NESTOR CUP

THE NESTOR CUP

The so-called “Nestor cup” is one of the oldest examples of alphabetic writing and is now kept in the Archaeological Museum of Pithecusae, located in the “Villa Arbusto” complex at Lacco Ameno in Ischia (Italy). It is a drinking vase (a kotyle) of the late Geometric Rhodium Period (720 BC) discovered in Ischia in 1955 by Giorgio Buchner, the Italian-German archaeologist who carried out the excavations of San Montano (Lacco Ameno). He personally recomposed the various fragments that gradually emerged during the archaeological digs. That cup was part of the rich funeral treasure belonging to the tomb of a boy of about ten years of age. On the famous artifact a long inscription in retrograde hexameters (from right to left) is engraved, arranged on three lines, which says:

 

Nèstoros: […]: eùpot[on]: poterion
hòs d’àn tode piesi: poterì[o],: autìka kènon
hìmeros hairèsei: kalliste[fàn]o: Afrodìtes.

 

[I am the beautiful cup of Nestor, he who shall drink from this cup will immediately desire Aphrodite of the beautiful crown.]

This inscription thus evokes the pleasure of the cup of the mythical King Nestor of Pylos, described in Homer’s Iliad.

 

WHY IS THE NESTOR CUP SO IMPORTANT ?

The Nestor Cup is very important because it represents the oldest Greek literary text [in Magna Graecia]. (1)Moreover, this extraordinary find bears witness to the role of cultural “connector”      between the Greek world and the various indigenous peoples with whom, Pithekoussai established solid cultural, sd well commercial relations. Pithekoussai transmitted the Greek alphabet to other Italic peoples including the Opici, the Etruscans and the Romans (See note). When the Romans gradually conquered large areas of the ancient world, they spread the Greek alphabet, which had in the meanwhile been Romanized. Thus, writing started to spread from Pithekoussai, especially through the Romans, throughout the ancient world, and the most emblematic literary text is the Nestor Cup. In addition, the Nestor Cup inscription represents the first fragment of written text contemporary to that of the Iliad, the famous epic poem attributed to Homer. Note: In this regard, it is important the discovery of the Greek inscription (coming from Pithekoussai on a 770 BC cup) from the necropolis dell’Osteria dell’Osa, in the territory of Gabii, where Roman myth tradition claims Romulus and Remus  learned the Greek writing.

 

Bibliography:

Stefano De Caro Le culture della Campania antica preromana: I Greci (Pithekoussai, Cuma, Neapolis),  da “Il Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli” – Electa Napoli 1994, p. 21

 

 

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ELGIN MARBLES AND THE FUTURE OF THE GREAT MUSEUMS OF POST-COLONIAL COUNTRIES

 

The term for the group of sculptures gathered in Athens by Thomas Bruce, VII Earl of Elgin, Ambassador of England to the Sublime Porte (the office of the Grand Vizier and foreign relations) of the Ottoman Empire in 1799. The term has entered into current archaeological terminology. Assisted by the Neapolitan painter Lusieri and a group of architects, designers and molders, Earl Elgin collected the well-known “Elgin Marbles” such as a capital and a trabeation of a Parthenon column, sculptures of the Parthenon, architectural pieces of the Propylaea, a caryatid, a column, fragments of the Erechtheum, part of the sculptures of the temple of Athena Nike, the statue of Dionysus from the monument of Trasyllos and other architectural fragments of Attic monuments, as well as casts and drawings of the Parthenon sculptures left in place. From 1801 to 1805 Lord Elgin dedicated himself to the collection of these artifacts with a formal authorization from the Turkish government, whose validity is still under discussion today. They were sent to England and temporarily exhibited in the Palace of Lord Elgin from 1807. In 1816 the English Parliament voted a law for their purchase. (1)

Since 1817 the Elgin Marbles are the glory of the British Museum in London. As Salvatore Settis recalled, the marbles were requested “since the dawn of Greek independence, in 1835, and then in 1864 (when England ceded the Ionian Islands to Greece) and in 1924 (centenary of the death of the Philhellenic Lord Byron ). The English also played with fire, flashing the return of the marbles in 1940-41 (as an incentive to the deployment of Greece against Germany and Italy), in the fifties (in exchange for the end of terrorism in Cyprus), and finally during the dictatorship, in exchange for a return to democracy “(2).

The new site of the Acropolis Museum in Athens, designed by Bernard Tschumi, was designed for a worthy presentation of the extraordinary sculptures removed from the temples for conservation reasons. However, the new museum was also created to demonstrate a thesis: through the visual incorporation of the famous hill and its monumental remains, made possible by the glass walls, it is claimed that this is the only appropriate destination for all which come from the site and that here they can also be appreciated in the same light conditions. (3)

To the understandable claim of Greece to the marbles by Fidia, were added those of Egypt for the recovery of works of art removed to foreign museums. These initiatives led the directors of the major museums of the world to sign the “Declaration on the importance and value of universal museums” in 2002 in support of their now historicized structure and of their actions – especially in the case of museums born between the eighteenth century and Nineteenth century – in the dissemination of culture. (4)
A few years later, while the Acropolis Museum in Athens was being set up and opened to the public in June 2009, the British Museum published a splendid collection of its sculptures (5). In its preface the director Neil Mac Gregor argued that in London and in Athens, two ways of presenting the sculptures coexist, both legitimate and for which there is no alternative, given that “the third possibility, that of reintegrating the sculptures in the same building, for reasons of conservation and access is out of the question “(6)

WHY IS THE QUESTION OF ELGIN MARBLES SO IMPORTANT?

The problem, however, is not only about who, between Greece and Britain, has more of a claim on the Marbles, but also, in perspective, the future of the great museums of post-colonial countries. (3a) The question is of great importance. What would happen if the various museums of the world were forced to “return” all their works of art from other places and cultures to their respective countries of origin? The Elgin Marbles are perhaps the most emblematic case of how the integrity of museum collections in post-colonial countries is potentially at risk for the future.

BIBLIOGRAFY:
1) L. Vlad Borrelli “Elgin Marbles” da “Enciclopedia dell’ Arte Antica” (1960) – digital source from
http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/elgin-marbles_%28Enciclopedia-dell%27-Arte-Antica%29/ (Last access: 22 December 2018)

2) Salvatore Settis Nuova luce sul Partenone in “Sole 24 ore. La Domenica”, 30 novembre 2008
3) Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Il Museo nel mondo contemporaneo, Carocci editore, 2014, p. 174
3a) ibid, p. 175
4) Maria Teresa Fiorio, Il Museo nella storia, Pearson 2018, pp. 90-92
5) I. Jenkins, Sculptures of the Parthenon, British Museum Press, London, 2007
6) ibid, p.7

 

 

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THE CATS IN POMPEII

 

It is believed that the cohabitation of cat and man began when the first men made the change from being hunter-gatherers to being farmers and began to accumulate large quantities of food. Cats were then employed in barns as rat hunters. There is certain evidence of peaceful cohabitation between cats and men in Egypt (where they were worshipped) and later also in Greece where, however, this animal never gained the prestige it had in Egypt.

If in the Roman world cats were rare in the first century AD, their remains are also rare. None of their skulls are preserved, in fact, in the storehouse of Pompeii, where skeletal parts of many and various animals abound (most of them are displayed today in the first room of the Boscoreale Museum). Two of them, however, came to light in Oplontis, returned from the excavation of the Imperial Villa. It is no coincidence that the discovery occurred in a building of such great luxury, that is where it was conceivable that exotic and rare animals were hosted. In Pompeii, however, there is no shortage of representations of the feline: of remarkable beauty, for example, is the mosaic coming from the “Casa del Fauno” which represents a “Cat that bites a partridge”, now kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. The same museum displays another Pompeian mosaic floor which represents “Parrots, a dove and a cat”, also coming from the “Casa del Fauno”. In any case, it should not be forgotten that Pompeii had many contacts with Greece and Egypt; therefore it is believed credible that the “Pompeian” cats, the few there were, managed to save themselves at the first signs of the catastrophe, something that perhaps did not happen in Oplontis. However, these are just mere speculations.

It is interesting to note that the cat, apart from its beauty and its ability to keep company, from the first century AD progressively replaced the weasel in Roman houses, which until then, had been raised in a semi-domestic state to fight mice (See note).

Many wealthy customers were constantly looking for exotic and strange animals which, with their presence, would certainly have emphasized the prestige of their house: and here – see photo – is a new species of cat with a peculiar maculate livery. This valuable Hellenistic mosaic floor, now kept in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, shows this rare cat, two parrots and a dove at the watering place. For the Western world it is a rare animal: it is the Steppe Cat, rich in various forms, all Asian, set mainly in the Southern plains corresponding to the current Pakistan and neighbouring territories. The progenitor of Indian domestic breeds was widespread in its homeland, and, for centuries before it arrived to Rome, it was imported into Egypt. From the end of the first century AD onwards, during the numerous military campaigns, the Romans took cats with them, contributing to their diffusion throughout Europe. Traces of the presence of the cat have been found in all regions conquered by the Romans. However, all this was never experienced in Pompeii, whose life was suddenly brought to an abrupt end by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Excerpt from: Annamaria Ciarallo, Orti e Giardini di Pompei , Publishing House: Fausto Fiorentino 1992, pp. 30

NOTE: Plutarch gives us this piece of news, cfr. Brehm A.E. 1931. vol. V p. 35

 

 

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THE LOUVRE MUSEUM IN ABU DHABI: MODEL FOR OUR MUSEUMS ?

 

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, large museum institutions are expanding more and more, not only by enlarging their headquarters but also by opening new branches at home and abroad. The first museum to test this model of development was the Guggenheim Museum which, in addition to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, has opened in Berlin, and it is building, according to a project by Frank Gehry, the Abu Dhabi Guggenheim Museum.
The Tate Modern Museum in London has a satellite, for example, in Liverpool (Tate Liverpool Museum) while the Beaubourg Museum in Paris has inaugurated one in Mets.(1)

But the “most striking” cultural/commercial deal is the one closed by the Louvre Museum in Paris.

In 2007, the French Government and the Federal State of the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement to launch Abu Dhabi as a center of art and culture. The agreement provides for the thirty-year sale of the “Louvre brand”, along with the long-term loan of works of art from the famous Parisian museum and from twelve other French museums, in exchange for generous financial support.

The goal is to bring 8.5 million tourists annually to Abu Dhabi by 2020.
To distinguish itself from the nearby Dubai, which has already become one of the great capitals of world tourism, focusing on entertainment as well as luxury, and from Doha, which has focused on sport (World Cup 2022), Abu Dhabi has chosen the cultural path. The intention is to create a real museum district in Abu Dhabi, such as those in Berlin or Washington, Amsterdam or Vienna, between sea and sand.

Only the grant of the “Louvre” brand for the duration of 30 years seems to be worth 400 million Euros, while another 575 million Euros will be granted in exchange for loans.
The Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi is a design by Jean Nouvel: a city-museum, an elegant and Pharaonic project. It is the first museum of its kind in the Arab world, a universal exhibition, which focuses on human stories shared through civilizations and cultures.
According to Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, president of The Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority and Tourism Development & Investment Company, the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi embodies the belief of the founders of the United Arab Emirates: that nations grow with diversity and acceptance which highlights how the world has always been interconnected.

The highest representatives of French culture have confirmed, in addition to the complete absence of vetoes regarding representations of the deities of every religion and provenance, that the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi will be exempt from any prohibition of representation of the nude, in painting or sculpture, sacred or not.
They will display important masterpieces from France, such as the “Portrait of Lady” (La Belle Ferronière) by Leonardo (from the Louvre), “Napoleon Crossing the Alps” by Jacques-Louis David (from Chateau de Malmaison) and the “Self-Portrait” by Vincent Van Gogh (from Orsay).

THE LOUVRE MUSEUM AND THE ABU DHABI DEAL: A MODEL TO BE IMITATED OR AVOIDED?

The birth of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum has invariably raised great controversy in France, where many contested the commercialization of such a noble brand. On 12th December 2006 the French newspaper Le Monde published the article “Les musées ne sont pas à vendre” (transl.: Museums are not for sale) by Françoise Cachin, Jean Clair and Roland Recht “where they claimed that” Les œuvres d’art sont a patrimoine à montrer, pas une attraction ni une marchandise ” (transl.: Works of art are heritage to show, not an attraction or a commodity). And they concluded the article stressing that “les objets du patrimoine ne sont pas des biens de consommation, et préserver leur avenir, c’est garantir, pour demain, leur valeur universelle” (transl.: heritage objects are not consumer goods, and preserving their future means guaranteeing, for tomorrow, their universal value).

The Louvre deal is certainly a way to promote its own “brand” and Western art and customs in countries with different cultures – in this case the Arab world. It is also a way to promote Paris abroad, in addition to significant economic speculation.

However, this phenomenon risks triggering the perverse mechanism that induces in the loan policy to privilege the museum/partner which is wealthier than the others, marginalizing all the “serious” but less wealthy museums. Even the museum, a noble cultural institution of our Society, would become a mere business.

But are we really sure that this cultural and commercial deal is not simply a means of “selling one’s soul”?

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Il Museo nel mondo contemporaneo, Carocci Editore, 2014, p. 196

 

 

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THE CONCEPT OF RACE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

 

Ethnicity, as a biological fact, is a product of the nineteenth century that we can not apply to antiquity.(1) In the ancient world, ethnic identity is not particularly important and it is, in any case, a cultural process, always under construction (2). If it is true that from ancient times many populations or social groups tended to shut themselves off from others, excluding or discriminating against those they considered different, their attitude can be defined as “xenophobic” or “ethnocentric” rather than “racist” in the true sense, based on the foundations of presumed linguistic, cultural, and religious superiority. For example, the Greeks and the Romans called people who did not speak their languages “barbarians”. However, this did not favour a feeling of unity within a single race. Among them, the Greeks carried out ruthless wars which often ended with real genocide and with the enslavement of women and children (the so-called “andrapodismos”). (3) During the battle of Traente (A small Calabrian river), in 510 B.C., Crotone, city of “Magna Graecia” (the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy), even diverted the course of the Crati river to destroy another Greek city, Sybaris.
To better understand how the concept of race was unimportant in ancient times, an interesting story may be that of Tarquinius Priscus. At the end of the VII century B.C., the son of a man from Corinth (Greece) settled in Tarquinia, southern Etruria (the area corresponding to current-day Tuscany, Italy), decided to emigrate to Rome, together with his wife Tanaquil, because the aristocracy of Tarquinia did not allow him to pursue a career. In Rome they called him “Tarquinius” because he came from that city, and they elected him their king after the death of the fourth king of Rome, Ancus Marcius. Who was Tarquinius? He was raised in Tarquinia and “culturally” he was Etruscan. Was he therefore Tarquiniese, as he appeared to the Romans? Was he a Roman, considering the fact that he was king of Rome? Or was he rather, Greek, considering that his “biological” origin was Corinthian? Evidently all and none of these answers can be considered true. A coherent hypothesis would see Lucius Tarquinius Priscus as an exponent of the archaic Mediterranean élite, who used various ethnic backgrounds to express his status. (4)

Even in the Roman world, race was not a particularly important issue. The emperor Hadrian was born near Seville, in the “Hispania Baetica”, and nevertheless he became emperor. Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna (Libya) and he managed to become emperor. The Spaniard, Seneca the Younger, born in Cordoba, became a senator of Rome and preceptor to Nero.
In the ancient world – the modern era begins with the discovery of America in 1492 – other categories of identity could have much more of an impact than ethnic identity. Beyond gender (male or female), it was, above all, the social status that determined the identity of a person. (5)
As we said before, the concept of race as a biological fact is a product of the nineteenth century. One of the texts which gave a decisive impulse to the spread of racist ideas was the “Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines” (1853-55) “The Inequality of Human Races” by J.-A. de Gobineau, who supported the biological and spiritual superiority of the Aryan Germanic race. However, the most tragic expression of racism was in Nazi Germany, which sought to achieve the supremacy of the Aryan race by enslaving the Slavs and eliminating the Jews.

Bibliography:
(1) B. Isaac “The invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity” – Princeton 2004
(2) Gabriel Zuchtriegel “I Greci e le popolazioni indigene dell’Italia antica: un problema antico o moderno?” pag 65 da “Pompei e i Greci” Massimo Osanna e Carlo Rescigno – Electa 2017
(3) ibid. p. 63
(4) ibid. p. 65
(5) ibid. p. 63

 

 

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