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Archaeologists find a vast ancient tomb


seeder

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Archaeologists uncover vast ancient tomb in Greece

Site dates to end of Alexander the Great's reign in 4th century BC and may be grave of a prominent Macedonian, say officials

Archaeologists have unearthed a vast ancient tomb in Greece, distinguished by two sphinxes and frescoed walls and dating to 300-325BC, the government announced on Tuesday.

The tomb, in the country's north-eastern Macedonia region, which has been gradually unearthed over the past two years, marks a significant discovery from the early Hellenistic era. A culture ministry official said that there was no evidence yet to suggest a link to Alexander the Great – who died in 323BC after an unprecedented military campaign through the Middle East, Asia and northeast Africa – or his family.

The official said the Amphipolis site, about 65 miles north-east of Greece's second-biggest city, Thessaloniki, appeared to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/aug/12/archaeologists-greece-tomb-alexander-great

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I'm a big Alexander fan. Am eagerly awating more news.

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Very interesting news. I look forward to more information.

Naturally people are already speculating that the tomb belongs to Alexander the Great. Here's one article with that theme, which includes supplemental information and a number of photographs.

It can't be ruled out definitively. Alexander is said to have been buried in Egypt, first in Memphis and then in Alexandria, but his tomb has never been found. Although several Roman rulers were supposed to have visited the burial in Alexandria. I don't know that the Amphipolis discovery would yield Alexander's tomb because Vergina was the traditional royal burial ground of Macedon in Alexander's time. But given that Alex's tomb is yet unknown, who can say for sure?

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This reminds me of a link cormac sent me this past spring to a short news piece announcing the possible discovery of Alex's tomb in a district within Alexandria. It had just enough detail to sound convincing, so I was hopeful but skeptical at the same time. Turns out the news piece was a hoax stemming from a parody website.

It just goes to show: skepticism is very healthy to maintain in such matters.

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assuming it's true, it'll cast a new light on what we could potentially expect to see in Alexander's Tomb (ie nothing less then what we see in this one, he was more important therefore the tomb more extravagant then this one).

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assuming it's true, it'll cast a new light on what we could potentially expect to see in Alexander's Tomb (ie nothing less then what we see in this one, he was more important therefore the tomb more extravagant then this one).

That's assuming, hopefully, that he wasn't actually buried in a section in or near Alexandria close enough to the coastline to have subsided into the Mediterranean. Sadlly that's a possibility.

cormac

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I don't think it's actually an ancient Macedonian tomb but just another place where cormac keeps a stash of sippin' whisky.

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I am really interested in this one, being a follower of Alexanders endeavours, anything relating to his life is always going to grab my attention!

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Having been lucky to have visited the area and seen Macedonian tombs first hand, i can tell you that this seems nothing like the small temple/villa like tombs i have viewed. For one thing, the sheer size of this tomb (assuming that's what it is), is out of character with those at Vergina. And No historical text mentions such a structure dated around Alexander's era,only adds to the mystery.

Can't wait for this tomb to reveal it's secrets.

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keep a follow up of this, im curious to know what they find.. how long will it take?

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keep a follow up of this, im curious to know what they find.. how long will it take?

Given the amount of money the Greek Dept. of antiquities has at the moment for digs, years.

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It depends, if it is Alexandre the Great's tomb, they may as well chose to make it the new tourism attraction to boost Thessaloniki's economy. It's would be a big antic vestige, akin to the pyramids or the Rome coliseum, but no one ever have seen it before, no matter how old they are. All the Antiquity enthousiasts would want to come as none of them as ever seen it. This site could drain all the archeology budget of the country.

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Reading up on Alexander, he apparently had a large number of siblings, mostly half siblings. His father was married 4 or 5 times, and had many children. Could be one of Alexanders relatives?

The whole hill in those pics is the tomb? That is actually very large....

Amphipolis-498862.jpg

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Bummer!

Game over for Greece's mystery grave: Tomb raiders plundered site in antiquity - dashing hopes of finding artefacts dating back to Alexander the Great's reign

It was described as 'incredibly important' and of 'global importance,' but now archaeologists have discovered that a mysterious tomb in Greece was plundered in antiquity.

Experts had hoped that the ancient mound in northern Greece contained the untouched remains of an important senior official from the time of Alexander the Great, as well as possible treasures.

But now it appears that signs of forced entry outside the huge barrel-vaulted structure, indicate the tomb was emptied long ago.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2734502/Game-Greeces-mystery-grave-Tomb-raiders-plundered-site-antiquity-dashing-hopes-finding-artefacts-dating-Alexander-Greats-reign.html#ixzz3BW070VcZ

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"Barrel vaults?" OK, I'll reveal my ignorance once again: did the Greeks do arches? Or by Alexander's time were they borrowing from the Romans?

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"Barrel vaults?" OK, I'll reveal my ignorance once again: did the Greeks do arches? Or by Alexander's time were they borrowing from the Romans?

Arches were not common to ancient Greek architecture, but some examples are known. I remember them as far back as bee-hive tombs from Mycenaean Greece (Late Bronze Age), but as I recall tombs were their principal use in the early periods. I am not an expert in ancient Greek architecture but I don't think it was a matter of their inability to construct arches or vaults. It was more a matter of preferred architectural style.

I've seen that sometimes kids are still being taught the Romans "invented" the arch, but this is incorrect. The Egyptians were building different kinds of arches and vaults at least as early as Dynasty 3 (c. 2670 BCE). They can be observed, for instance, in the Step Pyramid complex of King Djoser.

It's my understanding the arch was even common in Atlantis 12,000 years ago. (Note to Atlantophiles: this last line is utter bull-flop, of course.)

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Looted? That's too bad. Perhaps they will still find some culturally important artifacts. But, I bet the Greek government was hoping for Gold.

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Although several Roman rulers were supposed to have visited the burial in Alexandria. I don't know that the Amphipolis discovery would yield Alexander's tomb because Vergina was the traditional royal burial ground of Macedon in Alexander's time.

That this I can totally understand

Nothin' could be finah than to lay in fine Vergina in the mo-ornin'.

Seeder,

Fine post but it's suffering from what usually happens to facts around here.

The thread has been here for 12 days and this is the 18th post. :unsure2:

Hope you put it in the Archaeology thread too. :tu:

Harte

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That this I can totally understand

Nothin' could be finah than to lay in fine Vergina in the mo-ornin'.

...

Oh, Harte, you're such a naughty boy. It's people like you who've corrupted me.

Of course, it could just be the way I'm reading it, so it's possible I came here corrupted.

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Great find! But I'm not one that will jump on the "Alexander" band wagon based on nothing more than wishful thinking.

I often wonder why people in charge of these dig sites can't charge for internet access of the dig in-progress. There are many folks out there that would like to subscribe just as a form of donating, kind of like the concept to crowd-funding.

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Oh, Harte, you're such a naughty boy. It's people like you who've corrupted me.

Of course, it could just be the way I'm reading it, so it's possible I came here corrupted.

Moi?

Dear fellow, I assure you that it is not only the mature thing to do, but it is my duty and responsibility to my family to pre-plan my funeral!

I don't see how determining my final resting place, as any responsible adult should do, is in any way ribald, or even indecorous.

Harte

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"Barrel vaults?" OK, I'll reveal my ignorance once again: did the Greeks do arches? Or by Alexander's time were they borrowing from the Romans?

I thought the arch was a Roman "innovation" they "liberated" from someone (the Greeks I think) BUT Alexander was around when Rome was a sleepy little fishing village (to coin a phrase) with more sheep then people.

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I thought the arch was a Roman "innovation" they "liberated" from someone (the Greeks I think) BUT Alexander was around when Rome was a sleepy little fishing village (to coin a phrase) with more sheep then people.

True about the emergence of Rome, and I should've mentioned that. There were Greek colonies in southern Italy (Naples, for instance, was originally a Greek harbor) but the Greeks did not come up against Rome in full force until 281 BCE. This is when the Macedonian and Epirus king Pyrrhus engaged them in battle. He did well but the battles cost him dearly, which is where we get the phrase "Pyrrhic victory." In any case this was over forty years after Alexanders' death, and Rome was only just starting to flex its muscles.

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