Best Laid Plans?
More than 200 years ago, Lord Elgin insisted that he took the “Parthenon marbles”, the sculptures from the Parthenon friezes, as well as other antiquities, from Greece “for safekeeping”. Unfortunately, as his double-masted ship, the Mentor, made its way from Athens to Malta and then the UK in 1802, it crashed into rocks near the Greek island of Kythera. Way to go, Tommy.
Fortunately, his crew and passengers all survived, and helped the larcenous Lord recover the marbles and some of the other treasures. But, most of the “loot” remained in Poseidon’s lair until this decade, when several Greek expeditions have recovered caches of ancient coins, jewels, statues, porcelain, tools, and even a leg splint.
Apparently, the currents between the islands of Kythera and Antikythera were not the friendliest waters; the Greek Ministry of Culture is announcing new discoveries from the downed vessel which held the famous Antikythera mechanism:
(the world’s first analogical computer, used by ancient Greeks to chart the movement of the sun, moon and planets, predict lunar and solar eclipses and even signal the next Olympic Games).
Ancient vases, bronze tools, and even some surviving bones have been brought to the surface for analysis—and eventual museum display.
Sammy Greene’s latest adventure in the thriller Deep Waters was a deep dive into the dangerous hunt for artifacts and treasure from shipwrecks in and around the Mediterranean. Sent to cover a weather-challenged recovery effort, Sammy witnesses the tragic death of an experienced diver, and the murder of an archaeology professor attending the opening of an exhibit featuring a machine like the Antikythera device and the remains of a giant bronze statue of mysterious origins. Sammy’s own life is in danger as she and her ex-cop buddy Gus Pappajohn investigate the modern deaths and uncover an ancient mystery.
Check out this link to ArtNet article and another to the Greek Reporter describing the latest salvage of some of the wreckage of Lord Elgin’s sunken ship.
Now check out Deep Waters for an exciting thriller that finds Sammy Greene and Gus Pappajohn solving an ancient and modern mystery.
This blog was written by Linda Reid, co-author of Deep Waters