In 2024, the Weingreen Museum of Biblical Antiquities at Trinity College Dublin was gifted a spindle whorl from the ancient city of Troy. Given by the early excavator of the site, Heinrich Schliemann, to Lady Augusta Gregory when she visited Athens in 1880, this decorated spindle whorl then made its journey to Ireland. Lady Gregory mentions it in her diary and wrote an identifying note which remains attached to the back of the whorl. This small terracotta object, dating from the Bronze Age, connects us not just to the historical worlds of ancient Anatolia and Greece and the universal experiences of humanity reflected in the Homeric epic but also to the daily lives of women who would have used this object in their production of textiles, and, in more modern times, to the European excavators obsessed with these legendary tales and to the woman who brought it to Ireland.
You are invited to join us for two events:
Public Lecture: “Spinning the Past: Schliemann's Discovery of Spindle Whorls in Troy.”
Professor Rustem Aslan (Director of Troy Excavations)
Thursday, 26 March, 18.30-20.00 (no booking necessary)
Synge Theatre, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
Public Symposium: "From Troy to Ireland: an ancient object connecting worlds."
Friday, 27 March, 9.30-18.00 (booking essential)
Trinity Long Room Hub
Book via Eventbrite.