Olympia. The Sanctuary of Olympia from Prehistory to the Early Christian Period. Recent Results of the Excavations of the German Archaeological Institute
The 2023 AAIA Visiting Professor, Professor Reinhard Senff, UNE Aspects of Antiquity Public Lecture: 25th September 2023.
The German excavations at Olympia started in the year 1875. The aim of the enterprise was to unearth the famous sanctuary of Zeus as far as possible and study the remains of the architecture and other monuments mentioned in ancient literature. Some structures, however, like the stadium or the gymnasium proved to be too large and could only be partially excavated, while others had been destroyed to such a degree that their original form was very hard to establish. Yet, for the first time, an important Greek sanctuary could be studied in an almost complete form and the excavation results compared to the ancient descriptions, especially that of Pausanias. The continuation of the excavations in 1936 and after World War II discovered unknown structures such as Roman bath buildings and lodgings not mentioned in the ancient sources. Recent work has now deepened our understanding of the beginning of the cult in the Early Iron Age, as well as the role of the peripheral areas for activities during the athletic festivals and the periods between the events. Modern documentation techniques are being used to store and combine information about the excavations and the finds, and these will eventually be accessible through the internet.
Aerial view of the site of Olympia
Professor Reinhard Senff has broad (and deep) experience in archaeological pursuits, particularly of the ancient Greek world, and has worked in Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Turkey. In 2022, he retired from his position as Scientific Director of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens and, more specifically, the Director of the German excavations at Olympia, a position he had held from 2004.
