The Cycladic Identity initiative represents the Museum’s vision to expand its mission to the Cyclades and embrace its potential to contribute to positive change for the islands where the Cycladic culture was born and where it evolved.

"Ωμό Μουσείο"

The Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a press release on the latest status of museums and ruins in ten provinces affected by two major earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş in Turkey. National and international rescue teams race against time to save as many people as possible in Turkey. However, the colossal disasters damaged the cultural heritage as well.

The Geneva court has ruled 15 ancient objects will be returned to Greece from Switzerland. Criminal investigations reveal the ancient artifacts were illegally in possession of a well-known antique dealer. The items consist of figurines, clay, and copper vessels, a gold diadem with laurel leaves, a torso of a naked male, a bronze statuette of a naked athlete, a pair of bronze anklets, and a silver coin. The Ministry of Culture and Sports informed in a press statement that these objects were under precautionary seizure by the Geneva authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after being…

Nicopolis Athena

The fire pump of Ktesibios and Heron (3rd c. B.C., 1st c. A.D.) The first fire-fighting pump in the world. It was a twin piston reciprocating pump of continuous water flow that was used for fire-fighting and continued identically having the same use until recently.It consisted of two pistons, that reciprocated oppositely with the help of a pivoted common hand lever within two vertical cylindrical containers immersed in the (probably wheeled) water tank. The non-return valves of the incoming water were in the raised bottom of the containers and the non-return outlet valves were at the base of…

The pantograph of Heron (1st c. A.D.) The first device of copy, enlargement and diminution in human history. It was an impressive instrument used for copying drawings and figures with the possibility of reduction or enlargement. It consisted of a plane base with two connected toothed wheels (with the possibility of rotation around a single axle which went through their common centre), and two parallel toothed rulers, which were always in contact with the toothed wheels sliding inside two grooved rods. The latter were transversely connected on one arm rotating round the centre of the toothed…

The “philosopher’s stone”of Heron (1st c. A.D.) It was an amazing invention of Heron of Alexandria that ostensibly “changed” one liquid into another, for example water into wine. It consisted of an empty airtight water vessel, which at the top had a tubular opening where water entered and reached the bottom, and of an airtight wine vessel, which in the middle had a tap in a siphon shape. The two vessels were connected by an intermediate small tube that entered the bottom and reached close to their top. When a certain amount of water was poured into the first vessel, the air inside went…