National Museum, Epigraphical Museum (APRIL 4-6, 2009)

Hello again! This weekend was relatively uneventful, as I was simply exhausted from my first full week in Athens. On Saturday, I slept in and just relaxed all day, going out for lunch and dinner and the occasional trips up to the Athens Centre to sit on the steps and leech off of the wireless connection so I could talk to Katt. On Sunday, seeing as it was a free day at all museums and sites, I went with Paul, Helma, Eric, Stacy, and Prya to the Epigraphical Museum, where they had over 13000 inscriptions found across Greece. Some of the highlights were the oldest inscription found in Athens from the 8^th century BC, the order by Themistokles to retreat to the Acropolis during the Persian Wars, the decree found on the cover of Mastronarde's Introduction to Attic Greek (which was my favorite), large stelae inscribed with the Athenian tribute lists, a catlog of deceased soldiers from ca. 411 BC (likely form the Sicilian Expedition), and ostraka (potsherds inscribed with the names of men nominated for ostracism, or forced exile) inscribed with the names of Themistokles, Pericles, and Thucydides (the politician, not the historian). After the Epigraphical Museum, Helma bought us lunch at a café and we then went into the National Archaeological Museum, my first of MANY visits in the coming months, to get a taste of it all. We saw the geometric funerary krater with the woman on the bier and hair-pulling mourners, the golden "Mask of Agamemnon" complete with the fake 19^th-century Bavarian mustache added by Schliemann, as well as the Vase Collection upstairs and the frescoes and finds from Akrotiri, the Minoan site on Thera/Santorini. After that we made a quick stop for caffeine in the museum café, browsed the museum shop, and since it was rainy and could get worse, and Eric was worried about his bank card (he went to the bank and then realized it was Sunday), we headed back, where I sat and relaxed in my windowsill listening to The World According to Clarkson, and just relaxed, having pita and feta for dinner. After sleeping in and being woken up by the schoolkids across the street, I went to get food, talk to Katt, and finally catch up on my blog. So, that being accomplished, until next time…