The Macedonian Question

The Name Game

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:55:00 +0000

(foreignpolicy.com) - The future of EU expansion? It all depends on what the meaning of the word "Macedonia" is.

The European Union is a club with a long line out the door. Just ask Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, or Turkey. But for one Balkan country, the biggest problem is showing the right ID at the velvet rope. Seven former communist countries were able to enter both NATO and the EU by the end of the Bush years. But last year the Greek government blocked the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from joining NATO, citing bad neighborly relations, and is determined to torpedo its EU bid as well. The reason? It's all in a name.

FYROM, perhaps due to the unwieldiness of its acronym, has tried to enter as just "Macedonia," the name of the ancient empire of Alexander the Great. But Greece also has a northern province called "Macedonia" and worries that Skopje has expansionist ambitions.

The United States supports the eastward expansion of NATO in an effort to shrink the Russian sphere of influence and -- the name issue notwithstanding -- FYROM would seem to be a perfect candidate for membership. The Obama administration can help the United Nations solve the dispute by abandoning the Bush administration policy of stubbornly backing the "Macedonians" and talk its fledgling friend into a compromise that will push it over the Balkan hump.

But doing so won't be easy. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia understandably doesn't like to be known by its cumbersome post-Titoist tag. "Don't You FYROM Me!" is a favorite bumper sticker on the streets of Skopje. In the 1990s, foreign observers doubted the viability of this landlocked country with an explosive cultural makeup and powerful neighbors. Ethnic Albanians, Turks, Roma, Serbians, Bulgarians, and Greeks are all packed together in a state the size of Vermont. It's not surprising that such a fragile country would want to cling its oldest and most respectable heritage.

The largest minority in FYROM are Albanians, who desperately want to become members of the EU and NATO. Besides the obvious economic benefits, membership would ultimately allow these Albanians closer ties with their coethnics in the western Balkans. They are growing impatient with the recent surge in "Alexandermania" backed by the Slav majority that promotes an exclusively "Macedonian" identity for the country. Last month, the government unveiled plans to erect an $8 million, 72-foot statue of Alexander the Great atop his horse, Bucephalus, in the capital square. Never mind that the historical Alexander's actual capital was located inside modern Greece.

More troubling are the maps in "Macedonian" textbooks that show their ancestral homeland stretching far into present-day Greece (as well as Bulgaria and Albania) and describe Thessaloniki, the capital of the northern province of Greece, as occupied territory. These are irredentist claims that justifiably worry the Greeks.

Imagine how Californians would feel if Baja California wanted to be called simply "California"? Or how Swedes would react if Norway changed its name to "Scandinavia"? The U.N.'s designated mediator has floated various possible names for FYROM, and Greece has recently indicated it would accept "The Republic of Northern Macedonia." But such a solution implies there is a "Southern Macedonia" in Greece inhabited by the same people, as in North and South Korea. But this is not the case linguistically or ethnically. A more sensible solution would be "Vardarska Makedonija," named for the river that flows through the region, which respects the dignity and identity of Greece's northern neighbor but also distinguishes it from the northern Greek province.

It's no accident that the EU and NATO both require prospective members to have no outstanding border disputes, but the government in Skopje has exacerbated tensions with Greece. It has renamed its airport, streets, and squares after Hellenistic heroes and interferes with the internal affairs of Greece by claiming there is a "Macedonian" ethnic minority living there under duress. This week FYROM even brought a case at the International Court of Justice in Hague against Greece for blocking its NATO bid.

Where does FYROM get its chutzpah? From the United States and its allies. In 2004 the Bush administration hastily recognized the country as "the Republic of Macedonia" in return for its support of the Iraq war. It did not expect Greece actually to block an alliance with a meddlesome neighbor. Barack Obama's administration now has the opportunity to encourage FYROM to find a compromise agreeable to both parties.

The move will find support among realistic Republicans and Democrats who want to unclog the NATO bottleneck and undermine the increasing cooperation between Greece and Russia. By giving lip service to sovereignty -- Georgia -- and at other times supporting ethnic separatism -- Kosovo -- the Bush administration gave the impression that the United States will change its stance on these concepts whenever they suit its narrow strategic interests. By helping Greece and FYROM reach a mutually acceptable agreement, the Obama administration can reverse this impression, and more importantly ensure the future peace of Europe.

Scholars dismiss Skopje claims as 'silliness' in letter to Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:50:00 +0000

(ANA-MPA) - A group of some 200-plus prestigious academics, for the main part historians and Classicists teaching at the most renowned universities in the world - including the likes of Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Stanford, Vassar, College de France and hundreds of others in the United States and Europe - have sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to intervene to "clean up the historical debris" left by the previous U.S. administration's policy on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

According to those signing the letter - including widely read authors on ancient Greece and Alexander like Paul Cartledge, Steven H. Rutledge and Robin Lane Fox - Skopje's claims to a Macedonian descent of its Slavic population and its "misappropriation" of Alexander the Great as the country's national hero are a "subversion of history".

"On November 4, 2004, two days after the re-election of President George W. Bush, his administration unilaterally recognized the "Republic of Macedonia." This action not only abrogated geographic and historic fact, but it also has unleashed a dangerous epidemic of historical revisionism, of which the most obvious symptom is the misappropriation by the government in Skopje of the most famous of Macedonians, Alexander the Great.

" We believe that this silliness has gone too far, and that the U.S.A. has no business in supporting the subversion of history," the letter posted on the website Macedonia Evidence (http://macedonia-evidence.org) reads. It goes on to list the substantial historical and archaeological facts that debunk Skopje's assertions.

The letter, dated May 18th, also notes that such "misuse implied unhealthy territorial aspirations" even in the early 19th century and that it was clearly "not a force for historical accuracy or stability in the Balkans".

"We call upon you, Mr. President, to help - in whatever ways you deem appropriate - the government in Skopje to understand that it cannot build a national identity at the expense of historic truth. Our common international society cannot survive when history is ignored, much less when history is fabricated," it concludes.

An initiative begun by Stephen G. Miller, Professor Emeritus of Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, the website was continuing to collect the signatures of scholars in support of the letter, with the original 200 having grown to a list of 237 by May 25.

2,300 years later, 'Alexander-mania' grips Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:58:00 +0000

Great article by Robert Marquand from the Christian Science Monitor.

A snippet from the article:

The new program deeply troubles many scholars here. "What is the content of 'Alexanderization?'" asks Irena Stefoska, a Byzantine scholar at the Institute of National History here. "Who knows? It is a new reading of history completely different from the previous, not done from an academic point of view, but from a purely political view."

Alexander is considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time. Born in the Greek city of Pella in 356 BC, his conquests extended to most of his known world by the time of his death at age 32. He opened up Greek civilization from the Mediterranean to India, and is regarded as the first to link Europe, Asia, and Africa.

"Alexander was the captain general of all the Hellenes. He spoke Greek. He went to war on behalf of the Hellenes. No one in the ancient, medieval, or modern world has disputed this," says Michael Wood, a historian and British filmmaker who has produced a work on Alexander and has another in the making.

"The Macedonian state claim has no basis in history; it is a state-sponsored myth. I tell my Macedonian and Greek friends to ignore it," Mr. Wood adds

Athens condemns attack on Greek tourists in FYR Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:57:00 +0000

(The Earth Times) - Athens on Monday condemned an attack on a group of Greek tourists in neighbouring Macedonia, saying such acts did not serve to improve already tense relations between the two countries. The tourists were travelling in five buses in the city of Ohrid when they were reportedly attacked by about 30 Macedonian nationalists who threw stones and sticks at them. Two of the tourists were injured.

Reports said the attackers damaged the buses which had travelled from northern Greece and spray painted "United Macedonia" and "Alexander the Great" on the vehicles.

"These types of actions deter proper communication between the people," said Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos.

The tourists were visiting Macedonia during a celebration over three days of the start of Lent.

Greece and its northern neighbour have been in a dispute over the latter's name since 1991, when Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia and was admitted to the United Nations provisionally as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Athens says the name Macedonia implies territorial claims on its own northern province, also called Macedonia, where Alexander the Great was born.

It has called on Skopje to adopt a name such as "New" or "Upper Macedonia," but no mutually acceptable solution has been found.

Skopje prefers the name Republic of Macedonia.

The issue of the name has halted Skopje's bid to join NATO. Macedonia had hoped to receive an invitation to join the alliance earlier this year along with Albania and Croatia, but Greece blocked the move.

What's In A Name? You Wouldn't Ask That Question If You Lived In Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:47:00 +0000

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

By Blagoje Kuzmanovski
SKOPJE -- In searching for the perfect ancient hero to arouse a sense of national identity in their modern-day citizens, *(FYR) Macedonian officials have settled on a provocative spokesperson -- Alexander the Great.

The image of the ancient Greek king and warrior, who at the time of his death in 323 BC had conquered most of the known world, beams intently down on residents from billboards with the message "You are Macedonia."

Read the full article here.
*(FYR) Added by Site Admin

Yodelay Cuckoo! Risto Stefov and FYROM's extreme nationalism

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:51:00 +0000

There are many ignorant FYRoM theories floating around, and perpetuated by their self declared "scholars". One such theory is the notion that the Greek state was manufactured by foreign powers and that Greece’s independence movement was not an indigenous grass roots phenomenon driven by Greeks themselves. Another silly theory is that the Rosetta Stone contains three different languages....Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the "ancient" FYRoM language, written in the demotic script. I kid you not. If you do not believe me then please visit the official website of the FYRoM church. Now click on the Rosetta Stone link on the right sidebar. Once you click on that link, you are directed to this page. Have fun absorbing it all in. There're just too many of these silly theories to list them all here. These theories are constantly promoted by many FYROM nationalists including the comical self styled “History Expert” Risto Stefov. It is worth noting that Risto Stefov publishes books under the name “Chris Stefou”. Check out more on this individual through his Wikipedia page here. Risto Stefov has recently been submitting his irredentist articles to the American Chronicle website. In these articles Stefov engages in a heavy dose of historical revisionism.

I would like to now mention several articles from the American Chronicle that counter Risto Stefov's distortion of history. The first article is titled "FYROM diaspora." A small snippet of the article below:

Stefov and his believers have totally failed to provide a single logical explanation as to how any since trace of cultural connection to those they claim descendance from is non-existent.

During the last years the main FYROM offensive in the name debate is centralized on the following logic: "since we can´t prove a connection to the ancients, we´ll centralize on disproving yours", which is exactly what we see Stefov doing today.

Here is another article titled "Greek Macedonia." A small snippet of the article below:

In his article entitled "Will there be Justice for the Macedonians in Greece," link Risto Stefov falsifies and distorts the history of Macedonia and its Greek ethnic origin and presents it as territory that is occupied by the Greeks.

To begin with, the word itself is of Greek origin, and it is derived from "macednos" which means in translation tall. The language spoken by the Macedonians was of Doric origin, an ancient Greek dialect. It should also be noted that the names Alexander, and Philip are purely Greek names. In addition, Aristotle, Alexander's mentor and teacher, is universally acknowledge to be an ancient Greek philosopher. It should also be noted that Aristotle was born in Stagira, Macedonia.

Here is another great article titled "FYROM's extreme nationalism leads nowhere." A Snippet of the article below:

Examining the rationale behind this "justification" used by the state-sponsored propaganda, it is remarkable how paper-thin their arguments often are. FYROM propagandists have shown to be adept at convincing themselves of the rationality of even their most irrational claims. Goebbels said that "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it people will eventually come to believe it." That quote could´t be more accurate in the case of Greece´s newest northern neighbour.

Unfortunately, this kind of spurious adoption of stolen identity from their Greek Macedonian neighbours is reaching currently epidemic proportions. Curiously, the Slavic element of FYROM are so strongly indoctrinated with historical revisionism that they deny their South Slavic heritage and insist they are the direct descendants of an ancient Greek tribe: the Macedonians.

Here is another article written by Vasko Gligorijevic who happens to be a citizen of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. His piece is titled – wait for it – "Pseudomacedonia - The Fallacy Of A Cause."

Here are American Chronicle links i am compiling that destroy Risto Stefov's silly claims:

Stefov and the distortion of Macedonian history (NEW)
Slavic Settlement in Povardarje (FYROM) Reviewed: History, Ethnology and Modern Politics
Macedonia - HISTORICAL REVIEW
Gettysburg and the unification of ancient Greece by Philip II of Macedonia
FYROM: How a Lie was Imposed as a Supreme Reality
The Macedonian Question, 1878-1908
Ancient Macedonian Language
Origin of Macedonia
Emmanouil Papas, leader Greek revolution in Macedonia 1821
Slav Propagandists and their Macedonia Lies....
Evaluating Herodotus' testimony on the ancient Macedonians
The Basic Narrative of Pseudomacedonian Ideology
FYROM's Nikola Gruevski Lawsuit: His Latest Provocation
The Birth of a Clone State (Macedonia dispute)
The Greek Revolution of 1878 in Macedonia
A story about Florina from an indigenous Macedonian
Macedonian Name Issue - self-determination or territorial aspiration?
More Balkan Ethnic Conflicts? (The Macedonian Issue)
'Aegean Macedonia' - an irredentist term
Risto Stefov and Slav-Macedonism
The Anatomy of a Big Lie: Nationalistic Ideology and FYROM
Alexander the Great: how Greek was he?
Notable figures on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Worshiping Imagined Ancestors
FYROM - A Country With A Borrowed Identity
FYROM: The Troublemaker of the Balkans?
Hellenic Electronic Center (HEC) Responds to Risto Stefov
Alexander the Great - a symbol of Greek history and civilization
Risto Stefov and the falsification of Ancient Macedonian history (Part I)
Risto Stefov and the falsification of Ancient Macedonian History (Part II)
Risto Stefov and the falsification of Ancient Macedonia History (Part III)
Risto Stefov and the falsification of Ancient Macedonia History (Part IV)
BULGARIAN AND 'MACEDONIAN' LANGUAGE
Encyclopaedia Britannica on the population of FYROM
Distortion of Ancient Macedonian history
The Rosetta Stone
Reply to Gandeto's response on "FYROM: The troublemaker Of the Balkans?"
THE COLLAPSE OF YUGOSLAVIA AND THE FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE MACEDONIAN LITERARY LANGUAGE

OpEdNews: Time's Up for "Macedonian" Perverse Nationalism

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:36:00 +0000

Interesting article can be read at OpEdNews titled: Time's Up for "Macedonian" Perverse Nationalism.

Here are two small snippet from the article:

...the Greek concern isn't the name itself, but what lies benieth the use of the name: Articles 3, 68 and 74 of the Constitution of the self-called "Republic of Macedonia" include reference to a "possible change of the existing borders"

[...]

U.S. Congress and Senate share the above concerns. On August 3, 2007, senators Barack Obama, Olympia Snowe and Bob Menendez introduced to the Senate a resolution (S.R.300) calling Skopje to "stop the utilization of materials that violate provisions of the United Nations-brokered Interim Agreement between FYROM and Greece regarding hostile activities or propaganda"

Washington Times: MENENDEZ/SNOWE: Macedonian quandary

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:22:00 +0000

Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) are today jointly advocating the withdrawal of U.S. recognition of FYROM as ‘Macedonia’, in a published newspaper Op-Ed. The Washington Times Op-Ed talks about the events of the 1940's and also talks about irredentist policies in FYRoM like schools teaching that northern Greece is FYROM territory occupied by Greece.

A snippet of the article below:

In 1944, Secretary of State Edward Stettinius expressed concerns about Yugoslavian communist leader Josip Broz Tito creating a "Macedonian" province and consciousness among his people. Stettinius saw the destructive potential in Tito's choice of a name describing an ancient geographical area, 52 percent of which is located in modern Greece, 9 percent in Bulgaria and 39 percent in Yugoslavia. His description of Tito's actions as "a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece" manifested years later when Tito's "Macedonians" crossed into Greece as participants in Greece's anti-communist civil war (1946-49).

Nearly half a century later, that Yugoslavian province became an independent nation in 1991 identified by the United Nations and internationally as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" or "FYROM." Yet Tito's furtive aims live on in many ways, including the nation's pursuit of the name "Macedonia." Its new constitution called on all "Macedonians" in neighboring countries to rise up and unite. In addition, FYROM printed currency featuring the White Tower of Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece, and created a flag featuring the Macedonian symbol from the dynasty of Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, which was located in Greece.

Years of productive U.S. and U.N. diplomacy moved FYROM to drop the offending language from its constitution and symbols from its currency and flag. Many believed FYROM was moving toward adopting a name such as "North Macedonia" or "Upper Macedonia" which appropriately describes its own geography.

Read the full article here.

Spiegel: Which Macedonia Was Alexander the Great From?

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Here is another great article that talks about FYRoM nationalism from the Spiegel website.

Snippet below:

Nationalist forces in the Macedonian capital Skopje, like the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), have stoked such fears by reviving the dream, pursued by former Yugoslav dictator Josip Tito and former Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, of a Communist-controlled Greater Macedonia.

Kathimerini: Nine Answers to the Macedonian question through an analysis of the historical causes

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:59:00 +0000

Here is a recent article from Kathimerini that may help you understand the Macedonia name issue better.

Truman Library: Letter to the Speaker on the Plight of Greek Children Abducted by Communist Guerrilla Forces

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:53:00 +0000

It was in 1947 that the Truman Doctrine/Marshal Plan was adopted, according to which support would be offered to Greece by the USA to defeat the Communist movement that was spreading in the Greek peninsula. The Truman Administration, by means of the above mentioned Doctrine and the help of the American monetary aid, along with the sacrifices of the Greek people, the blood of hundreds of thousands of Greek dead and wounded, saved Greek Macedonia from the Communist threat.

Here is an interesting read from the Public Papers of President Harry S. Truman:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/ind...

Here is another letters from Harry S. Truman.

Special thanks to the Pan-Macedonian Association

United Nations: Interim Accord between the Hellenic Republic and the FYROM

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:50:00 +0000

For those that want to read the United Nations Interim Accord between the Hellenic Republic and the FYROM can do so by clicking the link below:

http://www.hri.org/docs/fyrom/95-27866.html

The History Channel: Philip of Makedon

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:44:00 +0000

(both quotes taken from this clip)

Clearly, Phillip did not CONQUER Greece, he UNIFIED Greece, made the city-states one, and created a strong sense of nationalism among the Greek peoples. The video clip also made clear (if it wasn't already) that Alexander did indeed spread Greek culture to the far depths of the known world.

New York Times: Salonika Journal; Greeks' Word for That Republic Isn't Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:39:00 +0000

Another interesting article from the New York Times by Allan Cowell.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...

Mr. Cowell States:

Moreover, the Macedonia to the north (FYRoM) is made up of Slavs and Albanians, historically distinct from the Macedonians of Alexander the Great.

Time Magazine: Toward Warm Water?

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Here is an article from Time Magazine that was published Monday, Jul. 23, 1945. It talks about the Macedonia issue of the 1940s, Marshal Tito, and the Soviets. Great read.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT (868.014/26 Dec. 1944)

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:16:00 +0000

A State Department report that explains the situation back in 1944 when all this propaganda emanating from the FYRoM was in full swing:

U.S STATE DEPARTMENT
Foreign Relations Vol. VIII
Washington D.C.
Circular Airgram
(868.014/26 Dec. 1944)

The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic and Consular Officers*

The following is for your information and general guidance, but not for any positive action at this time.

The Department has noted with considerable apprehension increasing propaganda rumors and semi-official statements in favor of an autonomous Macedonia, emanating principally from Bulgaria, but also from Yugoslav Partisan and other sources, with the implication that Greek territory would be included in the projected state. "This Government considers talk of Macedonian "nation", Macedonian "Fatherland", or Macedonia "national consiousness" to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece".

The approved policy of this Government is to oppose any revival of the Macedonian issue as related to Greece. The Greek section of Macedonia is largery inhabited by Greeks, and the Greek people are almost unanimously opposed to the creation of a Macodonian state. Allegations of serious Greek participation in any such agitation can be assumed to be false. This Government would regard as responsible any Government or group of Governments tolerating or encouraging menacing or aggressive acts of "Macedonian Forces" against Greece.

The Department would appreciate any information pertiment to this subject which may come to your attention.

This document is mentioned here:

In a neutral EU News agency.

http://www.neurope.eu/articles/85210.php

And from a Former Minister:

http://www.hri.org/Martis/contents/doc1.html

BBC History: Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC)

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Below is a BBC Documentary, Michael Wood in the footsteps of Alexander the Great:

Video part one
Video part two
Video part three
Video part four

More great info from the BBC:

The BBC talks about historic figure Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC).

Here is another link from BBC:

BBC on Ancient history - Greeks

Interstice: FYRoM's Dispute With Greece Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:02:00 +0000

Here is a great read (in adobe pdf format) on the name dispute between FYRoM and Greece:

A snippet of the Introductory below....

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
The entanglement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), over the issue of the recognition of the latter and the name under which this recognition would take place, has served as a potent reminder of the considerable influence that nationalistic divides have always exerted in the Balkan region. For Greece, this dispute animated passions and stimulated a nationalist fervor that had been unseen for decades and, remaining a not fully resolved issue, it may contain a number of elements that could serve as a focus of regional conflict in the future. For the fledgling FYROM, the entanglement constituted a matter of paramount importance not merely in defining its external policy but it was also perceived as a matter influencing both its existence as a nation and its future status in Southeastern Europe.
This article will attempt an analysis of the dispute between Greece and FYROM, from its beginnings up until the present day. In the first instance, it will trace the origins of the controversy and portray the current dispute as the latest stage in evolution of the Macedonian Question of the past. Furthermore, the diplomatic strategies of the two countries involved will be examined for the 1991-1995 period. In addition, the content and significance of the contentious issues of this debate will be scrutinized. Finally, the factors which contributed to the diplomatic exacerbation of the issue and caused a failure of both countries involved to secure a resolution to the dispute that they would consider "positive" will be analyzed and the repercussions for the Balkan region's short- and long-term geopolitical status quo will be outlined.
The focus of the article is the dissection and analysis of the Foreign Policy of Athens regarding the Macedonian question in the post-war period, with particular attention to the years 1991-1995. As such, its ultimate objective is to provide a contribution to the scholarly investigation of the factors influencing Greek Foreign Affairs in the 1990s.

International Herold Tribune: (FRY) MACEDONIA AND NATO

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:37:00 +0000

Here is an article by Dora Bakoyannis that was published by the International Herold Tribune a few days before the NATO summit where Athens issued a veto on FYRoM's bid. It is from a Greek perspective fully explaining the problem as Greeks see this dispute.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Greece: FYROM - THE NAME ISSUE

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Here is the official Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs website discussing the Macedonia name issue in great detail.

Simple answers to frequently used FYRoM arguments

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Simple answers to frequently used FYRoM arguments:

The truth about Macedonia...

CS Monitor: Is it Macedonia by any other name?

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:06:00 +0000

Here is another recent article from The Christian Science Monitor that discusses the Macedonia name issue.

Western Archives

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:55:00 +0000

The mainstream established viewpoint about Macedonia is given below. You can easily verify that by looking at the collection of links (the majority of which are at the bottom of this post) from mainstream sources like e.g. Time Magazine, New York Times, etc.

Ancient Macedonia or Macedon for short was a Greek kingdom around Pella in modern day Greece’s territory. Macedon was much smaller than today's geographical area of Macedonia. Their military success against the Persian Empire marked the beginning of the Hellenistic era in antiquity, during which the Hellenic civilization and language spread to the whole of the then known world.

Since the end of the Roman times, and for well over 2,000 years, Macedonia was never identified with specific and constant adminstrative or geographical borders. It was only late in the 19th century that the name “Macedonia” was used conventionally to denote the region of three Ottoman vilayets (provinces) namely of Thessaloniki, Monastir (present Bitola) and Uskub (present Skopje). By that time the region had become the bone of contention among various Balkan nationalities. By the dawn of the 20th century, the name “Macedonia” was widely accepted as the geographical denomination for the region which more or less included the above three Ottoman provinces; not the region of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia. It is worth remembering that at that time the name “Macedonia” had a geographical—not an ethnic nor administrative—connotation.

As a result of the Balkan wars of 1912-13, the region was liberated from Ottoman rule. The initial three allies—Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia—who had fought together to overthrow the Ottomans from their European possessions, shared parts of the region. In the end, Greece acquired the southern part, which included the entire Aegean littoral region, which approximately amounted to 51% of “geographical Macedonia”, and close to 90% of the ancient kingdom. About 38% reverted to Serbia (later Yugoslavia), while Bulgaria was limited to only 9%. A small strip of land west of the Prespa lake was later joined to the Albanian state.

Of the three parts of “geographical Macedonia”, only the Greek part was given, after its liberation, the administrative name of Macedonia, namely “Geniki Dioikisi Macedonias" (General Administration of Macedonia).

Now let's come to the hot issue of ethnicities. The modern-day geographical Macedonian ethnicities include Greeks, Albanians, Bulgarians, a Slavic population identifying themselves as Makedonci and some smaller fractions of Serbs, Turks, Vlachs etc.

The Slav Makedonci are ethnically, or at least linguistically, very close to Bulgarians. For example, all mainstream sources state that the language of the Slav Makedonci, the so-called Makedonski, are mutually intelligible with standard Bulgarian.

Here is a New York Times article on the ethnicities of Macedonians ca 1900.

It is worth mentioning that the above account of Macedonian ethnicities does not mention anything for an 'ethnic Macedonian' group.

One only needs to examine the following mainstream articles below to find out that the part of Macedonia that today constitutes Greek Macedonia has been inhabited by ethnic Greeks in the beginning of the 20th century. That's why the Greeks fought a prolonged, hard, bloody and for many years undercover war to liberate Macedonia from both the Turkish and Bulgarian rule:

New York Times article: Published APRIL 17, 1897
Titled: FIGHTING IN MACEDONIA

New York Times article: Published October 2, 1902
Titled: NO TITLE
*Please note that the article mentions Monastir which is in present day FYRoM. There were a large presence of Greeks in Southern FYRoM.

New York Times article: Published December 27, 1902
Titled: MAY ALTER BALKAN SITUATION

New York Times article: Published September 12, 1903
Titled: AID FOR MACEDONIAN GREEKS (mid-section of the article)

New York Times article: Published September 16, 1903
Titled: TURKS STILL MURDERING

New York Times article: Published November 22, 1912
Titled: CUT OFF TURKS' REAR GUARD

It is worth mentioning AGAIN that the above accounts of Macedonian ethnicities does not mention anything for an 'ethnic Macedonian' group. Let us now take a look at the Yugoslav "artificial Macedonian nation-building":

Macedonians Stressing the Arts To Build Slavic Cohesiveness
By DAVID BINDER Special to The New York Times
February 16, 1965, Tuesday
Page 6, 637 words
SKOPLJE, Yugoslavia -- What began 20 years ago as a highly self-conscious and rather artificial Macedonian nation-building campaign has now developed into a calm evolution. Involved are about one million people whose sense of identity and cohesiveness grows with every passing year.
Perhaps the most important single act in the campaign was the codifying of a written Macedonian language, a once obscure tongue of Slavic origin, in the spring of 1945.
The purifying of the tongue has been going on since then with periodic purges of “un-Macedonian” borrowings from the Bulgarian, Turkish, Serbian and Greek; the incorporation of hitherto obscure words from Macedonian dialects and the creation of new words.
According to Prof. Blaze Koneski, who teaches linguistics at Skoplje University, the language is expanding rapidly. The fist dictionary published a few years ago had about 30,000 words. The second, now under preparation, will have more than 70,000 words.
Two journals, Makedonski Jazik and Literaturen Zbor, keep watch over the language. The leading newspaper, Nova Makedonija, employs a reader to keep its columns clear of alien usages.

(To read the rest of this article, you must purchase the full issue.)

The most important act of this artificial campaign was the "creation" of a written language.
Let us now take a look at articles from Time Magazine and where we see Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito's aggressive intentions against Greece:

Time Magazine: Published July 23, 1945
Titled: Toward Warm Water?

Time Magazine: Published March 15, 1948
Titled: As the Twig Is Bent

Time Magazine: Published January 09, 1950
Titled: Innocents' Day

World Museums and Macedonia

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Experience a thrilling journey as ancient Greek Macedonian history comes to life. This post presents a comprehensive collection of Museum links throughout the world. You are invited to wander, discover, and perhaps get lost among a maze of Museums. Have fun exploring ancient Macedonia!!!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

The following abridged list of rulers for the ancient Greek world is primarily for the rulers of the Hellenistic age (323–31 B.C.), after the time of Alexander the Great. In the preceding centuries, the dominant geopolitical unit was the polis or city-state. Greek city-states were governed by a variety of entities, including kings, oligarchies, tyrants, and, as in the case of Athens, a democracy.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

During the mid-fourth century B.C., Macedonia (in northern Greece) became a formidable power under Philip II (r. 360/59–336 B.C.), and the Macedonian royal court became the leading center of Greek culture. Philip's military and political achievements ably served the conquests of his son, Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 B.C.).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

The ancient Greeks believed that Mount Olympos, the highest mountain in mainland Greece, was the home of the gods.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Stater with head of Alexander the Great, 286–281 B.C.; Hellenistic
Greek; Lysimachos, Pella
Gold; Diam. 3/4 in. (1.9 cm)
Gift of Edmund Kerper, Esq., 1952 (52.127.4)

From the beginning of his reign, Alexander the Great envisioned himself as the champion of the Greeks against the Persians and their other enemies, and his choice of coin types and the image chosen by subsequent Macedonian rulers were apparently influenced by the concept. On the obverse of this gold stater is the head of the deified ruler wearing a diadem with ram's horns; on the reverse is an image of a seated Athena crested with a Corinthian helmet, and a flying Nike carrying a victory wreath.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

In the end, he was defeated by his own army, which insisted on returning to Greece. On the way back, he died of fever in Babylon at the age of thirty-three. All the lands that he had conquered were divided up among his generals (52.127.4), and it was these political divisions that comprised the many kingdoms of the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Likewise, well-established maritime trade routes around the Mediterranean basin enabled foreigners to travel to Greece. In the seventh century B.C., contacts with itinerant eastern craftsmen, notably on Crete and Cyprus, inspired Greek artists to work in techniques as diverse as gem cutting, ivory carving, jewelry making, and metalworking. After the unprecedented military campaign of Alexander the Great (r. 336–323 B.C.), more extensive trade routes were opened across Asia, extending as far as Afghanistan and the Indus River Valley. These new trade routes introduced Greek art to cultures in the East, and also exposed Greek artists to a host of artistic styles and techniques, as well as precious stones. Garnets, emeralds, rubies, and amethysts were incorporated into new types of Hellenistic jewelry, more stunning than ever before. In the ensuing centuries, the Greeks continued to live in these eastern regions, but always maintained contact with the Greek mainland.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Head of a Ptolemaic queen, Hellenistic, ca. 270–250 B.C.
Greek
Marble; H. 15 in. (38.1 cm)
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, The Bothmer Purchase Fund, Malcolm Hewitt Wiener, The Concordia Foundation and Christo G. Bastis Gifts and Marguerite and Frank Cosgrove Jr. Fund, 2002 (2002.66)

This monumental head gives an impression of sovereign calm and power, even though the veil that once covered the top and back of the head is missing. Although the features are cast in a classical style typical of the late fourth century B.C., the face is sufficiently individualized to identify it as a portrait. The head is almost perfectly preserved. It was originally prepared as a separate piece for insertion in a statue. Marble at the summit and back of the head is roughly worked and would have been concealed by a veil constructed of marble or stucco.

It probably represents a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty—the succession of Macedonian Greeks who ruled Egypt from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. until the annexation of Egypt by Rome and the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 B.C.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Portrait of a Ptolemaic queen as Isis, most probably Cleopatra

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Stater of Kingdom of Macedonia with head of Athena, struck in the name of Alexander III
Greek, Early Hellenistic Period, 323–320 B.C. or later

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Head of Herakles (Alexander the Great?)
Greek, Early Hellenistic Period, Late 4th century B.C.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Double victoriate of Thessalian League with head of Zeus, struck under Philippos
Greek, Hellenistic Period, 196–146 B.C.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Stater of Kingdom of Macedonia with head of Apollo, struck under Philip II
Greek, Late Classical Period, 359–336 B.C.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Tetradrachm of Kingdom of Thrace with head of deified Alexander the Great, struck under Lysimachos
Greek, Hellenistic Period, 286–281 B.C

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA

Tetradrachm of Kingdom of Macedonia with head of Demetrios Poliorketes
Greek, Hellenistic Period, 291–290 B.C.

The Oriental Institute, Illinois, USA (The Oriental Institute is a research organization and museum devoted to the study of the ancient Near East)

The Demotic Dictionary Project

The Oriental Institute, Illinois, USA

The occupation of Egypt by Alexander the Great caused Greeks to settle in Egypt...

The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA (The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 as both a museum and school...)

Coin Showing Alexander the Great, Issued by King Lysimachus of Thrace, 306-281 B.C.
Silver tetradrachm
Diameter: 3.1 cm (1 1/4 in.)

The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Greek, Macedon
Helmet, 4th century B.C.
Bronze
35.6 x 19.4 x 30.5 cm (14 x 7 5/8 x 12 in.)
Costa A. Pandaleon Endowment, 1978.297

The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Coin Showing the Gorgon Medusa, 411-356 B.C.
Silver drachm
Diameter: 1.5 cm (3/4 in.)
Gift of Martin A. Ryerson, 1922.4922

The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Coin Showing Zeus, Reign of Phillip II (359-336 B.C.)
Silver tetradrachm
Diameter: 2.6 cm (1 in.)

The Field Museum, Illinois, USA

Cleopatra spoke several languages, but her first language was Greek. Scholars have found her handwriting in Greek on a royal decree.

The Field Museum, Illinois, USA

Though Cleopatra was a queen of Egypt, her family heritage was Macedonian Greek.

The Field Museum, Illinois, USA

In the exhibition, you can explore Cleopatra’s family tree. Her lineage is traced back to Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general who served under the conqueror Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C.E.

The Getty, California, USA

Ancient authors record that Alexander the Great was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he decreed no other sculptor would make his image.

The Getty, California, USA

This scene represents a divine counterpart to the everyday closeness between a mortal mother and her son. During the Hellenistic era, gods and goddesses were often portrayed in a more personal way. This method of representation was a dramatic departure from the earlier Classical style, when the gods were represented more formally as gods, rather than as lighthearted--and humanlike--creatures.

The Getty, California, USA

The head belongs to a larger category of portraiture that arose in the wake of Alexander the Great: portraits of Hellenistic rulers.

[...]

Sculptors in the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamon frequently used such grayish marble.

The Getty, California, USA

Identified by his mass of leonine hair, his young idealized face, and his deep-set, upturned eyes, Alexander the Great was the first Greek ruler to understand and exploit the propagandistic powers of portraiture.

The Getty, California, USA

In the Hellenistic Greek world, after the death of Alexander the Great, the production of terracotta figurines and masks boomed.

The Getty, California, USA

Reliefs such as this one depicting heroic banquets were popular in eastern areas of the Greek world in the Hellenistic period.

The Getty, California, USA

Serapis was a creation of the Ptolemies, the Greek rulers of Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C. They needed a deity to help unify the mixed population of native Egyptians and Greek colonists.

The Getty, California, USA

A portrait of Alexander the Great decorates the front of this four-drachma coin, a tetradrachm. The Greek goddess Athena appears on the back.

The Getty, California, USA

Although known in earlier periods, gold wreaths became much more frequent in the Hellenistic age, probably due in large part to the greatly increased availability of gold in the Greek world following the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great.

The Getty, California, USA

Certain elements of the hairnet's decoration seem to have had a close connection to the Ptolemies, the ruling family of Hellenistic Egypt.

The Getty, California, USA

Shown leaning on a pillar, Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, is identified by the bow and quiver over her shoulder and the presence of the stag.

The Getty, California, USA

This type of headdress, unknown in Greece before Alexander, was adopted directly from Persia.

The Getty, California, USA
(See if you can spot the Panhellenic Sunburst symbol!!!)

Storage Jar with the Judgment of Paris
Attributed to the Painter of the Wedding Procession
Greek, Athens, about 360 B.C.

The Getty, California, USA

The Greeks, however, used strainers to filter out bits of grape skin and other sediment when serving wine. The form and decoration of this strainer were popular in the 300s B.C., especially in Macedonia in northern Greece.

The Getty, California, USA

An inscription in Greek over the altar reads, "To the good fortune of Queen Berenike." She was the wife of Ptolemy III who ruled from 246 to 221 B.C. as part of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty that controlled Egypt in the Hellenistic period.

The Getty, California, USA

When the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, expanded into Persia in the fourth century B.C., Greek artisans began producing this type of bowl in glass, clay, and silver.

The Getty, California, USA

By the 300s B.C., however, the shape was popular in Greece, especially in the northern area of Macedonia, where archaeologists have excavated several similar silver examples. Other areas of Greece imitated the shape in pottery.

Asian Art Museum, California, USA

Greek inscriptions, royal portraits, and images of Greek deities were standard features on coins issued by the Indo-Greek rulers of Central Asia and northern Afghanistan during the centuries just before the Common Era. Many Indo-Greek coins contained translations of the Greek into a local script and language on their reverse sides, indicating the great cultural diversity in this area of the ancient world.

Asian Art Museum, California, USA

The end of the royal Greek city of Aï Khanum (meaning "Lady Moon") came suddenly around 145 B.C. at the hands of nomads from the northeast, who set fire to the palace and robbed the treasury.

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan USA

During the Ptolemaic Period the Faiyum was doubtless the most fertile region in the entire country of Egypt. Greek mercenaries, after their term of service had ended, settled here in retirement, and the entire region was stamped with the signs of Greek culture.

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan USA

Alexander the Great and his Macedonian Greek armies invaded Egypt in 332 B.C.

Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan USA

A Hellenizing influence, a result of Alexander the Great’s extension of the Greek empire into Asia, has been perceived in Gandharan sculpture, not least in the extraordinarily skilled rendering of high relief figures that recall those from the Parthenon reliefs.

Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, Michigan USA

Moreover, many ethnic groups influenced Egyptian life throughout the period covered by this exhibition (c. 3100 BCE-700 CE). The most conspicuous were the Macedonian Greeks and Romans who successively ruled Egypt after 332 BCE

Harvard University Art Museums, New Hampshire, USA

Following the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander, Greek culture spread across Egypt, the Near East, and northern India, interacting with local traditions.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

Greek culture was introduced to Central Asia following the conquests of Alexander the Great around 330 B.C.E. Although made many centuries later, this object testifies to the continued vitality of Greek art and culture in Central Asia.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

Here, artists created styles of Buddhist art that combined local traditions with Greek (and later Roman) influences, which had initially been introduced with the conquests of Alexander the Great (died 323 B.C.E) in the late fourth century B.C.E.

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

The western nature of the art of Gandhara can be understood in the context of the many Greek outposts founded across Asia by Alexander the Great (reigned 336–323 B.C.E.), who reached India in 327 B.C.E.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, USA

Well before 326 B.C., when Alexander the Great's Greek army conquered areas north and west of India (parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan), cultural and commercial ties had been established between the Gandhara region of Pakistan-Afghanistan and the ancient Mediterranean world.

The Yale University Art Gallery, Connecticut, USA

This under-lifesize marble head represents a female member of the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled over Egypt from the death of Alexander in 323 B.C. through the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. This portrait is highly idealized, with softly modeled and rather generic facial features. The loss of much of the coiffure, which in antiquity would have been completed in stucco and attached to the marble head, creates further difficulties in identifying the portrait's historical subject. The favorite candidate among scholars is Arsinoe III, who served as queen alongside her husband (who was also her brother), Ptolemy IV, from 217 to 205 B.C. This was a tumultuous period in the history of Hellenistic Egypt; both king and queen were murdered during a palace coup.

Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA

29 bracelets and armlets (or anklets), with flattened or squared terminals: one is fragmentary (1/3 preserved; no terminals). Diam. range from 9.3 cm. to 6.9 cm. Northern Greek in style, from Thessaly or Macedonia.

Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA

Head of an athlete
ca. 200 - 150 B.C.
Greek
Ptolemaic
Fine-grained, grayish white marble

Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA

Miniature oinochoe
late 8th - early 7th century B.C.
Greek
Geometric

[...]

Thessalian or Macedonian.

The British Museum, London, UK

In 336 BC Alexander the Great embarked on a programme of territorial expansion, which would eventually extend the boundaries of the Greek world to Egypt in the south and to India in the East. In 334 BC Alexander crossed the Hellespont, the narrow strait separating Europe and Asia, and went first to Troy. There he dedicated his armour to Athena and laid a wreath at the tomb of Achilles, the legendary hero and champion of the Greeks in the Trojan War. This act prefigured Alexander's role as a new Achilles liberating the Greek cities of Asia Minor from Asiatic rule.

The British Museum, London, UK

Following the death of Alexander and the division of his empire, the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC) saw Greek power and culture extended across the Middle East and as far as the Indus Valley.

The British Museum, London, UK

Fabled for her sexual allure and cunning intelligence, Cleopatra VII of Egypt has fascinated generations of admirers and detractors since her life ended in suicide in 30 BC. This intriguing exhibition at The British Museum focused on Cleopatra, last of the Ptolemaic monarchs, Macedonian Greeks who had ruled Egypt since the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. The exhibition traced Cleopatra's life as queen of Egypt and her liaisons with the two great Roman leaders of the day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. The myth and iconic status of Cleopatra is also examined, largely through the representation of the queen in European art from the Renaissance to today.

The British Museum, London, UK

These form three distinct bands of writing. The top band consists of fourteen lines of hieroglyphs: symbols such as an eye, a seated man, a reed and a basket. The middle band is made up of thirty-two lines of a curvilinear script called demotic, the everyday language used in ancient Egypt. At the bottom are over fifty lines of tightly compressed Greek writing.

The inscriptions are three translations of the same decree, passed by a council of priests, that affirms the royal cult of the thirteen-year-old Ptolemy V on the first anniversary of his coronation. In the early years of the nineteenth century, scholars were able to use the Greek inscription on this stone as the key to deciphering the others.

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) inherited the Macedonian kingdom from his father Philip II in 336 BC. After regaining Philip’s position of hegemony within Greece, Alexander embarked on a great campaign against the Persian empire in 334 BC.

The Beazley Archive, Oxford, UK

Among the Hellenistic royal families only the Ptolemies in Egypt depicted a substantial number of their non-ruling queens on coins and gems, sometimes assimilated to a goddess. A general or family Ptolomaic portrait type seems recognizable in the features of many gems.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Early in his reign, Louis XIV wished to become a new Alexander, but all he retained of the life of the Greek was his great military accomplishments and his generosity. The large paintings commissioned from the painter Le Brun in 1665 were the vehicles for this propaganda. Le Brun was able to recreate the tumult and ferocity of battle through facial expressions. He carefully described an imagined Antiquity, set up carefully centered compositions, and selected colors that emphasized the action of the hero across the vast surface of the canvas.
Crossing the Granicus and The Battle of Arbela illustrate the famous battles between the Greeks and the Persians, while The entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon evokes the triumph of Alexander entering this eastern city, in which we can make out the city's famous hanging gardens.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Alexander was born in 356 BC, the son of Olympias, a Molossian princess, and Philip II, the king of Macedonia. The kingdom, which was located in the north of Greece, was prosperous and possessed a powerful army. Philip was able to impose his will over the other Greek tribes and city-states, but was assassinated in 336 while he was preparing to invade the neighboring Persian Empire.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

In the countries of the Levant, the peace that had lasted since the founding of the Persian empire and the arrival of the Greeks under Alexander and his successors, was a source of enduring prosperity.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The Egyptians knew nothing and cared little about the appearance of their Greek sovereigns, and continued to depict them according to the prescribed Pharaonic models. The relief's composition and iconography are purely Egyptian, but the text is written in Greek, the language of the conquerors.

Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Sarcophagus of Dioscorides, a Greek Egyptian
Dioscorides was a general under Ptolemy VI, and is well known from a number of Greek papyri. Despite being a member of the Greek élite that governed Egypt at the time, he chose to be buried according to local Egyptian custom. He had his dark stone sarcophagus finely engraved, at appropriate places on the body, with religious inscriptions taken from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.

A Greek, buried Egyptian-style

This sarcophagus is remarkable evidence of an Egyptian-style burial deliberately chosen by a Greek. Its owner has now been identified with certainty as the general Dioscorides, who held a high rank at the court of Ptolemy VI Philometor.

The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

The Greek world penetrated deep into Central Asia in the centuries after the invasion of Alexander the Great. The coins of the Greek kings of Bactria and north-western India illustrate the mingling of Greek and native cultures. This coin shows a Greek king wearing a local headdress on the obverse and the Greek god Poseidon, representing the Indian trident-bearing god Siva, on the reverse.

Glyptothek, Munich, Germany

III. Hellenism

Alexander the Great conquered by 330 BC the Persian empire. This was the Greek art of the ancient world. The Hellenistic sculpture plays with the emotions of the beholder. Against the ideal beauty of the previous era put the artists also aspects of horror, violence and the ugly.

Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece

The exhibition “Towards the birth of cities …” presents the material remains from settlements and cemeteries dating to the Iron Age (1100-700 BC) in the region extending between Mt. Athos and Olympus. At Kastana, Philadelpheia, Assiros, Toumba-Thessaloniki and elsewhere, settlements which are characterized by self-sufficiency and which controlled the sources of the region’s wealth were founded or re-founded.

Archaeological Museum Pella, Macedonia, Greece

The museum is near the archaeological site. It was built in 1960 to house the excavated finds, and has operated as an archaeological museum since 1973. It has information panels and exhibits.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt

During the reign of Ptolemy I, successor of Alexander the Great to the throne of Egypt, Alexandria received a great number of Greek artists who admired the calm and cheerful atmosphere of Alexandria. Gradually, with the mingling of these Greek artists with Egyptians and adopting some of their traditions and beliefs, a hybrid mixture of Greek and Egyptian art emerged.

Al Ain National Museum, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

The Hellenistic culture was the result of the cultural interaction between the Greek civilization and the civilization of the ancient Near East. This took place after the conquest of Alexander in the Near East. Here in the Arabian Gulf, traces of this culture were evident in the 3rd century BC.

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia

Many designs use the cross motif, which may have originated from the Greek invasion by Alexander the Great.

The Vergina Sun, Star of Vergina, Argead Star, Starburst, Hellenic Sunburst Symbol

noreply@blogger.com (Rott) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:53:00 +0000

This post is dedicated to the "sunburst" symbol that was universally adopted and used by all the ancient Greek tribes (the Macedonians being one of them of course) in all the different regions and eras of the Greek world.

From the collection of links below, you can see the symbol being depicted on ancient Greek coins, vases, jewelery, mosaics, etc. Move your cursor over the links below to get a snap shot of content for that link.

Tomb 2 (of Philip III, Alexander the Great's brother) at Vergina (Hellenic) Macedonia, Sarcophagus and Golden Cinerary Box

Inside the temple of Nemesis in Thamnous - 436 BC

Coin of Kerkyra

Helios (God of Sun) - Temple of Athena, Troy

Spartan Hoplite - 780 BC

Spartan Amphoreus of 6th Century BC - Museum of Louvre

Achilles and Ajax playing dice - 6th century BC

Athena and Hermes - 540 BC

Hercules and Lernaia Hydra - 525 BC

Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Magna Grecia - 520 BC

Greek Amphoreus, Magna Grecia - 500 BC

Hercules and Olympia - 500 BC:

Goddess Athena - 5th century BC

Ades in the Greek underworld - 5th century BC

The Greek Hero Achilles - 5th century BC

Hercules and Athena - 480 BC

Athenian Hoplite - 480 BC

Greek Hoplite departing - 450 BC

Canos Vase - 400 BC. A better look at the vase.

Greek Hoplite vs Persian Soldier - 4th century BC

The following art work shows the destruction of Troy. We can clearly see the Sun symbol on the side of the warrior. Found in Mykonos - 780 BC

Greek Hoplite vs Persian Soldier - 4th century BC

The Greek hero Perseus

Inside the temple of Propilaia, in Acropolis

Inside Thision Temple, under the Acropolis

Goddess Athena figure - 4th century BC

On Greek coins

Goddess Athena (Louvre Museum) - 4th century BC