This was a big event today in Athens and I know this because it was difficult to cross the roads as it was such a well attended run. It all looked well organised and there were free bananas available for everyone, both runners and watchers alike. But unfortunately not free crisps, which would have helped me get really engaged with the event.
So, some photos….
This subtle little bull is from a grave enclosure of Dionysios of Kollytos which was situated along the Way of the Tombs. It was placed on a high pedestal within the grave enclosure, and I can imagine it had a quite formidable look.
Made of marble, the bull dates to around 345BC and 340BC. Dionysios died unmarried and lived nearby to Kerameikos, at Kollytos. He served as a treasurer in Heraion in the years 346 and 345BC.
There was a larger museum at Kerameikos than I had anticipated and it was well laid out, with plenty of descriptions clearly available. Below are some of the items that I thought were interesting.
Dating to between 430BC and 200BC, this is a naiskos, which is a mini temple and inside is a statuette of Cybele seated on a throne.
This small cart with a white horse dates to 675BC to 650BC, and the archaeologists can be that precise as the items were all found within an offering pit which had dating evidence.
These are small lead sheets which are from the Athenian cavalry and they have the name of the horse owners engraved into them. Number 15 is Aristokrates, 16 is Laches, 17 is Kleomedon, 18 is Python and 19 and 20, which are rolled up, are Kydios and Menon.
I’m not sure that I would want to be called python, it’s a Greek word for the huge serpent which was killed by Apollo, and later of course used as a word for a snake.
Small dishes dating from between 325BC and 500BC.
A marble ossuary, or container for human bones.
This is a Pyxis, or effectively a box, which has horse figurines on the lid. This was found as part of a female burial which took place in the eighth century BC.
Another Pyxis with animal figurines, dating to around 775BC to 750BC.
A Roman multi-nozzle lamp in the form of a boat, dating to around the fourth century AD.
Dating to around 380BC to 370BC, this is a silver pendant amulet with a depiction of Aphrodite.
A pyxis from between 430BC and 200BC.
A jug dating from between 450BC and 400BC.
I found all of these grave markers fascinating, not because of their design, but because of their great age. The families of the dead would have spent some money on these grave markers and it’s wonderful that they’ve survived for so long. They’ve been moved for their protection (from the elements, not angry locals) from the main grave site just a few metres away.
A funerary vase showing Aristomache, who is seated, saying goodbye to her husband. Impressively the date is known, it’s from 338BC.
A funerary vase, apparently the image is of the deceased woman, Kleonike, saying farewell to Demostrate. It dates to the middle of the fourth century BC.
A depiction of a funerary vase.
It’s not a sheep, this is a marble grave marker of a brave and fierce lion. It was found to the south of the Street of Tombs at Kerameikos cemetery and it dates back to the fourth century BC.
Kerameikos was a district of Athens which took its name from the pottery makers who lived there. The Latin name for the district was Ceramicus, which is where the English word for ceramics comes from. The site is now all part of a museum complex and is part of the museum ticket which I purchased a few days ago.
There’s a lot at this site, so that’ll be several ‘fascinating’ posts from me about it. It includes an internationally important cemetery, former roads, walls, gatehouses and many buildings.
To start with, here are some photos across the general site.
Since my ticket allows, I got the train down to the southern end of the green metro line and the port of Pireas. It was the port city of Athens all the way back in the fifth century BC, so it has a long history. I didn’t realise at the time, but it is apparently the largest passenger port in Europe and the second largest in the world (although I got that from Wikipedia, it might not be true).
I wasn’t in the city for long, so here are just a few photos…..
I like a good political demonstration, although having said that, I will soon move away from anything that might involve violence or angry police. There’s a limit to my bravery….
I’m also not sure that I’d have made a very good photographer of important political events, since by the time I heard this one they’d marched on and I just got the photo of their backs.
I didn’t have a clue what they were protesting about, but some investigating (which involved trying to translate the banners by reading them in reverse) has led me to discover that they are protesting against fascism. There’s a news story about a similar demonstration that took place a few weeks ago.
In the 1970s New York subway trains were covered in graffiti, it looked awful, it put people off using the network and some people felt that it was inherently linked to crime. In the 1980s they got on top of the situation, although it took them five years to clean the trains, and with anti-graffiti paint they were able to ensure that the carriages remained clean.
In the UK the rail authorities will pull a train in if there is graffiti on it, so that it can be immediately cleaned up. It’s a dreadful waste of money that could be better used on something more positive, but the users of public transport do perhaps deserve a clean and comfortable train, bus or whatever else they travel in.
The metro in Athens has yet to undergo any such transformation, and although some people think it looks artistic, it’s clear from the comments visitors leave on review sites that many hate it and a few people have said it puts them off using the network. It’s slightly ironic perhaps that the word graffiti has Greek origins, from the word graphein meaning ‘to write’.
The city has tried to crack down on the problem, and some Mayors have said tackling the issue is a priority, but unfortunately money is always the limitation. The public transport company also said they do what they can to clean trains and prevent attacks, but again, they have a limited budget.
Beauty is though in the eye of the beholder, but below are some of the graffiti ridden carriages in Athens.
There seems to be heritage everywhere in Athens and I didn’t expect to find this mini museum at the exit to Egaleo metro station. The station opened in 2007 and the items on display were found between 1997 and 2004.
The opening of the underground line marked a similar route to what was known as the Hiera Hodos, or the Sacred Way, from the Agora in central Athens to where the route ended at Eleusis, around 18 kilometres to the north west of Athens. There might be more heard of Eleusis in the next few years, as it’s the European Capital of Culture in 2021.
The information panel notes about how the skeleton of a horse was found, and how important the animals were to the people of Athens. They were one of the most common domesticated animals in the city and they were also used in the ancient Olympic Games.
Some items which were found during the excavations, all neatly displayed. Perhaps it should be a rule that every underground station has to have at least one display cases of finds from when it was dug, as I can’t imagine there are many places where absolutely nothing is discovered.
