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26-636: The library is one of the two belonging to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (along with the Blegen Library ). Its main founder was the Greek diplomat and bibliophile Joannes Gennadius (1844–1932), who initially donated part of his collection to the newly founded National Library of Greece . Returning to Athens a few years later he was distraught to discover they had no reference to his donated items, and so he resolved to find

52-524: A 1974 excavation, a lead tablet was discovered. The tablet was a letter written by Lesis , a slave. It was one of the few recorded instances of slave literacy. Evidence of planting was discovered during the excavations and on 4 January 1954, the first oak and laurel trees were planted around the Altar of Zeus by Queen Frederika and King Paul as part of the efforts to restore the site with plants that would have been found there in antiquity. The museum

78-656: A better home for his collection. While attending the Washington Naval Treaty , American scholars showed interest in founding a dedicated facility in Greece. A dedicated neoclassical building was built, with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation , to house the 26,000 volumes donated by Gennadius. The building was designed by the New York firm of Van Pelt and Thompson, in the style of

104-659: A campus in Athens, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of the leading American research and teaching institutions in Greece, dedicated to the advanced study of all aspects of Greek culture, from antiquity to the present. Founded in 1881, the School is a consortium of nearly 200 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. It was the first American overseas research center, and today it

130-603: A classical temple with gardens. The library opened on 23 April 1926 and was named in honour of Gennadius' father, George Gennadius (1786–1854). Since 1999 the library has been expanded and modernised with air conditioning, a new auditorium, and an east wing. These were inaugurated in 2005 with new offices and storage areas for the Gennadeion Archives and the rest of the collection. These works were largely funded through fund raising in America, with Lloyd Cotsen as

156-442: A leading benefactor. Some of the original Gennadius collection has been digitized and placed on-line, including his scrapbooks and ephemera. 37°58′47.4″N 23°44′55.2″E  /  37.979833°N 23.748667°E  / 37.979833; 23.748667 American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens ( ASCSA ; Greek : Αμερικανική Σχολή Κλασικών Σπουδών στην Αθήνα )

182-513: A privately funded, nonprofit educational and cultural institution. The School's academic programs and research facilities are supervised by an academic advisory body known as the Managing Committee, which consists of elected representatives from a consortium of more than 190 North American colleges and universities. The Board of Trustees, composed of distinguished women and men from the world of business, law, philanthropy, and academia,

208-526: Is housed in the Stoa of Attalos , and its exhibits are connected with Athenian democracy . The collection of the museum includes clay, bronze and glass objects, sculptures, coins and inscriptions from the 7th to the 5th century B.C., as well as pottery of the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The exhibition within the museum contains works of art which describe the private and public life in ancient Athens. In 2012,

234-674: Is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens , Greece . It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federation of independent overseas research centers that promote advanced research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, with focus on the conservation and recording of cultural heritage and the understanding and interpretation of modern societies. With an administrative base in Princeton , New Jersey , and

260-619: Is responsible for the management of the School's endowment, finances, and property, and has legal responsibility for the ASCSA. The ASCSA has been involved in a large number of archaeological projects, as well as a major program of primary archaeological publications. It is responsible for two of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, the Athenian Agora and Ancient Corinth . The Corinth Excavations commenced in 1896 and have continued to present day with little interruption, and

286-505: Is the largest of the eighteen foreign institutes in Athens. It also provides the opportunity for students and scholars from around the world to explore the full range of scholarly resources in Greece. The American School operates excavations in the Athenian Agora and Ancient Corinth, two distinguished libraries, an archaeological science laboratory, and a publications department. The School remains, as its founders envisioned, primarily

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312-640: The Athenian Agora excavations first broke ground in 1932. At both sites, the ASCSA operates important museums and extensive facilities for the study of the archaeological record. Excavation records and artifacts are made available to wider audiences via ASCSA.net Other archaeological projects with ASCSA involvement, past and present, include surveys in the Southern Argolid , in Messenia and at Vrokastro ( Crete ) and excavations at Olynthus ( Greek Macedonia ), Samothrace ( North Aegean ),

338-516: The Temple of Hephaestus . These famous sculptors are attested in the agora by the discovery of signed pieces of work that could no longer be preserved. A marble statue signed and possibly carved by Bryaxis was found in the agora behind the Royal Stoa. The 4th century marble-worker known for his sculptures, made a colossal statue of Apollo for the Temple of Apollo Patroos on the west side of

364-420: The 4th-century sculptors Praxiteles , Bryaxis , and Euphranor . Phidias was the most well known marble-worker to have worked in the agora. He was famous for his gold and ivory cult statue of Zeus at Olympia , and for his three lost sculptures of Athena . A well-known associate of Phidias was Alcamenes , whose most important works in the agora were the bronze cult statues of Hephaestus and Athena in

390-575: The Athenian agora have proved that marble-workers were very active, the earliest workshops being established in the early 5th century . The earliest areas used by marble workers were the residential and industrial districts southwest of the agora. Another area where marble-workers set up shop was in the South Square, after the sack of Athens by the Roman general Sulla in 86 BC. As the South Square

416-727: The Hellenistic Stoa of Attalos was reconstructed on the east side of the agora, and today it serves as a museum and as storage and office space for the excavation team. A virtual reconstruction of the Ancient Agora of Athens has been produced through a collaboration of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Foundation of the Hellenic World , which had various output (3d video, VR real-time dom performance, and Google Earth 3d models). During

442-442: The agora excavations identified that generations of marble-workers made the agora of Athens an important center for the production of marble sculptures. Marble-workers made sculptures, marble weights, sundials , furniture parts, and an assortment of kitchen utensils. Excavations of the Athenian agora revealed the remains of many marble-working establishments, various unfinished statues, reliefs, and utilitarian objects. Excavations of

468-400: The agora. The ancient Athenian agora has been excavated by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) since 1931 under the direction of Thomas Leslie Shear , Sr. His wife, Josephine Platner Shear , supervised the digging and led the study and conservation of numismatics from the site, as well as making the discovery of a new 2nd-century C.E. Athenian coin. The excavation

494-423: The agora. Religious festivals were a significant opportunity for the women of Athens to participate in their social culture. As of the early 5th century , the Ancient Agora of Athens was known as glorious and richly decorated, set with famous works of art, many of them sculpted from marble . The buildings of the Athenian Agora had marble decoration and housed dedications in the form of marble statues. Finds from

520-439: The home. Additionally, some of these festivals were performed by women; these duties included officiating the worship of goddess Athena , patron goddess of the city. Performing these rituals for goddesses was a prerequisite for the daughters of aristocratic families . Women of all ranks and classes could be seen making offerings at the small shrines in the agora. Some women also set up substantial memorials to their piety within

546-735: The islet of Mitrou ( Central Greece ), Halai ( Phthiotis ), Isthmia , Kenchreai , Nemea , Sicyon (all in Corinthia ), Lerna , Argos , Franchthi cave and Halieis ( Argolid ), Mt. Lykaion (Acadia), Nichoria and the Palace of Nestor at Pylos ( Messenia ), Haghia Irini ( Keos ), as well as Azoria , Mochlos , Gournia , Kavousi and Kommos on Crete . ASCSA publishes the peer-reviewed journal Hesperia quarterly as well as monographs for final reports of archaeological fieldwork conducted under School auspices, supplements to Hesperia, Gennadeion monographs; and miscellaneous volumes relating to

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572-403: The market of the Athenian agora. Some of the products they sold included fruits, clothes, pottery , religious and luxury goods, perfume, incense , purple dye , wreaths, and ribbons. The Athenian calendar boasted several religious festivals that were held in the Athenian agora. These festivals were significant as they provided Ancient Athenian women with the opportunity to socialize outside of

598-554: The south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Agoraios Kolonos , also called Market Hill. The Agora's initial use was for a commercial, assembly, or residential gathering place. A number of other notable monuments were added to the agora. Some of these included: In the 4th and 5th centuries, there was significant evidence of women being innkeepers and merchants selling their products in

624-540: The work of the School. These books range in format from large hardbacks to slim paperback guides. 37°58′46″N 23°44′53″E  /  37.97944°N 23.74806°E  / 37.97944; 23.74806 Athenian Agora The ancient Agora of Athens (also called the Classical Agora ) is the best-known example of an ancient Greek agora , located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on

650-552: Was in ruins, marble-workers were attracted to the remains of the marble temples. A workshop from the southern corner of the agora was also important, the Library of Pantainos rented out rooms to marble-workers. Literacy and evidence from excavations give a sense of statues and famous marble sculptors in the Athenian agora. These famous marble-workers of the Agora include, the 5th-century master Phidias and his associate Alkamenes , and

676-408: Was negotiated and directed by the ASCSA's chair of the agora excavation committee, Edward Capps , whom the school would honor with a memorial overlooking the project. John McK Camp served as Director of the excavations since 1994, until his retirement in 2022. John K. Papadopoulos is now in the position of Director following Camp's retirement. After the initial phase of excavation, in the 1950s

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