When West met East and Archaeology at the University of Athens

In the 7^th and 6^th centuries BC ancient Laconia was a vital part of the Greek world in terms of cultural activities and of artisan production. The region had trade connections with the islands of the eastern Aegean, the Asia Minor coast and as far east as Lydian Sardis.

This coming Wednesday, November 18^th, Professor Gerald P. Schaus (Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University) will give an illustrated lecture entitled “Laconia and East Greece: Cultural Exchange in the Archaic Period”. He will explore some of the cultural connections between the not so far west and the not so far east. Focusing on similarities in pottery decoration in the context of other archaeological materials and contemporary literary sources Schaus will highlight the Laconian influences on East Greece, especially Samos, in the Archaic period. This was not a one way path as there is evidence for itinerant East Greek craftsmen visiting and working in Laconia.

This Institute lecture will be held in the Library at 19:30. On this occasion we will thank Gerry warmly for his years of devoted service and exemplar generosity to the Institute as Treasurer and most recently as the President of the Board of Directors, a position that he retires from at the end of the month.

The first 100 years of archaeology at the University of Athens

The study of archaeology was a core subject in the School of Philosophy from the founding of the University of Athens in 1837. Combined with classical philology, ancient history and philosophy these disciplines formed the foundation on which the concept of the national past of modern Greece was constructed.

On Monday, November 16^th at 18:30 Professor Vangelis Karamanolakis (University of Athens) will give a lecture entitled «Αρχαιολογία και εθνικό παρελθόν στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών (1837-1937)». In his lecture Karamanolakis will examine the strategies, the methods and the equipment used by the professors in the first 100 years at the University to teach why and how archaeological research should be done. These were utilized to construct an artificial ideology for the Greek nation to describe its past and to project this vision into the present and into the future.

This provocative and enlightening lecture will be held at the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service at Psaromylingou 22 on the cusp between the Kerameikos and the Psyrri Districts. The Theseio Station is the closest station.

The Syllogos Filon tou Istorikou Archaeiou tis Archaiologikis Yperesias is sponsoring this lecture as part of their 2015/2016 Lecture Program. The public is welcome.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director