Arsenale (Venice) - First Ancient Greek lion

The Piraeus Lion ( it, Leone del Pireo) is one of four lion statues on display at the

Venetian Arsenal The Venetian Arsenal ( it, Arsenale di Venezia) is a complex of former shipyards and armories clustered together in the city of Venice in northern Italy. Owned by the state, the Arsenal was responsible for the bulk of the Venetian republic's ...

, Italy, where it was displayed as a symbol of Venice's patron saint,

Saint Mark Mark the Evangelist ( la, Marcus; grc-gre, Μᾶρκος, Mârkos; arc, ܡܪܩܘܣ, translit=Marqōs; Ge'ez: ማርቆስ; ), also known as Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Acco ...

History

It was originally located in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

, the harbour of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. It was looted by Venetian naval commander

Francesco Morosini Francesco Morosini (26 February 1619 – 16 January 1694) was the Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War. He was one of the many Doges and generals produced by the noble Venetian family of Morosini.Encyclopæd ...

in 1687 as plunder taken in the Great Turkish War against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, during which the Venetians captured Athens and Morosini's cannons caused damage to the Parthenon that was matched only by his subsequent sack of the city. Copies of the statue can also be seen at the Piraeus Archaeological Museum and the

Swedish Museum of National Antiquities The Swedish History Museum ( sv, Historiska museet or Statens historiska museum) is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates ...

in Stockholm. The lion was originally sculpted in about 360 BC, and became a famous landmark in Piraeus, Athens, having stood there since the 1st or 2nd century AD. Its prominence was such that the port eventually became referred to in Italian as ("Lion Port") as the port's original name ceased to be used. 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 at some point used as a fountain. This is consistent with the description of the statue from the 1670s, which said that water flowed from the lion's mouth into a cistern at its feet. The statue, which is made of white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

and stands some 3 m (9 ft.) high, is particularly noteworthy for having been, in the second half of the 11th century, inscribed by Scandinavians who carved two lengthy

runic Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised ...

inscriptions into the shoulders and flanks of the lion. The runes are carved in the shape of an elaborate

lindworm The lindworm (''worm'' meaning snake), also spelled lindwyrm or lindwurm, is a mythical creature in Northern and Central European folklore living deep in the forest that traditionally has the shape of a giant serpent monster. It can be seen as a ...

dragon-headed scroll, in much the same style as on

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones d ...

s in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

."The Book of THoTH (Leaves of Wisdom) — Dragon" (notes), URL
BT-Dragon
. The

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

who carved the runes on the lion could have been

Varangians The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

, mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor, or Vikings who travelled from Scandinavia around Europe’s Atlantic coastline.

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

(a flightless dragon with serpentine body and two or no legs) and were first translated in the mid-19th century by

Carl Christian Rafn Carl Christian Rafn (January 16, 1795 – October 20, 1864) was a Danish historian, translator and antiquarian. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse literature and related Northern European ancient history. He w ...

, the Secretary of the Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-Selskab (Royal Society of Nordic Antiquaries). The inscriptions are heavily eroded due to weathering and air pollution in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, 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. There have been several attempts to decipher and translate the text. Below follow Rafn's early attempt (1854) and Eric Brate's attempt (1914), which is considered to be the most successful one. Pritsak, Omeljan. (1981). ''The Origin of Rus'.'' Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute. p. 348.

Rafn's translation

Rafn's attempt is as follows, with the legible letters shown in bold and the reconstructed ones unbolded: 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 : ** ''Hakon with Ulf and Asmund and Örn conquered this port. These men and Harold Hafi imposed a heavy fine on account of the revolt of the Greek people. Dalk is detained captive in far lands. Egil is gone on an expedition with Ragnar into

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

.'' Some have tried to trace Harald Hardrada's name on the inscription, but the time it was carved does not coincide with his time in the service of the emperor.Heath, Ian (1985).
The Vikings
' Osprey Publishing.

Erik Brate's translation

Erik Brate's interpretation from 1914 is considered to be the most successful one.

Literature

* Sven B. F. Jansson, "Pireuslejonets runor", ''Nordisk Tidskrift för vetenskap konst och industri, utgiven av Letterstedtska Föreningen''. Stockholm (1984).

References