School of homer

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"School of Homer", is a 'place name' given to an area on northern Ithaca island (Ithaki - Ιθακη), in 1930s by the archaeologists of the English (British) Archaeological School.

'School of Homer' is the proof that Ithaki was, is and will remain 'Homer's Ithaca'. (Spiros Arsenis, Ex mayor of Ithaca)[1]

A GREAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY ON ITHACA, REPRESENTATIONS OF ODYSSEY ON ANCIENT SIGN

The German archaeological magazine “KADMOS” publish an announcement by 2 Greek archeologists Ms Litsas Kontorli and Mr Thanassis Papadopoulos along with G. Owens, a British specialist in Ancient scripts.

They describe a significant archaeological finding. A sign made of clay found together with many other at the “School of Homer” location on Ithaca Island, The sign was found during the excavation works by the Archaeological School of Ioannina University, Greece.

On the sign we observe a boat, a man, some monstrous figures, a trident and elements of a possible “Linear B” written on it.

This is of great importance because, Linear B signs in Greece have only been found within and nearby ancient Royal facilities.

A recently announcement by the Central Archaeological Council of Greece, which declares the area of “Agios Athanasios – School of Homer” a building complex of two levels, that are connected with stair steps curved on a giant rock, gives a huge boost to the Archaeological research and excavations and the particular site becomes of key importance in the quest for the Homeric truth and Ulysses Palace.

A few months ago the Ministry of Culture announced also the expropriation of the specific archaeological area.

The discovery is getting a greater meaning, due to a number of similar ancient signs found together in a waterlogged Tholos Tomb, at the “School of Homer”, that also illustrate representations from “Odyssey” and “Iliad”

Now the people and institutions involved in the research, believe that the Greek state will finally provide a generous funding of the specific archaeological effort matching its scientific importance.

In a parallel interview to the well known reporter and writer Zan Kormie for the French “Le Parisien”, the two Greek archaeologists argue that the facts suggest an approach to Odysseus palace on Ithaca”

If it proves to be true this discovery will be marked as the greatest for the archaeological world in the 21st century.

A POSSIBLE LINEAR SIGN FROM ITHAKI (AB09 ‘SE’) ?

Ithaki, in the Ionian Islands, near the Peloponnese, was important in the Bronze Age for Minoan and Mycenaean trade1. There is evidence for both Minoan and Mycenaean presence on the island, demonstrated most recently by the find of the Minoan idol in the 2001 excavations2. It is of note and of interest that a Minoan idol was also found at Kafkania near Olympia in the Peloponnese along with the controversial Linear inscribed pebble3. Also it is of note that a Minoan idol and a Masons’ Mark have also been found at Pylos.4. It is interesting to see the connection between Pylos, Olympia and Ithaki in West Greece. The same geographical connection is also testified to in the Late Bronze Age by both Minoan and/or Mycenaean finds related to trade and cult and possibly scribal matters.

After studying the finds themselves and the detailed photographs of the finds from the University of Ioannina excavations at the “School of Homer”, which the excavators were kind enough to make available, it is possible to make the following observations 5. From the waterlogged Tholos Tomb, at the “School of Homer”, on the clay object in question (possibly a badly-preserved tablet c.10-11cm. in length, c.6-7cm. in height and c.2cm.thick) there are a number of features including what may be a possible Linear sign. It would appear to be AB 09, which in the syllabic scripts has the syllabic sound value ‘SE’6. Of course, one sign does not an inscription make7.

The excavators have now also reported finding other clay objects, (possibly other badly preserved tablets), in the waterlogged Tholos Tomb at the “School of Homer” which may bear signs and which are currently being studied8. It will be instructive to look at possible comparanda within the corpus of Minoan and Mycenaean scripts of the Bronze Age Aegean9.

Minoan Linear A

AB09 is found approximately 60 times in Minoan Linear A at places such as Haghia Triada and Zakros, as well as Khania, Arkhanes, Prassa, Phaistos, Knossos and Gournia10. On 2 occasions AB09 is standing as an abbreviation on its own at LMIB Haghia Triada HT Wc 3004b and 3005 (GORILA 2, 1979, p.73). The closest

palaeographic examples in Minoan Linear A also seem to be from Haghia Triada in the Mesara in Crete.

Mycenaean Linear B

AB09 is also found many times in Linear B at Knossos (c.1400 B.C.) and Pylos (c.1200 B.C.), as well as on a few occasions at Mycenae and Thebes (c.1300-1200 B.C.) but not yet in the very few records from Khania and Tiryns (c.1300-1200B.C.)11. This is a very common sign and there are no immediate comparanda which can be made other than to say that this sign AB09 found on Linear B tablets can be found in Crete, Peloponnese and Boeotia, i.e., throughout Mycenaean Greece. In conclusion it is intriguing to ask whether this is a possible Linear sign with special significance for Ithaki?

(KADMOS “A Possible Linear Sign AB09 ‘SE’ from Ithaki?” Kadmos 44 :2 (2005)p.183-186. L.Kontorli-Papadopoulou, Th.Papadopoulos (University of Ioannina) and Gareth Owens.)

KYKLOTERES MONUMENT

During the last five years a great number of broken unbaked clay tablets have been found in the so-called “kykloteres monument”.

They vary in size between 4 -15 cm and in thickness between 0,05-0,2cm, and only a few preserve their slightly out-stretched endings, while some of them preserve their inner square dividing.

They are made of fine yellow-brown clay, sometimes being refined. Most of them were found on the open surface, outside the monument, while others, unfortunately severely damaged, were discovered inside the monument, which was full of water.

As a rule they are flat, but there are some slightly convex, which made their identification as tablets difficult, because all other tablets from elsewhere in Greece were made of unbaked clay, their baking being the result of the fire, which destroyed the archives of the Mycenaean palaces.

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