Pyramid of Cestius Restored, More or Less

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Back in 2011 we first heard of a Japanese businessman’s plans to fund the restoration of the Pyramid of Cestius. The work is apparently done (perhaps just the first phase? It does seem like more work is coming). An item from AFP via Channel News Asia:

A Japanese businessman whose donation helped restore an ancient Roman pyramid said it was a way of thanking Italy for his success, as he toured the monument with Italy’s culture minister on Tuesday.

Dressed in an impeccable white suit, the wavy-haired fashion importer Yuzo Yagi admired the work due to be completed within months thanks to his two-million euro (US$2.7 million) gift.

“It’s an act of gratitude. Our company has grown thanks to Italy,” he told AFP at a ceremony on the site — three years after the agreement with Rome authorities was signed.

Asked about the duration, he quipped: “When Italians give a time for finishing, it is never in time. But the first phase is being finished five months ahead of schedule.”

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said he hoped the project would encourage more private donations for restorations — especially from Italian businesses which can now get major tax breaks.

“This should serve as an example,” Franceschini said.

When Yagi was taken to the frescoed funeral chamber inside the pyramid that once housed the remains of the wealthy Roman it was built for, he appeared puzzled.

“Where is the treasure?” he asked restorers, who quickly explained that Roman tradition at the time shunned ostentatious displays of wealth but that a search was underway for a possible hidden second chamber.

“So there was no treasure in Roman pyramids!” he exclaimed.

Outside, he joked with workers cleaning up the pyramid’s Carrara marble blocks saying: “Is that really white?”

The 36-metre high pyramid was built in 18-12 BC for Gaius Cestius and stands at the centre of a busy road junction. It was built following Rome’s conquest of Egypt, which started off a trend for ancient Egyptian style.

“This is an amazing construction. It has really stood the test of time,” said Giuseppina Fazio, a senior restorer, pointing to some World War II bomb and bullet scars visible from scaffolding on the 2,000-year-old monument.

I’m curious whether there really is a search for a “hidden second chamber” …

Additional coverage:

 

Mosaic from Sweida … Seriously?

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

A very strange, brief item (to me, anyway) from Syrian TV:

 Sweida Antiquities Department said that parts of mosaic representing geometric shapes and dating back to the end of the Roman era and the beginning of the Byzantine era were discovered at a house in Shahba city in Sweida.

Head of Sweida Antiquities Department Hussein Zaineddin told said that the unearthed parts are 6 meters long and 4,5 meters wide.

Zaineddin added that the unearthed parts will be joined to the picture which was discovered in 1970. The previously discovered picture is 3,5 meters long and 4,5 meters wide .

He pointed out that the picture to be displayed later at Sweida or Shahba museums after restoring it.

The original article is accompanied by a less-than-useful photo which doesn’t really add any veracity to the report. Apparently — given all that’s going on in Syria right now — that archaeology is proceeding normally. I’m not really sure what “discovered in a house” means (was the mosaic removed from a site? was it in situ?)  and find it strange that we aren’t told where the “picture” portion is. I’m not sure we can lend any credence at all to this report.

Plans to Rebury “Parthenon of Thessaloniki”

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ 2 Comments

From Greek Reporter (I’m not sure this is news; I could have sworn we’d heard about this before):

Local residents of Thessaloniki in northern Greece are outraged by a decision to build an apartment block on top of a recently discovered ancient Greek temple in the heart of the city. The temple of goddess Aphrodite, which was brought to Thessaloniki from the city of Aenea in the 6th century B.C., is said to be priceless in value thus the locals named it “Parthenon of Thessaloniki.”

The temple lies in an area now called Dioikitirio (administrative centre). In Roman times the area was known as the Square of the Sacred Ones, as most of the city’s temples were concentrated there.

The ancient Greek temple was brought to light in 2000 after the demolition of a two-storey building. The archaeologists found the eastern part of the temple’s krepis, statues of Greek and Roman times, and numerous fragments of architectural parts.

While most of the temple remains in Dioikitirio, some parts including the columns of the temple, as well as many of the other remains, are currently being exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

According to the school of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Antigonidon square can be reformed in two levels, so that the temple would be rebuilt and become visible in its entirety.