The Piraeus Lion is one of four lion statues on display at the Venetian Arsenal, where it was displayed as a symbol of Venice's patron saint, Saint Mark. It was originally located in Piraeus, the ancient harbour of Athens. It was seized by Doge Francesco Morosini in 1687 as plunder taken in the Great Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire, during which the Venetians besieged Athens. Copies of the statue can also be seen at the Piraeus Archaeological Musuem and the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm. The lion was a famous landmark in Piraeus, having stood there since the first or second century AD. Its prominence was such that the port was given the name Porto Leone ("Lion Port") by the Italians.[1] It is depicted in a sitting pose, with a hollow throat and the mark of a pipe (now lost) running down its back; this suggests that it was originally used as a fountain.[2] The statue, which is made of white marble and stands some 3 m (9 ft) high, is particularly noteworthy for having been defaced some time in the second half of the 11th century by Scandinavians who carved two lengthy runic inscriptions into the shoulders and flanks of the lion.[3] The runes are carved in the shape of an elaborate lindworm dragon-headed scroll, in much the same style as on rune stones in Scandinavia. [4] The carvers of the runes were almost certainly Varangians, Scandinavian mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine Emperor who had been sent to Greece to put down a revolt by the local people.
Inscriptions and translations
The inscriptions were not recognised as runes until the Swedish diplomat Johan David Åkerblad identified them at the end of the 18th century. They are in the shape of a lindworm (a flightless dragon with serpentine body and two or no legs) and were first translated in the mid-19th century by Carl Christian Rafn, the Secretary of the Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab (Royal Society of Nordic Antiquaries).[5] The inscriptions are heavily eroded due to weathering and air pollution, making many of the individual runes barely legible. This has required translators to reconstruct some of the runes, filling in the blanks to determine what words they represented. The two inscriptions and Rafn's translations are as follows, with the legible letters shown in bold and the reconstructed ones unbolded: [6] Right side of the lion:
- ASMUDR : HJU : RUNAR : ÞISAR : ÞAIR : ISKIR : AUK: ÞURLIFR : ÞURÞR : AUK : IVAR : AT : BON : HARADS : HAFA : ÞUAT : GRIKIAR : UF : HUGSAÞU : AUK : BANAÞU :
- Asmund cut these runes with Asgeir and Thorleif, Thord and Ivar, at the request of Harold the Tall, though the Greeks considered about and forbade it.
Left side of the lion:
- HAKUN : VAN: ÞIR : ULFR : AUK : ASMUDR : AUK : AURN : HAFN : ÞESA : ÞIR : MEN : LAGÞU : A : UK : HARADR : HAFI : UF IABUTA : UPRARSTAR : VEGNA : GRIKIAÞIÞS : VARÞ : DALKR : NAUÞUGR : I : FIARI : LAÞUM : EGIL : VAR : I : FARU : MIÞ : RAGNARR : TIL : RUMANIU . . . . AUK : ARMENIU :
Some have tried to trace Harald Hardrade's name on the inscription, but the time it was carved does not coincide with his time in the service of the Emperor.[7]
References
- ^ Hans Rupprecht Goette, Athens, Attica and the Megarid: An Archaeological Guide, p. 141. Routledge, 2001. ISBN 041524370X
- ^ Henry Ellis, The British museum. Elgin and Phigaleian marbles, p. 36. British Museum, 1833
- ^ Thomas D. Kendrick, A History of the Vikings, p. 176. Courier Dover Publications, 2004. ISBN 048643396X
- ^ "The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom) - Dragon" (notes), webpage: BT-Dragon.
- ^ "En Nordisk Runeindskrift i Piræus, med Forklaring af C.C. Rafn", Antiquarisk Ridsskrift, 1855-57
- ^ A. Craig Gibson, "Runic Inscriptions: Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian", in Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, p. 130. Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1902
- ^ Ian Heath, The Vikings Osprey Publishing; May 23 1985; 9780850455656
