scholarly journals Museum of Light: The New Acropolis Museum and the Campaign to Repatriate the Elgin Marbles

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Beresford
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Public Display ◽  
Bright Sunlight ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Of Greece

It is almost half-a-dozen years since the New Acropolis Museum in Athens was inaugurated in June 2009, following a gestation period of over three decades. Before, during and after the construction of the building, the importance of natural light was frequently emphasised by the Museum’s Swiss-French architect, Bernard Tschumi, as well as many Greek government officials, archaeologists, and other heritage professionals. The manner in which the same bright sunlight illuminates both the Parthenon and the temple’s decorative sculptures which are now on display in the Museum, is also routinely referenced by campaigners advocating a return of those sculptures that were removed from the Athenian Acropolis on the orders of Lord Elgin between 1801–03 and subsequently shipped to London. Following the purchase of the collection by the British government in 1816, the Marbles of the Elgin Collection were presented to the British Museum, where they are presently on display in Room 18, the Duveen Gallery. However, for more than two centuries it has been maintained that the sculptures can only be truly appreciated when viewed in the natural light of Athens. Even before the completion of the New Acropolis Museum there were bitter attacks on the manner in which the Marbles are displayed in the British Museum, and the quality of the illumination afforded to the sculptures in the Duveen Gallery. The aesthetics of the Attic light has therefore taken its place as one of the principal weapons in the armoury of Greek officials and international campaigners seeking the return of the Marbles removed by Lord Elgin. Nonetheless, this paper will argue against the accepted orthodoxy that the New Acropolis Museum replicates the original light conditions many of the sculptures from the temple experienced when on the Parthenon. Indeed, this article will dispute the goal of many architects, politicians, and heritage professionals of the need ensure that, when on public display, all of the Parthenon sculptures are bathed in bright natural light. The ability to display the Marbles in the sun-drenched gallery of the New Acropolis Museum forges a powerful link binding the environment of Classical Athens with the present-day capital of Greece, offering politicians and activists seeking the repatriation of the Elgin Marbles a potent weapon wielded to great effect. However, the politically motivated design parameters laid on the museum, requiring the building admit vast amounts of natural Attic light, has destroyed the architectural context the Marbles were displayed in when originally affixed to the temple in the fifth century BC.

The Type of the Crouching Child and the ‘Temple Boys’

1969 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 95-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodora Hadzisteliou-Price
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Young Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Of Greece

Statuettes of children crouching on the floor with one knee bent up or both legs folded have been found in many parts of Greece, in sanctuaries, graves, and living quarters. In the course of a study of the cult of the Greek Kourotrophos there arose the problem of their typology and interpretation, as such statuettes are common finds in the sanctuaries of deities concerned with child-care. Before one can come to any speculations about their meaning and use, the type must be examined; its origin, distribution, and variations.The crouching posture is not uncommon in eastern, especially Egyptian art. Child-Horus, crouching on the lotus, appears in Egyptianizing Phoenician ivories from the early first millennium B.C. Faience pendants of a squatting child, datedc. 900 B.C., were excavated in tombs in Lachish. Most interesting for this study is the small faience statuette of a crouching boy from an Egyptian grave, now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Plate 20, 1). It is exactly in the posture that the Greek examples appear in: one knee bent up, the other on the floor; it has its finger on its mouth and bears the side-curl of youth. A real child is represented. This is also the case with three statuettes in the British Museum, one in copper and two in ivory, the latter inscribed with the names and titles of the owners. They too come from graves. All are dated around the beginning of the second millennium B.C. by a statuette of the same type coming from the tomb of the Pharaoh Pepi II. It is interesting to know that this posture and the hand on the mouth, as well as the nudity, are significant of young age in Egypt, since the hieroglyph for youth is a naked figure in this posture.

DIAGNOSING QUALITY OF FRICTION SYSTEMS OF MECHANISMS OF DEVICES

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
D. Yu. Ershov ◽  
I. N. Lukyanenko ◽  
E. E. Aman
Keyword(s):  
Surface Defects ◽  
Diagnostic Methods ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Diagnostic Model ◽  
Mechanical Assemblies ◽  
Local Defects ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Production And Operation

The article shows the need to develop diagnostic methods for monitoring the quality of lubrication systems, which makes it possible to study the dynamic processes of contacting elements of the friction systems of instrument mechanisms, taking into account roughness parameters, the presence of local surface defects of elements and the bearing capacity of a lubricant. In the present article, a modern diagnostic model has been developed to control the quality of the processes of production and operation of friction systems of instrument assemblies. With the help of the developed model, it becomes possible to establish the relationship of diagnostic and design parameters of the mechanical system, as well as the appearance of possible local defects and lubricant state, which characterize the quality of friction systems used in many mechanical assemblies of the mechanisms of devices. The research results are shown in the form of nomograms to assess the defects of the elements of friction mechanisms of the mechanisms of the devices.

Fostering Statistical Literacy in Greece

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Athanasios C. Thanopoulos ◽  
Christina Karamichalakou
Keyword(s):  
Official Statistics ◽  
Statistical Literacy ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Specific Strategy ◽  
Statistical Institute ◽  
Convincing Case ◽  
Institutional Foundations ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
Dual Capacity

The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), the National Statistical Institute of Greece, as the guarantor of the quality of official statistics in Greece, has been pursuing, since 2016, an ambitious strategy aiming to foster Statistical Literacy, focusing on strengthening ties with citizens in their dual capacity both as providers of data and ultimately as users of statistics, and thus, operate as crucial enablers of a smoothly functioning virtuous circle of official statistics. Objectives include the development of an understanding of basic methodologies and tools used in official statistics, along with the awareness of its institutional foundations and core principles. This critically contributes to the value of official statistics being spread and effectively communicated, making, at the same time, a convincing case for fact-based decision making in the daily lives of the main stakeholders. This article motivates the approach followed in developing a specific strategy on statistical literacy, outlines its philosophy and main objectives and browses through the array of initiatives and actions undertaken over the last five years. In addition, it explores the responsiveness of citizens to these initiatives and the extent to which these initiatives lead to an increased engagement of key targeted stakeholders.

Research on the Optimal Design Method of the Main Components for the Wheelchair Pickup

2013 ◽  
Vol 791-793 ◽  
pp. 799-802
Author(s):  
Ya Ping Wang ◽  
H.R. Shi ◽  
L. Gao ◽  
Z. Wang ◽  
X.Y. Jia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parametric Design ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Basic Function ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Algorithm Optimization ◽  
Optimization Analysis ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Optimal Design Method ◽  
Main Components

With the increasing of the aging of population all over the world, and With the inconvenience coming from diseases and damage, there will be more and more people using the wheelchair as a tool for transport. When it cant be short of the wheelchair in the daily life, the addition of the function will bring the elevation of the quality of life for the unfortunate. Staring with this purpose, the research designs a pickup with planetary bevel gear for the wheelchair. After determining the basic function of the wheelchair aids, the study determines the design parameters by using the knowledge of parametric design and completes the model for the system with Pro/E, on the other hand, it completes key components optimization analysis which is based on genetic algorithm optimization.

Research on the Reliability of Box for Gear Test Bed

2011 ◽  
Vol 121-126 ◽  
pp. 1744-1748
Author(s):  
Xiang Yang Jin ◽  
Tie Feng Zhang ◽  
Li Li Zhao ◽  
He Teng Wang ◽  
Xiang Yi Guan
Keyword(s):  
Power Flow ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
The Finite Element Method ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Kinematics Simulation ◽  
Beveloid Gears ◽  
Overall Performance

To determine the efficiency, load-bearing capacity and fatigue life of beveloid gears with intersecting axes, we design a mechanical gear test bed with closed power flow. To test the quality of its structure and predict its overall performance, we establish a three-dimensional solid model for various components based on the design parameters and adopt the technology of virtual prototyping simulation to conduct kinematics simulation on it. Then observe and verify the interactive kinematic situation of each component. Moreover, the finite element method is also utilized to carry out structural mechanics and dynamics analysis on some key components. The results indicate that the test bed can achieve the desired functionality, and the static and dynamic performance of some key components can also satisfy us.

Lighting Environment Study on Rural Residential Buildings in Weihe Plain of China

2012 ◽  
Vol 193-194 ◽  
pp. 1165-1173
Author(s):  
Xi Liao ◽  
Jing Luo ◽  
Yuan Jiang ◽  
Yi Ping Zhu ◽  
Wen Bo Wu
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Indoor Space ◽  
Environment Quality ◽  
Environment Study ◽  
Physical And Psychological Health ◽  
Lighting Environment ◽  
Indoor Lighting

As an important index reflecting residential quality, the lighting environment level of residential buildings exerts tremendous influence on both physical and psychological health of residents. Taking a typical rural house in Weihe Plain as example, with indoor lighting environment test, lighting habits of the resident and Ecotect software, the paper studies indoor lighting environment quality of rural residential buildings in Weihe Plain and analyzes the influence of residential buildings' design on lighting environment. The result shows that rural residents in Weihe Plain usually don’t attach due importance to the lighting environment quality of living space, and the design of indoor space goes against effective utilization of natural light. Thus, the paper eventually brings forward a method to consummate the lighting environment of rural residential buildings and explores the buildings’ potential of saving energy by making use of natural light.

Art and Archaeology

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Nigel Spivey
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Attractive Feature ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Subsistence Economy ◽  
Islamic School ◽  
The People ◽  
Annales School ◽  
The Temple ◽  
Of Greece

The front cover of John Bintliff's Complete Archaeology of Greece is interesting. There is the Parthenon: as most of its sculptures have gone, the aspect is post-Elgin. But it stands amid an assortment of post-classical buildings: one can see a small mosque within the cella, a large barrack-like building between the temple and the Erechtheum, and in the foreground an assortment of stone-built houses – so this probably pre-dates Greek independence and certainly pre-dates the nineteenth-century ‘cleansing’ of all Byzantine, Frankish, and Ottoman remains from the Athenian Akropolis (in fact the view, from Dodwell, is dated 1820). For the author, it is a poignant image. He is, overtly (or ‘passionately’ in today's parlance), a philhellene, but his Greece is not chauvinistically selective. He mourns the current neglect of an eighteenth-century Islamic school by the Tower of the Winds; and he gives two of his colour plates over to illustrations of Byzantine and Byzantine-Frankish ceramics. Anyone familiar with Bintliff's Boeotia project will recognize here an ideological commitment to the ‘Annales school’ of history, and a certain (rather wistful) respect for a subsistence economy that unites the inhabitants of Greece across many centuries. ‘Beyond the Akropolis’ was the war-cry of the landscape archaeologists whose investigations of long-term patterns of settlement and land use reclaimed ‘the people without history’ – and who sought to reform our fetish for the obvious glories of the classical past. This book is not so militant: there is due consideration of the meaning of the Parthenon Frieze, of the contents of the shaft graves at Mycenae, and suchlike. Its tone verges on the conversational (an attractive feature of the layout is the recurrent sub-heading ‘A Personal View’); nonetheless, it carries the authority and clarity of a textbook – a considerable achievement.

From tools to production: recent research on textile economies in Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
Bela Dimova ◽  
Margarita Gleba
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Wool Fibre ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Textile Production ◽  
Spindle Whorls ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Of Greece

The aim of this report is to provide a summary of the latest developments in the textile archaeology of Greece and the broader Aegean from the Neolithic through to the Roman period, focusing in particular on recent research on textile tools. Spindle-whorls and loomweights appeared in the Aegean during the Neolithic and by the Early Bronze Age weaving on the warp-weighted loom was well established across the region. Recent methodological advances allow the use of the physical characteristics of tools to estimate the quality of the yarns and textiles produced, even in the absence of extant fabrics. The shapes of spindle-whorls evolved with the introduction of wool fibre, which by the Middle Bronze Age had become the dominant textile raw material in the region. The spread of discoid loomweights from Crete to the wider Aegean has been linked to the wider Minoanization of the area during the Middle Bronze Age, as well as the mobility of weavers. Broader issues discussed in connection with textile production include urbanization, the spread of different textile cultures and the identification of specific practices (sealing) and previously unrecognized technologies (splicing), as well as the value of textiles enhanced by a variety of decorative techniques and purple dyeing.

scholarly journals The Bronze Trumpeter at Sparta and the Earthquake of 464 b.c.

1909 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-62
Author(s):  
Leonard Whibley
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
British School ◽  
The Temple

Among the objects discovered in the excavation of the temple of Athena Chalkioikos at Sparta is a small bronze figure of a trumpeter (illustrated in the Annual of the British School at Athens, xiii p. 146). Mr. Dickins, who says that the figure ‘can be dated without hesitation in the middle of the fifth century,’ regards ‘the presence of a trumpeter as a dedication in Sparta as perplexing, because the Spartans marched to battle to the sound of flutes, and made no use of trumpets for martial music’. This is, I think, the view generally held. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a possible reason for the dedication of the trumpeter at the date, which the style of the work suggests.

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