Mycenaean Gold Exhibition and Seminar
(1) An exhibition entitled "Mycenaean Treasures: Jewelry and Precious Objects
of the Aegean Late Bronze Age", organized by the Greek Ministry of Culture.
The exhibition is open to the public in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate
Office Building, Washington, DC. Dates are: Jan. 31, 1996 (7:00 am-7:00 pm),
Feb. 1 (7:00 am-7:00 pm), and Feb. 2 (7:00 am - 2:00 pm).
(2) A seminar entitled "A Mycenaean Treasure Trove: Repatriated Jewelry Goes
Home", cosponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the Society for the
Preservation of the Greek Heritage. Seminar date is: Jan. 27, 1996 (9:30
am-4:30 pm), at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Call
202-357-3030 for more information or to register.
The Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations are the most brilliant cultures of
Greek prehistory and the earliest high civilizations of Europe. The
exhibition displays a collection of precious objects of Minoan-Mycenaean
style: gold signet and finger rings, sealstones and beads in a variety of
forms and materials, including gold, semi-precious stones, glass and amber.
Most of the objects can be dated to ca. 1500-1400 BC.
In 1993 this collection was exhibited for sale in an art gallery in New York.
Greece claimed that the objects had been obtained through illicit excavation
and removed illegally from the country and filed suit in U.S. Federal Court
to recover them. The gallery owner agreed to donate the disputed objects to
the Society for the Preservation of the Greek Heritage, a non-profit
organization. The Society is returning the collection to Greece, following
this exhibition.
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