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Divers Recover Lost 'Temple of Zeus' Sculpture From Sea Bed
Newsweek ^ | Published Feb 12, 2024, Updated Feb 16, 2024 | Aristos Georgiou

Posted on 02/18/2024 11:04:07 PM PST by SunkenCiv

...The stone relief, which depicts a prancing horse, was located near the mouth of the Akragas River off the coast of San Leone—a town on the southern coast of Sicily.... One of Italy's 20 regions, the island is located just off the "toe" of the country's "boot."

Sicily was first settled by ancient Greek colonists in the 8th century B.C., although the island was eventually conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century B.C...

While more research needs to be conducted to uncover the true nature of the find, experts believe it may have been designed as decoration for the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento—a hilltop city in Sicily located slightly inland from San Leone...

Agrigento is known for the ruins of the Akragas, an ancient city that was founded in the 6th century B.C. by Greek colonists. Akragas was an important city of Magna Graecia—a name the Romans used to refer to the coastal areas of southern Italy that were inhabited by Greek speakers. The settlement was nicknamed "the most beautiful city of mortals" by the ancient Greek poet Pindar.

Akragas is renowned for the Valley of the Temples archaeological site, which contains well-preserved ancient Greek temples. These include the Temple of Olympian Zeus—the largest temple ever constructed in the Doric architectural style, although it was never fully completed and now lies in ruins...

The recently recovered artifact, which lay at a depth of around 30 feet in a spot located almost 1,000 feet from the coast, was known about for several years, but had been dismissed in previous archaeological surveys as a "tub" or "basin" of no significance. Low visibility in the water had obscured its true form.

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: agrigento; akragas; coins; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; greece; magnagraecia; romanempire; sicily; zeus
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An image from the 3D model of the marble relief that was created using images captured in October, 2022. The relic, which lay off the coast of southern Sicily, was recently recovered by a team of divers.
Photo credit: BCsicilia |
Photo credit: BCsicilia


1 posted on 02/18/2024 11:04:07 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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Sicily's Lost Theater | Marco Merola | March/April 2019
Giuseppe Cavaleri
Giuseppe Cavaleri
Agrigento Crab Coin
Courtesy Marco Merola
Courtesy Marco Merola

2 posted on 02/18/2024 11:08:39 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

3 posted on 02/18/2024 11:09:24 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

So many experts are jackasses.


4 posted on 02/19/2024 12:24:54 AM PST by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: Dr. Franklin

Nice non-sequitur.


5 posted on 02/19/2024 12:26:46 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Nice non-sequitur.

It follows:
"The recently recovered artifact, which lay at a depth of around 30 feet in a spot located almost 1,000 feet from the coast, was known about for several years, but had been dismissed in previous archaeological surveys as a "tub" or "basin" of no significance."
6 posted on 02/19/2024 12:39:45 AM PST by Dr. Franklin ("A republic, if you can keep it." )
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To: Dr. Franklin
“dismissed “

Some where some guy is sitting with his head in his hands crying ... knowing he is the guy who said “naw that's nothing”

It seems like we are seeing a lot of these pagan artifacts returning alone with the paganism they celebrated.

Like demon-ism is swirling in the wind world wide.

7 posted on 02/19/2024 12:59:18 AM PST by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
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To: SunkenCiv

although it was never fully completed and now lies in ruins...

Happens alot to old stuff...such a shame that folks just let things go.


8 posted on 02/19/2024 2:36:45 AM PST by Adder (End fascism...defeat all Democrats.)
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To: 1of10

9 posted on 02/19/2024 2:40:48 AM PST by BipolarBob (I aim to misbehave.)
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To: SunkenCiv

This is not referring to the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World Temple of Zeus at Olympia, is it? I’m confused, because the article refers to a Temple of Olympian Zeus, which I’ve never seen the world wonder referred to in this way. Plus this is found off the coast of Sicily (the world wonder was in Athens), also, the article claims the Temple of Zeus was never completed, which I’ve never read that claim either.


10 posted on 02/19/2024 3:00:46 AM PST by KobraKai
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To: Adder
Happens alot to old stuff...such a shame that folks just let things go.

It is an artifact of how the human mind works.

The human mind builds shortcuts as the mind develops from childhood to adulthood.

A child’s mind does not know what is important and what is not.

As we grow we learn to judge what is important and what to disregard.

We learn to ignore things so as to give cognitive time to things that deserve our attention.

A researcher looked at this site and didn’t see anything that said this is important and moved on. A younger mind might see something completely differently. I child’s mind might see a treasure trove.

As a child nearly every sparkly rock was fascinating. The older you get the more you ignore.

With work you can keep the mind young. Keep taking on new task. Lear new things. Fight the building of cognitive shortcuts.

11 posted on 02/19/2024 4:23:05 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Agrigento is known for...

Having been over there a few times myself [in ancient times], I remember the giants lying on the ground. And the trees. 'Tis the season:

mènnula (Sicilian: almond)

ALMOND BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

DETAIL

Every year, Agrigento hosts the Almond Blossom Festival. This celebration, which has over 70 years of history, has evolved over the last 10 years with the addition of the International Folklore Festival. The Almond Blossom Festival is not just a visual spectacle, but a total immersion in Sicilian culture and traditions.

From 9 to 17 March 2024, Agrigento came alive with dances, songs, traditional costumes, poems and melodies of popular culture; all accompanied by local delicacies.

Event programme being updated.

https://www.visitsicily.info/en/evento-new/almond-blossom-festival/

According to those folks, it's already happened.

The stone relief, which depicts a prancing horse...

Reminds me of the Sicilian cart, because folk art souvenirs include tiny but fancy horse and wagon figurines made from matchsticks. I've got a couple of those horses 'prancing' near my front door.

Yeah, I know they're eons out of the timeline, but thanks for the memories.

12 posted on 02/19/2024 4:50:17 AM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Pontiac; Red Badger
A researcher looked at this site and didn’t see anything that said this is important and moved on. A younger mind might see something completely differently. I child’s mind might see a treasure trove.

As a child nearly every sparkly rock was fascinating. The older you get the more you ignore.

You stated as much wisdom as warning.

Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Kind of like how nobody likes a 5-year-old. But then if you look into admission prices for museums, art festivals and such, signage often indicates

5 & Under -- Free

They won't know what they're looking at anyway..

13 posted on 02/19/2024 5:02:34 AM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Ezekiel
Kind of like how nobody likes a 5-year-old. But then if you look into admission prices for museums, art festivals and such, signage often indicates

5 & Under -- Free

They won't know what they're looking at anyway..

A lot of that free stuff is to make it affordable for parents to come. Young parents don’t have frequently don’t excess cash for educational experiences that are unlikely to hold a child’s attention.

But take a 5 year old boy to a train museum it is likely to be a different story. Even in my sixties, I can spend hours.

By the way I am not a model railroader.

I think that there is just something about Railroads and Locomotives that speak to the male spirt.

14 posted on 02/19/2024 6:18:05 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: BipolarBob

WOW .... what the .... what is that
where is that?


15 posted on 02/19/2024 6:50:40 AM PST by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
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To: BipolarBob

Reminds me of the origins of the Minotaur. This time with wings. And they really expect people to honor a goat headed man, a product of beastiality?

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Minotaur

Minotaur, in Greek mythology, a fabulous monster of Crete that had the body of a man and the head of a bull. It was the offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, and a snow-white bull sent to Minos by the god Poseidon for sacrifice. Minos, instead of sacrificing it, kept it alive; Poseidon as a punishment made Pasiphae fall in love with it. Her child by the bull was shut up in the Labyrinth created for Minos by Daedalus.


16 posted on 02/19/2024 6:55:38 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Dr. Franklin

1,000 feet from the coast, so, it’s understandable. Could have been modern wreck debris, modern dumping, or a natural item. Unlike some of the FReepers around here who think whatever they happen to remember from school 60 years ago is fixed and immutable, some scientist learned about this and finally checked it out.


17 posted on 02/19/2024 7:31:25 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Pontiac
Certainly true about making it easy for the paying parents to afford a visit.

I was merely noting that the free-minded children are the ones who get in free, having ‘nothing to contribute’, yet then again, are free to ‘say the darndest things.’

No arguments about the interest in a train museum, but what's the difference between a train museum and an art museum?

Basically the former has some real live action to it, even with displays to climb and explore. Even just looking at the trains can be exciting for all of the fun adventure and visuals they inspire.

But then you take a lady like Mona Lisa 😐, who from a kid's perspective is just looking for any excuse to scold. 😄

Now here we are with an article about a prancing horse sculpture discovered off the coast of Sicily, and what does it make me think of? The miniature plastic horses pulling the little Sicilian matchstick carts, and memories of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.

Eh, so I walked over to the tiny, delicate things and picked them up to admire them for a bit. They made me smile.

Incorrigible am I.

18 posted on 02/19/2024 7:33:06 AM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". 🔴 Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with MARS ♂️, aka every man)
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To: Ezekiel

Sounds great! I just had some almonds a few minutes ago, but there are zero ancient ruins around here, what a gyp.

The Icarus statue is modern (turns out), but probably was inspired by the fallen masonry statue/statues there and a remnant of an ancient bronze head.

https://www.dreamstime.com/editorial-stock-photo-bronze-head-valley-temples-sicily-agrigento-italy-june-area-has-largest-best-preserved-ancient-greek-image88761453


19 posted on 02/19/2024 7:45:09 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/valley-temples-22700931.jpg

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/bronze-head-valley-temples-sicily-agrigento-italy-june-area-has-largest-best-preserved-ancient-greek-88761453.jpg


20 posted on 02/19/2024 7:50:00 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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