The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is pleased to announce the publication of Hesperia 84.3. Topics in this issue include the results of the excavations at Gournia from 2010 to 2012, those from the excavations that took place in the Athenian Agora from 2008 to 2012, a fresh take on the timing of the term of the treasurers of Athena, a Boiotan red-figure vase depicting the recovery of Helen scene, and a reevaluation of the hands and the dating of the inscriptions that record the victors of the Athenian dramatic festivals, and the intended meaning of the spolia used in William of Moerbeke’s church at Merbaka (Ayia Triada).
Subscribers can read the issue online at JSTOR, which now hosts all current issues of Hesperia as well as an archive of past volumes.
Excavations at Gournia, 2010–2012, by L. Vance Watrous et al., presents, in addition to a new site plan, the findings from eight areas of the site. Among other discoveries, it has become clear that the site was occupied as early as the Final Neolithic period and that there was a substantial Protopalatial settlement, whose inhabitants were involved in several industrial activities. Discussions of the Linear A and Hieroglyphic inscriptional evidence, the painted plasters, and the archaeobotanical remains, are also included.
Excavations in the Athenian Agora, 2008–2012, by John McK. Camp, provides us with the results of the excavations conducted in the northwest corner of the Athenian Agora. Special attention is paid to the perischoinisma found in the Panathenaic Way, the Classical Commercial Building running to the north of the western end of the Stoa Poikile, and the new portions of the Stoa Poikile found at its eastern end. The area’s Hellenistic, Late Roman (particularly wells L 2:2 and M 2:1), and Byzantine remains are also discussed, and a special section is devoted to an unusual statue base that was carved in the shape of several shields leaning against each other with a cuirass on top.
The Treasurers of Athena in the Late 5th Century B.C.: When Did They Take Office?, by Carlo Marcaccini, presents a detailed discussion concerning the term of the treasurers of Athena that challenges the traditional view which holds that it ran from one Panathenaic festival to the next. Instead, the author proposes that as of 433/2, the term followed the conciliar year. To support his argument, the author refers to the revised date of the Kallias Decree and inscriptions of the accounts of expenses and loans from the sacred treasuries.
Hidden Pictures on a Boiotian Calyx Krater in Zurich, by Christina Avronidaki, examines the red-figure painting on a Boiotian vase depicting the recovery of Helen, and finds that the image was once made more visually interesting by objects, such as a table, a mirror, and a kalathos, that had been added in white, but which have now faded away. The author also shows that the palmette on the reverse side once had birds perched on its tendrils. A thorough comparison with other Boiotian vases and a discussion of the iconography are also provided.
The Dramatic Festival Inscriptions of Athens: The Inscribers and Phases of Inscribing, by Stephen V. Tracy, focuses on the inscriptional details of the texts that recorded the victors of the City Dionysia and the Lenaia in order to more accurately identify the hands that cut the letters into the stones, and thereby, the dates at which they were inscribed. The author proposes a new date for the Fasti, and provides us with a better understanding of the group of inscriptions called the Didascaliae.
William of Moerbeke’s Church at Merbaka: The Use of Ancient Spolia to Make Personal and Political Statements, by Guy D. R. Sanders discusses the historical background of William of Moerbeke, who, having been made Archbishop of Corinth, represented the Western Church in Orthodox Greece. With this information, the author is able to provide a cohesive interpretation of the spolia used in the church at Merbaka, which should now be linked to William of Moerbeke. The author also discusses the dating of the immured bowls in detail.
Current subscribers can view the issue online at JSTOR. The printed version will be mailed shortly.
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