The Law Code of Gortyn
- Title:
- The Law Code of Gortyn
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Alexandridis, Annetta
- Date:
- ca. 1880-1900
ca. 450 BCE
2008 (image)
- Site:
- Gortyn, Crete, Greece (original)
- Location:
- Myron Taylor Hall (Hallway outside Room G90, Mancuso Amphitheater), Cornell University Law School
Gortyn, Crete, Greece (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0844
- Accession Number:
- 779
- File Name:
- CCC_0844.tif
- Original Measurements:
- approx. 1.5 (H) x 9.2 (W) m
- Culture:
- Greek
- Style/Period:
- Late Archaic to Early Classical
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
inscription on stone (original) - Subject:
- Gortyn (Extinct city)
Greek Law - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from three-quarters
- Description:
- This is a cast of the Law Code of Gortyn, an extensive stone inscription of the 5th c. BCE recording a number of the civil laws of the city of Gortyn in Crete. The inscription is written in twelve columns in the Dorian dialect of Crete, the lettering is archaic, and the lines run back and forth (right to left then left to right) in boustrophedon. Recorded here are laws enacted since the sixth century concerning property, inheritance, slaves, adoption, rape, adultery, divorce, the children of unwed and divorced women, marriage of or between certain individuals, and many others.
The inscription was discovered in 1884 on a support wall of a Roman odeum of the 1st c. BCE
the wall on which the inscription is recorded belongs to a much earlier building and had been incorporated into the newer construction. Aside from a fragment in the Louvre that had been discovered in 1857, the inscription remains in situ at the site of ancient Gortyn. - Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
most of the Code remains on site, reused in the building of a 1st c. BCE Roman odeum - Bibliography:
- Russell Meiggs and Donald Lewis, eds., A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions: To the End of the Fifth Century B.C. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969), 94-99, no. 41
Michael Gagarin, "The Organization of the Gortyn Law Code," GRBS 23 (1982), 129-146
Ronald F. Willetts, The Law Code of Gortyn, Kadmos Suppl. I (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1967)
Linda Myers, "High-tech amphitheater to be dedicated at Cornell Law School Nov.13," Cornell Chronicle, Nov. 8, 2000 - Repository:
- Cornell University Law School (current)
Gortyn, Crete (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.