Museum of Tripoli, Libya

There are several reasons to write about the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli. It is one of those ‘must-see’ places that sadly are off the beaten track for the average tourist, especially since Gaddafi has been eliminated and the country has not regained its stability. 

I was privileged to visit this wonderful collection just before the outbreak of the Arab Spring, unaware of the quantity and high quality of artwork that awaited me. It must be said that I discovered these treasures on my first day in Libya, and, as always, I should have returned after my tour of the archaeological sites as well. 

Anyway, I took in as much as I could, fully aware that the best pieces from any excavation made their way to the museum in the country’s capital. Tripoli was no exception. 

The bulk of the collection comes from Leptis Magna, second to Rome (see: An introduction to Leptis Magna in Libya). 

The first statues I see are two magnificent Roman copies of Praxiteles’ originals from the 4th century BC. One is the Diadumenos, a young athlete who is tying the ribbon of victory around his head. The other is Apollo-Antinous, hinting at Dionysus, combining the body of Apollo with the head of Antinous, the lover of Emperor Hadrian. Both life-size marbles were recovered from the Baths of Hadrian in Leptis Magna. The arched vaults of these baths from the 2nd century AD have simply collapsed, burying and saving their precious statues in the process. 

Stealing the show is the marble Apollo playing the lyre. He is a little taller than life-size and as true to life as imaginable. Apollo’s delicate hands and fingers seem to strike the strings as he holds his instrument with his left hand and the plectrum in his right. The lyre is intact, except for the strings, and it is a unique opportunity to have a close-up look. His eyes, whose traces of paint make them alive, stare melancholically into the distance. They are a vivid reminder of all the painted statues in antiquity. Apollo’s body is truly worthy of a god. 

The elegant Muse Calliope is sitting nearby, listening carefully to his tune. More remarkable statues gather around Apollo. An unspecified sea goddess is looking up to him, and Mars is standing in a niche behind him. The slender Isis is wearing a diadem, and Venus is very similar to other copies of the famous Aphrodite of Cnidos (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?). Hadrian definitely had an outspoken taste for beauty! 

Another large group of statues and busts is brought together from the theater of Leptis Magna, consisting mainly of Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, etc. Even Augustus' wife, Livia and granddaughter, Agrippina the Elder, are present. Upstairs, in the Mezzanine, there is a statue of Faustina, the wife of Marcus Aurelius. 

Inside the theater of Leptis Magna stood a small temple dedicated to Ceres-Augusta, goddess of the harvest – our word for cereal derives from the name Ceres. A seated statue of this goddess also found its way to the museum. 

The goddess Cybele, with the many breasts (or whatever they represent) as worshiped in Ephesos, was unearthed in the sanctuary of the amphitheater. A Roman copy of a Greek original Diana/ Artemis, as displayed at the Louvre in Paris and the Archaeological Museum of Antalya, is also exhibited. 

The Ancient Forum of Leptis Magna yielded a rather damaged Dionysus with satyr and panther, and a headless Lady Fortuna wearing a beautifully draped tunic. 

The museum’s impressive main hall also displays four delicate mosaics from a private villa in Leptis Magna. It dates from the 2nd century AD and depicts scenes of daily life in and around the Nile – hence its name, Villa of the Nile. 

Upstairs, a special room holds the original reliefs of the Arch of Septimius Severus (see: A solid gold bust of Septimius Severus), proof of the political loyalty of the inhabitants of Leptis Magna in the 3rd century. The relief of Septimius Severus standing between his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, was meant to express the good harmony inside the imperial family. Here is also a statue of Caracalla as a child. 

The Cyrene Room has a wooden scale model of the Agora, which, unfortunately, is meaningless unless one has visited the site. Nearby are faceless goddesses believed to represent Persephone from the necropolis of Cyrene. Also, a rare Minerva wearing the Aegis tied to her waist as opposed to her Greek version, Athena, who wears it around her shoulders. She also holds her owl and carries the spear and shield. The statue is carefully carved in pure Greek tradition. 

The Archaeological Museum of Tripoli has a rich collection of mosaics from the 2nd century AD. Many villas were built along the Mediterranean coast by wealthy landowners who loved to show off. One such example is the Roman Villa of Zliten, some 200 km east of Tripoli. It yielded a large floor mosaic executed in a wonderful combination of opus sectile and clearly outlined opus vermiculatum. The central panel is filled with different sorts of fish, and the border with less peaceful scenes of gladiator fights. From the same villa comes the floor mosaic representing the Four Seasons. Tajura is located closer to Tripoli, where another Roman villa from the 2nd century AD has been spotted. A large mosaic with geometric figures and the head of the sea god, Amfitritus, in its center has been removed from the Villa of the Nereids. 

Unfortunately, I did not visit any of these villas since they were usually closed to preserve them. Under the present chaotic regime, I wonder how many of these precious villas have survived the revolt and looting in the wake of Gaddafi’s execution. 

From Ghirza, a Roman fortress near Misrata, an entire Mausoleum from the 4th century AD has been moved to the entrance hall of the museum. It has a strange mixture of different styles that can hardly be defined. 

It is, of course, preferable to leave such constructions and the precious statues and mosaics in situ, but in case of political unrest and war, the artifacts are generally better protected inside the walls of a museum. It so happens that the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli is housed inside the so-called Red Castle of Tripoli. In 2011, following the outbreak of the Libyan Civil War, the museum was closed, but rebels managed to break into the museum and steal a few of Gaddafi’s belongings that were kept in a special room. Previously, the most valuable artifacts had been moved to a safer location. As of 2020, the museum is still closed.

Cnidos revealing more heads from ancient statues

In 2013, excavations in Cnidos focused on the largest Byzantine Church and the theatre. Work also started at the Temple of Dionysus, of which the floor was swept clean. Yet during Byzantine times, this temple was converted into a church of which we can only see the rounded apse. Excavators defined the propylon of this temple and re-erected the columns in the gallery. 

[Picture from the Hurriyet Daily News]

Other archaeological work took place at Cnidos in 2016 and was centered around the theatre (see: Latest excavations at Cnidos). Since then, excavations continued without interruption, contributing to the overall picture of this famous city (see: Making Cnidos more appealing to the tourists?). 

This year, archaeologists have unearthed five marble heads, one of them belonging to the goddess Tyche, protector of cities. The other four heads represented male figures who have not yet been identified. They were found close to the Corinthian Monument, and all belong to Hellenistic and Roman times. 

In my earlier post, Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos? I explained the vital role the city played over the years. It gained more fame displaying the first nude woman ever, i.e., the Aphrodite, who was worshipped as the goddess of Good Sailing.

Imagine Alexander being confronted with Etruscan art

After his eastern campaign, Alexander returned to Babylon and started his preparations to conquer the West. His plans included Arabia, Northern Africa focusing on Carthage, and the Italic peninsula where Rome was building up its power. 

The Etruscan civilization had reached its apogee around 750 BC and flourished in three city confederations: Etruria, which covered modern Tuscany, Latium and Umbria; the Po Valley with the eastern part of the Alps; and Campania. Their culture was influenced by that of the ancient Greeks who started to found colonies in southern Italy to become the later Magna Graecia. 

[A pair of terracotta winged horses from the Temple of the Ara della Regina, Tarquinia. Etruscan, c. 350 BC (National Archaeological Museum, Tarquinia, Italy. Picture from World History]

In Alexander’s days, the Etruscans had started to be assimilated by the Romans – a process that ended in 27 BC when they were totally incorporated into the Roman Empire. Their art, however, had been heavily influenced by Greece’s Classical period of the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC, which was familiar to Alexander. 

This very idea hit me after looking at an article in World History, in which a gallery of 25 top pieces from Etruscan art is being presented. Overall, this art is best known from the frescoed walls inside the many tombs, such as those centered in the necropolises of Tarquinia and Cerveteri. But scrolling through the images from the above-mentioned gallery, there are also very telling terracotta figures, unique friezes, and fine bronze statues. 

I like to think that Alexander would have felt very much at home walking among these images. The  Etruscans did not shy away from other forms of art and readily acquired foreign artifacts (even from the East!) to embellish their houses and tombs. It is surprising to learn that they sculpted the first nude women, way before the Greek culture accepted the very idea (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?) 

It is worth flipping through the pictures in the gallery presented by Word History to get a comprehensive view of this particular civilization that enjoyed life so much! 

It would have been interesting to know Alexander’s reaction if confronted with the Etruscans and their rich culture.

The search for shipwrecks in the Greek waters is still ongoing

Greece is really stepping up when it comes to underwater archaeological explorations (see also: Many ancient shipwrecks found in the Greek waters).

[Picture from Europaisches-Segel-Informationssystem]

This season, they concentrated on the depth around the four tiny islands of Levitha, Mavria, Glaros and Chinaros in the Dodecanese where traffic in antiquity was pretty intense. As a result, they discovered five major shipwrecks that were loaded with amphorae. They also recovered a sizable granite anchor pole of 400 kg at a depth of 45 meters. It is the largest such find in the Aegean to date and seems to belong to the 6^th century BC.

By far the most impressive results of 2019, was a wreck that held a mixed assortment of amphorae from Cnidos, Kos, and Rhodes, as well as Phoenicia and even Carthage, all dating back to the middle of the 3^rd century BC.

The shipwreck from Cnidos yielded another collection of amphorae from the 3^rd century BC. Two more wrecks contained amphorae originating from the North Aegean dating from the 1^st century BC. Another three wrecks held Cone and pseudo-Cone amphorae belonging to the 2^nd and 1^st centuries BC. A last shipwreck dates to the early Christian period.

An original bronze by Praxiteles?

Who would not like to claim to be the owner of an original bronze statue made by Praxiteles?

Praxiteles of Athens, who lived in the 4^th century BC, made a name for himself during his lifetime as he was the very first sculptor ever to create a nude woman, and he made her life-size! To avoid a scandal, he labeled his lady Aphrodite, which was received gracefully by the people of Cnidos, who had ordered a statue of this goddess although they had not expected her to be in the nude! (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?). Sadly, none of his original works have survived, and all we have to go by are copies – yet what copies!

The most striking full-sized statue in marble is that of Hermes holding the infant Dionysus from the Temple of Hera and now exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Among the other masterpieces, we know the Diadoumenus and the Apollo-Antonius at the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli (Libya), the Venus (2^nd century AD) and the Apollo Sauroktonos (1^st century AD) at the Louvre, the Venus(2^nd century AD) at the Museo Capitolino in Rome, the Roman Satyr at the Altes Museum in Berlin, the head of Venus at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, the torso of Venus at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Bacchus or Satyr (2cd century AD) and the Tyche (early 2^nd century AD) also at the Cinquantenaire Museum in Brussels, the Apollo Lykeios from Epidaurus at the Archaeological Museum of Athens. There must be many more in other museums around the world.

Yet all these statues are made of marble, although the originals probably were created in precious bronze. Bronze, as we know, has been melted down time and again over the centuries, primarily for military purposes meaning that any bronze statue from antiquity is a scarce item.

Recently, the Cleveland Museum of Art has exhibited a statue of Apollo, claiming that it is an original Greek bronze made by the famous sculptor Praxiteles. You would expect this distinguished museum to base such a statement on solid grounds, but it raised many questions instead.

The Apollo in question is also known as the Apollo the Python-Slayer or Apollo Sauroktonos (Lizard Slayer), dated to about 350 BC. It is made of bronze with copper and stone inlay and stands 1.50 meters high. The statue is incomplete as it misses part of his right arm, the tree, and his left arm and shoulder resting on it.

But luckily, Apollo's left hand has been recovered, as well as a small reptile that looks like a lizard but is, in fact, a Python in reduced size. It seems that it was made for the sanctuary of the Pythian Apollo in Delphi, who, according to the myth, had to vanquish Python, the son of Mother Earth. It is thought that Apollo's victory of the Python translated Praxiteles' idea of the triumph of order (kosmos) over disorder (chaos). Emperor Nero is probably responsible for taking the statue to Rome, where Pliny the Elder described it as a bronze of the youthful Apollo about to stab a lizard with an arrow.

There are indeed several contradictory and conflicting stories that are circulating. One tells us how the mysterious Apollo was purchased in 2004 from Phoenix Ancient Art, an antiquity dealer, for 5 million dollars. Initially, it was recovered from an estate in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The legal heir to this estate remembered having seen the statue on several occasions at his great-uncle's house. This heir believed it was an 18^th or 19th-century work not worth much money, and he sold the broken pieces. It was soon identified as ancient and appeared in 2003 at said art gallery, where the museum acquired it a year later.

France-Presse, in turn, reported in 2007 that Greek officials had discovered the bronze in the sea somewhere between Greece and Italy, but no clear evidence sustains this statement. Although the Greek government accepts that the statue comes from "somewhere in Greece," they refused to cooperate with the Louvre in their exhibition of the works of Praxiteles if they were to show this bronze Apollo. The Louvre complied.

Although there are international laws to prevent the trading of illegal and looted antiquities, there is no law to put the exhibition of objects from uncertain and undocumented provenance on hold till comprehensive research can confirm their authenticity and origin.

It may be wishful thinking to have an authentic bronze created by Praxiteles; it may be a commercial tool to attract visitors to the museum. After all, we may be very fortunate to have an original Praxiteles saved by the art market.

[Pictures from The Cleveland Museum of Art]

What about sundials in antiquity?

Until recently, I associated sundials with castles and palaces for the rich in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and it never occurred to me that they already existed in antiquity. Meanwhile, I learned that they were known in Egypt around 1500 BC, and after that in Babylon!

My first encounter with an antique sundial happened when I visited the site of Cnidos in southwestern Turkey. Here, I found such a sundial from Hellenistic times still in place. This was a most thrilling experience. Imagine standing in front of a time-telling mechanism that is more than 2,500 years old! It was missing the gnomon, the metal needle that is supposed to project its shadow onto the concave dial surface but some creative visitor had inserted a thin twig instead to reproduce the very principle. This type of dial is known as spherical or hemicyclium.

My next encounter with a sundial happened at the exhibition about Carthage that was organized in Leiden (Netherlands) in 2015. This sundial was made especially for the city of Carthage after 8 AD, when the month of Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Emperor Augustus. This example is, however, of an entirely different kind called a scaphe or bowl sundial. The bowl is resting on its side, and the sun is shining through a hole in the bowl’s top side, highlighting one of the eleven timelines drawn on the inner side of the opposite part of the bowl. The fan of eleven lines marks the twelve hours of the Roman day, which were longer in summer than in winter.

After all, it seems that sundials are not entirely uncommon to the Greeks, who saw them as objects of prestige mainly for public use. They were remarkably precise and very accurate, particularly those found on the island of Delos. The Romans seem to have merely copied the Greek models and used them in private life. They cared more for the philosophical attributes rather than for reading the time and they used the dial’s inscriptions and iconography as symbols.

These days, an intact and inscribed sundial has been discovered at the edge of the theater in Interamna Lirenas, near Monte Cassino, in Italy. This was not its original place as researchers believe that it was left behind by people who looted the area in search of building materials.

[Picture from Archaeology News Network, Credit: Alessandro Launaro]

The lettering and the style of the inscription indicate that the sundial dates from the mid-first century BC or later, in any case, at a time when the city of Interamna had acquired Roman citizenship.

The Latin text tells us that the piece was commissioned by a certain M(arcus) NOVIUS M(arci) F(ilius) TUBULA [Marcus Novius Tubula, son of Marcus], who held the office of TR(ibunus) PL(ebis) [Plebeian Tribune] and paid for the sundial D(e) S(ua) PEC(unia) (with his own money). The otherwise unknown Marcus Novius Tubula may have used the sundial to celebrate his election as a Plebeian Tribune of Rome.

The Interamna sundial very closely resembles the Hellenistic one from Cnidos, which confirms that the Romans did not add much, if anything, to the existing Greek examples.

Latest excavations at Cnidos

The theater of Cnidos is in a precarious state, and it is nearly impossible to climb the rows of seats because of their unstable condition.

Finally, new excavations have been started, exposing the theater's seven- or eight-meter-high main wall, including two arched structures right next to it. The largest structure may have been a water source for the theater-goers, while the smaller one seems to have served as a storage area.

In the process, the VIP area was also cleared, exposing a special ceremonial tribune where people were awarded in front of the theater public, whose numbers could reach 5,000 people.

Cnidos was primarily known for the famous Aphrodite statue, which was worshiped as Aphrodite Euploia, de goddess of Good Sailing. Praxiteles dared display his first nude woman here – a favorite and much-loved tourist attraction in antiquity!

More information about Cnidos can be found under the title Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?

Wartime looting in antiquity

Wartime looting is something we associate with today’s unstable political situations in North Africa and the Middle East, but looking back into history, this is certainly not new, although the reasons and the drives were entirely different then from what we are facing now.

Looting can be triggered by warfare in which we have the urge to annihilate the enemy, and that includes everything he treasures and cherishes. When it comes to religious wars, like, for instance, those fought by the Crusaders, looting is translated into the destruction of religious convictions and what they stand for. Looting may also be simple greed, the envy to possess what no one else has, either because it is unique or because it is so valuable.

One of the first examples that comes to my mind is the statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, two Athenian heroes who stood for the origin of Athenian democracy in 514 BC, and whose images were erected in the Agora. They were stolen by the Persians in 480 BC and moved to Susa, where they were recovered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, who sent them back to Athens.

Yet most widespread or best-documented lootings happened in Roman times when great Greek works of art were carried home as trophies or as simple spoils of war.

After the sack of Corinth by L. Mummius in 146 BC, many statues were brought to Rome, while others were sold to the King of Pergamum, who was building up a remarkable collection. Among the statues that arrived in Rome was one of Philip II that was mistakenly labeled as that of Zeus.

Better known for all kinds of not-too-glorious reasons was L. Cornelius Sulla, who launched a well-remembered attack on Athens and Piraeus. He used the trees from Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum to build his siege towers. When Athens fell in 86 BC, he removed choice pieces from the Temple of Zeus, hardly built a century before, and these fragments later surfaced in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome. At the same time, an unknown number of manuscripts, paintings, and other precious objects were shipped to Rome. Further, to pay for his expensive wars, he levied heavy contributions on the wealthiest cities to acquire the treasures of Epidaurus, Olympia, and Delphi – a true sacrilege at the time!

Following Sulla’s example, L. Licinius Lucullus collected works taken from Sinope by L. Aemilius Paullus. Sinope was a great admirer of Greek art and took his time to tour the country to find the most appealing pieces, like an Athena by Phidias that he dedicated to Rome, leaving, however, (luckily) the gigantic Zeus of Olympia untouched.

Julius Caesar was another great “collector,” acquiring his objects by plunder and purchase.

The most notorious of all looters definitely was Gaius Verres, governor of Sicily, who in 73 BC seized statues, reliefs, dedications, paintings and jewelry from the Sicilians and from other parts of the Greek world. He started by requisitioning the most beautiful objects from private homes, followed by the despoliation of the island’s sanctuaries. He stole a statue of Ceres from the temple of Catania; a set of gold and ivory doors from the temple of Athena in Syracuse, together with paintings and other effigies of the goddess whose hands supposedly were made of gold; a magnificent bronze statue of Apollo by Myron from the temple of Asclepius at Akragas; and many more. On their way to steal the statue of Heracles from the temple at Akragas, his soldiers were overpowered by furious citizens. Enough is enough! Tensions rose so high that Cicero was called in to defend the Sicilians’ case. He won, and Verres went into exile in Marseille. Unfortunately, none of these works of art was ever recovered.

With the increase of its wealth, Rome developed a kind of refinement where Corinthian bronzes became especially prized (the bronze was of exceptional quality!). Among those connoisseurs was Novius Vindex, who acquired a bronze statuette of Heracles made by nobody less than Lysippos, paintings by Apelles, and many other objects of marble, ivory, and precious metal believed to be the work of Praxiteles, Phidias, and Polycleitus.

Even Emperor Nero is to be found among the admirers of Greece, making him one of the major looters of Greek art to adorn the eternal city. He did not shy away from directing his attention towards Delphi, from where he took 500 bronze statues, and Olympia, where he monopolized an unspecified number of statues. Also on his list is a particularly fine Eros by Lysippos taken from Thespiae that was, later on, destroyed by a fire in Rome. Strangely enough, he left Athens untouched but rampaged through the cities of Asia Minor instead. He concentrated on masterpieces created by artists like Phidias, Praxiteles, and Cephisodotus. Among his masterpieces, the most famous were the Apollo Belvedere, the Borghese Gladiator, and a Venus. With the end of Roman power, the import and looting of Greek art came to a halt.

By this time, the Byzantine Empire had taken over, and Constantine the Great in 324 AD, inverted the inflow of art by bringing all the treasures from Rome to Constantinople. Under one of his successors, the pagan Julian the Apostate, we know that the temple of Apollo at Didyma and the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis were restored.

The sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 395 was devastating, and many works of art found their way to Constantinople. The ruthless rampage of the barbarians spread as quickly as wildfire, and it was at this period that the great Chryselephantine statue of Zeus that Phidias made for the temple of Zeus in Olympia was saved at the last moment and transferred to the Palace of Lausus in Constantinople (to be ultimately destroyed by fire in the first half of the 5^th century AD). Soon, more selected gem pieces joined this collection, including the Athena of Lindos from the 4^th century BC, the famous Aphrodite from Cnidos created by Praxiteles, and the Hera from Samos made by Lysippos. Constantine also brought a porphyry column from Delphi to adorn his Forum, while his Senate was enhanced by the statue of Zeus from Dodona and two statues of Pallas Athena. Bellerophon slaying the Chimera was brought in from either Great Antioch or Corinth; the Fortune of the City exchanged the Forum in Rome for Constantinople, together with a statue of the Sun God from Phrygia.

Constantinople’s Hippodrome was outrageously populated by no less than sixty statues imported from Rome, which, except for a statue of Augustus, came from all over the Greek world: Athens, Chios, Crete and Rhodes, Cyzicus, Caesarea, Sardes, Tralles, Tyana, Antioch, Iconium (modern Konya), Smyrna, Nicaea, Nicomedia, and Nicopolis. Just imagine the widespread and cumbersome dragging and lugging of all these artifacts. No wonder we keep recuperating them from the bottom of the Mediterranean!

Today’s visitors to the Hippodrome in Istanbul can still admire the Serpent Column, which is part of a monument that once stood next to the temple of Apollo at Delphi and was dedicated by the cities that defied the Persians at the Battle of Platea in 479 BC. On the same square stands an Egyptian obelisk, originally commissioned by Thutmosis III in the 16^th century BC to commemorate one of his campaigns in Syria. It was shipped to Constantinople towards the end of the 4^th century AD and broke during its transport. What we see now is only the upper part mounted on a marble base showing reliefs of Theodosius I and his family attending races on this very Hippodrome.

This was also home to the life-size group of four horses we know from Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. They were made of gilded bronze, and the horses are said to have been pulling a chariot. It may have been brought in from Chios or given as a present to Nero by the king of Armenia and closely resembles the group created by Lysippos for the temple dedicated to Rhodes in Delphi during the 4^th century BC. According to one theory, these horses are Hellenistic copies, but according to others, it may well be the original that traveled from Delphi to Chios to Constantinople and eventually to Venice.

Time-wise, we now reach the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, where today’s visitors can still find many columns, doors, and other decorative elements that were taken from different cities all over Asia Minor.

For many centuries, Constantinople was a safe haven for many works of art from antiquity, but during the ensuing invasions, first by the Arabs in the 7^th and 8^th centuries and by the Bulgarians in the 9^th and 10^th centuries, the city was thoroughly sacked in 1204 when the members of the Fourth Crusade rampaged through the streets of this once so glorious city. Most saddening is maybe the final destruction of so many documents that had survived from antiquity and that are since lost forever. 

In our 21^st century, we praise ourselves as lucky to have museums to shelter and protect our greatest and most magnificent works of art, although, at times, even the museums are no longer a safe haven for our culture. We are all aware of the dilapidated museums of Kabul and Bagdad, for instance, and we still don’t know what has happened to the Museum of Damascus and so many others in the Middle East. Looting was and still is omnipresent, most unfortunately.

[Picture of Harmodius and Aristogeiton is from Ancient Rome]

Making Cnidos more appealing to the tourists

Cnidos is a magical place to visit for many different reasons, either because of its double harbor, its precious memories of the first nude Aphrodite, or simply because of its location as it is spread over two opposite hills. Sailing into the harbor of Cnidos situated at the tip of the Dorian Peninsula, 18 miles due south of Halicarnassus, is a unique experience too (see: What did Alexander the Great know of Cnidos?)

Beyond the buildings now in ruins, Cnidos is said to be the hometown of the Greek astronomer and mathematician, Eudoxus (408-355 BC) who was a pupil of Plato. What seems to be the first sundial ever was discovered here at Cnidos, the gnomon, and has been attributed to Eudoxus as well. More great men have their roots in Cnidos: Euryphon (early 5^th century BC), a Greek physician; Polygnotos (end 5^th century BC), a Greek vase painter; Ctesias (5^th century BC) who as a Greek historian wrote a history of Persia and as physician served Artaxerxes Mnemon of Persia; and finally Sostratos, a Greek engineer and architect who designed the incomparable lighthouse of Alexandria.

In 2013, new excavations were focused mainly on the largest Byzantine Church and the theatre, while attention was also given to possible underwater artifacts. Work has also started at the Temple of Dionysus, of which the floor was swept clean. Yet during Byzantine times, this temple was often converted into a church of which we can only see the rounded apse. Excavators are now defining the propylon of this temple and erecting the columns in the gallery. In the process, many loose blocks, ornamental or not, will be prepared for restoration, including the Stoa that runs parallel to the length of the temple over a distance of one hundred meters.

It will be interesting to see what has been done here since my last visit in 2012. It always pays to go back, doesn’t it?

A tentative visit of Tralles

Today’s name for Tralles is Tralleis, near Aydin, where signposts point me in the right direction. Tralles seems to have reached the level of Ephesus or Pergamon, but so far, only basic excavations have been undertaken. This makes the visit more challenging for I have no idea what to expect.

My road ends at a T-crossing, where mini signs point left towards the city walls and the Roman necropolis, or right to the Gymnasium. I make a right turn, and after some turns and twists, I’m driving along some ruins carrying a sign “Roman theatre” and another one “no photographs”. I don’t understand either inscription, and the many big stones don’t make sense since I cannot make out the contours of a theatre in the landscape; only a short vaulted passageway next to the road gives me a hint. The view from here over the rolling hills where olives, figs, and cotton are grown is, however, superb; in the distance, I can see a quarry of red marble in the green landscape. Far below me lay an imposing ruin with vaults that reminded me of an aqueduct. Getting closer by driving in the opposite direction, I discover that this is the Gymnasium from the 4th century BC, and I realize that Tralles must have been huge. There is some parking space, and not a single soul is in sight. Never mind, I love this!

A large billboard welcomes me, showing the rough layout of mainly Roman Tralles, with the theatre and the adjacent Stadium, and further on the Gymnasium. Then, some houses and much further west, the Acropolis. This Acropolis may go back to Hellenistic times. Tralles was founded by the Hittites in 2500 BC and obviously occupied a strategic position. In later centuries, the city was ruled by the Phrygians, the Lydians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans till it was totally destroyed by the severe earthquake of 26 BC. Emperor Augustus rebuilt the city, blessing it with his imperial name, Caesarea. When the Byzantines arrived, they re-baptized it again to Tralles. Then followed the Seljuks and the days of the Ottoman Empire, till in 1922, the city burnt down to the ground. A new town was built nearby, today’s Aydin, now famously reputed for its fine figs.

There is no indication of any scale or size, probably to discourage illegal digging in this remote countryside.

The three vaulted arches with thick walls, which the locals call “the three eyes”, are clear evidence that this is where the Roman Baths once stood. It seems that excavations are in progress, exposing a literal maze of water conduits running more or less parallel to each other but on different levels. This must have been quite a construction! Between the olive trees further down, I distinguish some low walls and, more to the right, a wide straight passage that could refer to a road. What a place to let my imagination run freely!

I can only guess how far Tralles spreads out in this landscape, but I am certain that Alexander must have been very happy with its surrender (see: Alexander’s presence in Ephesus).

Overall, very little is known about Tralles, except maybe the renowned Anthemius of Tralles, an architect who worked together with Isidorus of Miletus to build the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. Anthemius also worked there as a professor of geometry, and his brother, Dioscorus, took over his father’s career as a physician in Constantinople, while another brother, Alexander, practiced in Rome to become one of the most celebrated medical men. He wrote a major work on pathology and therapy entitled Twelve Books on Medicine, which was known for many centuries in Latin, Greek, and Arabic. As to works of art, the only testimony I came across so far is the head of Aphrodite of Tralles at the Louvre, a free copy of Praxiteles’ famous Aphrodite of Cnidos from the 5th-4th century BC (see: What did Alexander the Great know of Cnidos?). It was taken by Kaufmann in 1885, who also seemed to have found her upper thigh and pelvis, now at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.