In Gela a style emerges in the shape of the Hermas of Dionysus

One male head at the top, in the middle section a make it erectand finally the tip: who held it stylus, 13.2 cm long, in the shape of the Hermas of Dionysus in Gela of the 5th century BC he was perhaps a ceramist or a member of the elite to whom the contracts were entrusted. The object, made of finely worked bone, emerged in the Orto Fontanelle area, in a preventive archeology excavation, the same one that an amendment to the Budget would have wanted to cancel and which was deemed inadmissible thanks to the protest of the archaeologists.

The stylus, he explains to AGI Gianluca Calà, in charge of the scientific direction of the excavation, it was “a sort of pen, it was used to write on the clay tablet with a tip at the lower end and to possibly erase with a spatula at the upper end. The extraordinary thing about this object, probably unique, is its shape like the Hermas of Dionysus. The most important herms are those that accompanied the entrance to the acropolis of Athens, of fundamental importance in the history and politics of that city.

In 415 BCthe night before departure of Alcibiades for the expedition to Syracusewhich would have been disastrous for Athens, someone went to mutilate all the phalluses of the herms. Alcibiades was accused of having paid someone to break these statues, so as to use the bad omen as a pretext for not leaving. The object we found probably comes from the East.”

“This stylus truly represents a unique in the archaeological panorama of the time – said the superintendent for cultural heritage of Caltanissetta, Daniela Vullo – probably used as a gift to the divinity, due to its peculiarities it deserves to be exhibited and returned to public use”. “Once again – said the councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato – Gela returns important pieces of history that contribute to increasing the culture of a territory that in ancient times had a central role and which, thanks to the presence of so many archaeological emergencies, can really grow and become a point of reference for the sector”.

Despite Scarpinato’s reassurances, the excavation, from which an entire neighborhood emerged in the area where the Palace of Culture is to be built, is suspended due to lack of funds. “We are right in the center under the municipality, facing the sea – explains Calà – it is a typical villa inside the city: an unmissable opportunity where you can dig without removing concrete or asphalt”.