The Morgantina treasure is a set of 16 pieces of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

silverware with details in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

dating from the 3rd century BC, illegally excavated from

Morgantina Morgantina (Μοργάντιον / Μοργαντίνη in ancient greek) is an archaeological site in east central Sicily, southern Italy. It is sixty kilometres from the coast of the Ionian Sea, in the province of Enna. The closest modern ...

, an ancient Greek city in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, near modern

Aidone Aidone (Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Aidungh'' or ''Dadungh''; scn, Aiduni) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Enna, in region of Sicily in southern Italy. The extensive archaeological site of Morgantina is on a ridge close to the town. ...

. The hoard includes two large bowls, a cup with two handles, plates and several drinking utensils. It was probably excavated around 1978 (the date of a modern coin found buried at the most likely site), and was bought by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York in 1981 and 1982. After protracted pressure, in 2010, the treasure was transferred from the Metropolitan to Rome, before returning to Sicily.

History

The treasure was deposited in an ancient building of Morgantina, perhaps hidden there at the sack of the city at the hands of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in 211 BC. The creation of the objects is dated to around 240 BC, when the city was subject to

Hieron II Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus and ...

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

.. The treasure was looted from the site in c. 1979-80, in two events. According to some scholars, the treasure belonged to the hierophant, the high priest of

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...

and

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

. The

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

of New York City bought the treasure in two lots in a chain from looter to middleman in Switzerland, then a dealer who sold them to the Museum. The Museum resisted for many years attempts by the Italian government to repatriate the looted treasure. In 2006, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the regional commissioner for cultural heritage and activities of Sicily and Philippe De Montebello, the director of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, agreed that the treasure would be returned to Italy. In 2010, after its return, the treasure was temporarily displayed in the

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme The National Roman Museum (Italian: ''Museo Nazionale Romano'') is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological ...

in Rome and then delivered to Sicily.

Description

The treasure is made up of the following pieces: * Two deep cups with a concave profile (diameter: 22 cm, weight: 407–418 g); *

Pyxis Pyxis is a small and faint constellation in the southern sky. Abbreviated from Pyxis Nautica, its name is Latin for a mariner's compass (contrasting with Circinus, which represents a draftsman's compasses). Pyxis was introduced by Nicolas-Lo ...

(diameter 10.5 cm, weight 81 g) with a depiction of Eirene holding a

cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

and a little

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...

Plutus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Plutus (; grc-gre, Πλοῦτος, Ploûtos, wealth) is the god and the personification of wealth, and the son of the goddess of agriculture Demeter and the mortal Iasion. Family Plutus is most commonl ...

; * Hemispheric cup (diameter 13–14 cm, weight 151 g); * Ovoid

skyphos A ''skyphos'' ( grc, σκύφος; plural ''skyphoi'') is a two-handled deep wine-cup on a low flanged base or none. The handles may be horizontal ear-shaped thumbholds that project from the rim (in both Corinthian and Athenian shapes), or they ma ...

(diameter 13.3 cm, weight 300 g); *

Kyathos Kyathos ( grc, κύαθος, ) is the name given in modern terminology to a type of painted ancient Greek vase Ancient Greek pottery, due to its relative durability, comprises a large part of the archaeological record of ancient Greece, and s ...

(diameter 5.5 cm, weight 119 g, height 24.7 cm); * Two truncated conical receptacles for mixing wine, with three supports shaped like theatrical masks of

and

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

(diameter: 26 cm, weight: 891 g, height: 20 cm); * Deep cup with a conical profile (diameter: 21 cm, weight 479 g, height: 6.8 cm); * Olpe with an ovoid body (diameter: 8 cm, weight: 178 g, height: 9.1 cm); * Mesomphalos phiale with 12 rays (diameter: 14.8 cm, weight: 104 g, height: 2.3 cm); * Pyxis (diameter: 8.3 cm, weight: 148 g, height 5.5 cm) with a depiction of

Scylla In Greek mythology, Scylla), is obsolete. ( ; grc-gre, Σκύλλα, Skúlla, ) is a legendary monster who lives on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite her counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's r ...

or perhaps

Sicilia (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, throwing a mass of volcanic rock; * Small cylindrical altar (''bomiskos'') on a square base (base: 10.6x10.6 cm, weight: 368 g, height: 11 cm) decorated with a

bucranium Bucranium (plural ''bucrania''; Latin, from Greek ''βουκράνιον'', referring to the skull of an ox) was a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture. The name is generally considered to originate with the practic ...

and the words "sacred to the God" in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

. * Pair of horns (length: 15.5 cm, weight 74 g) used in religious rites.

References

External links

{{commonscat
Official website of the Morgantina ExcavationsTrafficking Culture: Morgantina Silver
Treasure troves in Italy Archaeological theft Treasure troves of classical antiquity Silver objects Ancient Greek metalwork Italy–United States relations