A manuscript’s conflicted journey from Greece to the Netherlands.

By Sofia Mathioudaki, MA Museum Studies (Heritage Studies), University of Amsterdam (Holder of a NIA-study grant for MA students or recently graduated)

I first became acquainted with the Amst. I.D. 75 manuscript through an internship at the Allard Pierson around mid-March 2023, as part of the study programme of the MA Museum Studies of the University of Amsterdam. Little did I know that this object would end up becoming the case study of my thesis and by extension the reason I would be granted a scholarship at the Netherlands Institute at Athens (NIA), which would allow me to conduct additional research on the manuscript’s provenance and work on my thesis subject.

Around the same period, thanks to Dr. Astrid Balsem and Professor Emeritus Arnold van Gemert, information on the provenance of this 11th-century manuscript was already starting to resurface indicating an increasingly clear connection to Northern Greece. It didn’t take long for me to understand that the information around it was denser than I initially thought, spanning from 1886 to the present day. However, the research that had been previously conducted was either outdated or not particularly focused on the Amst. I.D. 75, rather emphasizing the wider collection that was looted from the monastery of Eikosifoinissa, between the cities of Drama and Serres. As a result, drawing on the new research findings that both A. Balsem and A. van Gemert were kind enough to share with me, I decided to incorporate the story of this manuscript in a wider context, that of looted heritage in the Balkans and, secondarily, in the Netherlands. This, eventually, became the subject of not only my internship from April 2023 and on but also the subject of my master’s thesis, trying to investigate the historical-cultural factors that drove this object’s original displacement and later illicit transfer to the West.

The two libraries of NIA

Many months later, in February 2024, and after receiving a positive evaluation of my application to NIA, I ended up returning to Athens, where I had originally acquired my BA diploma in Archaeology and History of Art from the NKUA (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens). This has allowed me to benefit from the proximity to many libraries, accessing several bibliographical sources that would otherwise be difficult to study, while, also, focusing on the material that I had already collected both in Amsterdam and in Sofia, Bulgaria, during November and December 2023 while visiting the “Prof. Ivan Dujčev” Centre for Slavo-Byzantine Studies.

Most importantly, though, it gave me the opportunity to travel to Thessaloniki, where the majority of relevant researchers reside and several significant research centres are located. There, I visited the Centre for Byzantine Research and benefited from their rich collection of books, publications and others. From there, I continued my research at the Library of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, which complemented the material that I had already examined. For instance, during that visit of mine, I was able to study the first recorded mention of the manuscripts collection of the monastery of Eikosiphoinissa in an 1886 catalogue by A. Papadopoulos-Kerameus.

The interior and exterior of the Centre for Byzantine Research in Thessaloniki.

Moreover, I had the chance to further expand my knowledge on the 2nd Bulgarian Occupation period (1916-1918), during which the looting incident took place, at the Institute for Balkan Studies, which truly preserves a bibliographical and archival treasure for anyone interested in this field, or, more specifically, in my case the Greek-Bulgarian relations preceding and following the looting of 1917. I, also, had the chance to meet and discuss with Mr. Efthimis Litsas, director of the Greek Palaeographic Society, who was also kind enough to forward some complementary material to me after our meeting.

Additionally, I visited the monastery of Panagia Eikosifoinissa, located on the outskirts of Drama and Serres. The journey was an adventure by itself, including 2 different bus routes and a 15-minute taxi drive through the Paggaio Mountain. My initial goal was to visit the monastery in order to have a first-hand inspection of the space and understand how the looting operation was implemented. My visit exceeded my expectations, and thanks to the generous assistance of the residing nuns, I was also able to study an up-to-date (and surprisingly unavailable in all previous libraries) detailed work by G.K. Papazoglou, published in 2017, marking the 100th anniversary of events of 1917. At the same time, the value of this visit extends to exploring the monastery’s current stance and activity regarding the looted manuscripts, taking into consideration both international affairs and other factors.

On the right, the Institute for Balkan Studies in Thessaloniki and, on the left, the Monastery of Eikosifoinissa near Drama.

Last but not least, my 3-month stay at NIA provided me with an excellent opportunity to become re-acquainted with the Athenian entourage in the centre of the city, allowing me to get to know Athens in a more profound way, while also reflecting on the city’s rapidly-shifting urban identity. The ever-increasing gentrification of the surrounding neighbourhoods, the commodification of the historic centre as well as the way tourists tend to interact with the city’s archaeological sites have problematized me, while also providing valuable stimuli that have enhanced my understanding of the wider socio-cultural context and have inspired me to perhaps further explore this research field in the future.

My stay at NIA has been a meaningful part of this final stage of my studies at the University of Amsterdam, assisting me in expanding and, furthermore, solidifying the existing knowledge of this manuscript’s provenance, contributing to the ongoing dialogue on conflicted heritage by drawing attention to the -often academically neglected- Balkan region. Beginning this process found me overwhelmed with a plethora of information that was hard to put in order and connect with one another, but by the end of my stay at NIA, I am confident about the accuracy of the sources that I have incorporated in my study and the conclusions that I have drawn. Finally, the material that has been gathered has not only been used within the context of the thesis but will also be shared with the Allard Pierson, the institution that currently has the ownership of the Amst. I.D. 75 manuscript. For these reasons, I would like to thank the NIA for providing me with this amazing opportunity and, of course, every member of staff for taking care of all different aspects of my 3-month stay in Athens on an everyday basis.

The perfect spot for doing a master’s thesis: the vibrant city of Athens

By Esmée Corporaal, RMA Student in Archaeology at the University of Groningen

During the fall of 2021 when I started my research master’s, I was already encouraged to think about a potential topic for my thesis. I remember thinking about going to Greece to study Greek archaeology as this has been an interest of mine since high school. Later that year, I would take an introductory course in human osteoarchaeology. In my bachelor and RMA studies in archaeology at the University of Groningen, the themes of ancient Greek life experiences and culture as well as mortuary archaeology have been a reoccurring theme. That is why I decided to dedicated the 30 credits of my RMA thesis to researching the human remains of an ancient Greek cemetery.

For my thesis I am studying fourteen burials from the Archaic burials of the cemetery of Thebes, Boeotia. I am looking into the living conditions and variation in burial practices in Thebes and in the Archaic period of Greece in a broader sense. I am conducting the study of human remains in the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens. In the first week of my stay I travelled back and forth to Thebes to gather the remains from the storage facilities of the archaeological museum. Then I moved my material to the Fitch laboratory on Friday. On Monday I started washing bones and after they dried I started examining the first burial.

_{The library of the British School is a nice place to work on writing the remaining chapters of my thesis. The library cat Henry welcomes you at the door if you enter from the main entrance and is the highlight of my days at the library! You can find many books here and it always nice and quiet. During lunch breaks I can eat some salad and drink some take-away coffee from Marasli on the terrace in the sun.}

Kaisariani

Besides studying bones and working on my thesis during the week, in the weekends I can make time for some nice trips because the NIA is located in the perfect spot for this! For my first excursion, I went together with someone else who stayed at the NIA to explore the forests around Athens! We first took the bus and then had to walk for another half an hour to the beautiful monastery of Kaisariani. It is an archaeological maintained monastery built in the 11th century AD. Now there is also a beautiful botanical garden, which unfortunately was closed, but we enjoyed the company of a very sweet cat! This monastery resident kept following us around and demanding pets. The monastery still has a church with beautiful paintings from the 18th century. Then we climbed Mount Ymmitos to the viewpoint. From the little tower, we could see all of Athens lying beneath us. Besides the beautiful views, it was so nice to get some fresh air outside the city. There are still a few more of these beautiful mountains, and I would also like to explore those!

Mycenae

For my second trip, I visited Mycenae. Mycenae is a beautiful archaeological site of a city from the Greek Bronze Age with remarkable royal tombs containing stunning finds. According to legend, the infamous King Agamemnon and his wife Clytemnestra, as well as her lover Aegisthus, are buried here. The story goes that Agamemnon supported his brother Menelaus in his war with the Trojans. This was because the Trojan prince Paris had taken Menelaus’ wife to Troy (on the coast of Turkey). Unfortunately, Agamemnon had angered the goddess Artemis by killing her deer during the hunt, causing a calm before the wind when they wanted to depart for Troy. To appease the goddess, Agamemnon therefore sacrificed his firstborn daughter, Iphigenia, to her, much to the fury of his wife Clytemnestra. Agamemnon departed, and after 10 years of warfare, he would return home to Mycenae, where his wife and her lover Aegisthus had plotted revenge. They murdered him with an axe in the bath. Orestes, the only son, at the urging of his sister Electra, killed his mother and her lover as revenge for their father. The site of the city of Mycenae has always been known because the Lion Gate was always visible. Strangely enough, the tombs were never plundered by grave robbers, a phenomenon that archaeologists are unfortunately very familiar with. In addition to the beautiful archaeological site, the surroundings are also very impressive. It is amazing to see the archaeological sites that I learnt so much about in real life for the first time!

Aegina

I also took a trip to Aegina with my partner. It is a beautiful island off the coast of Athens just a half-hour boat ride from Piraeus. We arrived at the stunning harbour with azure blue sea. Upon arrival, we enjoyed a delicious meal along the promenade. Then we decided to take a leisurely walk along the coast towards the archaeological site of Kolonna (named after the only column still standing), where remains of houses, temples, and cisterns dating from prehistory to the Byzantine period lie. There is so much history here on this beautiful island! We didn’t even have time to visit the temple of Aphaia. Afterward, we decided to relax under the cliff at Kolonna and enjoyed the beautiful view and the cool seawater. Once we cooled off, we explored the village with its nice shops. Around 6 o’clock, we took the boat back to Piraeus. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any dolphins, but it was a wonderful trip!

Thank you!

My gratitude goes out to Dr. Anna Moles, Dr. Efthymia Nikita, Anna Karligkioti and Prof. Sofia Voutsaki for their help with developing my plan for this research and putting me in contact with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia as well as the Archaeological Museum of Thebes. I also want to thank Dr. Vassilis Aravantinos and Prof. Margherita Bonanno Aravantinos who are the excavators of the site and granted me permission to study the human remains from Thebes for my RMA thesis. Moreover, I want to thank Dr. Alexandra Charami, Evi Tsota and Sofia Perlepe for their help at the ephorate and granting me the permission to study the material in Athens. I also want to thank the Fitch laboratory and the British School at Athens for housing me so I can study the material. Lastly, I of course want to thank the Netherlands Institute at Athens for granting me the scholarship without which I could have never had this amazing opportunity to research a topic I am passionate about in Athens