Margherita Guarducci (20 December 1902, in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
– 2 September 1999, in Rome) was an Italian archaeologist, classical scholar, and
epigrapher
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
. She was a major figure in several crucial moments of the 20th century academic community. A student of
Federico Halbherr
Federico Halbherr (Rovereto, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 15 February 1857 – Rome, 17 July 1930) was an Italian archaeologist and epigrapher, known for his excavations of Crete. A contemporary, good friend, and trusted advisor of Arthu ...
, she edited his works after his death. She was the first woman to lead
archaeological excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
at the Vatican, succeeding
Ludwig Kaas
Ludwig Kaas (23 May 1881 – 15 April 1952) was a German Roman Catholic priest and politician of the Centre Party during the Weimar Republic. He was instrumental in brokering the Reichskonkordat between the Holy See and the German Reich.
E ...
, and completed the excavations on
Saint Peter's tomb
Saint Peter's tomb is a site under St. Peter's Basilica that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of Saint Peter's grave. St. Peter's tomb is alleged near the west end ...
, identifying finds as relics of
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
. She has also engaged in discussions on the authenticity of the
Praeneste fibula
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, image = Praeneste fibula.JPG
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, material = Gold
, s ...
, arguing that its inscription is a forgery.
Background
She was one of the top archaeologists of the Italian Archaeological Mission at Crete sponsored since 1910 by the Italian Archaeological School of Athens and in this capacity she published the work of Halbherr, her teacher – the ''Inscriptiones Creticæ'', which included inscriptions in Greek and Latin on the island of Crete. She also worked on excavating artifacts related to the
Gortyn code
The Gortyn code (also called the Great Code) was a legal code that was the codification of the civil law of the ancient Greek city-state of Gortyn in southern Crete.
History
Our sole source of knowledge of the code is the fragmentary boustro ...
and is most noted for her publications regarding that inscription.
She obtained the designation of "docent" for the teaching of Epigraphy and Ancient Greek at the
University of Rome "La Sapienza", holding that position until 1973. She continued to teach at the
National School of Archeology
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
of Rome, where she was also director, until 1978. While teaching Greek epigraphy she wrote four volumes on the subject and a compendium covering it from its origins to the late Roman Empire. At the end of her academic career she was named
Professor Emerita
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
at the University
La Sapienza
The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...
.
Since 1956 she was affiliated with the
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...
, and appointed as a member of the
Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia in 1969.
Guarducci received two honorary degrees from the
Università Cattolica di Milano and the
University of Rennes
The University of Rennes is a public research university which will be officially reconstituted on 1 January 2023 and located in the city of Rennes, in Upper Brittany, France. The University of Rennes has been divided for almost 50 years, before ...
. Her works are now published by
Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
The Italian Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS) (State Mint and Polygraphic Institute), founded in 1928, is situated at the via Salaria 691 in Rome. As well as producing coins, passports, and postage stamps for Italy, it serves the mic ...
.
Crete and the ''Inscriptiones Creticæ''
Receiving her diploma in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
in 1924, she attended the National School of Archeology in Rome from 1927 onwards, then proceeding to Athens. She was one of the first Italian women scholars to practice archaeology in Greece. She was appointed director of the
Scuola Alessandro Della Seta and headed up the excavations on the island of Crete, a Greek territory since 1880.
There she met
Federico Halbherr
Federico Halbherr (Rovereto, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 15 February 1857 – Rome, 17 July 1930) was an Italian archaeologist and epigrapher, known for his excavations of Crete. A contemporary, good friend, and trusted advisor of Arthu ...
, a student of archeology from Florence's
Domenico Comparetti
Domenico Comparetti (27 June 183520 January 1927) was an Italian scholar. He was born at Rome and died at Florence.
Life
He studied at the University of Rome La Sapienza, took his degree in 1855 in natural science and mathematics, and entered his ...
. Guarducci began collaborating with Halbherr and became his favorite pupil during the excavations of the Cretan city of Gortyna. Her work there would continue after the death of Halbherr in 1930.
After Halbherr's death, the project fell under the direction of the Cretan Louis Pernier. Guarducci, whose interests lay primarily in
epigraphy
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
, took on the task of completing Halbherr's life's work which was to compile a single work of the Greek and Latin inscriptions of Crete after the 7th century BC. She began a long period of reconnaissance throughout the island, verifying the accuracy of the earlier readings of Halbherr, making corrections and adding new information. She continued this work full-time until 1931 when she was appointed the chair of Ancient Greek epigraphy at the ''Università di Roma "La Sapienza"'' where she served until 1950. It was here she was to publish the result of twenty years of research entitled the ''Inscriptiones Creticæ'', which was published between 1935 and 1950. That work is considered the definitive collection of epigraphic entries, as well as the major compilation of the archeology and topography of the ancient city of
Gortyna
Gortyna ( grc, Γόρτυνα; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus of ...
in Crete.
The work is in four volumes based on geography (Central Crete, Western Crete, Eastern Crete, and Gortyna), and bears the full title of ''Inscriptiones Creticæ, opera et consilio Friderici Halbherr collectae, Guarducci curavit Margarita'', and is written in Latin, as required by the tradition of epigraphic corpora compiled by 'Academy in Berlin in the 19th century. Individual volumes bear the following titles (with year of publication):
* ''Tituli Cretæ mediæ præter Gortynios'' (Inscriptions of central Crete except Gortyna) (1935)
* ''Tituli Cretæ occidentalis'' (Inscriptions of western Crete) (1939)
* ''Tituli Cretæ orientalis'' (Inscriptions of eastern Crete) (1942)
* ''Tituli Gortynii'' (Inscriptions of Gortyna) (1950)
Each volume is accompanied by an extensive bibliography divided into two sections: archaeology and epigraphs. Introductions explain archaeological, topographical, and antiquarian aspects of the areas treated. Entries include photographs, illustrations of epigraphs, transcripts, and extensive commentary.
Gortyn Code
In the fourth volume, which focuses on the city of Gortyna, Guarducci addresses the so-called ''Great Law (or Grand Inscription) of Gortyna'' (Inscr. Cret., Vol. IV, n.72), discovered by Federico Halbherr in 1884.
The inscription, part of a building used as the Odeon, is engraved on a concave wall about 8 m long and 175 cm high. It is grouped into twelve columns of
boustrophedon
Boustrophedon is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the le ...
writing. This is a type of writing that gradually alternates from left to right, writing a line backward, then reversing from right to left, for the entire text. It is likely that, on the left side of the wall, there were eight other columns which are now lost. This is not a real "code of laws," but rather, with the Latin, a saturated ''legum'', i.e., a sparse collection of laws, updates of previous ancient laws and new laws focused on a specific topic. In the case of the ''Gortyn Code'', the laws shown are mostly family law, as well as regarding economics and commerce.
''Epigrafia Greca''
Guarducci's long experience of teaching resulted in a work which is a now cornerstone in the teaching of Greek epigraphy: ''Epigrafia Greca'', published between 1967 and 1978. By the author's design, it not only caters to an audience of scientists of antiquity but also to a general audience of students, amateurs and novices. According to Guarducci, epigraphy "is one of the most agile, fresh and fun disciplines of classical studies."
The work is in four volumes, differing in content as follows:
* ''Caratteri e storia della disciplina. La scrittura greca dalle origini all'età imperiale'' (Character and history of the discipline. Greek writing from its origins to the imperial age) (1967)
* ''Epigrafi di carattere pubblico'' (Epigraphs of a public nature) (1969)
* ''Epigrafi di carattere privato'' (Epigraphs of a private nature) (1974)
* ''Epigrafi sacre, pagane e cristiane'' (Sacred inscriptions, pagan and Christian) (1978)
The work, in a clear and straightforward style, presents actual cases alongside theoretical explanations, providing the reader with a veritable "small anthology" of Greek inscriptions, with photographs, transcriptions, translations, commentary, and very often bibliographic references. Each volume includes a large bibliography. Because of a limited edition, the volumes of ''Epigrafia Greca'' were soon exhausted. Guarducci felt the need to put her hand to a fifth volume which would serve as a "compendium" for the previous four. It was published in 1987 as ''L'epigrafia greca dalle origini al tardo impero'' (Greek epigraphy from its origins to the late Empire).
Publications by Margherita Guarducci
* ''Inscriptiones creticae opera et consilio Friderici Halbherr collectae. Curavit Margarita Guarducci'', 4 voll, Libreria dello Stato, 1935-1950
* ''I graffiti sotto la confessione di San Pietro in Vaticano'', 3 voll., Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1958
* ''La cattedra di san Pietro nella scienza e nella fede'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1982
* ''La più antica icona di Maria. Un prodigioso vincolo fra Oriente e Occidente'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1989
* ''La tomba di san Pietro. Una straordinaria vicenda'', Rusconi Ed., 1989
* ''San Pietro e sant'Ippolito: storia di statue famose in Vaticano'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1991
* ''Le chiavi sulla pietra. Studi, ricordi e documenti inediti intorno alla tomba di Pietro'', Piemme, 1995
* ''Verità. Meditazioni, esperienze, documenti in tempi antichi e recenti'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1995
* ''Le reliquie di Pietro in Vaticano'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1995
* ''Epigrafia greca'', 4 voll, Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 1995
* ''La tomba di san Pietro. Una straordinaria vicenda'', Bompiani, 2000
* ''L'epigrafia greca dalle origini al tardo impero'', Ist. Poligrafico dello Stato, 2005
* ''Fibula Prenestina. Tra antiquari, eruditi e falsari nella Roma dell'Ottocento'', Bardi Editore 2007
Sources
* Giovanna Bandini, ''Lettere dall'Egeo: archeologhe italiane tra 1900 e 1950'', 2003.
* M. L. Lazzarini, ''Margherita Guarducci e Creta'', Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 2005.
** This article is a translation of
Margherita Guarducci
Margherita Guarducci (20 December 1902, in Florence – 2 September 1999, in Rome) was an Italian archaeologist, classical scholar, and epigrapher. She was a major figure in several crucial moments of the 20th century academic community. A student ...
in the Italian Wikipedia, from May 2009 and February 2014.
External links
* by Margherita Guarducci
* by Gabriella Freccero
"L'Apostolo Pietro e Margherita"by Franco Cardini
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guarducci
1902 births
1999 deaths
Archaeologists from Florence
Italian classical scholars
Women classical scholars
Latin epigraphers
Hellenic epigraphers
20th-century archaeologists
Italian women archaeologists