DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14547#0051
124 and 132 A. D. Before 1927, this ruin, a rectangular build-
ing with three parallel halls, was considered the fourth cen-
tury Pompeion. It was destroyed in its turn, by the Heruli, the
first northern barbarians who sacked Athens, in 267 A. D.
Potters established their workshops above its ruins : lamps and
terracotta figurines datable to the fourth century provide re-
liable evidence. These in their turn disappeared under a
Byzantine stratum: fine glazed pottery of the sixth and suc-
ceeding centuries shows that the ancient Potter's Quarter de-
served its name far into the Middle Ages.
We have been able to follow the history of the Keramei-
kos through almost two thousand years, in uninterrupted se-
quence. The finds which had accumulated during ten years
of assiduous work had to be stored in sheds and in a small
house which soon proved inadequate. Once again Mr. Ober-
laender showed his enlightened interest in our aims, by pro-
viding the funds for a museum, to be erected on the site and
destined to contain all the objects discovered during the ex-
cavations that he had financed. This last generous gift of our
patron was made in the summer of 1936, a few months before
his untimely death. It has a special significance. He might
easily have considered it the duty of the Greek Archaeological
Service to house the finds by which foreign munificence had
enriched Greece. But with his quick comprehension of es-
sentials, Mr. Oberlaender at once understood that the local
authorities lacked the means to build a museum worthy of
those finds; thus they would either continue to be crowded
into quite inadequate sheds, or scattered among the treasures
of the National Museum at Athens, thereby losing much of
their value as scientific material, and all the impressiveness
they deserved, as evidence of many years of patient scholar-
ship and generous endowment. Plans of the projected mu-
seum had been prepared by a gifted young architect, H. Jo-
hannes, who had worked with us for several years. When I
submitted these plans to Mr. Oberlaender at Nauheim, he
made some acute suggestions which we were very glad to use.
After his death The Oberlaender Trust, of which Mr. Lein-
ing with three parallel halls, was considered the fourth cen-
tury Pompeion. It was destroyed in its turn, by the Heruli, the
first northern barbarians who sacked Athens, in 267 A. D.
Potters established their workshops above its ruins : lamps and
terracotta figurines datable to the fourth century provide re-
liable evidence. These in their turn disappeared under a
Byzantine stratum: fine glazed pottery of the sixth and suc-
ceeding centuries shows that the ancient Potter's Quarter de-
served its name far into the Middle Ages.
We have been able to follow the history of the Keramei-
kos through almost two thousand years, in uninterrupted se-
quence. The finds which had accumulated during ten years
of assiduous work had to be stored in sheds and in a small
house which soon proved inadequate. Once again Mr. Ober-
laender showed his enlightened interest in our aims, by pro-
viding the funds for a museum, to be erected on the site and
destined to contain all the objects discovered during the ex-
cavations that he had financed. This last generous gift of our
patron was made in the summer of 1936, a few months before
his untimely death. It has a special significance. He might
easily have considered it the duty of the Greek Archaeological
Service to house the finds by which foreign munificence had
enriched Greece. But with his quick comprehension of es-
sentials, Mr. Oberlaender at once understood that the local
authorities lacked the means to build a museum worthy of
those finds; thus they would either continue to be crowded
into quite inadequate sheds, or scattered among the treasures
of the National Museum at Athens, thereby losing much of
their value as scientific material, and all the impressiveness
they deserved, as evidence of many years of patient scholar-
ship and generous endowment. Plans of the projected mu-
seum had been prepared by a gifted young architect, H. Jo-
hannes, who had worked with us for several years. When I
submitted these plans to Mr. Oberlaender at Nauheim, he
made some acute suggestions which we were very glad to use.
After his death The Oberlaender Trust, of which Mr. Lein-