Nike of Samothrace

The art of sculpture in the periods of Elam civilization and Greek civilization is very remarkable and admirable; Because they have used special methods. For example, in the Elam civilization, they used the casting technique, and in the Greek civilization, marble statues were usually used, and in each period, they had a special skill in displaying the parts of the statue. In the civilization of Elam, all kinds of geometric motifs that were common in that period were implemented with great elegance. In the civilization of Greece, in most of the sculptures, they had a remarkable skill in implementing the details of the body and special fabrics. In this research, two statues from these two civilizations have been discussed; The statue of Napirasso in the Elam civilization and the statue of Nike of Samothrace in the Hellenic period. Comparing the clothes of Elam civilization and Greek civilization is challenging; Because there are significant differences and similarities between these two civilizations. Paying attention to details and adding accessories to clothing has not been the same among civilizations. The comparison of the clothing of the "bronze statue of Queen Napirasso" in the Elam civilization and the "marble statue of the victory goddess Nike of Samothrace" in the Greek civilization has led to the recognition of the clothing of these civilizations and their attitude towards clothing. The main purpose of this research is to compare the coverage of these two civilizations and to investigate and study the elements that are in the structure of their coverage; Because there are differences and similarities in these two coverings, which are examined according to the structure of the covering and the components that exist in the clothing of these two civilizations. The question of this research is what was the type of covering in the statue of Queen Napirasso and the statue of the goddess of Samothrace.

Climate change, species extinction and accelerating inequalities are manifestations of a more fundamental crisis facing humanity: the global domi-nance of a capitalist/colonialist world order based on logics of extraction and exploitation. The modern, ‘universal’ museum is implicated in this history. It is not only that the accumulation of exotic things was made possible through mercantile and colonial territorial expansion, but the transformation of such things into ‘objects of knowledge’ and their incorporation into universalizing knowledge systems, given architectural expression in the museum, involved forms of epistemic violence that rendered other ways of knowing, understanding and being in the world non-existent. As part of the project of decolonizing the museum, this article questions whether this process of ‘epistemicide’ was indeed so complete, considers whether marginalized forms of knowledge may be reactivated in historical collections, and imagines the role of the ‘pluriversal museum’ in contributing to the shaping of more just and sustainable planetary futures.

Felix Romuliana was a retreat villa of the Emperor Galerius at Gamzigrad (Serbia), the remains of which include a fair number of stone fragments belonging to its columnar architecture. In recent years, work has been undertaken with the help of students from the University of Ljubljana to
comprehensively analyse the column remains. The material for analysis comprised 83 bases or parts thereof, 227 fragments and three complete shafts, as well as 72 fragments of Ionic and Corinthian capitals recovered during the archaeological excavations undertaken at the site from 1953 onwards.
The text focuses on the column remains in marble, white and coloured. The white marbles mostly came from Prokonnesos and Pentelicon, but also from Thasos and Berkovica. Coloured marbles comprising marmor thessalicum, marmor troadense, marmor syenite and pink Berkovica marble (BG) were only used for column shafts and even there rarely.

Relevé d'un chantier européen / Survey of a European Building Site Ce tome n'est pas vendu séparément. Voir L'Histoire de la construction / Construction History Voir aussi Tome II Type de publication: Collectif Directeurs d'ouvrage: Becchi (Antonio), Carvais (Robert), Sakarovitch (Joël) Résumé: L'histoire de la construction a connu récemment un renouveau spectaculaire. Ce livre en dresse le bilan à l'échelle européenne. D'un côté, chaque pays dresse un état de l'art du champ (édition, recherche, enseignement). De l'autre, une anthologie de textes référents est offerte à la lecture. Nombre de pages: 520 Collection: Histoire des techniques

Relevé d'un chantier européen / Survey of a European Building Site Ce tome n'est pas vendu séparément. Voir L'Histoire de la construction / Construction History Voir aussi Tome II Type de publication: Collectif Directeurs d'ouvrage: Becchi (Antonio), Carvais (Robert), Sakarovitch (Joël) Résumé: L'histoire de la construction a connu récemment un renouveau spectaculaire. Ce livre en dresse le bilan à l'échelle européenne. D'un côté, chaque pays dresse un état de l'art du champ (édition, recherche, enseignement). De l'autre, une anthologie de textes référents est offerte à la lecture.

Northern Greece has many archaeological sites featuring buildings and objects entirely or partly constructed from marble whose provenance is doubtful. In Northern Greece, the most probable source of such marble is the Rhodope Mountains. For the purpose of supporting further provenance studies, these marbles are fully scientifically characterized. The sampling took place in several ancient quarries which were on trade routes of Hellenistic, Roman or Byzantine settlements. Trade of marble in N. Greece is proved to have been equally important as in S. Greece, comparing the qualitative marble of Thassos with the best marbles of the south (e.g. Paros, Naxos etc.). The techniques used are petrographic and geochemical (microscope, X-Ray diffraction patterns, Scanning Electron Microscope) methods and stable isotope ratio analysis (13C and 18O). The use of a multi-technique approach with combined parameters allows the best possible discrimination. This scientific investigation both supplements the isotopic database and proves that in N. Greece people used also imported marbles.

Relevé d'un chantier européen / Survey of a European Building Site Ce tome n'est pas vendu séparément. Voir L'Histoire de la construction / Construction History Voir aussi Tome II Type de publication: Collectif Directeurs d'ouvrage: Becchi (Antonio), Carvais (Robert), Sakarovitch (Joël) Résumé: L'histoire de la construction a connu récemment un renouveau spectaculaire. Ce livre en dresse le bilan à l'échelle européenne. D'un côté, chaque pays dresse un état de l'art du champ (édition, recherche, enseignement). De l'autre, une anthologie de textes référents est offerte à la lecture. Nombre de pages: 520 Collection: Histoire des techniques

The provenance question of the marbles used for making the sarcophagi of local production of Thessaloniki in the Roman period had been posed by archaeologists in the past. The hypothesis was that the material came mainly from the quarries of Thassos Island. This paper presents the scientific analysis of 23 characteristic samples from selected sarcophagi at the Museum of Thessaloniki, using three different techniques: electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis and maximum grain size measurements, plus in-situ examination. New combinations of parameters were used in order to resolve fully the provenance of all samples. The results showed that the vast majority of the objects were indeed made in Thassian marble but from three different quarries, namely Vathy/Saliara (dolomitic marble), Aliki (calcitic marble) and Acropolis/Phanari (calcitic marble). The calcitic marbles from Aliki and to a lesser degree from Acropolis/Phanari are met in all the basic types of sarcophagi (framed type, plain type, garland sarcophagi). The use of the better quality and snow-white dolomitic marble from Vathy/Saliara quarries is relatively restricted and is often found in works that are above the average regarding the quality of their workmanship. In addition, two sarcophagi were made in Pentlelic marble and one in Proconnesian. The scientific analysis results provide a good confirmation of the archaeological estimates and, furthermore, the conclusions constitute henceforth a secure basis for the study of the entire sculptured works of Thessaloniki.

The provenance question of the marbles used for making the sarcophagi of local production of Thessaloniki in the Roman period had been posed by archaeologists in the past. The hypothesis was that the material came mainly from the quarries of Thassos Island. This paper presents the scientific analysis of 23 characteristic samples from selected sarcophagi at the Museum of Thessaloniki, using three different techniques: electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis and maximum grain size measurements, plus in-situ examination. New combinations of parameters were used in order to resolve fully the provenance of all samples. The results showed that the vast majority of the objects were indeed made in Thassian marble but from three different quarries, namely Vathy/Saliara (dolomitic marble), Aliki (calcitic marble) and Acropolis/Phanari (calcitic marble). The calcitic marbles from Aliki and to a lesser degree from Acropolis/Phanari are met in all the basic types of sarcophagi (framed type, plain type, garland sarcophagi). The use of the better quality and snow-white dolomitic marble from Vathy/Saliara quarries is relatively restricted and is often found in works that are above the average regarding the quality of their workmanship. In addition, two sarcophagi were made in Pentlelic marble and one in Proconnesian. The scientific analysis results provide a good confirmation of the archaeological estimates and, furthermore, the conclusions constitute henceforth a secure basis for the study of the entire sculptured works of Thessaloniki.

The mystery cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace offers productive material for theory building with respect to the archaeology of secrecy in ritual contexts. The social practice of secrecy builds political power and relies on communicative strategies that simultaneously conceal and reveal, employing culturally specific codes involving abstraction, ambiguity, metaphor, and allusion. Samothrace increased its secrecy as it grew in prestige: archaeological materialization of this secrecy includes euphemistic inscriptions and magnetized iron rings used as tokens of initiation. The rings use myth, philosophy, and ritual practice to communicate the initiate's status while emphasizing the rites' resistance to disclosure. [secrecy, Greece, initiation, iron, magnetism]

This is the English translation of the article published originally in Russian (see posted below).
However strange it might seem, no one has ever convincingly argued that the Venus of Tauris, the most renowned sculpture in the collection of the Classical antiquities in the Hermitage Museum, is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original. Reconsidering the attribution and analyzing the figure’s composition, proportions, type of the hairstyle, features, modeling of the eyes, type of the support and the condition of marble, the author argues that the Venus of Tauris is a Hellenistic work of the 2nd century B.C.

· Argead Macedonia entered the political sphere of the Aegean Sea as a newcomer. For the Macedonians, the lack of naval experience and political links in the Aegean Sea proved to be a challenge. The former hegemonic forces of Greece, in particular Athens, still played a major role regarding the networks in the Aegean. These connections between individual Greek and Persian political actors were of special importance concerning the defense against the Macedonian expansion. The constellation of Macedonia's opponents preventing Philip II's conquest of Perinthos and Byzantion in 340, reversing the initial conquests of his advance guard in Asia Minor in 336-335, and launching a counteroffensive against the Macedonians in the Aegean in 333-332 instructively highlights the personal ties and networks in the Aegean. It was a challenge the Macedonians had to overcome.

This article has two interrelated aims : 1. to reconsider and refute the hypothesis that Aristotle’s instructions on town-planning in Politics Book 7 influenced Alexander’s foundation of Alexandria in Egypt ; 2. to propose an alternative path for the interpretation of Alexander’s attested interests for town-planning, engineering endeavours and geometry, namely his association with the geometer Menaechmus attested in Stobaeus and in the earliest Greek version of the Alexander Romance. Geometry provided the overall theoretical as well as practical frame for founding a settlement : considering Alexander’s role in the foundation of Alexandria and his interest in geometrical and mathematical issues, my conclusion is that the ancient tradition on the personal relationship between Alexander and the geometer Menaechmus might preserve a core of historical truth.

Hellenistic trades in Cispadana : the amphorae from Rhodes · In the Hellenistic period Adriatic area played an important role in the commercial exchanges between the Italic peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean. In this context a certain relief, especially in the second
century BC, had the importation of some products from the island of Rhodes, the wine above all. They were transported in amphorae of such a characteristic shape as to allow the immediate identification of the place of production. In this paper the finds coming from the Cispadana, the large area between the river Po in the north and the Apennines in the south, will be taken into consideration. If we consider the chronology of the Rhodian amphorae found in the Cispadana and we examine the map of the distribution of the finds (Fig. 2), it clearly emerges that in this area the importation of products coming from Rhodes and the process of romanization are two closely connected phenomena.

There is a ghost ship haunting The Carters’ filmclip for Ape- shit. Although the ship is by no means the most overt theme of the video, we shouldn’t ignore its persistent presence.The ship appears explicitly in two sites: The Winged Victory of Samothrace in front of which The Carters and a troupe of dancers perform, and Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa in front of which Jay-Z performs solo. The museum’s collection is inseparable from, indeed contingent upon, colonial violence and slavery; it was the ship—the technology of European naval power—that brought much of the museum’s collection to France; it was often the very same ships that brought enslaved bodies to plantations.

Karnevalski slog, je slog, ki s humorjem in kaosom prevrača in razbija omejitve
vladajočega sloga oziroma ozračja. Glavno dejanje karnevala je posmehljivo ustoličenje in odstoličenje karnevalskega kralja. V času karnevala so družbene hierarhije vsakdanjega življenja – njihove slovesnosti, nabožnosti in etikete, kot tudi že
spoznane resnice oskrunjene in spodkopane s strani običajno utišanih glasov in
sil. Tako norci postanejo pametni, kralji berači, nasprotja so pomešana (dejstva s
fantazijo, nebesa s peklom). Nesprejemljivo obnašanje postane zaželeno. Karnevalski smisel sveta je nasproten enostranski, mrakobni uradni resnobi, ki je dogmatična in sovražna napredku ter spremembi, resnobi s katero se utrjuje trenutno
stanje obstoja oziroma trenutni družbeni red (Bahtin 2007, 123–124).

Carnivalesque is a literary mode that subverts and liberates the assumptions of the dominant style or atmosphere through humor and chaos. The primary act of carnival is the mock crowning and subsequent de-crowning of a carnival king. In the carnival, social hierarchies of everyday life–their solemnities, pieties and etiquettes, as well as all ready-made truths–are profaned and overturned by normally suppressed voices and energies. Thus, fools become wise, kings become beggars; opposites are mingled (fact and fantasy, heaven and hell). Unacceptable behaviour is welcomed and accepted. The carnival sense of the world “is opposed to that one-sided and gloomy official seriousness which is dogmatic and hostile to evolution and change, which seeks to absolutize a given condition of existence or a given social order (Bahtin 2007; Wikipedia 2019g).

https://classiques-garnier.com/revue-d-histoire-litteraire-de-la-france-3-2019-119e-annee-n-3-varia-la-posterite-litteraire-et-artistique-de-la-victoire-de-samothrace-petite-anthologie.html
RÉSUMÉ – La Victoire de Samothrace a fait couler beaucoup d’encre depuis son exposition sur le palier Daru en 1883. L’étude de sa postérité, analysée sur les modes majeur et mineur dans la littérature, la peinture, la statuaire, la numismatique, la philatélie, la mode, l ’opérette, la caricature, met en avant des enjeux esthétiques et politiques. Une place particulière est accordée au roman de Simon Gantillon (1911) et à l ’érection de la statue en figure patriotique pendant la Grande Guerre.
MOTS-CLÉS – Victoire de Samothrace, Simon Gantillon, Maurice Rostand, statue et littérature, cinéma, danse, mode, Grande Guerre
ABSTRACT – The Victory of Samothrace has been the subject of much attention since its exhibition on the Daru landing in 1883. The study of its legacy, analyzed in major and minor modes in literature, painting, statuary, numismatics, philately, fashion, operetta, and comics puts the spotlight on aesthetic and political issues. A special place is given to the novel by Simon Gantillon (1911) and the erection of the statue as a patriotic emblem
during the Great War.
KEYWORDS – Victory of Samothrace, Simon Gantillon, Maurice Rostand, statue and literature, cinema, dance, fashion, Great War

Figure de proue de la sculpture hellénistique, la Victoire de Samothrace trône depuis plus de 150 ans du haut de son écrin, au faîte de l’escalier Daru du Musée du Louvre. Découverte sur l’île de Samothrace en 1863 par Charles Champoiseau, alors ambassadeur de France à Constantinople, celle qu’il qualifie de « mousseline de marbre » n’a cessé depuis de nous fasciner et conserve encore bien des mystères, notamment l’identité de son créateur. Cette splendide statue acéphale est devenue non seulement un incontournable du musée parisien, de la sculpture antique, mais aussi de notre culture populaire contemporaine. En effet, immortalisée par le célèbre bleu Klein à la fin des années 1960, la statue a plus récemment été reprise par un artiste contemporain, Omar Hassan, qui en a fait le support de plusieurs créations à la bombe aérosol, questionnant notre vision d’un marbre de Paros immaculé et rappelant de manière astucieuse la polychromie des œuvres antiques. Si l’on regarde du côté du marketing, La Victoire s’est vue également, selon la légende, donner une partie de son nom et de son identité visuelle à la célèbre marque de chaussures sportives, sous le terme générique grec « Nikè ». Elle fut également l’objet d’une restauration très médiatisée en 2013-2014 donnant lieu à une exposition au musée du Louvre qui nous a permis de la redécouvrir, voire de la « dépoussiérer », ce qui est également l’effet de sa présence dans le tout dernier clip du couple Carter, qui s’est offert une nuit au Louvre afin de prendre pour toile de fond les plus célèbres œuvres du musée. Nous tenterons de décrypter les sens et les valeurs de ces différentes citations et réappropriations qui enrichissent notre rapport à cette œuvre d’art millénaire.

This research characterizes marble chancel screens and their supporting columns, confiscated from treasure thieves, probably from northern Jordan in order to manage the most fruitful conservation and restoration interventions for them. It provides new archaeometric data and determines the probable source of the marbles. The results of mineropetrographic, X-ray diffraction and carbon and oxygen stable isotope analyses show that the marbles most probably are Proconnesian-1. The results agree with the historical records supported by archaeometric analyses that Proconnesos marble was widely used during the Roman and Byzantine periods for architectural purposes. The results suggest that color style of Proconnesian marble astonished the Byzantine stonemasons and architects thus have been widely used.

In the videoclip for ApeSh*t, The Carters traverse the Louvre after dark. A troupe of dancers loop through hallowed halls asserting the continuing presence of people of color in the spaces of high culture. The Louvre’s collection rests on colonial entanglements and a history of enslavement.

Many have dissected this videoclips art historical references, and Kimberly Rose Drew (best known by her twitter handle MuseumMammy) identifies the influence of Black photographers Deana Lawson and John Edmunds to remind viewers of the voices of Black culture that resonate here.

This paper looks at the ways in which the videoclip references a theme that literary scholar Christina Sharpe articulates in In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, the four chapters of which deploy concepts from the history of transatlantic slavery—'The Wake,’ ‘The Ship,’ ‘The Hold,’ and ‘The Weather.’ Beyoncé and Jay-Z perform in front of classical antiquities and French paintings, two of which reference disasters at sea: The Winged Victory of Samothrace—originally a ship’s figurehead—evokes a passage across the sea and, inevitably, the slave ship’s hold. Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa depicts a scene from an 1816 shipwreck off the coast of Mauritania. The line ‘I can’t believe we made it’ in front of these pieces speaks of the cultural survival of a people whom Audre Lorde wrote were ‘never meant to survive.’ Indeed, the video signals their arrival as royalty in the spaces of French colonial subjugation.

Since its discovery in 1863 the dates assigned to the Victory of Samothrace have ranged between 323 and 31 BC, and the question of who commissioned it has also been a matter for debate. The archaeological and epigraphic evidence shows that it was a Rhodian dedication, arguably produced by the sculptor Pythokritos who was active between ca 210 and ca 165 BC. Analysis of the historical and topographical context suggests that it was set up in 197 BC at the end of Second Macedonian War to commemorate the defeat of Philip V at the Battle of Chios four years earlier. It has no close connection with the external frieze of the great altar of Pergamon. The ship which forms its pedestal is a penteres, not a trihemiolia or a tetreres. The goddess is not alighting upon it, but leaving it after her epiphany.

Full paper available here: https://www.cairn.info/revue-archeologique-2018-2-page-279.htm

Maritime safety in the ancient Greek world was created through symbols and social practice as well as the science of seafaring. The human connec- tions forged through ritual, myth and image enabled communication and granted authority to the civic institutions that offered legal and economic benefits. A gaming application offers a route to modelling the triangulation of seascapes, civic institutions, and narratives through which people and goods moved around the ancient Mediterranean. The game was inspired by the promise of maritime safety given to initiates into the mystery cult of the Great Gods of Samothrace, where grants of proxenia and theoria represent the civic counterparts of mystic promises and tales of supernatural inter- vention. The flexibility that characterizes ancient proxenia recommends the framework of a game; the bridge between imagination and strategic out- comes that characterizes serious games maps onto the ancient realities of the maritime success enabled through ritual force and civic institutions.

"Rupture fragile, produite par clivage sans prévenir, souvent sans déformation plastique, inter ou intracristalline ; et les morceaux peuvent se réassembler parfaitement. Rupture contrôlée par la contrainte normale, clivage des liaisons atomiques dans le plan dense. Clivage par séparation directe le long de plans cristallographiques, de matériaux non-ductiles. Clivage ici et là. Clivage insulaire, clivage exhumé du passé. Rarement souhaité par le, la, les, concepteur/trice.s de l’œuvre, mais désiré par d’autres. Qui veulent sa tête : la faire tomber, la retrouver puis l’exhiber. Anonymes voguant depuis Carthage pour néantiser, roches de l’enfer advenues, qui jamais ne se lassent de la propagation des fissures, qui reviennent toujours. Conquistadores vengeurs ou demos émeutiers, peu importe leurs noms, cette pratique est une polysémie [...]

Au départ de cette édition, une iconographie (constituée par mes soins à partir de cartes postales, photographies, images téléchargées, images scannées, collages, Une du Parisien) et des écrits éparses (sorte de base théorique latente), supports d’une conférence improvisée. Il s’agissait du troisième volet d’un ensemble de conférences autour de monuments coloniaux et de vandalismes : Bronze et ciment dans la construction des pistes (volet 1 : Reims/Bamako ; volet 2 : Alger/Rio — le transport du ciment en vrac).

The Nike monument of Samothrace is one of the most important works of ancient sculpture. Since its discovery in 1863 it has always had a special appeal for modern viewers, but a deeper understanding of its historical significance is still a problem: if consensus could be reached quickly on the fundamental classification of the Nike statue in the Hellenistic period, the proposals for a more precise dating of the monument fluctuated by centuries; even the idea widespread in the 20th century that the Nike monument had been erected by the Rhodians on the occasion of their sea victories in 190 BC has been repeatedly questioned in recent years. Therefore, this study undertakes a new attempt at historical contextualization by systematically working through the complicated research debate, reconnecting the viable evidence with the historical context, and incorporating the original setting in the sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace. As a result, a new understanding of the Nikemonument as a work of the Diadoch period and as a beacon in a protracted struggle of images emerges.

The sacrifice of the sacred bull/calf deep in the underground cave, underlines the dualistic nature of the Mitraic Cult. The sacred bull was in its true nature a fetishist manifestation - phallus, of a multitude-form creator solar deity, a symbol of the sky and heavens, which through this ritual sacrifice ejaculates its seeds (blood) of life. While the underground cave , where Mitra was born from a stone, symbolized the interior (uterus) of the mother earth, which is about to be fertilized by the blood/seed of the celestial bull deep inside her.  The death was the symbolic rebirth in the same time, as the sexual culmination is often compared with the “small death.”
This symbolic sexual “penetration” of the celestial bull/phallus deep into the underground womb of the mother earth, can be deduced also from the unmistakably Phallus-like shape of the Mitraeums, the cave-like shrines of Mitra, where at the end of each the altar represented the ‘glans’ of these penis-shaped structures, and where the “celestial sperm” was spilled in the form of the bull’s blood. Moreover, in the famous Ostia’ Mitraeum in Italy, where was performed the symbolic “ejaculation” of the sacrificial seed  (i.e. bull’s blood and most probably the real ejaculation of the adepts and Paters, which was mixed with the “celestial seed” of the slain bull), there’s a very intuitive and proper inscription in Latin: “FELICISSIMUS EXVOTO” - ‘a maximum felicity from a vow’, with an urn-vessel (a mosaic image on the floor) for the ejection of the spilled blood/semen.
Mitraism was actually the most Chauvinistic and primitive predecessor of the 10th century dualistic movements, Bogomilism/Catharism and later Protestantism...

la fortuna di lisippo nel mediterraneo Tra 'imprenditorialità', 'politicizzazione' e 'strategie di reimpiego' a cura di Serenella Ensoli ilpoligrafo ilpoligrafo la fortuna di lisippo nel mediterraneo La fortuna dell'opera di Lisippo di Sicione, il celebre bronzista contemporaneo di Alessandro Magno, è indagata in queste pagine con sollecitazioni e proposte inedite in merito all'aspetto più 'imprenditoriale' della sua attività artistica. Riconosciuta l'eredità dei prototipi lisippei in età ellenistica e romana, si esplorano qui i meccanismi di tale ampia diffusione, derivante dai contesti storico-politici, religiosi ed economico-commerciali dell'epoca. Con questo sguardo attento alle modalità e alle circostanze della trasmissione di modelli iconografici nel Mediterraneo si inaugura la nuova collana "Ptolemaica. Studi sul Mediterraneo", che riguarderà i luoghi dell'impero tolemaico -in primis Libia, Antica Palestina, Cipro -con particolare attenzione all'eredità storico-politica, culturale e artistica delle età precedenti e al portato di valore internazionale per quelle successive.

The recent conservation and reinstallation of the Nike of Samothrace, the restudy of its archaeological context and petrology, the collapse of the consensus that it celebrated the Rhodian naval victories at Side and Myonessos in 190 B.C.E., and the growing accord among naval historians that its ship is not a trihēmiolia together prompt a reexamination of its date and purpose. Fortunately, the monument offers three significant clues, all pre- viously overlooked or underappreciated. First, why was it dedicated on the remote island of Samothrace, and not, for example, on independent Delos? Second, although ancient galleys could not fight in gales and never did, why is it battling one? And third, why is its ship made of imported Rhodian marble and probably a quadrireme, a vessel superseded elsewhere by the quinquereme but still favored by the Rhodians? The Great Gods’ res- cue of pious initiates from storms at sea and second-century B.C.E. naval history point to one occasion in particular: Prousias II of Bithynia’s abortive invasion of Pergamon in 155, his impious assaults on the sanctuaries en route, his fleet’s sudden destruction by a storm, and the Rhodian contribution of five quadriremes to Attalos II’s successful naval counteroffensive in 154.

Ten samples of sculptures from the Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière (France) were examined and analysed in order to determine the provenance of their marble. The ten works belong to the major group of sculptures discovered in the centre of the ancient city of Lyon and represent: a Minerva, a Nike (victory), a Caryatid, a Siren, a young girl sitting on a rock, two sarcophagi, a Roman portrait, and two heroes. All of them belong to the period between the 1st and the 3rd century AD and are of great historical interest. The scientific investigation was carried out using the techniques of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (EPR), Stable Isotope analysis (IRMS), Maximum Grain Size measurement (MGS) and Optical Examination. The results showed that the provenance of the marble for the majority of the sculptures is from Greek and Anatolian quarries, such as, Paros, Proconnesos, Thasos, Afyon (Dokimeion), with only one being from Carrara.

L'analisi delle immagini di potere create da Demetrio Poliorcete passa attraverso opere cardine dell'arte ellenistica, tra cui la Nike di Samotracia o il Poseidon con piede sulla rocca. Tali opere, che tanto hanno condizionato la produzione artistica e la propaganda politica dell'epoca romana, richiedono una lettura storica e artistica dell'opera e del contesto in cui fu creata, che tenga in considerazione il significato, il messaggio e l'opportunità politica che era alla base di capolavori tanto celebrativi.

The provenance question of the marbles used for making the sarcophagi of local production of Thessaloniki in the Roman period had been posed by archaeologists in the past. The hypothesis was that the material came mainly from the quarries of Thassos Island. This paper presents the scientific analysis of 23 characteristic samples from selected sarcophagi at the Museum of Thessaloniki, using three different techniques: electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis and maximum grain size measurements, plus in-situ examination. New combinations of parameters were used in order to resolve fully the provenance of all samples. The results showed that the vast majority of the objects were indeed made in Thassian marble but from three different quarries, namely Vathy/Saliara (dolomitic marble), Aliki (calcitic marble) and Acropolis/Phanari (calcitic marble). The calcitic marbles from Aliki and to a lesser degree from Acropolis/Phanari are met in all the basic types of sarcophagi (framed type, plain type, garland sarcophagi). The use of the better quality and snow-white dolomitic marble from Vathy/Saliara quarries is relatively restricted and is often found in works that are above the average regarding the quality of their workmanship. In addition, two sarcophagi were made in Pentlelic marble and one in Proconnesian. The scientific analysis results provide a good confirmation of the archaeological estimates and, furthermore, the conclusions constitute henceforth a secure basis for the study of the entire sculptured works of Thessaloniki.

The paper is dealing with the effort made by the ancient Greek architects to design marble beams (coffer slabs, ceiling beams) using different techniques (stiffening/hollowing), in order to meet the relevant requirements, namely structural integrity and lightness. Comparative studies of various beams of different periods prove the consistency of the design in the ancient world. Interpreting the results of the investigation in terms of bending capacity and using the maximum bending stress as design criterion, it can be shown that for stress values greater than approximately 1.70-1.90 MPa a suitable stiffening ridge was employed. In order to facilitate the transportation of heavy marbles in the mountainous region of Apollo Epicurios at Bassae, instead of stiffening the porch beams, the architect decided to hollow them out reducing the weight by 50%. It can be shown that these U-shaped beams were hollowed out to such a degree, that the maximum bending stress remains less than of that of the initial block.

The Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace rose to prominence in the second half of the 4th century BC with the construction of splendid marble buildings connected with the special allegiance of the Macedonians. The monuments arose in rapid succession, culminating in the famous Hellenistic statue, Nike of Samothrace. It has long been assumed that their marble came chiefly from the nearby Thasos, but visual inspection suggested other marbles as well. Samples for marble provenance investigation were taken from a wide range of monuments. The techniques of Maximum Grain Size measurements, EPR spectroscopy and Stable Isotope analysis were jointly used. The results showed a complex pattern of provenance including Thasian, Pentelic, Parian and Proconnesian marble, sometimes in combination. The presence of Proconnesian marble at least by the early 3rd century BC confirms the use of this marble in the early Hellenistic period. The Nike and its ship base were also investigated and the marble identified.

The Doric temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai near Phigaleia, situated in a mountainous area of ancient Arcadia, has attracted a lot of interest on account of its odd north-south orientation and its unusual design, which consists of a mixture of archaic elements and a number of innovations enhancing its interior. 1 Inside the cella an engaged Ionic colonnade combined with a solitary Corinthian column supported a sculptured Ionic frieze that ran along the top of the wall. The pronaos and opisthodomos of the temple carried sculptured metopes. 2 The north-south orientation and the archaic elements of the ground plan have been attributed to the influence of its archaic predecessor on the same site, whereas the imaginative blend of Doric and Ionic recalls both the Parthenon and the Propylaia on the Athenian Akropolis. 3 255 Fig. 1 -Herakles fights the amazons. Bassai frieze slab. British Museum 541 (©Trustees of the British Museum).

The provenance question of the marbles used for making the sarcophagi of local production of Thessaloniki in the Roman period had been posed by archaeologists in the past. The hypothesis was that the material came mainly from the quarries of Thassos Island. This paper presents the scientific analysis of 23 characteristic samples from selected sarcophagi at the Museum of Thessaloniki, using three different techniques: electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, stable isotope analysis and maximum grain size measurements, plus in-situ examination. New combinations of parameters were used in order to resolve fully the provenance of all samples. The results showed that the vast majority of the objects were indeed made in Thassian marble but from three different quarries, namely Vathy/Saliara (dolomitic marble), Aliki (calcitic marble) and Acropolis/Phanari (calcitic marble). The calcitic marbles from Aliki and to a lesser degree from Acropolis/Phanari are met in all the basic types of sarcophagi (framed type, plain type, garland sarcophagi). The use of the better quality and snow-white dolomitic marble from Vathy/Saliara quarries is relatively restricted and is often found in works that are above the average regarding the quality of their workmanship. In addition, two sarcophagi were made in Pentlelic marble and one in Proconnesian. The scientific analysis results provide a good confirmation of the archaeological estimates and, furthermore, the conclusions constitute henceforth a secure basis for the study of the entire sculptured works of Thessaloniki.