Glenn Maffia

THE rousing success of the archaeological guide to the artifacts surrounding the Temple of Apollo has prompted me to embark upon another project: the Sacred Way.

Namely because it is visible, and also because I have been assured that it will be open to the public this summer; though as of now we see no sign of a door being opened.

Where the door is always open

So while we wait with bated breath I shall begin with the always open, always informative, and polished professionalism of the British Museum in the heart of London.

Among the display in Room 13 of the Museum are six statues excavated from the Sacred Way by Sir Charles Thomas Newton in 1858.

Sir Charles Newton

It is the colourful Victorian gentlemen I shall concentrate here, therefore giving significant gravity and context to the finds he made here in Didim.

Newton was certainly born into the connected circles of the age; his father was that pillar of Victorian society, a country vicar in the county of Shropshire, he then attended Shrewsbury School under the auspices of Samuel Butler, a classical scholar and later the Bishop of Litchfield. Naturally, he then enrolled into Christ Church College at Oxford.

A friend and contemporary, the noted art critic John Ruskin, observed his natural leaning to the scientific study of classical archaeology, a discipline pioneered by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the “prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology”.

Upon leaving Oxford, and in opposition to his family’s wishes, he joined the British Museum as an assistant in the department of antiquities.

As ever, the well connected Newton was named as vice consul to Mytilene, now a Greek island but then under Ottoman rule, and merely a year later to consul upon Rhodes, similarly under Ottoman control.

Along with these governmental positions he certainly was watching over the interests of the British Museum, and in 1854-1855 he carried out excavations on the island of Kalymnos thus substantially augmenting the Museum with a rich collection of important inscriptions.

A wonder to locate

The following year he embarked upon his long desired ambition to locate and excavate one of the Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

The Sacred Way

Newton did indeed realize his dream, though as much of the tomb had been robbed to build the castle which now stands in Bodrum harbour, the grand scale of such a Wonder of the World was heavily muted.

Important finds were shipped back to the British Museum though these were probably supplemented by including some artefacts from just down the road, the Didyma Statues from the Sacred Way, and, with the aid of R. P. Pullen acting under his direction, the Lion of Cnidos.

One can only surmise that if there were a greater archaeological wealth to be found at Halicarnassus, would Newton have undertaken these extra digs? Who knows, but I am glad that he did.

Back to Bloomsbury

After a brief spell as consul in Rome, Newton was recalled to the British Museum to become keeper of the newly created Greek and Roman antiquities department.

Under his tenure a mass of important acquisitions began to accumulate, which were consistent with his personal influence and taste.

His successors and friends continued his exploratory work in the Middle East, most notably for this region Pullen at Priene and John Turtle Wood at Ephesus, all of whom were working nominally under his direction.

Newton also accumulated many prestigious chairs, including the Yates chair of classical archaeology at University College, London, antiquary to the Royal Academy, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, the British School at Athens and the Egypt Exploration Fund.

Increasing infirmity slowly eroded his capacity to do justice to all these positions and he quietly retired to Margate, where he died in November of 1894, aged 78.

One can find a bust of Newton by Josef Boehm in the Mausoleum room at the British Museum. I told you those people at the Museum were professional.

Room 13

A few years back I visited Room 13 where some of the statues from Didyma are preserved in a wonderful condition. It was here that I gazed on these beautiful figures.

Some of the statues at British Museum that adorned the Sacred Way adjacent to Didyma’s Temple of Apollo.

Figures that once lived where I now reside sent a wave of emotion flooding through my nervous system. I was close to tears.

They appeared as orphans so far from home, albeit so well cared for and loved.

Present day Didim could not tend for them, physically or intellectually, in the manner they are now.

Also, they all reside together to keep one another company.

These treasures can only whisper and bear witness to our very history.

There are four seated figures, a reclining lion and a now decapitated head (another head is located opposite in a display cabinet).

All date from the 6th century BCE and display Hittite characteristics, though they are decidedly of Greek origin, and were created in Miletus.