Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr.
Photo Credit: The Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/Harvard University
The AIA was honored to present the late Professor Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr. with the AIA’s Bandelier Award for Public Service to Archaeology for his exemplary work at Sardis (Turkey), capital of ancient Lydia and the home of King Croesus. His work on the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis (cosponsored by Harvard University Art Museums and Cornell University) spans over half a century. He began as the site’s first official photographer in 1959 and served as the field director for more than 30 years (1976–2008).
Greenewalt’s extensive research and excavations have rendered him an expert on Lydian culture and have transformed the understanding of all periods of Sardian history. His meticulous scholarship has earned him honorific memberships in the German Archaeological Institute and the Austrian Archaeological Institute, as well as the American Philosophical Society’s Henry Allen More Prize in Humanities. He is professor emeritus of Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley and has published numerous books and articles on Sardis and ancient Lydia.
“Greenie,” as he is known by his many friends and colleagues, is recognized as much for his extraordinary hospitality, generosity, and respectfulness as he is for his scholarship. Under his exemplary leadership, the excavation experience at Sardis is renowned as a congenial and gratifying experience. The AIA is honored to recognize Professor Greenewalt for both his personal and scholarly achievements in the field.
Some facts about Sardis:
-Sardis was the capital of the Lydian empire and one of the greatest cities of the ancient world.
-Liberated from the Persians by Alexander the Great in 343 BC, Sardis became a Greek city with an impressive Temple of Artemis.
-The early Lydian kingdom was far advanced in the industrial arts, and Sardis was the chief seat of its manufactures. The most important of these trades was the manufacture and dyeing of delicate woolen stuffs and carpets.
-Ancient Sardis had a large and prosperous Jewish community, which produced the largest ancient synagogue in the ancient world, in or outside of Palestine. Archeological expeditions to Sardis have unearthed perhaps the most impressive synagogue in the western diaspora yet discovered from antiquity, yielding over eighty Greek and seven Hebrew inscriptions as well as numerous mosaic floors.
-Christianity arrived in the 1st century AD and Sardis was one of the Seven Churches of Revelation.
-The River Pactolus, now called the Sart Çay?, passes along the western edge of the site. The ancient Lydians gathered gold dust from its waters by placing sheepskins in the water which collected the dust. According to legend, the gold came from the Phrygian King Midas who, cursed with the golden touch, washed in the Pactolus to rid himself of it.
-By the 19th century, Sardis was in ruins, showing construction chiefly of the Roman period. The first large scale archaeological expedition in Sardis was directed by a Princeton University team led by Howard Crosby Butler between years 1910 – 1914, unearthing the Temple of Artemis, and more than a thousand Lydian tombs.
