AGRIGENTO, SICILY—The Guardian reports that the ruins of a 26-foot-tall sculpture of Atlas dated to the fifth century B.C. will be reinstalled at the Greek Temple of Zeus at Agrigento, a city once inhabited by as many as 100,000 people. According to Greek mythology, Atlas, a Titan, was forced to carry the sky on his shoulders after he was defeated by the Olympian Zeus. As many as 40 such statues of Atlas may have stood at the temple, which is thought to have been unfinished when the city was destroyed by the Carthaginians in 406 B.C. “The idea is to reposition one of these Atlases in front of the temple, so that it may serve as a guardian of the structure dedicated to the father of the gods,” said park director Roberto Sciarratta. To read about the search for the Greek theater at Agrigento, go to "Sicily's Lost Theater."
Restoration of Sicily’s Temple of Zeus Continues
News July 14, 2020
Recommended Articles
Features March/April 2019
Sicily's Lost Theater
Archaeologists resume the search for the home of drama in a majestic Greek sanctuary
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2019
Stabbed in the Back
Features September/October 2018
Shipping Stone
A wreck off the Sicilian coast offers a rare look into the world of Byzantine commerce
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2012
Roman Ship's Secret Cargo
Italian archaeologists have uncovered evidence of smuggling between North Africa and Italy on a third-century A.D. shipwreck off the west coast of Sicily. The most complete Roman ship ever found, the 52-by-16-foot merchant vessel was carrying amphorae filled with walnuts, figs, olives, wine, oil, and fish sauce from Tunisia to Rome when it sank.
-
Features May/June 2020
A Path to Freedom
At a Union Army camp in Kentucky, enslaved men, women, and children struggled for their lives and fought to be free
(National Archives Records Administration, Washington, DC) -
Features May/June 2020
Villages in the Sky
High in the Rockies, archaeologists have discovered evidence of mountain life 4,000 years ago
(Matt Stirn) -
Letter from Morocco May/June 2020
Splendor at the Edge of the Sahara
Excavations of a bustling medieval city tell the tale of a powerful Berber dynasty
(Photo Courtesy Chloé Capel) -
Artifacts May/June 2020
Torah Shield and Pointer
(Courtesy Michał Wojenka/Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology)