expression of eternal harmony.

In more general terms, Scythian decorative motifs tended to be animal and vegetable in origin, as might be expected from warriors who hunted. From Greece came representations of human beings, such as those that turned up at war on the ritual gold helmet, or the elegant seated women who appear on a pair of elaborate earrings, or the portrait-like men's faces that adorn bridle attachments. And the powerful Scythian figure of a ruling goddess, shown in the center of a magnificent diadem, is eventually joined by a bridle ornament showing the Greek figure of a bearded hero with a lion's pelt and an enormous club--who else but Hercules.

It is said that the Scythians, whose brutal ways included human sacrifice in the ritual slaughter of attendants (and horses) at elaborate burial feasts, might have grown weak and slothful with all their worldly success as tradesmen. No one really knows for sure the details of why or how the Sarmatians quashed the Scythians. You get the feeling, though, that this otherwise engaging post-Cold War look at Scythian gold has been given a small but distinctly cautionary coda: Beware getting fat and sassy in a globalizing economy.

More Scythians: Originally nomads, the Scythians migrated from central Asia through the Near East, finally settling on the shores of the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine. The wealth they earned by selling grain to Greek cities provided the means to purchase fabulous gold ornaments that fused the styles of Greece, the Near East, and Central Asia. It would be fair to say that the Scythians had a weakness for gold. Where did they get all that gold? It is accepted that the Scythians were fierce warriors. But historical myths suggest that the was as a result of commercial exchanges; grain for gold. Scythian art is characterized by its so-called animal style. This catalog displays some of the finest gold treasures of this ancient nomadic people--swords, a helmet, exquisite jewelry, and other objects dating from the fifth to the third centuries.

Scythia and the Scythians: Scythia was a region of Central Eurasia in classical antiquity, occupied by the Eastern Iranian Scythians, encompassing parts of Eastern Europe east of the Vistula River and Central Asia, with the eastern edges of the region vaguely defined by the Greeks. The Ancient Greeks gave the name Scythia (or Great Scythia) to all the lands north-east of Europe and the northern coast of the Black Sea. The Scythians – the Greeks' name for this initially nomadic people – inhabited Scythia from at least the 11th century BC to the 2nd century AD. Its location and extent varied over time but usually extended farther to the west than is indicated on the map opposite.

Scythia was a loose state that originated as early as 8th century BC. Little is known of them and their rulers. The most detailed western description is by Herodotus, though it is uncertain he ever went to Scythia. He says the Scythians' own name for themselves was "Scoloti". The Scythians became increasingly settled and wealthy on their western frontier with Greco-Roman civilization.The region known to classical authors as Scythia included the Pontic-Caspian steppe: Ukraine, southern Russia, and western Kazakhstan (inhabited by Scythians from at least the 8th century BC).

Genetic evidence for ranging clear across the plains (steppes) from Black Sea to Lake Baikal. The Kazakh steppe: northern Kazakhstan and the adjacent portions of Russia Sarmatia, corresponding to eastern Poland, Ukraine, southwestern Russia, and the northeastern Balkans, ranging from the Vistula River in the west to the mouth of the Danube, and eastward to the Volga Saka tigrakhauda, corresponding to parts of Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, southeastern Kazakhstan, and the Tarim Basin Sistan or Sakastan, corresponding to southern Afghanistan, eastern Iran, and southwestern Pakistan, extending from the Sistan Basin to the Indus River.

Following successive invasions of the Indo-Greek kingdoms, the Indo-Scythians also expanded east, capturing territory in what is today the Punjab region. Parama Kamboja, corresponding to northern Afghanistan and parts of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Alania, corresponding to the northern Caucasus region Scythia Minor, corresponding to the lower Danube river area west of the Black Sea, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria.

n the 7th century BC Scythians penetrated from the territories north of the Black Sea across the Caucasus. The early Scythian kingdoms were dominated by inter-ethnic forms of dependency based on subjugation of agricultural populations in eastern South Caucasia, plunder and taxes (occasionally, as far as Syria), regular tribute (Media), tribute disguised as gifts (Egypt), and possibly also payments for military support (Assyria).

It is possible that the same dynasty ruled in Scythia during most of its history. The name of Koloksai, a legendary founder of a royal dynasty, is mentioned by Alcman in the 7th century BC. Prototi and Madius, Scythian kings in the Near Eastern period of their history, and their successors in the north Pontic steppes belonged to the same dynasty. Herodotus lists five generations of a royal clan that probably reigned at the end of the 7th to 6th centuries BC: prince Anacharsis, Saulius, Idanthyrsus, Gnurus (Гнур (ru)), Lycus and Spargapithes.

After being defeated and driven from the Near East, in the first half of the 6th century BCE, Scythians had to re-conquer lands north of the Black Sea. In the second half of that century, Scythians succeeded in dominating the agricultural tribes of the forest-steppe and placed them under tribute. As a result, their state was reconstructed with the appearance of the Second Scythian Kingdom which reached its zenith in the 4th century BC.

Scythia's social development at the end of the 5th century BC and in the 4th century BC was linked to its privileged status of trade with Greeks, its efforts to control this trade, and the consequences partly stemming from these two. Aggressive external policy intensified exploitation of dependent populations and progressed the stratification among the nomadic rulers. Trading with Greeks also stimulated sedentarization processes.

The proximity of the Greek city-states on the Black Sea coast (Pontic Olbia, Cimmerian Bosporus, Chersonesos, Sindica, Tanais) was a powerful incentive for slavery in the Scythian society, but only in one direction: the sale of slaves to Greeks, instead of use in their economy. Accordingly, the trade became a stimulus for capture of slaves as war spoils in numerous wars.

The Scythian state reached its greatest extent in the 4th century BC during the reign of Ateas. Isocrates believed that Scythians, and also Thracians and Persians, are "the most able to power, and are the peoples with the greatest might." In the 4th century BC, under king Ateas, the tribune structure of the state was eliminated, and the ruling power became more centralized. The later sources do not mention three basileuses any more. Strabo tells that Ateas ruled over the majority of the North Pontic barbarians.

Written sources tell that expansion of the Scythian state before the 4th century BC was mainly to the west. In this respect Ateas continued the policy of his predecessors in the 5th century BC. During western expansion, Ateas fought the Triballi. An area of Thrace was subjugated and levied with severe duties. During the 90 year life of Ateas, the Scythians settled firmly in Thrace and became an important factor in political games in the Balkans. At the same time, both the nomadic and agricultural Scythian populations increased along the Dniester river. A war with the Bosporian Kingdom increased Scythian pressure on the Greek cities along the North Pontic littoral.

Materials from the site near Kamianka-Dniprovska, purportedly the capital of the Ateas’ state, show that metallurgists were free members of the society, even if burdened with imposed obligations. Metallurgy was the most advanced and the only distinct craft speciality among the Scythians. From the story of Polyaenus and Frontin, it follows that in the 4th century BC Scythia had a layer of dependent population, which consisted of impoverished Scythian nomads and local indigenous agricultural tribes, socially deprived, dependent and exploited, who did not participate in the wars, but were engaged in servile agriculture and cattle husbandry.

The year 339 BC was a culminating year for the Second Scythian Kingdom, and the beginning of its decline. The war with Philip II of Macedon ended in a victory by the father of Alexander the Great. The Scythian king Ateas fell in battle well into his nineties. Many royal kurgans (Chertomlyk, Kul-Oba, Aleksandropol, Krasnokut) are dated from after Ateas’s time and previous traditions were continued, and life in the settlements of Western Scythia show that the state survived until the 250s BC. When in 331 BC Zopyrion, Alexander's viceroy in Thrace, "not wishing to sit idle", invaded Scythia and besieged Pontic Olbia, he suffered a crushing defeat from the Scythians and lost his life.

The fall of the Second Scythian Kingdom came about in the second half of the 3rd century BC under the onslaught of Celts and Thracians from the west and Sarmatians from the east. With their increased forces, the Sarmatians devastated significant parts of Scythia and, "annihilating the defeated, transformed a larger part of the country into a desert".

The dependent forest-steppe tribes, subjected to exaction burdens, freed themselves at the first opportunity. The Dnieper and Southern Bug populace ruled by the Scythians did not become Scythians. They continued to live their original life, which was alien to Scythian ways. From the 3rd century BC for many centuries the histories of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of North Pontic diverged. The material culture of the populations quickly lost their common features. And in the steppe, reflecting the end of nomad hegemony in Scythian society, the royal kurgans were no longer built. Archeologically, late Scythia appears first of all as a conglomerate of fortified and non-fortified settlements with abutting agricultural zones.

The development of the Scythian society was marked by the following trends: An intensified settlement process, evidenced by the appearance of numerous kurgan burials in the steppe zone of North Pontic, some of them dated to the end of the 5th century BC, but the majority belonging to the 4th or 3rd centuries BC, reflecting the establishment of permanent pastoral coaching routes and a tendency to semi-nomadic pasturing. The Lower Dnieper area contained mostly unfortified settlements, while in Crimea and Western Scythia the agricultural population grew. The Dnieper settlements developed in what were previously nomadic winter villages, and in uninhabited lands.

In the 4th century BC in the Dnieper forest-steppe zone, steppe-type burials appear. In addition to the nomadic advance in the north in search of the new pastures, they show an increase of pressure on the farmers of the forest-steppe belt. The Boryspil kurgans belong almost entirely to soldiers and sometimes even women warriors. The bloom of steppe Scythia coincides with decline of forest-steppe. From the second half of the 5th century BC, importing of antique goods to the Middle Dnieper decreased because of the pauperization of the dependent farmers. In the forest-steppe, kurgans of the 4th century BC are poorer than during previous times. At the same time, the cultural influence of the steppe nomads grew. The Senkov kurgans in the Kiev area, left by the local agricultural population, are low and contain poor female and empty male burials, in a striking contrast with the nearby Boryspil kurgans of the same era left by the Scythian conquerors.

Growth of trade with Northern Black Sea Greek cities, and increase in Hellenization of the Scythian aristocracy. After the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian war, Attican agriculture was ruined. Demosthenes wrote that about 400,000 medimns (63,000 tons) of grain was exported annually from the Bosporus to Athens. The Scythian nomadic aristocracy not only served a middleman role, but also actively participated in the trade of grain (produced by dependent farmers as well as slaves), skins and other goods. Scythia's later history is mainly dominated by sedentary agrarian and city elements. As a result of the defeats suffered by Scythians, two separate states were formed, the 'Lesser Scythias': one in Thrace (Dobrudja), and the other in the Crimea and the Lower Dnieper area.

Having settled this Scythia Minor in Thrace, the former Scythian nomads (or rather their nobility) abandoned their nomadic way of life, retaining their power over the agrarian population. This little polity should be distinguished from the Third Scythian Kingdom in Crimea and Lower Dnieper area, whose inhabitants likewise underwent a massive sedentarization. The interethnic dependence was replaced by developing forms of dependence within the society.

The enmity of the Third Scythian Kingdom, centred on Scythian Neapolis, towards the Greek settlements of the northern Black Sea steadily increased. The Scythian king apparently regarded the Greek colonies as unnecessary intermediaries in the wheat trade with mainland Greece. Besides, the settling cattlemen were attracted by the Greek agricultural belt in Southern Crimea. The later Scythia was both culturally and socio-economically far less advanced than its Greek neighbors such as Olvia or Chersonesos.

The continuity of the royal line is less clear in the Lesser Scythias of Crimea and Thrace than it had been previously. In the 2nd century BC, Olvia became a Scythian dependency. That event was marked in the city by minting of coins bearing the name of the Scythian king Skilurus. He was a son of a king and a father of a king, but the relation of his dynasty with the former dynasty is not known. Either Skilurus or his son and successor Palakus were buried in the mausoleum of Scythian Neapol that was used from c. 100 BC to c. 100 AD. However, the last burials are so poor that they do not seem to be royal, indicating a change in the dynasty or royal burials in another place.

Later, at the end of the 2nd century BC, Olvia was freed from Scythian domination, but became a subject to Mithridates I of Parthia. By the end of the 1st century BC, Olbia, rebuilt after its sack by the Getae, became a dependency of the Dacian barbarian kings, who minted their own coins in the city. Later from the 2nd century AD Olbia belonged to the Roman Empire. Scythia was the first state north of the Black Sea to collapse with the invasion of the Goths in the 2nd century AD (see Oium). At the end of the 2nd century AD, King Sauromates II critically defeated the Scythians and included the Crimea into his Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus, a Roman client state.

Scythian art is art, primarily decorative objects, such as jewellery, produced by the nomadic tribes in the area known to the ancient Greeks as Scythia, which was centred on the Pontic-Caspian steppe and ranged from modern Kazakhstan to the Baltic coast of modern Poland and to Georgia. The identities of the nomadic peoples of the steppes is often uncertain, and the term "Scythian" should often be taken loosely; the art of nomads much further east than the core Scythian territory exhibits close similarities as well as differences, and terms such as the "Scytho-Siberian world" are often used.

Other Eurasian nomad peoples recognized by ancient writers, notably Herodotus, include the Massagetae, Sarmatians, and Saka, the last a name from Persian sources, while ancient Chinese sources speak of the Xiongnu or Hsiung-nu. Modern archaeologists recognize, among others, the Pazyryk, Tagar, and Aldy-Bel cultures, with the furthest east of all, the later Ordos culture a little west of Beijing. The art of these peoples is collectively known as steppes art.

In the case of the Scythians the characteristic art was produced in a period from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, after which the Scythians were gradually displaced from most of their territory by the Sarmatians, and rich grave deposits cease among the remaining Scythian populations on the Black Sea coast. Over this period many Scythians became sedentary, and involved in trade with neighboring peoples such as the Greeks.

In the earlier period Scythian art included very vigorously modeled stylized animal figures, shown singly or in combat, that had a long-lasting and very wide influence on other Eurasian cultures as far apart as China and the European Celts. As the Scythians came in contact with the Greeks at the Western end of their area, their artwork influenced Greek art, and was influenced by it; also many pieces were made by Greek craftsmen for Scythian customers. Although we know that goldsmith work was an important area of Ancient Greek art, very little has survived from the core of the Greek world, and finds from Scythian burials represent the largest group of pieces we now have. The mixture of the two cultures in terms of the background of the artists, the origin of the forms and styles, and the possible history of the objects, gives rise to complex questions.

Many art historians feel that the Greek and Scythian styles were too far apart for works in a hybrid style to be as successful as those firmly in one style or the other. Other influences from urbanized civilizations such as those of Persia and China, and the mountain cultures of the Caucasus, also affected the art of their nomadic neighbours. Scythian art especially Scythian gold jewellery is highly valued by museums and many of the most valuable artefacts are in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Their Eastern neighbours, the Pazyryk culture in Siberia produced similar art, although they related to the Chinese in a way comparable to that of the Scythians with the Greek and Iranian cultures. In recent years, archeologists have made valuable finds in various places within the area.

The Scythians worked in a wide variety of materials such as gold, wood, leather, bone, bronze, iron, silver and electrum. Clothes and horse-trappings were sewn with small plaques in metal and other materials, and larger ones, including some of the most famous, probably decorated shields or wagons. Wool felt was used for highly decorated clothes, tents and horse-trappings, and an important nomad mounted on his horse in his best outfit must have presented a very colourful and exotic sight. As nomads, the Scythians produced entirely portable objects, to decorate their horses, clothes, tents and wagons, with the exception in some areas of kurgan stelae, stone stelae carved somewhat crudely to depict a human figure, which were probably intended as memorials. Bronze-casting of very high quality is the main metal technique used across the Eurasian steppe, but the Scythians are distinguished by their frequent use of gold at many sites, though large hoards of gold objects have also been found further east, as in the hoard of over 20,000 pieces of "Bactrian Gold" in partly nomadic styles from Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan. Earlier pieces reflected animal style traditions; in the later period many pieces, especially in metal, were produced by Greek craftsmen who had adapted Greek styles to the tastes and subject-matter of the wealthy Scythian market, and probably often worked in Scythian territory. Other pieces are thought to be imports from Greece. As the Scythians prospered through trade with the Greeks, they settled down and started farming. They also established permanent settlements such as a site in Belsk, Ukraine believed to the Scythian capital Gelonus with craft workshops and Greek pottery prominent in the ruins.

The Pazyryk burials (east of Scythia proper) are especially important because the frozen conditions have preserved a wide variety of objects in perishable materials that have not survived in most ancient burials, on the steppes or elsewhere. These include wood carvings, textiles including clothes and felt appliqué wall hangings, and even elaborate tattoos on the body of the so-called Siberian Ice Maiden. These make it clear that important ancient nomads and their horses, tents, and wagons were very elaborately fitted out in a variety of materials, many brightly coloured. Their iconography includes animals, monsters and anthropomorphic beasts, and probably some deities including a "Great Goddess", as well as energetic geometric motifs.

Archaeologists have uncovered felt rugs as well as well-crafted tools and domestic utensils. Clothing uncovered by archaeologists has also been well made many trimmed by embroidery and appliqué designs. Wealthy people wore clothes covered by gold embossed plaques, but small gold pieces are often found in what seem to be relatively ordinary burials. Imported goods include a famous carpet, the oldest to survive, that was probably made in or around Persia.

Steppes jewelry features various animals including stags, cats, birds, horses, bears, wolves and mythical beasts. The gold figures of stags in a crouching position with legs tucked beneath its body, head upright and muscles tight to give the impression of speed, are particularly impressive. The "looped" antlers of most figures are a distinctive feature, not found in Chinese images of deer. The species represented has seemed to many scholars to be the reindeer, which was not found in the regions inhabited by the steppes peoples at this period.

The largest of these were the central ornaments for shields, while others were smaller plaques probably attached to clothing. The stag appears to have had a special significance for the steppes peoples, perhaps as a clan totem. The most notable of these figures include the examples from: the burial site of Kostromskaya in the Kuban dating from the 6th century BC (Hermitage); Tápiószentmárton in Hungary dating from the 5th century BC, now National Museum of Hungary, Budapest; Kul Oba in the Crimea dating from the 4th century BC (Hermitage).

Another characteristic form is the openwork plaque including a stylized tree over the scene at one side, of which two examples are illustrated here. Later large Greek-made pieces often include a zone showing Scythian men apparently going about their daily business, in scenes more typical of Greek art than nomad-made pieces. Some scholars have attempted to attach narrative meanings to such scenes, but this remains speculative.

Although gold was widely used by the ruling elite of the various Scythian tribes, the predominant material for the various animal forms was bronze. The bulk of these items were used to decorate horse harness, leather belts & personal clothing. In some cases these bronze animal figures when sewn onto stiff leather jerkins & belts, helped to act as armor.

The use of the animal form went further than just ornament, these seemingly imbuing the owner of the item with similar prowess & powers of the animal which was depicted. Thus the use of these forms extended onto the accoutrements of warfare, be they swords, daggers, scabbards, or axes.

The primary weapon of this horse riding culture was the bow, & a special case had been developed to carry the delicate but very powerful composite bow. This case, "the gorytus", had a separate container on the outside which acted as a quiver, & the whole was often decorated with animal scenes or scenes depicting daily life on the steppes. There was a marked following of Grecian elements after the 4th century BC, when Greek craftsmen were commissioned to decorate many of the daily use articles.

Scythian art has become well known in the West thanks to a series of touring loan exhibitions from Ukrainian and Russian museums, especially in the 1990s and 2000s. Kurgans are large mounds that are obvious in the landscape and a high proportion have been plundered at various times; many may never have had a permanent population nearby to guard them. To counter this, treasures were sometimes deposited in secret chambers below the floor and elsewhere, which have sometimes avoided detection until the arrival of modern archaeologists, and many of the most outstanding finds come from such chambers in kurgans that had already been partly robbed.

Elsewhere the desertification of the steppe has brought once-buried small objects to lie on the surface of the eroded land, and many Ordos bronzes seem to have been found in this way. Russian explorers first brought Scythian artworks recovered from Scythian burial mounds to Peter the Great in the early 18th century. These works formed the basis of the collection held by the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Catherine the Great was so impressed from the material recovered from the kurgans or burial mounds that she ordered a systematic study be made of the works. However, this was well before the development of modern archaeological techniques.

Nikolai Veselovsky (1848-1918) was a Russian archaeologist specializing in Central Asia who led many of the most important excavations of kurgans in his day.[11] One of the first sites discovered by modern archaeologists were the kurgans Pazyryk, Ulagan district of the Altay Republic, south of Novosibirsk. The name Pazyryk culture was attached to the finds, five large burial mounds and several smaller ones between 1925 and 1949 opened in 1947 by a Russian archeologist, Sergei Rudenko; Pazyryk is in the Altay Mountains of southern Siberia. The kurgans contained items for use in the afterlife. The famous Pazyryk carpet discovered is the oldest surviving wool pile oriental rug.

The enormous hoard of "Bactrian gold" discovered at Tillya Tepe in northern Afghanistan in 1978 comes from the fringes of the nomadic world, and the objects reflect the influence of many cultures to the south of the steppes as well as steppes art. The six burials come from the early 1st century AD (a coin of Tiberius is among the finds) and though their cultural context is unfamiliar, it may relate to the Indo-Scythians who had created an empire in north India.

Recent digs in Belsk, Ukraine uncovered a vast city believed to be the Scythian capital Gelonus described by Herodotus. Numerous craft workshops and works of pottery have been found. A kurgan or burial mound near the village of Ryzhanovka in Ukraine, 75 mi (121 km) south of Kiev, found in the 1990s has revealed one of the few unlooted tombs of a Scythian chieftain, who was ruling in the forest-steppe area of the western fringe of Scythian lands. There at a late date in Scythian culture (c. 250 - 225 BC), a recently nomadic aristocratic class was gradually adopting the agricultural life-style of their subjects. Many items of jewelry were also found in the kurgan.

A discovery made by Russian and German archaeologists in 2001 near Kyzyl, the capital of the Russian republic of Tuva in Siberia is the earliest of its kind and predates the influence of Greek civilisation. Archaeologists discovered almost 5,000 decorative gold pieces including earrings, pendants and beads. The pieces contain representations of many local animals from the period including panthers, lions, bears and deer. Earlier rich kurgan burials always include a male, with or without a female consort, but from the 4th and 3rd centuries there are number of important burials with only a female.

The finds from the most important nomad burials remain in the countries where they were found, or at least the capitals of the states in which they were located when found, so that many finds from Ukraine and other countries of the former Soviet Union are in Russia. Western European and American museums have relatively small collections, though there have been exhibitions touring internationally. The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg has the longest standing and the best collection of Scythian art. Other museums including several local ones in Russia, in Budapest and Miskolc in Hungary, Kiev in Ukraine, the National Museum of Afghanistan and elsewhere have important holdings. The Scythian Gold exhibition came from a number of Ukrainian exhibitions including the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine, the Institute of Archaeology in Kiev and the State Historical Archaeological Preserve at Pereiaslav-Khmel'nyts'kyi.

Scythian Art: Scythian Art showcases ancient treasures of the Scythians, the fierce, nomadic horsemen who roamed the European steppe from the seventh to the third centuries BC. These proud warriors, who grew rich on trade with the Greeks, commissioned lavish gold objects for adornment, ceremony and battle, drawing on their own ancient artistic traditions and employing the finest Greek goldsmiths of the age.

The Scythians flourished more than 2,500 years ago in what is present-day Ukraine and are among the most fascinating of the great warrior cultures that dominated the steppes for centuries. They originated in the central Asian steppes sometime in the early first millennium, BC. After migrating into what is present-day Ukraine, they flourished, from the seventh to the third centuries, BC, over a vast expanse of the steppe that stretched from the Danube, east across what is modern Ukraine and east of the Black Sea into Russia. Invincible for nearly four centuries, the Scythians were a people of great military skill and unrelenting ferocity. They were also extremely influential patrons of the arts, and left behind an extraordinary legacy of both ruthless conquest and lavish artifacts. Gold of the Nomads offers visitors a rare glimpse into the lives of these great warriors, whose brutality was matched only by their passion for exquisite ornament.

Much of what is known about the Scythians has been uncovered through archaeological excavations of their burial mounds, known as kurhany. Ongoing explorations of kurhany continue to recover an astonishing wealth of gold and silver objects, ranging from horse trappings to armor, weaponry, jewelry and ceremonial adornment. Early finds of Scythian gold artifacts in the 1700s were so stunning that Catherine the Great ordered their systematic study, launching what became the field of Scythian archaeology. Some of the most extraordinary finds were uncovered only in the last two decades, and excavations continue on an ongoing basis to explore some of the more than 40,000 kurhany still unexcavated in Ukraine.

Many of the works of art are in the animal style associated with the central Asian steppes, while others reflect influence from ancient Near Eastern cultures. Still other objects reveal a fusion of the animal style with Near Eastern motifs and Greek iconography and style. Rich evidence of this sophisticated, artistic dialogue constitutes an intriguing new frontier in archaeological research.

The story of the Scythians and Scythian art is also a story of interaction with the Greek world, which eagerly purchased grain, furs and amber from the Scythians. Profits from this trade brought Scythians the wealth to indulge their taste for elaborate objects ranging from torques to horse decorations. Magnificent gilded bronze Greek vessels discovered in a bog 300 miles up the Dnipro River testify to the extensive commercial and cultural ties between the peoples.

When the Scythians at last abandoned their nomadic lifestyle for the prosperous, settled life which trade had brought them, the door was opened for the invasion of a hardier nomadic tribe, the Sarmatians. The exhibition will close with several superb Sarmatian gold objects, including a torque, a dolphin brooch and a pendant, as a reminder of how intriguing and how still little known are the cultures, objects, and artistic styles of this part of the world.

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ABOUT US: Prior to our retirement we used to travel to Eastern Europe and Central Asia several times a year seeking antique gemstones and jewelry from the globe’s most prolific gemstone producing and cutting centers. Most of the items we offer came from acquisitions we made in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) during these years from various institutions and dealers. Much of what we generate on Etsy, Amazon and Ebay goes to support worthy institutions in Europe and Asia connected with Anthropology and Archaeology. Though we have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, our primary interests are ancient/antique jewelry and gemstones, a reflection of our academic backgrounds.

Though perhaps difficult to find in the USA, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia antique gemstones are commonly dismounted from old, broken settings – the gold reused – the gemstones recut and reset. Before these gorgeous antique gemstones are recut, we try to acquire the best of them in their original, antique, hand-finished state – most of them originally crafted a century or more ago. We believe that the work created by these long-gone master artisans is worth protecting and preserving rather than destroying this heritage of antique gemstones by recutting the original work out of existence. That by preserving their work, in a sense, we are preserving their lives and the legacy they left for modern times. Far better to appreciate their craft than to destroy it with modern cutting.

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