The August moon of August invites us for another year to visit archaeological sites, museums and monuments of the country that participate in tonight’s (9/8) August full moon.

One of them is the National Archaeological Museumwhich also surrounds this year the institution of the Ministry of Culture with imaginative presentations, such as the stories of shine, mystery and ritual of prehistory that are reflected through archaeological discoveries or the two centuries -old adventurous chronicle at one point in the city – one of the city.

What shine and mystery stories link gold and amber to prehistoric Greece? How do the Neolithic figurines of women from Thessaly are linked to the phases of the Moon? How does an evening historical walk in the light of the full moon unfold stories of a not -so -distant past?

RES-EIA chat with their three archaeologists that will move the ‘thread»Of the presentation On tonight at the National Archaeological Museum (EAM), giving a foresight of their “routes”.

The two centuries -old adventurous

“The idea of the historical walk has to do with what one could say about a part of the city that has left its imprint on modern history, moving with the direction of the clock around the museum. By collecting stories and stories from older colleagues and discoveries from the 23 years I have been working at the National Archaeological Museum, which are related to the fingerprints of other previous people, generations and episodes, I attempted to put them in a row to save a small evidence that RES-EIA Dr. Constantine Paschalidis. The archaeologist of the Department of Education, an EAM curator of Antiquities, will take a tour entitled “Historical Walk around the National Archaeological Museum from 8.30 pm. The two centuries -old adventurous chronicle in one part of the city. ” The meeting is on the steps of the Museum on Patision Street and the free participation.

He, as he tells, decided that everything is starting (and ending) with a vine. “The earliest information we have about this place of the city was that here was the vineyard of a Turkish – the last Turkish owner of the plot. So he had his Ampeli and when he left with the last Ottomans in 1833, he sold it to the Bavarian soldiers of Otto, and in particular to the Athens guard, led by Bavarian Officer Christopher Nezer. These Bavarian soldiers, who were looking for a place to settle, bought the plot of land, which is now covered by the Technical University and the EAM. And it’s no coincidence that it was a beautiful vineyard here, as here it passes the stream that descends from the Turkovounia and makes this land fertile. The famous cyclobor. That is why – our own appreciation is – that no one expects to find antiquities here: the fields and pieces of the Earth next to the water are fertile, no one can be built to build. He has them to plant. Here, then, next to the vineyard, the Bavarians were seated and set up their first border, which they called ‘Little Germany’. Because, as they said, in this place, under the Attic Sun, the games – coupons and sports – could play – and smell the recipes of their place with the foods they themselves cooked. Later, in the mid -1840s, the site was bought by Leonidas Smolensky, Minister of Military at Otto. Smolensky continued to function as a cottage named “Pausilipon”, and later Eleni Tositsa, who bought this land, donated it to create the Technical University and the National Archaeological Museum, which would give the lights of the arts. Tositsa had no children and was not literate. But she gave her property to educate the children of the nation. “

The sequel, even more adventurous, does not fit in a few lines, especially when Mr. Paschalides’ charming speech travels us even closer to today. Thus, those who are lucky in the tour will learn among many others why the inauguration of the National Archaeological Museum were not conventional, what secrets King Heraklion hides, because the marble bust of the heroine of the National Resistance, And for yet another marble inscription reminiscent of not only the first holder of the inter -war apartment building, but also one of the most bloody demonstrations of the National Liberation Front in March 1943 … The walk “closes” as it began: with another story that brings back the most contemporary story!

The phases of the Moon in the life of Neolithic societies

Dr. Katia MandeliHead of the Department of Prehistoric, Egyptian, Cypriot and Eastern Antiquities of the EAM, who will speak of the “phases of the Moon in the lives of Neolithic societies”. In the tour, which will take place in Room 5, 21:15 – 22:00, 20 people will participate, with free participation, upon telephone (tel.: 213 214 4856).

“On the occasion of the great collection of Neolithic Antiquities, mainly from Thessaly, which the EAM has from the excavations of Christos Tsountas in the settlements of Sesklo and Dimini at the beginning of the 20th century, and starting with the female clay figurines, I will talk about the relationships of the Neolithic. The Moon was a primary celestial body, under which they calculated the time, periodicity and alternation of seasons, thus defining rural life. Because, we recall, that the main primary economy of Neolithic societies was agriculture and livestock, “Madelis told RES-EIA.

And he adds: “The phases of the Moon – which the calculations were made – played this practical and important role for the lives of societies and their economy. However, the observation of the circles of nature and systematic cultivation of the Earth, which you could count on the period of the Moon’s periodicity, defined something else: the worship and ritual life of the Neolithic societies. That is, beyond the fact that the light of the Moon was very important at night eg. For hunting, its phases were also a universal way of regulating and controlling man’s life and action at the level of symbolism. We can imagine that Neolithic societies regarded the sun and the Moon not only celestial bodies, but also divine transcendent entities, precisely because they had this great influence on the regularity of their lives and their living. “

Mrs Mandeli also explains to RES-EIA the association with the Thessalian Neolithic figurines, many of which depict women in pregnancy. “The men’s menstruation, which is associated with fertility, is almost identical to the lunar month. This leads us to a universal and timeless dimension, especially in a time, such as the Neolithic, where everything was focused on reproduction and fertility, elements of the community’s survival, which lived in much more adverse conditions than today. The Moon is therefore linked, through its meals, to menstruation, without which the woman is not fertile.

Women’s Neolithic figurines from Thessaly (there are men’s but much less), with their very rich typology, they are very characteristic in this. They focus on the woman and her life, show us all the phases of pregnancy, youthfulness in the vibrant body, and the most advanced age with the fallen breast. And all this is obvious because they are naturally fired, that is, the performance of the body is not abstract, but is attributed to details, which reveal age, pregnancy, but also social prestige, ornaments, clothing and hairdressing, “Mrs Madelis said in RES-EIA.

Flash and Mystery Stories

The presentation of Konstantinou NikolentzouHead of the EAM’s collections and exhibitions, is entitled “Flash Stories and Mystery Stories in Prehistory: Gold and Amber otherwise”. It will take place in halls 5 and 4 at 20:00 – 21:00, with 20 participants (tel: 213 214 4856). “My thematic tour concerns two valuable materials, responding to prehistoric Greece: gold and amber. Both materials are imported and both are impressive in appearance but also with particular physical properties (shine, magnetism). Both materials are associated with myths (golden fleece, Phaethon – sun). Both materials are found in large quantities in the early Mycenaean graves, especially in the Peloponnese, while amber is insatiable from Minoan Crete, exclusively associated with burial customs and religious doctrines of the Mycenaean and not by the Mycenaean.

And he adds about the paths of the presentation: “The tour starts from gold and even the golden jewelry of Poliochni (in Lemnos) and Troy (NW Asia – Turkey), that is, in two early urban centers of the Early Bronze Age. The resemblance of jewelry, derived from two different but neighboring positions, constitutes a key feature of the so -called North Aegean culture. The visitor is called upon to wonder why the resident of Polio Knives was hasty to hide in his homes gold jewelry (forming “treasures”), to remember myths about metallurgy in Lemnos and the East, and of course to learn about the excavation century. “

Next stop is Mycenaean burial cycle A, “with impressive gold findings (funerals, cups, diadems, etc.), along with the most humble amber necklaces, which had probably been introduced by the Baltic, indicated by the Baltic.” The last stop in the “showcase with gold and amber finds from the vaulted tombs of Kakovatos in southern Ilia. What does it mean to find golden owls in various positions in the Peloponnese? Why have dozens or even hundreds of amber votes found in the vaulted tombs of ND? Some of the questions that we will try to answer with visitors, ”he concludes with RES-EIA.