American School of Classical Studies at Athens – serie

In spring 1939, as the prospect of war loomed, a joint Greek-American archaeological expedition began excavation on the hill of Epano Englianos, high above the modern town of Pylos in southwest Greece. Almost immediately more than 600 tablets bearing inscriptions in Linear B script were uncovered, as well as stone walls, fragments of frescoes, and stucco floors. The discoveries were kept secret during the war years and it was only in 1952 that the project could return to uncover, over 15 seasons, the Mycenaean building now know as the Palace of Nestor. This beautifully illustrated colour guide surveys the buildings and objects discovered and reconstructs life in the citadel and its associated tombs. It also describes the surrounding landscape, using evidence uncovered by the Pylos Regional Archaeological Project which surveyed the wider area around the palace between 1992 and 1995.

This definitive guide to the archaeological remains in the civic and commercial centre of ancient Athens is an essential companion to the interested visitor, as well as to students of the topography of the classical city. A large-scale map provides an overview of the site, keyed to descriptions and plans of every monument still visible from the majestic Temple of Hephaistos to the utilitarian Great Drain.The fifth edition retains many of the elements that made the earlier editions so popular, but also takes full account of new discoveries and recent scholarship. It is intended for visitors touring the site, and is arranged topographically, monument by monument. Also included are an overview of the historical development of the site and a history of the excavations. A companion guide to the Agora Museum in the Stoa of Attalos is also available (The Athenian Agora: Museum Guide, by Laura Gawlinski, 2014).

Written for the general visitor, the Athenian Agora Museum Guide is a companion to the 2010 edition of the Athenian Agora Site Guide and leads the reader through all of the display spaces within the Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian Agora - the terrace, the ground-floor colonnade, and the newly opened upper story.The guide also discusses each case in the museum gallery chronologically, beginning with the prehistoric and continuing with the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Hundreds of artifacts, ranging from common pottery to elite jewellery held in 81 cases, are described and illustrated in colour for the very first time. Through focus boxes, readers can learn about marble-working, early burial practices, pottery production, ostracism, home life, and the wells that dotted the ancient site. A timeline, maps, and plans accompany the text. For those who wish to learn more about what they see in the museum, a list of further reading follows each entry.

As well as being an archaeological guide, this beautifully illustrated volume tells the story of 30 years of fieldwork and study at one of the lesser known, but most intellectually fascinating, sites in Crete. In prehistory, Kommos was a busy harbor town with trading links extending to Egypt and Sardinia. The author traces the development of the settlement, its mysterious abandonment, and then resurrection as a religious site around 1000 B.C.

Situated on the shores of the Argolic Gulf, only a few miles away from the much later prehistoric sites of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Midea, Lerna is one of the key building blocks in our understanding of Greek archaeology. The first evidence from the site is Neolithic, and the latest settlement evidence is Mycenaean. However, the most important material from the site comes from the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C. when a remarkable large, rectangular building known as The House of the Tiles was built. Possibly never finished, with unpainted walls and doors that lead nowhere, the purpose and meaning of this building has provoked vigorous debate. Was it the house of a chief and the precursor of the later Mycenaean palaces? Or was it a communal storage facility, designed to store the elaborately sealed chests and jars found inside? No less mysterious than its use is its destruction: After a violent fire, a huge mound was built on top of the charred foundations, the area avoided by later house builders. This guide is illustrated with many plans and black and white photos.

A chronicle of the second 50 years in the life of the American School (originally founded in 1881). Conceived as a companion volume to Louis Lord's 1947 history of the first half century, the text outlines the activities of the School both in Greece and in the United States, beginning with an absorbing account of the affairs of the School during World War II and continuing through the Centennial in 1981, with chapters on the Summer Session, the School's excavations, its publications, and the Gennadeion. The extensive appendixes include lists of all the Trustees, Cooperating Institutions, members of the Managing Committee, staff, fellows, and members of the School since its inception in 1881, and add greatly to the usefulness of this volume. The author's first-hand knowledge of the people and events of the period discussed contributes materially to its depth and detail.

For what I say, my naughty way/All the boys must love me./Every ditty is so witty/Nobody stands above me.Anacreon of Teos, 563-478 B.C. From papyrus rolls, copied and recycled through the centuries, hundreds of short extracts written by Greek poets in the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. survive. This lovely collection, translated into English by a leading classicist, presents a selection of ca. 100 poems by 17 authors with useful historical introductions.

This is the catalogue of an exhibition held at the National Archives in Washington D.C. to celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of the beginnings of democracy in Athens, interpreted as the implementation of Cleisthenes' governmental reforms. This informative catalogue includes colour illustrations of the objects displayed: sculptures, architectural models, and small objects from Athens and from museums in America and Europe. The objects are set in context with nine short essays.

The archives of the American School excavations in the Athenian Agora contain a remarkable series of watercolours and drawings (well over 400) by Piet de Jong, one of the best-known, most distinctive, and influential archaeological illustrators of the 20th century. They show landscapes, people, and, above all, objects recovered during many seasons of fieldwork at one of the longest continuously running archaeological projects in Greece. This volume brings these illustrations out of the storage drawers and assembles in colour a representative sample of some of the finest of Piet de Jong's contributions. Along the way, the book tells the story of the Agora excavations and assesses their contribution to scholarship. It includes essays by 15 scholars currently working at the Agora, and surveys the entire span of the material they are studying, from Neolithic pottery to the Late Byzantine and post-Byzantine frescoes from the Church of Ayios Spyridon.

This book traces the archaeological history of Pylos and surrounding regions in Messenia from the Palaeolithic to the present. Designed as much for general readers and travelers interested in ancient Greece as for scholars, the volume presents the findings of the Pylos Regional Archaeological Project (PRAP), which has intensively studied the region over the past 15 years. The 1998 edition, originally published by the University of Texas Press and widely used as a textbook in undergraduate classes, is reprinted with a new preface assessing PRAP's impact and outlining new discoveries in the region.

In 1947, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens commissioned a colour movie (Triumph over Time) to accompany its fundraising campaign. Directed by the archaeologist Oscar Broneer and produced by numismatist Margaret Thompson with the aid of staff from Fox Studios, the documentary shows Greece rebounding from the horrors of World War II and the staff of the American School hard at work preparing archaeological sites for presentation to post-war tourists. Footage of excavations at the Athenian Agora and ancient Corinth are mixed with scenes from everyday agricultural life. Famous people in the history of the School and Greece move in and out of the film's frames: King Paul and Queen Frederica attend a public lecture; the Librarian of the Gennadius Library, Shirley H. Weber, shows donor Helene Stathatou some of its priceless manuscripts; Homer A. Thompson, newly appointed Director of the Agora Excavations, displays treasures from the site. Such scenes from the American School's academic and social year show an institution at the forefront of Greece's march back to normality after almost a decade of unrest. In an accompanying essay, Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, the American School's Archivist, describes the making of the movie, the historical background to its production, and its place in both the institutional history of the ASCSA and the political history of Greece. She presents fascinating excerpts from previously unpublished correspondence and memoirs, as well as contemporary photographs. (This is the European edition, including a PAL format DVD.)

This volume represents the product of 25 years of study conducted by the Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, a multidisciplinary, diachronic archaeological expedition formally organized in 1990 to investigate the history of prehistoric and historic settlement in western Messenia in Greece. An introduction, setting the project in context, and an extensive gazetteer of sites precede a collection of eight previously published articles, which appeared in Hesperia, the journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, between 1997 and 2010. Taken together, these contributions document a comprehensive methodological approach by an archaeological project that was one of the first to incorporate new technologies such as digital mapping tools and online databases. The results of such a long-term and multifaceted research program illuminate the shifting relationships between humans, their landscapes, and historical forces, both local and distant. The Pylos Regional Archaeological Project: A Retrospective provides an invaluable resource not only for those interested in the history and development of southwestern Greece but also for researchers interested in exploring the full range of methodological approaches to archaeological survey.

On the centenary of the signing of the Lausanne Convention, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens presented an exhibition highlighting a monumental humanitarian undertaking etched in the memory of history: the American relief aid offered to Greece from 1918 to 1929. The exhibition brought to light the tireless efforts of diverse individuals, ranging from political appointees and philanthropic leaders to educators and dedicated relief workers. Motivated by a sense of duty rooted in their Christian, patriotic or personal beliefs, they collectively played a pivotal role in reshaping Greece after 1922. The exhibition drew on a rich array of sources, including correspondence, official documents, rare publications, photographs, artifacts, posters, and short films. These treasures, which come from the important collections of the American School of Classics in Athens, but also from various institutions, are presented here for the first time, weaving a fascinating narrative with special significance.

This is the first official guidebook to the site of ancient Corinth published by the ASCSA in over 50 years, and it comes fully updated with the most current information, colour photos, maps, and plans. It is an indispensable resource for the casual tourist or professional archaeologist new to the site. The guide begins with a history of Corinth and its excavations and then presents two tours. The first takes visitors through the archaeological site from the Temple of Apollo to the Forum, the Fountain of Peirene, and more. The second tour covers the ancient monuments outside the fenced area of the site, including the Odeion, the Theatre, and the Asklepieion, and then the various remains of ancient Corinth located within and outside the ancient Greek walls, including the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore and the Lechaion Basilica. Short bibliographic notes for many entries lead the reader to fuller descriptions of monuments, objects, and concepts; a glossary is also provided. Interspersed in the text are topographical notes and focus boxes on special topics such as geology, Pausanias, St. Paul, and prehistoric Corinth and the Corinthia.   Greek language edition

Between 1931 and 1939, central Athens was transformed by the expropriation and demolition of the Vrysaki neighborhood at the foot of the Acropolis. In these few years, more than 5,000 inhabitants were displaced and 348 properties were torn down so that the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) could excavate the ancient Agora; the scale of the project and the degree to which it was documented make this a unique episode in the history of Greek archaeology. Using materials from the ASCSA Archives and a large collection of photographs from the 1930s, this volume details the history of the negotiations, the expropriations, and, most importantly, the Vrysaki neighborhood itself. Illustrating its streets, shops, houses, names, and faces, the author provides a vivid recreation of the community that was Vrysaki.

Text in GreekThis official guide to the site of Samothrace and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods appears now as revised by longtime director of excavations James R. McCredie. Two initial chapters helpfully provide background information on the history of Samothrace and the religion of the Great Gods. Following this are two tours. The first takes the reader through the sanctuary itself, home to cryptic mysteries where a variety of gods were worshiped, including the Great Mother, Hades, and Persephone; there are numerous plans and drawings of the monumental structures, such as the Rotunda of Arsinoe and the Propylon of Ptolemy II, allowing the reader to visualize what the sanctuary would have looked like when it was still an active religious center. The second tour takes the reader through the museum and highlights the most important pieces in the collection, including a large statue of a winged Victory and gold ornaments from a Hellenistic tomb. The guide also includes a description of excavations on Samothrace outside of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, as well as bibliography for further reading.

Published in conjunction with the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete to accompany the "Crete 2000" conference (July 10–12, 2000), this album contains archaeological and historical photographs of all of the archaeological sites investigated by American scholars on Crete. The images are accompanied by short descriptions of the sites, as well as relevant bibliography. Contributors include P. P. Betancourt, W. D. E. Coulson, C. Davaras, L. P. Day, G. C. Gesell, D. C. Haggis, B. J. Hayden, J. Moody, M. S. Mook, J. D. Muhly, J. Shaw, M. C. Shaw, J. S. Soles, M. Tsipopoulou, and L. V. Watrous.

A joint publication of the Gennadius Library and the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, Ottoman Athens is the first volume to focus on the Ottoman presence in Athens. This collection of 12 essays explores the architecture, antiquities, cartography, and documentary sources from the period, shedding light on little-studied material and illuminating daily life in Greece's most famous city during Ottoman rule.

This bilingual catalog (in English and Greek) accompanied an exhibition organized by the Gennadius Library on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution of 1821 to explore the relations and connections between Greece and the United States from the American Revolution of 1776 to the Cretan revolt of 1866. The hundred objects of the exhibition, fully illustrated in the catalog, include rare archival material, paintings, watercolors, artworks, and several Philhellenic artifacts from the Gennadius Library and other collections in Athens. The themes of the exhibition, presented in the catalogue by curator Maria Georgopoulou, delve on how the impact of the Enlightenment, the poetry of Lord Byron, as well as the atrocities committed by the Ottomans against the Greeks, motivated American Philhellenes to join the revolutionaries, to collect money and supplies for humanitarian aid to Greece, and even to adopt orphaned Greek children. Once freed, Greece built its educational infrastructure with the support of American missionaries, who set up successful schools on Greek soil. Finally, the plight of Greek slaves fueled abolitionist discourse in the U.S., as the story of Hiram Powers's sculpture The Greek Slave amply demonstrates. Five original essays by experts offer a wider scholarly perspective: Pericles S. Vallianos speaks to the political affinities between the American and the Greek Revolution due to the Enlightenment; Photini Tomai hails the contributions of American Philhellenes to the Greek cause; Curtis Runnels explores the response of the Americans to the ordeals of the Greeks; Vangelis Karamanolakis studies the contributions of American Protestants to the educational development of Greece; and Peter Wirzbicki presents the impact of the Greek War of Independence on the discourse of abolitionism.

Diplomat and bibliophile Joannes Gennadius donated his personal library to the American School of Classical Studies in 1926, and his books form the core of the Gennadius Library's collection today. Included among these titles are some 6,000 editions of Classical Greek authors, comprising by far the largest part of Gennadius's personal collection. Homer at the Gennadius Library showcases 39 exceptional treasures from this collection, reconstructing the Homeric universe from Gennadius's perspective as collector.The material brings to light the routes and transformations of the primary Homeric texts as they reached new audiences. Unique treasures like the first edition of the Iliad and the Odyssey, published in Florence in 1488, and the earliest paraphrase of the Iliad in modern Greek, printed in Venice in 1526, are featured next to English, French, Italian, and Spanish translations, as well as John Flaxman's Homeric illustrations. These works showcase the wide dissemination and reinterpretation of the Homeric text—in both original form and translation—throughout Europe and North America.Parallel-text, Greek and English

The island of Samothrace in the north Aegean was home to one of the most famous panhellenic sanctuaries in the ancient world, the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. This official guide to the site was revised and updated by longtime excavation director James R. McCredie. Two initial chapters provide background information on the history of Samothrace and the religion of the Great Gods. Following this are two tours. The first takes the reader through the site of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, home to cryptic mysteries where a variety of gods were worshiped, including the Great Mother, Hades, and Persephone. The tour includes plans and drawings of the monumental structures at the Sanctuary, such as the Rotunda of Arisonoe and the Propylon of Ptolemy II, allowing the reader to visualize what the Sanctuary would have looked like when it was still an active religious center. The second tour takes the reader through the museum, and includes photographs of the most important pieces in the collection, including a large statue of a winged Victory and gold ornaments from a Hellenistic tomb. The guide also includes a description of excavations on Samothrace outside of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods and provides bibliography for further reading. It is copiously illustrated and includes four foldout plans to help the reader navigate the site.

The ruins of the church of St. Dionysios are still visible on a flat terrace just below the summit of the Areopagus in Athens, overlooking the Athenian Agora. Early travelers noted the church often in their writings from the 17th and 18th centuries but opinions were divided on the date of its construction. Investigations by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 1934 revealed an Archbishop's Palace next to the church and a cemetery dating as far back os the 7th century A.D. but further excavations in 1963 proved conclusively that the current church could only be dated as far back as the 16th century. This booklet, an offprint from the journal Hesperia (Volume 34: 3, pp. 157 to 202), presents the evidence from the excavations, as well as arguing that, even if the current building is quite recent, there was an ecclesiastical building on this site from a much earlier period; perhaps even from soon after St. Paul's speech to the Council of the Areopagus in 51 A.D.

The large-scale, formal consumption of huge quantities of food and drink is a feature of many societies, but extracting evidence for feasting from the archaeological record has, until recently, been problematic. Now new techniques of scientific analysis are being combined with greater theoretical sophistication to shed exciting new light on this conspicuous social practice. This collection of essays, also published as a special issue (73:2) of the journal Hesperia, investigates the rich evidence for the character of the Mycenaean feast. While much of the evidence discussed comes from the Palace of Nestor near Pylos, the authors also present new material from Tsoungiza near Nemea, and from other Bronze Age sites on mainland Greece and Crete. Textual evidence (from Linear B tablets) for the collection of raw materials, and the stocktaking of equipment, is complemented by discussions of the faunal and artifactual assemblages feasts left behind. Specially commissioned papers put Mycenaean practice in context by comparing it to contemporary activities on Cyprus and in Minoan Crete, while a final chapter compares Bronze with Iron Age Greece, especially as seen through the lens of Homeric epic. While not claiming to be a comprehensive survey of the practice of feasting, this volume offers, nonetheless, a rich and detailed collection of evidence, from a variety of sources, for conspicuous consumption in the Mycenaean period. As well as being core reading for Aegean prehistorians, it will be of interest to students of later Greek culture, anthropologists, and other scholars interested in the wider social aspects of eating and drinking.

In 1947, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens commissioned a colour movie (Triumph over Time) to accompany its fundraising campaign. Directed by the archaeologist Oscar Broneer and produced by numismatist Margaret Thompson with the aid of staff from Fox Studios, the documentary shows Greece rebounding from the horrors of World War II and the staff of the American School hard at work preparing archaeological sites for presentation to post-war tourists. Footage of excavations at the Athenian Agora and ancient Corinth are mixed with scenes from everyday agricultural life. Famous people in the history of the School and Greece move in and out of the film's frames: King Paul and Queen Frederica attend a public lecture; the Librarian of the Gennadius Library, Shirley H. Weber, shows donor Helene Stathatou some of its priceless manuscripts; Homer A. Thompson, newly appointed Director of the Agora Excavations, displays treasures from the site. Such scenes from the American School's academic and social year show an institution at the forefront of Greece's march back to normality after almost a decade of unrest. In an accompanying essay, Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, the American School's Archivist, describes the making of the movie, the historical background to its production, and its place in both the institutional history of the ASCSA and the political history of Greece. She presents fascinating excerpts from previously unpublished correspondence and memoirs, as well as contemporary photographs. (This is the North American edition, with NTSC format DVD.)

In 2006, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens celebrated 75 years of archaeological work in the Athenian Agora, the civic centre of classical Athens. Since the first trench was dug on May 25, 1931, excavations have continued in a series of yearly campaigns, only briefly interrupted by World War II. The impact these discoveries have made on our understanding of Athenian history and topography is well documented, but relatively little has been published about the fascinating history of the excavations themselves. This book fills that gap, presenting a pictorial history of the project illustrated with many archival photographs and primary documents. Rather than presenting a continuous narrative, the author focuses on some key moments in the Agora's history including the reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos, the restoration of the Church of the Holy Apostles, and the landscaping of the archaeological park.