An ode to the vibrant city of Athens…

This is my first time in Athens. Up to this moment my acquittance with Athens was through books and lectures, focusing on mainly the ancient civilization: the start of philosophy, Greek myth, religious cults and practices. At Athens many research institutes are located, each housing a majestic collection of books and reference works where I could find all the books I had on my list to consult for my topic of interest. The libraries are easily reachable by the public transport (I personally love the efficiency of the metro that gets you from a to b in a matter of minutes), but everything is also on walking distance. Now I am able to place my footsteps in this mighty city full of history and rich in culture.

I came to Athens to consult the libraries connected to the several institutes stationed here. I am currently writing my master thesis on the topic of the concept of ‘fate’ that is connected to the Egyptian goddess Isis presented in certain aretalogies dedicated to her which are found both in Egypt and Greece. While I am here, the plan was to, by archival research, investigate the several Greek sites that I have found where the Isis aretalogies were discovered: Andros, Maroneia, Kyme, Thessaloniki, Ios and Telmessos. After my first week of being here and visiting the British Institute and the École français d’Athènes, I discovered yet another location that I can add to my list: Kassandreia, here another aretalogies in honor of Isis was found. Archaeological reports provided me with the actual inscriptions, photographs or squeezes from these aretalogies in addition to a description of the context in which these texts were found. In these Greek inscriptions I searched for the phrases in which Isis was being described as ‘being victorious over fate’. The fact that Isis is featured in these Greek texts ties into the topic of the development of Isis setting foot outside Egyptian borders and being included into the Greek religious system where especially during the Hellenistic period a cult for Isis was established. More about my research can be read in the journal of Pharos for which I am writing an article on my research conducted here at Athens.

Exploring the neighborhood on foot

My first two weeks I stayed at the Finnish Insitute in the Gizi district. From here it is very easy to walk into the city, following the Ippokratous str. leading you right to the Ακαδημία Αθηνών. This is also close to the French Institute (École française d’Athènes), and then passing Syntagma square, maneuvering your way through all these streets, I discovered on my first day a serene place, where I bought a χυμός πορτοκάλι (orange juice) and had a view on a Byzantine style church and on my right hand I looked up to the back of the Acropolis.

I noticed that the streets are flanked with these orange trees. Also, outside the NIA the street is filled with the colors of green leaves and orange fruits hanging over the parked cars. They are citrus auratium, νεράντζια in Greek, and when I asked the librarian of the NIA about these fruits, she explained to me that they are rather bitter and that you can find them in certain ταβέρνες where they are usually prepared with a syrup and eaten with yoghurt.

_{Photographs taken from the office and a view of outside the NIA on the Makri street.}

With these pictures below I would like to illustrate the hilliness I encountered during my walks. They are taken from the Asklipiou str. the first facing towards the Lycabettus hill, the second facing in opposite direction.

_{Photograph of a hilly road towards the city center}

Visiting the institutes

_{The libraries of the: École française d’Athènes (Room B); British School at Athens; Nordic Library}

Consulting the libraries of the institutes was the main goal of my trip to Athens. The process of accessing those libraries was similar for all of them. Make sure you have a pass photo with you, you might also need to show a proof of being a student, but most importantly a reference letter is what will open the doors for you. After registration I got a tour through all the libraries and it was inspiring to have a different place to study, this change of surroundings was what helped me work in an efficient way when consulting the books and stimulated me to write down my course of thought as I was reading in a mind-unlocking-way.

The themes of books I searched for were first mainly archaeological and based on the sites where these aretalogies were excavated, so older reports dating back to the 19-somethings. Especially the EFA, the Archaeological Society at Athens and the German Institute provided me with the most journals and periodicals pertaining to the excavation histories. The collection of the EFA also contains many titles on the Isiac aretalogies: textual analyses and comparisons to the other aretalogies. For the topic of ancient religion, I consulted the BSA and the Nordic Library which offer the relevant titles I need for my investigation.

Moving from the FIA to the NIA

The first two weeks of my stay in Athens, the Koroneos building of the Finnish Institute (FIA) was my home. It was located a bit further away from the city center but that way I felt like living among Greeks; I made a friend at the local bakery across the street. Here I went for a bougatsa or loukoumas as a treat after a day of studying and he would always add something extra: pain au chocolats or pizza breads. Apparently, I looked like I could use some food or a sugar boost. In the supermarket and at this small pita gyros restaurant they already knew me and every time when I tried to order in Greek, I learned another Greek word, so that in the end I would know what they were asking and could respond accordingly. It was a very friendly and cozy area with everything you need right there.

Then I moved to the NIA which is quite the opposite in terms of tranquility as it was at the Koroneos; it is in the heart of the city center, right at the slopes of the Akropolis hill. I still cannot believe this beautiful location right at my doorstep. Here, life is very lively and vibrant; restaurants, tourists shops, nut-stands and lots of doves surround you when going outside. At this point most of my investigation was finished so I made great use of my new location and used most of my afternoons exploring the city like a tourist; visiting museums and the city’s archaeological sites.

Now that I have collected all of my data I needed, I worked mostly from the common room at the NIA, which has come to feel like home. It is the perfect combination of peace and quiet to study and still have the ability to have a chat every now and then with the staff or other roommates (just two others, of which one left last Sunday). In the evenings this roommate and I cook dinner together and discuss our day, our research, our experiences. This is a nice way to learn from other students and be inspired or stimulated pursuing certain career goals.

_{My room for the past two weeks; Starting my morning with a cup of τσάι του βουνού; Τhe garden}

Last but not least…

I would like to conclude this blog with a word of thanks for the entire staff and the institute. I feel blessed being given this opportunity to work from the NIA, from Athens, this has really stimulated my research and it has gifted me the daily-life experience of living in Athens. It has been a very fruitful and successful stay where I was enabled by all the staff of the NIA, Emmy who was able to find accommodation for me on such short notice, and Ann who inspired me to come to the NIA in the first place and who made sure I had a smooth access to all these beautiful libraries, all have brought my investigation to a deeper level. Thank you for making my stay a very scholarly experience on which I will always look back to with a smile. And hopefully see you soon again.

By Robin Erica Linda Fitas
ΜA Egyptology
Leiden University
NIA Scholarship

Experiencing sacred space in Greece

By Pim Schievink, PhD Candidate Ancient History at the University of Groningen

Prelude: 2020

Before I can describe my experience at the Nederlands Instituut Athene (NIA) in 2023, it is necessary to take you back in time to 2020. After graduating from the Research Master Classical, Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Groningen, I received a scholarship for two months to prepare a PhD proposal on Asklepios and his many sanctuaries across the Greek world at the NIA. The first four weeks were great: I visited some sanctuaries and archaeological museums and I used the impressive international libraries, especially the German Archaeological Institute and the British School in Athens (the American was closed for non-member due to COVID-19). After four weeks, a lockdown forced me to go back to the Netherlands. This brings me to 2022: after an intermezzo of two years, I received a grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) after submitting the PhD proposal I started working on at the NIA. I emailed the Institute if it was possible to still come back to use the four weeks I had left of my earlier grant. Thankfully, they arranged everything and allowed me to utilise the second part of my grant even after this two-year gap. I was able come back in January and February 2023.

Greek Epigraphy

One of the reasons for my stay in January and February 2023 was that I already had to go to Athens for the course Greek Epigraphy (8^th until the 18^th of January). This intellectual stimulating and challenging course is given each year and includes a trip to Greece and the NIA. We walked around sacred and civic places in Athens and beyond to look for various types of inscriptions. The major highlight, for me, was a visit to the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi.

Photo by author: the temple of Apollo in Delphi in beautiful weather and landscape.

Visiting Asklepieia

After the course Greek Epigraphy, I was able to work on my PhD project for four weeks. Besides utilising the various excellent libraries that are located in Athens, there is one particular element that I wish to highlight in this blog: staying at the NIA for a couple of weeks enabled me to visit some sanctuaries of Asklepios. The NIA helped me with applying for permits to take photographs and arranged free entry to archaeological sites and museums. Whilst these visits officially can be classified as work, it did not necessarily feel as such. I will give a short impression of the Asklepieia of Athens, Epidauros, Korinth and Messene.

Athens

The first sanctuary I visited was the Asklepieion of Athens on the south-slopes of the Akropolis, as this one is very close to the NIA. The nearby Akropolismuseum has various votive reliefs dedicated to this god on display. These portray for example families or individuals going to Asklepios bringing some offers to the god. These, however, only represent the most durable gifts one could dedicate to the god. One of the inventories of this sanctuary is found in the Epigraphical Museum in Athens and lists many more smaller dedications made, by primarily local Athenians.

Another excellent museum in Athens is the National Archaeological Museum. A particular highlight for me was that they opened a closed-off wing for me to explore, so that I could study other dedications (not only those found in Athens) to Asklepios as well.

The best view of this Asklepieion is to look down from the walls on top of the Akropolis, but you have to neglect the rules slightly as I do not believe you are allowed to stand too close to the edge.

Photo by author: the Asklepieion as viewed from the top of the Akropolis.

Epidauros

Epidauros is one of the best known Asklepieia, both in antiquity, when it was the major sanctuary for Asklepios, and today, as people visit primarily for the theatre. In contrast to the Athenian Asklepieion, this one is located more than 10 km from the ancient city of Epidauros but nevertheless attracted an audience of local, regional and supraregional visitors. For the majority of sanctuaries of Asklepios we do not know the origin, but if the origin is known most sanctuaries claim to be founded from the one in Epidauros. The most fun narratives include a travelling snake that, as the embodiment of Asklepios in Epidauros, moves to another city.

My PhD is focussed on the various layers that combined create sacred space. It is interesting then, that every time I visit Epidauros, my eyes are also drawn to new layers of the sanctuary. My first visit to Epidauros was in 2018. I really was a tourist, as this visit was one of wonder and admiration of particularly the theatre and the scale of the site. My second visit in October 2020 drew my attention to the walking paths and the location of objects like statue-bases and exedrae to get some ideas on how people could move within the sanctuary and what they could see. My most recent visit in January 2023, after the course Greek Epigraphy, drew my eyes to inscriptions still visible almost everywhere if one cared to look (but most tourist past them rather quickly).

Photo by author: The theatre of Epidauros. This still is the most scenic part of the sanctuary,

Korinth

Normally the Korinthian Asklepieion is closed for public and the only things a tourist is able to see is a small selection of the many anatomical votives given to Asklepios (dated to the Classical period) in the rather small room in the museum. Originally, this sanctuary was situated right at the edge of the city, just within the city walls. The Korinthian Asklepieion provides unfortunately very little information on the Hellenistic period besides its architecture. Most of the evidence is dated to the Classical period and found in various “votive pits” or after the refoundation of the sanctuary after 44 BC. With the help of the American School of Classical Studies, especially Manolis Papadakis (the Corinth Excavations Assistant to the Associate Director), I was able to take a peek in the storerooms of the excavations in Ancient Korinth.  I primarily looked at the votive gifts and inscribed potsherds found in the Asklepieion, as Korinth has a very bad epigraphic record otherwise. This was a nice “hands-on” experience. After working in the storerooms, I was allowed into the normally closed sanctuary. 

Photo by author: votive legs found in the Asklepieion on display in the museum of Korinth.

Messene

The last sanctuary I visited during my stay at the NIA was the Messenian Asklepieion. The perks of going on a trip like this in the winter was especially visible here: I was all by myself in the huge archaeological site of Messene.   

Photo by author: the Asklepieion as photographed from the Ekklesiasterion.

The fascinating Asklepieion of Messene is situated in the city-centre, close to the agora. This city was re-founded in 369 BC, after the Thebans under general Epameinondas ended Spartan hegemony in the region. This Asklepieion is primarily interesting due to its location in the very centre of the city (near the agora). Moreover, Messene had a special genealogy of Asklepios: here he is made the son of a member of the Messenian royal family called Arsinoë, which in turn establishes Asklepios as local royalty. Lastly there is a very detailed description of the art in the sanctuary by Pausanias (4.31) as he saw it in the second century AD. This sanctuary was full of impressive statues by the famous sculptor Damophon (second century BC). Walking around this sanctuary, many statue bases are still visible in situ.

Afterword

This blog might seem to be some form of advertisement, but from the bottom of my heart I would recommend everyone studying something related to Antiquity to go to the NIA. The grant helped me to start writing my PhD proposal in 2020 and now, after starting the PhD, the NIA again allowed me to be embedded in a stimulating environment. Almost all books a student of Antiquity needs can be found in the various libraries in Athens. Most importantly, is that a stay at the NIA enabled me to visit several of the sanctuaries that I am researching. Seeing them is a great experience, especially outside of the tourist season when most of the time (with the exception of Athenian archaeological sites and museums) you are the only visitor.