A double opening for a great exhibition took place yesterday at the Jewish Museum of Greece and the Epigraphic Museum. The modular exhibition «Stone Routes - Stories of Stone: Jewish Inscriptions in Greece», held at the two museums, presents, for the first time, archaeological findings that document the presence of Jews in Greece since the end of the 4th century BC. The inauguration of the Jewish Museum of Greece and then the Epigraphic Museum was also modular, with the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, who gave a short address, and the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Ernst Reichel.
The exhibition, which is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German-German Fund for the Future, is characterised by an inventive dual structure and originality. The first and main part is presented in the Epigraphic Museum, which houses unique Jewish epigraphic items from the collections of museums and services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. With the help of visual and digital material, all aspects of the social, religious, political and cultural life of Jews and their local communities in Athens, Mystras and throughout Greece from antiquity to the Turkish occupation are unfolded. The second part is presented at the Jewish Museum under the title «Art of Memory and Remembrance». It is curated by Victor Cohen and combines yesterday and today through the «dialogue» of ten ancient inscriptions and objects with an equal number of contemporary artworks. It includes, among other things, the inscription of the liberation of Moschus, son of Moschion the Jew, from the Amphiarion of Oropos, which is the earliest Jewish inscription in Greece to date and dates from the late 4th to early 3rd century BC. The exhibition, which features artists from a wide range of art forms, concludes with a painting by the artist Maurice Ganis (1973-2019), to whose memory it is dedicated.
The exhibition «Stone Routes-Stories of Stone: Jewish Inscriptions in Greece» was based on the printed scientific publication «Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum Graeciae (CIJG)-Compilation of Jewish and Hebrew Inscriptions from Continental and Insular Greece (late 4th century B.C./B.C./15th century)», published by the Jewish Museum of Greece in 2018 and awarded by the Academy of Athens a year later. This is a highly important publication, as it includes epigraphic documents of Jewish content or interest from all over Greece, many of which remained unknown. The epigraphic constitution, which was extremely well received by experts and non-specialists alike, provided the impetus and the scientific background for the temporary exhibition, which will run until the end of February 2023.
The exhibits date from the end of the 4th century BC to the 17th century and come from the permanent collections of the two museums, the archaeological museums of Attica and the Region (Archaeological Museums of Heraklion and Thessaloniki, the Archaeological Museums of Eastern Attica, Kavala - Thassos, Cyclades, Corinth, Larissa, Magnesia, Pella, Athens City, Chania) and the Historical Museum of Crete. The exhibition is accompanied by the digital edition (e-book) of the epigraphic constitution, so that visitors can explore the full extent of the available material, a bilingual catalogue presenting all the archaeological and historical documents of the joint exhibition, as well as specially designed educational programmes.
Opening - statements
«The exhibition, the culmination of many years of work, combines a long-standing research programme of the museum, an original modular proposal and the collaboration of two museums in Athens to realise a dream and a noble wish», said the director of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Jeanette Battinou, who opened this «extremely important event, a milestone in the 45-year history of the museum». Excited because «today an old dream of mine is being fulfilled», said the President of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Makis Matsas, stressing the «multifaceted value» of the exhibition, as it highlights «the Jewish element in Greece as one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe» on the one hand, and «the cultural past of our homeland, Greece» on the other.
The inscriptions were described by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, as «lalunes stones», according to whom «perhaps the greatest importance of this particular exhibition lies in the fact that both with its thematic and methodological approach it demonstrates historically that diversity not only does not prevent coexistence, but on the contrary constitutes an enrichment factor that expands the foundations, enhances the adaptability of society and ultimately increases its cohesion and resilience. The report», the Minister continued, «also has an educational function, promoting tolerance against stereotypes of all kinds and against hate speech and exclusion. In the light of the tragic events currently taking place in Ukraine, and indeed in the context of a narrative of “de-Nazification” and “de-identification”, the sober and unifying message of the report becomes even more relevant.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Reichel noted that the report «is an excellent confirmation of the Latin proverb verba volunt scripta manent (“words fly, writings remain”) so our understanding of the past would be completely different if these inscriptions had not been discovered». Dr Reichel added that «reports like this remind us that Jews have been an integral part of European history since antiquity, as their contributions to intellectual thought and the arts in politics and economics have shaped and enriched our common European identity.» Finally, the director of the Epigraphic Museum, Athanasios Themos, noted that the cooperation between the two museums «has another dimension, that of immersing the visitor in historical time and his/her reflection on contemporary art through ancient monuments», adding that this particular exhibition «essentially refers to multiculturalism».
In the context of the event, the Jewish Museum of Greece was presented by the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage, under the care of Director Stavroula Fotopoulou, with the Certification/Recognition Mark, a distinction that the museum had achieved in 2020, but due to the pandemic the mark was only delivered digitally.
Edited by Eleni Markou
