Tag: archaeology
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Triskeles
It’s believed that this object (a bowl?) was created by an artisan near Gela in the end of the 7th century BC. Its details recall those found on the Isle of Rhodes. The striking triskeles at the center of the design demonstrates the association of the ancient 3-legged symbol with Sicily. It was found in…
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Unknown Star
This six-pointed star is an inlay in the terracotta pavement of the principal street at Solunto on the summit of Mount Catalfano in Santa Flavia. Scholars don’t know the sigificance of it. Solunto was originally a Pheonician settlement that was established between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. The Greeks conquered it in the 4th…
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Immortal Leaves
This column capital from the small archaeological museum at Tindari is a classic example of Greco-Roman Corinthian architectural design. What we learned from our guide Sebastiano was that the ornamental leaves accenting the column’s top are from the Acanthus mollis plant (also known in English as bear’s breeches). Acanthus mollis and its sister-plant Acanthus spinosus…
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Mother Goddess
During our tour these past days, we spent a provoking morning in Siracusa, first at the archaeological park, and then at one of Europe’s best archaeological museums, the Museo Archeologico Orsi. Pictured here is one of the museum’s star pieces, a “Mother Goddess,” dated to be from 550 BC and made of local limestone. Found…
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A Temple for Hera
The Doric-style Temple “E” at the ancient Greek site of Selinunte was completed between 490 and 480 BC. Recent research reveals that it was probably dedicated to the goddess Hera, the protectress of weddings, engaged couples, and pregnant women.
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Summer and the Divine Feminine
The end of August and beginning of September in Sicily is a period that marks many feasts in honor of various feminine saints, celebrations that are linked to ancient rites that expressed gratefulness to the earth for the bounty of the harvest. The ancient Greeks, who started to settle in Sicily in the 8th century…
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Selinunte’s Temple C by the Sea
Temple “C,” or the Temple of Apollo, at the ancient Greek colony of Selinunte was built between 560 and 540 B.C. The majestic and massive temple faces the sea off of the southern coast of Sicily. The tympanum, or triangular facade, of the temple once sported a large portrait of the Gorgon Medusa (remains of…
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Framing Selinunte
Flowers are everywhere in Sicily. These at Selinunte framed a view of the remains of one of the massive ancient Greek temples.
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Ancient Greek-era Lekythos in Sicily
This ancient Sicilian-Greek-era lekythos caught my eye because of the drummer and flute player depicted in its design. A lekythos is a specific shape of Greek pottery–narrow with one handle–that was used for storing olive oil c. 500 BC. They commonly showed men practicing rituals or daily tasks because it was a vessel used primarily…