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Marine Archaeologists Retrieve New Treasures at the Elgin Marbles Shipwreck

Marine Archaeologists Retrieve New Treasures at the Elgin Marbles Shipwreck

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Marine archaeologists have recently added to the collection of valuable finds at the Elgin Marbles shipwreck. A remarkable collection of artifacts has been discovered when they were revisiting the Mentor shipwreck. Mentor was a ship that sank in 1802 near the island of Kythera in Greece while controversially transporting precious artifacts, including the world-renowned Parthenon marbles, aka the Elgin marbles, to England.

According to Greek Reporter, “marine archaeologists have discovered exquisite gold jewelry, cooking pots and other valuable ancient objects” in their most recent exploration of the famous shipwreck. Specifically, they recovered a gold ring and a pair of gold earrings. They have also added three more chess pieces to the four which were found in previous expeditions to the ship. And some cookware rounds out the most recent discovery.

Marine archaeologists explore the wreck of Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera due to the heavy weight of the Parthenon marbles. (John Fardoulis and Alexandros Tourtas)

The Mentor shipwreck has been visited by underwater archaeologists a handful of times. In 2016, for example, divers led by the Greek Culture Ministry's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, Dimitris Kourkoumelis, found coins, jewelry, and Egyptian statues, amongst other artifacts. Although many precious items were looted and recovered from the sea a long time ago, there is still a lot left to discover around the famous wreckage.

Some of the artifacts found aboard Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera while carrying Parthenon marbles from Piraeus to London in 1802.

Some of the artifacts found aboard Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera while carrying Parthenon marbles from Piraeus to London in 1802. (Petros Vezyrtzi)

The Sinking of the Mentor

The ship’s amazing story has been described before on Ancient Origins.

Lord Elgin, the ship’s owner, was responsible for acquiring the antiquities England’s elite were interested in at the time. As Dhwty wrote : “In 1799, Lord Elgin was appointed the ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Lord Elgin is said to have intended to improve the knowledge of Classical art in Great Britain by providing his home country with casts of Greek monuments hitherto known only from drawings and engravings.”

 “He assembled a team of architects, painters, draftsmen and molders under the leadership of the Italian G.B. Lusieri, and began work in Athens in 1800. […] In 1802, Lord Elgin and his men had taken away ‘pieces of stone with inscriptions or figures’ that filled 16 boxes, and were preparing to ship them back to London. On September 15, Lord Elgin’s vessel set off from the Greek port of Piraeus, with the first port of call being the island of Malta. Apart from the 16 boxes of artifacts […] a total of 12 men were on board the ship.” [via Ancient Origins]

Portrait of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. 1788.

Portrait of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. 1788. (Public Domain)

Dhwty continues: “On September 16, a favorable wind had taken Mentor to Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of mainland Greece. A strong easterly wind, however, forced the ship to spend the night there. The next morning, Mentor continued its journey. It was during this leg of transit that the captain realized that the ship was taking on water.

Although he decided that it would be best to make for harbor on the nearest Peloponnesian coast, no one in the crew was familiar with the geography of that area, and so it was thought that the best solution was to seek port on the nearby island of Kythera.

In the afternoon on the same day, Mentor reached the shores of Cape Avelemonas. Two anchors were cast, though they failed to catch the bottom. Several maneuvers were then performed in order to prevent the ship from crashing into the rocks on the coast. This attempt failed, and Mentor crashed into the rocks of Cape Avelemonas and sank into the sea.”

The ship sank to the depth of 23 meters (75.5ft.), but all the passengers and crewmembers were rescued by a vessel named Anikitos. However, the 16 boxes of antiquities sank to the bottom of the sea. To remedy this problem, Lord Elgin hired sponge divers from the island of Kalymnos, and the precious marbles were salvaged from the wreck and shipped to the UK through Malta.

Parthenon marbles on display at The British Museum.

Parthenon marbles on display at The British Museum. (Andrew Dunn/CC BY SA 2.0)

Marine Archaeologists’ Previous Finds at the Elgin Marbles Shipwreck

But not everything was recovered. Thus, several discoveries have been made over the years. In 2016, a team of marine archaeologists discovered parts of an Egyptian statue and a piece of an ancient Egyptian inscription which sheds light on the origins of the marbles. As Dimitris Kourkoumelis told Haaretz:

''In Egypt, especially Alexandria, they were selling ancient stone statues of Egyptian pharaohs that were used as ballast on the ships. Afterwards, when they reached port, they would take out the ballast and sell the statues to collectors.''

Fragment of Pharaonic statue that was found with the shipwreck. It dates to the New Kingdom period (1570-1070 BC).

Fragment of Pharaonic statue that was found with the shipwreck. It dates to the New Kingdom period (1570-1070 BC). (EUA - Petros Vezyrtzis/ GR Reporter)

Apart from this, the team of researchers found an instrument probably used by William Leek, a famous British topographer, who made the topographical map of Zea in Piraeus and drawings of the Parthenon. They also found several artifacts that belonged to the passengers and crew of the ship which can still be tied to specific individuals.

The divers discovered a compass, part of an hourglass and calipers, glassware such as vessels, cups, and bottles, porcelain, three pistols and many bullets, flints, a cannonball, and watches that were manufactured in London.

Dimitris Kourkoumelis’ team believes there are still more antiquities and even more fragments of the Parthenon marbles to find at the site.

A pistol underwater archaeologists found aboard the ship Mentor.

A pistol underwater archaeologists found aboard the ship Mentor. (Petros Vezyrtzi)

The Controversy Around the Parthenon Marbles Continues

It has been 200 years since the tragedy at sea, yet the topic of the Parthenon marbles is still very controversial. In 1816, Lord Elgin sold the marble treasures to the British Government and they became part of the British Museum’s collection. However, nowadays, Elgin is regarded as a thief by many Greek people.

They see him as a criminal who stole their heritage. Many of the original Parthenon marbles can be found in London and some are in the Louvre in Paris. Greek exhibits mostly consist of plaster casts of the precious marbles, but there is an ongoing attempt to recover the lost treasures from abroad.

An idealised view of the Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819, with portraits of staff, a trustee and visitors.

An idealized view of the Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819, with portraits of staff, a trustee and visitors. (Public Domain)

Top Image: Left: Marine archaeologists explore Mentor, the Elgin Marbles Shipwreck. Right: A gold ring and earrings that were found at the wreck. Source: Greek Reporter

By Natalia Klimczak

 

Comments

First off, these are not Elgin marbles they were blown off from the Parthenon. Stop trying to make yourselves feel good about an act of looting, these are not marbles but monuments. They are not a commodity or unprocessed material. Also, they are not located far from harm but placed often in moldy rooms. They are looted and deserve to return to their rightful owners, the Greeks.

ATRHELLAS

Natalia

Natalia Klimczak is an historian, journalist and writer and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Languages, University of Gdansk. Natalia does research in Narratology, Historiography, History of Galicia (Spain) and Ancient History of Egypt, Rome and Celts. She... Read More

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