The Mentor, went down off the coast of Kythera with most of the Parthenon Marbles on board, which were then hauled up by sponge-divers under the direction of Elgin's secretary William Hamilton.

http://krg.org.au/mentor/

Hugh Grant  as William Hamilton in the film “Lord Elgin and Some Stones of No Value” courtesy of Milesian Film Productions Ltd.

Metal writing-holder and ink well found in the wreck of the Mentor, which sank off the coast of Kythira.

Between 6 - 15 July 2011 a team of the Department of Underwater Antiquities, under the direction of archaeologist Dr. Kourkoumelis, carried out underwater, archaeological excavations on the shipwreck “Mentor”, which sank in the southeast near Kythira Avlemona. This research has been funded and assisted the Australian Institute «Kytherian Research Group».


The ship, which carried the sculptures of the Parthenon was bound for England via Malta but sank at the entrance of the port of Avlemona southwest Kythera, in September 1802.

Captain Cousteau (1975), the Institute of Underwater Archaeology (1980) and the Department of Underwater Antiquities (2009) – all investigated the shipwreck but none were able to find or identified fragments of the marbles or sculptures.


Last year’s survey focused on area of the stern, where in 2009, various objects were identified including the ballast stones of the ship, several findings, such as fossil fish slate, which has since been presumed to be derived from the load. A portion of the shell of the ship was also cleared, which had already been identified by the survey of 1980, and found preserved in fairly good condition. 

From the area surveyed, several objects were recovered from those that the 10 male crew would have used, including different types of cookware, glass, ceramic and porcelain, bottles, decorative items, which were apparently at the officers’ accommodation, coins of the period, two weapons like pistols, the decoration of a butt shot, bullets of different calibers three, stone lighters for arms, a small cannon shell, and navigation equipment, a small compass hand with gold chain and a compass on board.
 The most significant were two ancient silver coins and a bronze coin, discovered between the ballast stones.

The results of this research are particularly interesting and encouraging, because this ship was intrinsically linked with the Parthenon sculptures removed by Lord Elgin’s team in Athens, and the objects recovered from the wreck are indicators of the welfare of seafarers merchant ships in a turbulent historical period of the Eastern Mediterranean. 

The research continues and on the 26^th of November in Athens a talk was given by Dr. Dimitrios Kourkoumelis, Archaeologist to the Ephorate of underwater Antiquities, entitled "The wreck of the Mentor in Kythira”. Dr Kourkoumelis showed the image of the metal writing-holder and ink well found in the wreck of the Mentor and that of Hugh Grant playing the role of William Hamilton (Lord Elgin’s secretary) in the film “Lord Elgin and Some Stones of No Value”. The project was undertaken by the Ephorate of Underwater of Antiquities in Greece, with assistance from the Kytherian Research Group (KRG) from Australia.

Major supporters were the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust and Kytherian Association of Australia. The project couldn’t have taken place without financial support from both these organisations.

27 November 2012

The 2,500-year-old Cyrus Cylinder, discovered in Iraq in 1879, is to go on loan to be displayed in the United States.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum exlains that by lending the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran in 2010 and now sending the artefact to the United States, would improve International Relations.

The Babylonian clay cylinder dates from the 6th century BC, is 10 inches long and historians regard it as the world's first declaration of human rights, valued by people around the world as a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples and faiths.

Trustees of the British Museum feel that art and culture can sustain relationships between the people of nations even when diplomacy is strained.

20 September 2012

Alternate Culture Minister Costas Tzavaras on Wednesday announced the creation of a special advisory committee that is to coordinate a strategic national effort to secure the return of the Parthenon Marbles, a longstanding demand of the Greek authorities.

Speaking a few weeks after the British Museum denied reports that it was considering returning fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon to Greece, Tzavaras said the ministry was bringing together “individuals of influence, knowledge and long experience of efforts to repatriate the Marbles.”

The committee includes lawyers, archaeologists and senior government officials. “Greece’s moral right ranks above every objection based on arguments aimed at procrastinating and ignoring the basic principle which applies worldwide and demands that cultural monuments are repatriated,” Tzavaras said.

In a related development, a decision by the Central Archaeological Council has given the go-ahead for two movie projects to use the Acropolis and other archaeological landmarks as filming locations. The first film, called “Two Faces of January” and based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, is to star Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst under the direction of Iranian-British screenwriter Hossein Amini.

Scenes are to be filmed on the Acropolis in Athens and at Knossos on Crete though the crew has not been granted permission to film within the columns of the cordoned-off Parthenon. The crew reportedly had asked to film scenes depicting laborers on scaffolding around the Acropolis in the 1960s but were informed that there had been no works under way on the monument at that time and that such scenes would be anachronistic.

The second film that has been given a license to film on the Acropolis is an adaptation of “The Valley of the Roses” -- a novel by the Swiss philhellene Paul Amadeus Dienach -- to be filmed by Greek director Nikos Panagiotopoulos.

In January, Greek authorities said they would reduce filming fees for the use of the country’s archaeological sites in a bid to lure production companies and bring in much-needed revenue. Officials stressed that approved projects would not put any monuments at risk.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_19/09/2012_462088

http://tom-flynn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/greece-prepares-for-fresh-assault-on.html

06 September 2012

Lonely Planet Photo Challenge & the winner for 'Antiquity Challenge', is a great photo of the Parthenon!

In first place with 19 votes is Sayarma's "The Parthenon" .

http://www.flickr.com/groups/lonelyplanetpublications/discuss/72157629780100325/

https://twitter.com/BCRPM

Lonely Planet hosts a weekly travel photography competition on Flickr . The themes can be anything from great hats seen on travels to moments of adventure.

How it works: Each week Lonely Planet accept entries for a new  challenge and vote on last week’s entries. The first-placed winner, selected by popular vote, gets a  guidebook of their choice.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/blog/lonely-planets-weekly-travel-photography-comp/#ixzz25ha8I6BI

(AFP) 25 August 2012

ATHENS — The British Museum denied Friday that it was considering returning fragments of sculptures from the Parthenon to Greece, as suggested by the director of the Acropolis Museum in Athens a day earlier.

The British Museum said it was "open to discussions regarding a short-term loan of some of the objects but not a permanent return.

"The trustees of the British Museum will consider -- subject to the usual considerations of condition and fitness to travel -- any request for any part of the collection to be borrowed and then returned," it said.

On Thursday, Acropolis Museum director Demetrios Pantermalis said that at a UNESCO meeting in June he had proposed the return of small fragments from the famous Parthenon Marbles to Greece, and that talks would be held in Athens in the coming weeks.

"I proposed an arrangement to colleagues from the British Museum, involving pieces -- hands, heads, legs -- that belong to bodies from the Parthenon sculptures and can be reattached," Pantermalis told Skai Radio.

"The proposal has been accepted in principle, we will have a discussion in the autumn," he said.

Greece has long campaigned for the return of the priceless friezes, removed in 1806 by Lord Elgin when Greece was occupied by the Ottoman Empire and later sold to the British Museum.

The British Museum has rejected successive Greek calls for their return, arguing that the sculptures are part of world heritage and are more accessible to visitors in London.

Inaugurated in June 2009, the new Acropolis Museum includes a section reserved for the disputed collection.

Pantermalis on Thursday said the Marbles issue remained "taboo" and that the new proposal involving smaller pieces could be a way to "unravel the thread".

The British Museum on Friday said it had agreed to "explore" a research partnership on the detached fragments of the Parthenon sculptures in Athens, London and elsewhere.

Parts of the Marbles are also located in Copenhagen, Munich, Paris, the Vatican and Vienna.

FOR ANOTHER ARTICLE ON THE SAME STORY CHECK OUT:

http://greece.greekreporter.com

http://www.taipeitimes.com

ATHENS: Greece is in talks with the British Museum on the return of fragments  from the Parthenon Marbles.

Demetrios Pantermalis, director of Athens’ Acropolis Museum said Thursday (23 August 2012)  he’d made a proposal on the issue at a UNESCO meeting in June and that talks  would be held in Athens in the coming weeks.

“I proposed an arrangement to colleagues from the British Museum, involving  pieces – hands, heads, legs – that belong to bodies from the Parthenon  sculptures and can be reattached,” Pantermalis said. “The proposal has been  accepted in principle.”

Greece has long campaigned for the return of the priceless friezes, removed  in 1806 by Lord Elgin and later sold to the British Museum.

The British Museum has turned down successive Greek calls for their return,  arguing that the sculptures are part of world heritage and are more accessible  to visitors in London.

Inaugurated in June 2009, the new Acropolis Museum includes a section  reserved for the disputed collection.

As culture minister in 2009, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had turned down a British Museum loan offer for the Marbles.

British Museum spokeswoman Hannah Boulton had then said that her museum  could consider loaning the Marbles to Greece for three months on condition that  Athens recognize the museum’s ownership rights to the sculptures.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com