InTouch Studios: Olympics! The old school way!!

In June, I received the very exciting assignment that I worked very hard for, to go to Greece with the archaeology team from UC Berkeley. The project was to document the artifacts the archaeologists discovered and restored in both Mycenae and Nemea excavation during the last few years. As a side project, I would also document the re-enacted ancient Olympic game that archaeologists helped re-established.

June 22^nd, 2008, I arrived at Nemea for the Ancient Olympic Game. Nemea used to be one of the few cities that rotated to host the Olympic game back in the 500 B.C. The whole city was built with the only purpose of hosting the game unlike the other cities that had permanent political, commercial, or agricultural activities. The city/compound consists of a stadium, a temple, a whole bunch of dormitories, and some other supplemental buildings. In today’s terms, it’s an Olympic Village.

The re-enacted game follows the traditional protocol. Participants follow the ancient rule to prepare and compete in both short and long distance running in the ancient stadium (To gain broader acceptance, the wrestling and horse racing was not re-enact). In the Olympic year, participating in an event like this really made me feel the 2500 year link between the past and the present.

Sunrise at the Nemea temple, where the prayers and the opening ceremony took place.

The local ladies formed a chore and chant the wishes during the opening ceremony.

The local political leader light up the torch.

The changing room used to be stone and wood building back in the days. Now, with the foundation and few pillars left, the locals put up a very nostalgic feeling tent.

Back in the days, the athletes compete naked with olive oils applied to their skin both as sun block. In 2008, we made a little change called civilization.