PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Ahead of the Summer Olympics scheduled to begin early Wednesday morning in Tokyo, the Penn Museum is showing an ancient Greek artifact depicting one of the first known competitions in the original Olympic Games.
One of the central new displays at the Penn Museum is an ancient vase, decorated with athletes running. It was one of the main competitions in the original Games, along with wrestling, boxing and equestrian events.
"A small vase that shows two runners, one of the early events in the Games," Penn Museum Mediterranean Section Associate Curator Ann Brownlee said.
The vase, or lekythos - an oil flask - dates back to 550 B.C., more than 2,500 years ago. It was created on an island in Southern Greece, but was found in a tomb in Italy just north of Rome.
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Trading during the time between Greece and Italy was strong. The vase was made in Greece, but then quickly transported to southern Italy for sale likely soon after, to fill the high demand for art depicting the most popular sport of the ancient Olympic Games.
Interest in the Olympics was universal, and not just in the Greek states.
"The universality of the sports, which is an important thing," added Brownlee. "We wanted to show that even in the ancient world, athletics were particularly important especially in Greece, but athletics were universal even in the ancient world."
The vase will be on display throughout the summer in the museum’s spotlight gallery.
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