Greek ship carrying parts of Parthenon gives up more secrets

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The last diving expedition to the wreck of the Mentor, which sank just off the island of Kythera (also spelled Kithira and Kythira) in 1802, recovered several pieces of the ship’s rigging, coins, the sole leather shoe, a metal buckle, a token for playing cards, two chess pieces, fragments of kitchen utensils and other seemingly mundane objects.

When she sank, the ship was carrying chipped marble sculptures of the severely damaged Parthenon to Athens – later known as “Elgin Marbles or Parthenon beads. These spectacular sculptures – which depict Greek gods, heroes and animals – are now on display in the British Museum in London.

Related: 20 of the most mysterious wrecks of all time

But the small items recovered from the wreck reveal intriguing aspects of the lives of people aboard the ship when it sank, said marine archaeologist Dimitris Kourkoumelis, of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, a department of the Greek ministry. of Culture and Sports.

“The aim is to understand how people lived and what life was like on board, not only for the passengers but also for the crew,” Kourkoumelis told Live Science. “We have found gold coins from Utrecht in Holland, as well as from Spain, as well as coins from the Ottoman Empire – so it was really a cosmopolitan group [of people] on the mentor. ”

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The Mentor's wreck is best known for the Parthenon statues it wore when it sank, but Greek excavations have focused on recovering much smaller objects. — The Mentor’s wreck is best known for the Parthenon statues it wore when it sank, but Greek excavations have focused on recovering much smaller objects. (Image credit: V. Tsiairis)

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The Mentor managed to stay afloat until her crew and passengers rushed over the rocks of Kythera, but she sank quickly after that; much of the wooden hull is now surrounded by boulders. — The Mentor managed to stay afloat until her crew and passengers rushed over the rocks of Kythera, but she sank quickly after that; much of the wooden hull is now surrounded by rocks. (Image credit: V. Tsiairis)

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Many of the items recovered in recent excavations were pieces of the ship's hull and rigging; the Mentor was built in America and they don't look like parts of Mediterranean ships of the same age. — Many items recovered during recent excavations were pieces of the ship’s hull and rigging; the Mentor was built in America and they don’t look like parts of Mediterranean ships of the same age. (Image credit: G. Issaris)

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Divers on the last archaeological expedition to the Mentor shipwreck, which sank in 1802 with valuable sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens on board. (Image credit: G. Issaris)

Contested sculptures

The Mentor was an American-built brig that belonged to British diplomat Thomas Bruce, a Scottish nobleman named the Seventh Earl of Elgin. Elgin, as it was called, used the ship to transport antiques he collected to England while stationed in Constantinople as British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. the Mentor quickly sank under about 20 meters of seawater.

Elgin’s secretary, William Hamilton, then spent nearly two years in Kythera, overseeing the recovery of the sculptures by sponge divers, who were paid to retrieve them from the wreck without any scuba gear.

Related: 30 of the world’s most precious treasures that are still missing

The sculptures were then shipped to England and Elgin sold them to the British Museum in 1816.

Elgin claimed he paid for the sculptures and obtained a decree from the ruling Ottoman government to take them. But no evidence of the decree has ever been found, according to the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, a non-governmental organization.

When Greece regained its independence from the Ottomans in 1832, it began a series of projects to recover looted artwork, and the Elgin Marbles were at the top of the list. Since then, all successive Greek governments have demanded that the sculptures be returned. So far, however, the British Museum has refused, although it has offered to lend them temporarily.

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Remains of the Parthenon, one of the buildings of the Acropolis of Athens. — The Parthenon was a temple of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis of Athens; it was in ruins when Lord Elgin claimed to have purchased the marbles that adorned it. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

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The latest excavations have also made it possible to recover the metal part of a loop; the leather band she had tied has now rotted. (Image credit: P. Vezirtzis)

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Archaeological expeditions to the wreck of the Mentor in previous years have resulted in the recovery of many artefacts, including bottles of coins, part of a watch, and part of a clay pipe. (Image credit: Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities)

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Artifacts recovered from the Mentor's shipwreck by Greek government excavations include several pieces of gold jewelry and gold coins, such as this Spanish coin from 1756. — Artifacts recovered from the Mentor’s shipwreck by Greek government excavations include several pieces of gold jewelry and gold coins, such as this Spanish coin from 1756. (Image credit: Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities)

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This metal coin or game piece recovered during the last excavations would have been used as a token in a card game. (Image credit: P. Vezirtzis)

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The Parthenon statues and marble friezes that were on board the Mentor when it sank have been recovered and sold to the British Museum, where they are now on display. (Image credit: Andrew Dunn, CC BY 2.0)

Famous shipwreck

Kourkoumelis has led diving expeditions to the Mentor wreck every summer since 2009, after the Greek government enacted legislation to protect the wreck and officially ordered state archaeologists to excavate it.

According to Kourkoumelis, the construction of the Mentor is very different from that of similar ships built in the Mediterranean. “American ships were built to travel on the high seas, so they were a lot stronger – it’s very interesting to work on a ship like this,” he said.

The wooden ship is now rotting after more than 200 years under the waves, and only a few more years of excavation will be possible, he said.

No more items from Elgin’s collection have ever been found, but the wreck has yielded many small items over the years, including gold jewelry, ancient coins and Greek pottery that came from probably private collections of some of the passengers on board when mentioned.

The most recent finds from last year included two wooden chess pieces – six other pieces of the same set were found in previous years – and a token or metal piece that was likely used in a deck of cards. .

Archaeologists plan to scientifically examine all of the artifacts, many of which will be on display at the Acropolis Museum of Athens, said Kourkoumelis. The museum already exhibits about half of the Parthenon sculptures that remain, and it has a space reserved for the Elgin Marbles if they ever returned to Greece.

“We are in the process of searching the ship which is associated with one of the most painful episodes in recent Greek history,” Kourkoumelis said. “I think it’s very important to show that we’re not just asking for things, but working to protect everything that’s involved.”

Originally posted on Live Science.

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