Tag: Thera

‘Atlantis – The Evidence’ with Bettany Hughes to air on BBC Two

Expect to see Bettany Hughes visit the Knossos Palace at Crete in 'Atlantis, The Evidence'. Airs Wednesday June 2 2010 at 9pm on BBC Two Historian Bettany Hughes will star in Timewatch Special ‘Atlantis: The Evidence’, to premire on BBC Two next week. She’ll be tracing the origins of the Atlantis myth and presenting evidence that the Thera eruption inspired Plato’s account of the mystical land.

2,400 years ago Greek philosopher Plato wrote of an ancient island civilisation of unparalleled wealth and splendour, which was struck by earthquakes and floods and was swallowed up by the sea in one grievous day and night.

But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence of the island. (Plato, as translated by Benjamin Jowett)

Atlantis has captured minds and imaginations like no other legendary land. Scores of mavericks, treasure-hunters and fantasists have devoted their lives to finding this lost world (see possible location on Google Earth). Historians and scholars have searched and debated where the real roots of the myth lie for centuries.

Bettany Hughes is among a growing number of experts who believe Plato’s story was inspired by a real historical event the eruption in the Bronze Age of a massive volcano on the Aegean island of Thera, better known to British tourists as Santorini. It was this event which wiped out one of Europe’s first civilisations in a single night.

Photo courtesy NASA. A satellite image of Santorini. Located between Crete and mainland Greece, Thera supported a thriving civilisation that reached its peak between 2000 and 1600 BC. Thera’s capital Akrotiri had its own navel fleet and many trade connections across the Aegean and Near East. Its artists painted beautiful frescoes as far as the Hyksos capital in Egypt. But the Minoan civilization – named after legendary King Minos – came to an abrupt endwhen Akrotiri was devastated by earthquakes. Shortly after a massive volcanic eruption occurred, burying the city.

In this one-off documentary Bettany Hughes presents evidence to support the theory that the Thera Eruption inspired Plato. Recent scientific findings show the eruption was much bigger than previously thought. Archaeological excavations have revealed the remains ofBronze AgeSantorinientombed by the eruption, a frozen moment of the past. As Bettany will show in ‘Atlantis: Evidence’, the parallels between Atlantis and the Minoans are striking.

‘Atlantis: The Evidence’ airs Wednesday, June 2nd 2010 at 9pm on BBC Two

Raos Excavation on Santorini Reveals Frescoes and Gold Ring

The story of Bronze Age Santorini (Thera) is one that has become a legend. Located between Crete and mainland Greece, this island supported a thriving civilization that reached its peak between 2000 1600 BC. Its main city, Akrotiri, had its own naval fleet and had trade connections throughout the Aegean and Near East. Its people produced beautiful frescoes thatdepicted everything from boxing matches toshipsand even antelopes.

This civilization came to an abrupt end at some point in the late 17th century BC, when Akrotiri was devastated by earthquakes, causing the people to flee. Shortly thereafter a massive volcanic eruption occurred, burying the city.

Scholars have speculated that these events served as the basis for the legend of Atlantis an advanced civilization that fell in a single night.

From Platos Timaeus(Translation by Benjamin Jowett)

There occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared, and was sunk beneath the sea….

Raos

Yesterday, at a presentation on the University of Toronto campus, Dr. Marisa Marthari, of the KA Ephorate of the Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities Greece, discussed a new discovery that adds a new sub-plot to this story.

Its very special its unique”

Her team is in the process of excavating a site called Raos. Its a building complex on the Akrotiri peninsula, but a good distance from the ancient city itself. The team has dated itto the time when Akrotiri was at its height – before the volcanic eruption. The site wasnt spared the volcanos wrath, before the team could get to the archaeological remains they had to clear out a layer of pumice and ash.

Its very special its unique, Dr. Marthari said. It combines characteristicsfrom both the town and from the… villages.

While the complex is isolated in a rural area, it contains frescoes and an enigmatic gold ring an object which has never been found on Santorini, during this time.

However Raos also contains a courtyard – a construction feature that is not found in the city of Akrotiri and is more associated with rural areas.

Frescoes and the Gold Ring

The team is in the process of conserving a series of frecoes that were found on a mud-brick wall of the complex. Dr. Marthari showedpictures of them duringher presentation. One of them contains depictions of rosettes (a type of rose) and multicolour patterns that look like a dartboard.

The wall painting at Raos is related to the wall painting at Akrotiri, Marthari said, explaining that decorations like these can also be seen in the ancient city.

Not all the frescoes are well preserved with some having little more than drabs of color.

Themost unusual artefact from Raos is the remains of a gold ring that was found in one of the rooms. Its the first real piece of gold jewellery that has come to light on Thera, she said. It would have been worn on the finger. Its a mystery how it got to the island, the team needs to run tests to see if they can figure this out.

Marthari wasn’t able to release a picture of the ring and frescoes for publication. However, she did give us a general picture of the site which can be seen at the top of this article.

Other features found at Raos include the remains of conical rhytons, a vessel with two holes in it that were used in libation rituals. The team also found bits of local pottery and a small amount of ceramics that appear to have been imported from Minoan Crete.