Completed Projects
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Ostracism
Through the shard court ( ostrakismos ), the Athenians of the 5th century BC could banish a fellow citizen without further justification. Annually, around January, they decided whether or not to hold a shards court ( ostrakophoria ). If there was a simple majority in favour, they set a day around March for the vote. The interim period was used for political propaganda. In the agora, the political centre, citizens then wrote a name usually with a pointed tool on a shard ( ostrakon ) before entering a demarcated district. Checks were made to see whether they were entitled to vote - and that they handed in only one shard. A quorum of 6000 votes was probably required. Those who received a simple majority had to leave Attica within ten days for ten years. His property was not touched, and on his return he could resume his place in public life. |
Hoard find in the Kerameikos: a small selection of ostraca of fine pottery against Megakles and Themistokles. |
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A cup by the Pan Painter in Oxford (470/460 BC) probably shows the counting of the ostraca.
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The first ostracism was carried out in 487 BC. Hipparchos, a relative of the exiled tyrant Hippias, was chosen. The following year Megacles of the Alkmeonid family had to go, and in 484 BC Xanthippos, the father of Pericles. In 482 BC, the ostracophory of Aristeides settled his dispute with Themistocles over fleet building against the Persian threat. The Ostracophoria of 471 BC led to the second exile of Megacles, whom many accused of an ostentatious lifestyle. The main rival was again Themistocles, who then had to leave Athens the following year. The ostracisation of the conservative Kimon in 461 BC marked the shift towards more democracy, and the banishment of Thucydides Melesiou around 442 BC was also a political decision, this time for Pericles. Further ostracisations are not dated with certainty. In 416 BC, the actual opponents Nicias and Alcibiades united their influence against the demagogue Hyperbolos. Because this result was apparently not wanted and the procedure thus discredited, no further ostracopy was carried out. |
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Purpose of the ostracism
In the 4th century BC, constitutional theorists interpreted the law of ostracism as an emergency brake against potential tyrants, but the fixed procedure, the restriction to one victim per year and the mild punishment did not make the shard court a suitable means against an acute threat. It is rather a political ritual, a sword of Damocles over all those who wanted to be more than the people allowed them to be. |
The otherwise unknown Kallias Kratiou is associated with the Persians on many ostraca from 471 BC. |
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The Little Owl on an ostracon against Megacles:
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Significance of the Ostraca
As direct evidence, the ostraca shed light on historical events and the political discussions of the day or enrich our knowledge of the people who were in the public eye in the 5th century BC. The ostraca are also an important source for the development of language and writing. For example, some pronunciation rules can be deduced from spelling mistakes, and the development of letters from Attic to Ionic forms can be easily traced. Archaeology benefits, among other things, from the dating of utilitarian vessels. |
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Ostraca in the Kerameikos
So far, more than 10,500 ostraca have been found, about 9000 of them in the German Kerameikos excavation. Most of them come from a backfilled oxbow lake of the Eridanos. They are closely interwoven by numerous adaptations and therefore form a closed complex. As hoard finds, they are representative of the vote of 471 BC and shed light on the leading men, the political situation and the pottery at that time. Some things are only revealed at second glance: beneath the executed writing there is a very fine preliminary drawing of the name and an unclear additional remark referring to "beyond" (land?). |
Not a skilled writer, because even three attempts do not bring clarity!
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Aristeides, Themistocles, Megacles and Kimon - they were all ostracised in a period of 20 years. These shards, however, fit together and date from 471 BC, when Megacles was banished for the second time. |
Publication of the Kerameikos ostraca
Franz Willemsen, the excavator, was unable to present the publication himself. In 1995 it was passed on to Stefan Brenne and, after a period of funding by the DFG, was already close to completion in 2000. Then, in 2004, a project financed by the German Archaeological Institute started in Giessen to carry out the final work and to put it into print.
Each ostracon bears an individual inscription and is therefore documented in such a way that further questions can be asked and answered on the basis of the publication. Two volumes with about 500 pages each are planned.
The volume of illustrations contains characteristic vessel profiles and the graphic or photographic illustration of all ostraca, sorted according to group context or individual catalogue. The volumes, long awaited by experts, will be published in 2016 in the series "Kerameikos. Results of the Excavations" series published by the German Archaeological Institute. |
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Publications:
- E. Vanderpool, Ostracism at Athens, in: Semple Lectures II 6 (1973) 217-270.
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Contact Person: Dr. Stefan Brenne
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The so-called Colossus of the Naxians is one of the masterpieces of Archaic large-scale sculpture (most recently: L. Giuliani, Meisterwerke der antiken Kunst, 2005, 13ff.) and is not missing from any overall account of the Archaic period (most recently: P.C. Bol, Die Geschichte der antiken Bildhauerkunst I. Die frühgriechische Plastik, 2002, 117ff). The Colossus has received its most comprehensive study by G. Gruben (JdI 112, 1997, 267ff.). Nevertheless, questions remain.
In the meantime, the essay has been published in 'Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2018'. |
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The project aims to analyse the representative Athenian imagery of the High Classical period with the representation of women from a cultural perspective. The change in representation visible in sculpture and vase painting is not seen as a change in style in the sense of an artistic development of its own, but is interpreted (including the written sources) as a profound change in the mentality of Athenian society in the period between the Persian Wars and the end of the Peloponnesian War. The question arises as to which social, political and general historical processes the change in the values of Athenian society, which is particularly evident in the image of the woman, can be linked to.
Athens, National Museum. Lekythos of the Achilleus Painter
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Acropolis of Perge
Introduction
The friendly invitation of H. Abbasoglu to participate in the excavations of the late Hellenistic-Roman city of Perge, which he has directed since 1988, led to the joint project of the Universities of Istanbul and Giessen to search for the historically transmitted older phases of settlement in 1993.
In particular, the equation of the Hittite-period Parha on the Kastaraja with Perge on the Kestros proposed by Otten in 1988, but also the naming and depiction of participants in the Trojan War as founding heroes of Perge stimulated the question of the early history of Perge.
An Acropolis?
Due to the strategic location of the mesa, which has been referred to as an acropolis since Lanckoronski (1890), and due to the orientation of the main street of the city on it, the plateau, which is located at an altitude of just under 90 m and slopes steeply downwards on its flanks, appeared to be predestined as an ideal settlement location in pre-Hellenistic times.
In view of the large area of the mound of about 400,000 square metres, surveys and soundings were chosen as the most suitable prospection methods for an initial overview.
The prospections carried out as part of the DFG priority programme "Basic Research in Asia Minor" (1994-1997) led to the conclusion that the mound was inhabited from Late Neolithic or Early Chalcolithic to Middle Byzantine times.
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Left: Fragment of a charioteer, terracotta, 6th century BC, Inv. K105.97
Right: Early Classical female head (protome), terracotta, c. 480/70 BC, Inv. K40.95.2
The results of this phase of the investigation are published in H. Abbasoglu - W. Martini, Die Akropolis von Perge I. Survey und Sondagen 1994-1997 (2003). Since 1998, excavations have been carried out approximately in the middle of the mesa (area 1), as only there did the sondages indicate that thicker Early Iron Age layers could be found. In 2000-2001, excavations were also carried out in the western area of the mesa to investigate a sacred centre of the Acropolis of Classical times.
The structural remains found during the five-week campaigns in Perge, which have been carried out every year since 1999 as part of the DFG priority programme "Ways and Forms of Acculturation in the Eastern Mediterranean", document an elaborate fortification and dense urban development of the larger part of the plateau, which, according to the individual finds so far, lasted from the Geometric to the Middle Byzantine period. In addition, pottery, small implements made of flint and obsidian and burials attest to the presence of people on the mesa since the Late Neolithic or the Early Chalcolithic.
The preliminary overall plan is characterised by large buildings of Classical to Early Byzantine date, the partially sounded road system and a complex fortification especially on the southern slope as well as to a lesser extent on the western side. The northern part of the mesa was not settled, and necropolises spread out on it, as on the slopes to the north, west and southwest.
The main access to the city on the mountain was not the later "city gate" towards the late Hellenistic-Roman city, where, in addition to the excavation of an insula with five residential houses, the late Hellenistic city gate and the city wall were investigated by H. Abbasoglu from 1988 to 1998, but the 22 m wide paved road from the east, the starting point of which was presumably the harbour at the Kestros, which in antiquity led directly east of Perge past to the Pamphylian Sea 12 km away. This 480 m long plateia, initially 22 m, later 17 m wide, crosses the massive fortification of the southern slope to the entrance level of the mesa and branches out in three directions behind the acropolis: To the east, a narrow paved road ascends to the sanctuary where a remnant of inscriptions to Diana Pergaea and inscriptions of priestesses of Artemis of Perge have been found.
To the north, stairs lead to the so-called eastern quarter with dense residential development in an orthogonal street system since archaic times and topographically adapted streets to the so-called eastern hill with three representative residential complexes since Classical times, which presumably served as residences for the local elite. The main road, 11 m wide, runs west for 90 m, past natural and artificial cult caves that once held water, onto the actual plateau of the mesa and passes a Hellenistic peristyle measuring a good 40x40 m.
The discovery of the torso of an Augustan armoured statue, together with the elaborate design of the building, suggests a representative function (state market).
Armoured torso, Inv. K 19.95
In the adjacent hollow to the north, several large Hellenistic and Imperial-period buildings spread out, two of which were used as building sites for early Byzantine basilicas a good 45 m long. A third early to middle Byzantine basilica is located in the area of the eastern sanctuary. The so-called western hill is dominated by larger buildings of the Classical period that have been built over several times, including two columned halls. On the northern slope of this hill, the urban development ends with a wall and gate complex, from which the road led to the western gate and then to the necropolis in the western slope, which continued on the plain in the imperial period and has been excavated by H. Abbasoglu since 1998. In addition, the road leads north past an imperial-period columbarium, which continued to be occupied as a coemeterium in Christian times, to the 4th century BC funerary terrace on the so-called north hill.
It is no coincidence that the core of the Early Iron Age settlement lies in the large hollow between the east and west mounds. Apparently, the prehistoric settlement, indicated by three children's graves, already unfolded in this area. While the few Hittite and Mycenaean sherds cannot be assigned any building remains so far, the oldest remains of the almost orthogonally laid out residential buildings are dated by Cypriot imported pottery to the late 9th century. Rhodian relief amphorae mark the next main phase of construction and document strong Greek influence from the early 7th century BC onwards, which dominates from the 5th century BC onwards and manifests itself in area 1 in the ashlar work of the large banqueting room. While to the south and west the archaic structures were built over in Hellenistic and Imperial times, the banqueting building, the 'cult grotto' and the small sanctuary remained accessible until the Late Imperial period and underline the sacred character of this area.
Pottery and terracotta figurines illustrate the mixture of very different cultural influences. In addition to the dominant Cypro-geometric pottery, Central Anatolian pottery is also found around the 8th century BC; in the 7th century BC, Aegean and Hittite pottery is also found.
Despite the dominance of Greek forms from the Early Classical period onwards, which is expressed in Greek pottery and votives, and which can be related to the Battle of Eurymedon and a possible Attic cleruchy in Perge on the basis of a destruction horizon in area 1 around 470 BC, the known inscription of the early 4th century BC leaves no room for doubt. In view of the known inscription of the early 4th century BC for Vanassa Preia or a vessel fragment of the 5th century BC with sidetic characters, a strong local component remains, which also characterises the peculiar sacred building on the western hill.
Outlook
The new archaeological evidence does not yet unequivocally confirm Otten's thesis of the existence of Perge in Hittite times and certainly not the ancient tradition of the foundation of Perge and other Pamphylian cities by Greeks involved in the Trojan War; it does, however, show that after Hittite and Mycenaean contacts, an urban settlement with a strong Cypriot character can be observed from the 9th/8th century BC at the latest. It shows, however, that after Hittite and Mycenaean contacts, an urban settlement with a strong Cypriot character can be observed at the latest since the 9th/8th century BC, which in the course of the 8th century BC receives a further cultural component through Central Anatolian pottery.
In the early 7th century BC, the pottery attests to close contacts with Rhodes, and a little later, Aegean import and influence generally increased. In addition, the terracotta figurines as well as the pottery continue to show evidence of Cypriot and, in isolated cases, Late Hittite forms.
This complex mixture of influences from the surrounding advanced civilisations is characteristic of the early phase of the Pamphylian culture, whose genesis is the result of a complex process of acculturation.
Aims of future research
The most important goals of future research on the acropolis of Perge are therefore:
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to search intensively for evidence of Hittite and Mycenaean contacts by means of limited excavation measures in the "early" areas localised by the sondages, in order to verify Otten's thesis and
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to investigate the question of whether the ancient founding myth might reflect an earlier Greek presence, e.g. in Tarsos, or at least trade relations.
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to come closer to clarifying questions about the development and character of the urban structure and the fortifications, but also the question of the localisation of the Artemis sanctuary on the Acropolis, by means of selective excavation measures.
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to shed light on the acculturation processes relevant to the genesis of Pamphylian culture by analysing the great variety of imported and local pottery of the 12th-6th centuries BC, but also the terracotta figurines and the architecture.
Giessen 2001, Wolfram Martini
The vessels for the prize oil for the victorious athletes at the great Panathenaea held every four years in honour of the city goddess Athena are one of the most unusual genres within Greek vase painting.
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Athens, National Museum Inv. 2004, from Eretria, 1969.
Dating: Archonts' inscription "Charikleides", 363/2 B.C. Pourtalés Painter
A: Athena, representations of Nike on columns
B: Wrestling match, Nike, referee, watching athlete
Produced without traceable interruption from the 6th century BC to the Roman period, they are bound to a specific vessel form, a particular painting technique and a fixed repertoire of pictorial themes.
The patron and primary function are known and they have survived in large numbers.
In collaboration with M. Bentz and other specialists in this field, N. Eschbach is developing a comprehensive database with approx. 4000 vessels and fragments to date. A significant part consists of the approx. 800 fragment groups from the Kerameikos in Athens, which N. Eschbach is preparing for publication.
Publication:
M. Bentz - N. Eschbach (Hrsg.), Panathenaika. Symposion zu den Panathenäischen Preisamphoren, Rauischholzhausen 25.11.-29.11.1998 (2001).
Subproject 1: The fragments of Panathenaic prize amphorae from the Kerameikos, Athens
Almost every excavation on the site of the most important necropolis of the city of Athens also brings to light fragments and fragment groups of Panathenaic prize amphorae. More than 2000 individual fragments, combined into approx. 800 catalogue numbers, are currently being prepared for publication. The collection of vessel fragments from the 4th century BC and the Hellenistic to Roman periods is very extensive.
Athens, Kerameikos, Magazine Inv. PA 656
B-side: Hoplitodromos. Body parts of three athletes.
Archontate of Neaichmos (320/19 B.C.)
Publication:
N. Eschbach, Panathenaic prize amphorae from the Kerameikos: some new aspects and results, in: O. Palagia - A. Choremi (Hrsg.), The Panathenaic Games. Papers of the International Conference, 11-12/5/2004 (2007).
Subproject 2: Athens, Odos Lembesi- Porinou, Tomb III (1969)
In addition to the holdings at the Kerameikos in Athens, three other extensive and important find groups of Panathenaic prize amphorae are still unpublished. Thanks to the permission of the 3rd Ephory of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Athens, two find groups can now be published. The find on the Odos Lembesi-Porinou site comprises numerous fragments of possibly 10 vessels from the 2nd half of the 4th century BC, including an almost complete amphora.
The project is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
Athens, Magazine of the 3rd Ephoria, Inv. A 6367
A-side: Athena, part of the shield (interior view).
Figures on the right column: Aphrodite and Plutos (?)
Archontate of Lykiskos (344/3 BC)
Publications:
O. Alexandri, ADelt 25 B, 1970, 71 Taf. 62.
M. Bentz, Panathenäische Preisamphoren. Eine athenische Vasengattung und ihre Funktion vom 6.-4. Jh. v. Chr.
Subproject 3: The Athens Find, Odos Achilleos-Plataion (1966)
There is contradictory information about this find in an early Hellenistic waste pit on the site: there are said to be up to eight prize amphorae of one and the same year, from the archontate of Polemon 312/11 BC. A first recording of both groups of finds (subprojects 2 and 3) was made in Nov. 2007. According to this, an almost complete amphora and partly extensive fragment groups of a total of 12 vessels of this year have been recovered. The hitherto completely unknown pictorial design of these vessels is surprising in many respects - and of extraordinary quality!
The project is funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
Athens, Magazine of the 3rd Ephoria, Inv. A 3801
B-side: Referee, head and shoulder of a wrestler.
Archontate of Polemon (312/11 B.C.)
Publications:
O. Alexandri, ADelt 25 B, 1970, 71 Taf. 62.
M. Bentz, Panathenäische Preisamphoren. Eine athenische Vasengattung und ihre Funktion vom 6.-4. Jh. v. Chr.
Contact Person: apl. Prof. Dr. Norbert Eschbach
So far, two volumes of the international Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum, or "CVA" for short, provide information about the original holdings of ancient pottery in the collection of the Archaeological Institute of Georg-August University Göttingen, in addition to old inventories and some older publications. In July 2006, the processing of the black-figure vessels and fragments was completed, and the volume is currently being prepared for printing. It comprises 234 vessels, larger groups of fragments and individual fragments; only a small part of them has been accessible to research so far.
Extensive restoration measures, carried out by the restorer Jorun Ruppel, accompanied the examination (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 Condition before the restoration (Photo N. Eschbach)
Numerous partly matching fragments from the front of a belly amphora were connected with an unassociated B-side in a thick plaster mantle - see CVA Göttingen [3] pl. 1, 3 (Inv. K 200) and pl. 3, 3 (Inv. K 201). After separation and cleaning, numerous further fragments could be added (see CVA pl. 2).
Fig. 2: The restored A-side
Inv. K 200, Amphora, fragments
Composed of 76 partly matching fragments (A/B)
From Orvieto, acquired around 1900 from K. Dilthey by R. Mancini
A: Warrior's exit in a four-horse carriage in side view to the right
Mastos Painter, c. 530-520 B.C.
CVA Göttingen (3) Plates 1, 1-3; 2, 1-6; Supplement 1, 1
Photo: Stephan Eckardt
A neck amphora (Inv. K 211) was completely dismantled, freed from brittle additions and plastered-over sections and rebuilt (see CVA Göttingen [3] pl. 10, 2). In the process, long 'missed' inventory labels were found on the backs of some of the sherds - along with other associated fragments - which secure the location and origin of the find: The sherds of the amphora were acquired around 1900 together with a larger contingent from K. Dilthey at R. Mancini in Orvieto (see Fig. 3).
Fig. 3: The sherds after cleaning, before mounting.
Inv. K 211, Neck amphora of the standard form, fragments.
Assembled from 71 partly matching fragments (A/B).
From Orvieto, acquired around 1900 from K. Dilthey at R. Mancini's shop
A: Farewell to a warrior
B: Turning four-horse carriage runs over a falling hoplite
Painter of Cambridge 51, c. 520 B.C.
CVA Göttingen (3) Plates 10, 2; 12, 1-2; 15, 3-4; Supplement 2, 1
Photo: Stephan Eckardt
During the careful restoration, numerous fragments and groups of fragments revealed fractured surfaces with traces of older adhesions (with shellac) and sometimes also register marks on the inside of the sherds, for which there were no corresponding fragments in the holdings of the Vase Collection. In some cases, the associated parts could be discovered in other collections; a fine example is provided by Fig. 4.
Fig. 4: Inv. K 376, Eye cup (type A), fragments (upper half), and: Rome, Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Inv. 79523 (lower half). Composed of five (and seven) fragments.
Göttingen: Rome Art Trade, P. Hartwig (1897).
Rome, Villa Giulia: Castellani Collection
A / B: Between eyes a bearded man leading a ram; c. 520-510 BC
CVA Göttingen (3) pl. 72, 1; supplement 15, 2; 23, 1
Photo: N. Eschbach
Publications on the collection:
M. Bentz - F. Rumscheid, CVA Deutschland Bd. 58, Göttingen Bd. 1, Unteritalische Keramik (1989).
M. Bentz - Chr. Dehl-von Kaenel, CVA Deutschland Bd. 73, Göttingen Bd. 2, Korinthische und Etruskische Keramik (2001).
The fourth volume of the CVA on the Göttingen collection includes Attic red-figure pottery; work began in June 2006. J. Beazley visited the collection in 1936 and paid special attention to the vessels and fragments; 51 objects are recorded in his standard work on red-figure vase painting (ARV2 = Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters, 2nd edition [1963]), the database of the Beazley Archive in Oxford notes 55 entries.
Two examples from the collection of fragments:
Fig. 1: Bowl, fragment; old inv. H 46;
Euaion Painter (ARV2 793, 69); c. 460-450 BC.
Fig. 2: Colonet crater, fragment; old inv. H 89;
Eucharides Painter (Robertson; ARV2 228, 22); c. 480 BC.
Contact Person: apl. Prof. Dr. Norbert Eschbach