An ancient Greek cup awarded as a prize to the marathon winner in the first modern Olympics of 1896 has been returned to Athens from a German university, according to AP.
Greece’s Culture Ministry said Wednesday that the 6th century B.C. pottery vessel was considered lost for decades until research in 2014 by archaeologist Giorgos Kavvadias identified it in the University of Muenster’s collections.
A ministry statement verified it was proved “beyond any doubt” that the two-handled wine cup painted with ancient runners was the one given to Spiros Louis, the Greek marathon victor in the 1896.
After correspondence with Greek officials, the university agreed to return the cup, which was part of a private German collection it had bought in 1986. The statement said the collection had been put together by Werner Peek, a scholar of Greek and historian who lived in Athens during the 1930s. But it was unclear how the cup ended up in Peek’s hands.
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Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons License: CC-BY-SA Copyright: Thomas Wolf
