Largest ancient tomb found of a prominent Macedonian

[Soldier of Macedon]

So there is currently no evidence of this apart from your testimony?

Mara also means death in Hindu, and it is a force similar to the grim reaper.

No inscriptions have been found so far. According to an inactive Greek member of the forum known as Amphipolis, this reference to 'mara' is a joke on the net that is part of a fake inscription which says "don't vote for Samaras".

[Redsun]

Greek Reporter 01/09/14

Amphipolis Tomb: All Circus, No Bread at Greece’s Newly Found “Archaeological Disneyland” - See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014....fUAGdlkM.dpuf
It was Christmas of 1977 when Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos announced the discovery of the royal tomb of King Philip of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great in Vergina. Inside the tomb that no modern man had stepped foot before, his team found a golden larnax containing the bones of the King, along with golden panoplies, wreaths, diadems and silver utensils. The news shook the world of Archaeology. It was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries, ever!
And yet, everything was carried out in modesty then. There were no press crews, no reporters, no politicians and Prime Ministers, no pompous announcements, no fanfare. Just the people who did the work that lead to this great discovery.
It took months to unearth all the discoveries, and the archaeologists worked undisturbed by media or politicians. After all, it is the job of scientists to make discoveries and it is the job of the state to protect and preserve the discoveries. Also, there was no police force, no crowds of curious spectators snapping pictures, no hot dog and cotton candy vendors around the site.
In other words, just the opposite of what is happening in the last couple of weeks at the Casta hill archaeological site, after the unearthing of the entrance to an Alexander the Great-Era tomb.
An official source, who has knowledge of the tomb’s excavation progress, claims that the archaeologists and crew cannot do their job as their mobile phones keep ringing and they have to fend off TV cameras and microphones shoved in their faces every day. They receive calls from politicians and journalists who are eager to know when they will go inside the tomb and what they expect to find there. Also, they have to answer speculations, wishes, and wild conspiracy theories. They even have to answer to technical details such as what kind of cameras they use to look inside the tomb without demolishing the protective wall. And all this while the initial excavation is still in progress!
At the same time, crowds of people gather all day long around the site that looks more and more like a community fair. Eager tourists and locals rush to see the media’s new archaeological Disneyland first, while the smoke from the souvlaki and hot dogs grills fills the air. Under the five-meter lion’s imposing gaze, a vendor from nearby village Strymoniko is selling peanuts, a way to survive in crisis-hit Greece.
The discovery of the Amphipolis tomb is not something new. In fact, work on the site goes as far back as 1956, when prominent Greek archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis started excavations. A few years later, Lazaridis declared that there was an important burial complex inside the hill. Indeed, he found a graveyard from the Iron Age with many coffin-like boxes containing the remains of women, children and men in armor, holding weapons. The discovery of King Philip’s tomb in 1977 by his fellow and good friend Andronikos, prompted Lazaridis to search further for the mysterious tomb that could be somewhere underneath. Lack of funds never allowed the operation to continue, however, by the time of his death in 1985, Lazaridis had discovered at least 70 ancient tombs.
Last year, archaeologists decided to continue the operation in Amphipolis and they dug a lot deeper to find the tomb’s 60-meter round precinct. Around the mound, an impressive 500-meter marble wall gave head of the excavation project Katerina Peristeri and her crew ample reason to believe that something very important lies inside the mound. Still, the discovery received no publicity outside the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. Not to mention that, according to area residents, the site was not guarded and reports of stolen artifacts have surfaced.
Farmers and residents of the nearby village of Nea Amphipolis are not new to such discoveries and their value. Many of them consider themselves amateur archaeologists and according to “Kathimerini” newspaper, most of the area residents are hunchbacks from too much digging. It was a joke, of course, but not without a grain of truth, since Amphipolis had been considered the Eldorado of antiquities smugglers for years. During the 1950s and 1960s, precious archaeological discoveries were sold openly in street markets. Today, villagers claim that the reason they did not report the antiquities they found to the authorities, is that the state offers peanuts compared to the reward they could make in the black market. Also, they don’t deny that the lucrative illicit trade of antiquities has not stopped completely.
In nearby Mesolakia village, president of the community Sakis Zournatzis says that more than 2,000 visitors passed through in the last few days. Residents with land in the area are calculating the expropriation compensations they will receive, while others plan to start new businesses, opening cafes, t-shirt and souvenir shops.
It seems that it is not just the people of the area who capitalize on the major archaeological discovery in Amphipolis. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited the archaeological site and talked to the cameras saying how important the discovery is on many levels. He noted that Greece has a rich history and that “us Greeks are very proud of our cultural heritage.”
The media rushed to magnify the importance of the discovery, adding more pomp to the spectacle. At the same time, archaeologists added more suspense, telling the media that by the end of August the mystery will be solved. Different sources working on the project and government officials started leaking information on possible dates that the big mystery will be uncovered. They turned Amphipolis into a TV series where each episode ends at a crucial moment with a “to be continued” on the screen. One wonders what is the reason for all this pomp?
Amphipolis: The Greek Government Savior
The shaky New Democracy and PASOK coalition government has been accused of using the Amphipolis tomb as a distraction. August found millions of Greeks disgruntled once more because of the villainous raid on their income in the form of the new property tax (ENFIA). Hundreds of thousands of homeowners found that they have to pay a lot more for their properties than they did the previous years. In some cases, the owner of a piece of land in a mountainous area has to pay tax equivalent to that of an apartment in Manhattan. The Ministry of Finance admitted that there were many errors made in the calculation of property taxes. And to add insult to injury, the errors were attributed to factors like the retirement of experienced employees who used to calculate taxes or the fact that the law came to the Ministry written in English.
The Casta tomb (or Amphipolis tomb as is widely known) is a good circus for the Greek government and its friends in the Greek media. Unfortunately, there is no bread to go with it. In fact, it seems that the bread is stolen from Greek people or exchanged for more circuses. Maybe by saying that us Greeks are proud of our heritage, the Prime Minister implied that we shouldn’t mind paying exorbitant taxes to live in our country. Tantalizing people’s minds with glories of the past in order to forget present nightmares has often been an effective tool in the hands of Greek politicians. Especially when the future looks bleak as it is now.
And the mystery of who and what is inside the tomb continues. Every day there is a new estimate as to when the archaeologists will get inside the chamber. Meanwhile, the property tax issues, the problematic election of the new Greek President, the “red” house loans, the new pension cuts and trimmed salaries seem to be conveniently swept under the carpet provided by the tomb.
One wonders if the unknown yet occupants of the Amphipolis tomb and the headless sphinxes that guard them will have to pay the new property tax in the end.
To be continued…


I know this is a totally different time to the discovery in question now, this sliver of information really stood out to me do you know where I can find more information about the iron weapons and swords. What I speak of is in the sentence below that is copied.

"Indeed, he found a graveyard from the Iron Age with many coffin-like boxes containing the remains of women, children and men in armor, holding weapons."

[iceman]

Pathetic " Greek Settlers" attempting to claim Macedonian History

How pathetic .. "Greek" Settlers dumped in the occupied territories of Macedonia 1913 on wards attempting to create a falsified history for themselves
Your'e history settlers belongs in Asia Minor and Turkey , not in Macedonia

Greek Reporter 01/09/14

Amphipolis Tomb: All Circus, No Bread at Greece’s Newly Found “Archaeological Disneyland” - See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014....fUAGdlkM.dpuf
It was Christmas of 1977 when Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos announced the discovery of the royal tomb of King Philip of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great in Vergina. Inside the tomb that no modern man had stepped foot before, his team found a golden larnax containing the bones of the King, along with golden panoplies, wreaths, diadems and silver utensils. The news shook the world of Archaeology. It was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries, ever!
And yet, everything was carried out in modesty then. There were no press crews, no reporters, no politicians and Prime Ministers, no pompous announcements, no fanfare. Just the people who did the work that lead to this great discovery.
It took months to unearth all the discoveries, and the archaeologists worked undisturbed by media or politicians. After all, it is the job of scientists to make discoveries and it is the job of the state to protect and preserve the discoveries. Also, there was no police force, no crowds of curious spectators snapping pictures, no hot dog and cotton candy vendors around the site.
In other words, just the opposite of what is happening in the last couple of weeks at the Casta hill archaeological site, after the unearthing of the entrance to an Alexander the Great-Era tomb.
An official source, who has knowledge of the tomb’s excavation progress, claims that the archaeologists and crew cannot do their job as their mobile phones keep ringing and they have to fend off TV cameras and microphones shoved in their faces every day. They receive calls from politicians and journalists who are eager to know when they will go inside the tomb and what they expect to find there. Also, they have to answer speculations, wishes, and wild conspiracy theories. They even have to answer to technical details such as what kind of cameras they use to look inside the tomb without demolishing the protective wall. And all this while the initial excavation is still in progress!
At the same time, crowds of people gather all day long around the site that looks more and more like a community fair. Eager tourists and locals rush to see the media’s new archaeological Disneyland first, while the smoke from the souvlaki and hot dogs grills fills the air. Under the five-meter lion’s imposing gaze, a vendor from nearby village Strymoniko is selling peanuts, a way to survive in crisis-hit Greece.
The discovery of the Amphipolis tomb is not something new. In fact, work on the site goes as far back as 1956, when prominent Greek archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis started excavations. A few years later, Lazaridis declared that there was an important burial complex inside the hill. Indeed, he found a graveyard from the Iron Age with many coffin-like boxes containing the remains of women, children and men in armor, holding weapons. The discovery of King Philip’s tomb in 1977 by his fellow and good friend Andronikos, prompted Lazaridis to search further for the mysterious tomb that could be somewhere underneath. Lack of funds never allowed the operation to continue, however, by the time of his death in 1985, Lazaridis had discovered at least 70 ancient tombs.
Last year, archaeologists decided to continue the operation in Amphipolis and they dug a lot deeper to find the tomb’s 60-meter round precinct. Around the mound, an impressive 500-meter marble wall gave head of the excavation project Katerina Peristeri and her crew ample reason to believe that something very important lies inside the mound. Still, the discovery received no publicity outside the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. Not to mention that, according to area residents, the site was not guarded and reports of stolen artifacts have surfaced.
Farmers and residents of the nearby village of Nea Amphipolis are not new to such discoveries and their value. Many of them consider themselves amateur archaeologists and according to “Kathimerini” newspaper, most of the area residents are hunchbacks from too much digging. It was a joke, of course, but not without a grain of truth, since Amphipolis had been considered the Eldorado of antiquities smugglers for years. During the 1950s and 1960s, precious archaeological discoveries were sold openly in street markets. Today, villagers claim that the reason they did not report the antiquities they found to the authorities, is that the state offers peanuts compared to the reward they could make in the black market. Also, they don’t deny that the lucrative illicit trade of antiquities has not stopped completely.
In nearby Mesolakia village, president of the community Sakis Zournatzis says that more than 2,000 visitors passed through in the last few days. Residents with land in the area are calculating the expropriation compensations they will receive, while others plan to start new businesses, opening cafes, t-shirt and souvenir shops.
It seems that it is not just the people of the area who capitalize on the major archaeological discovery in Amphipolis. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras visited the archaeological site and talked to the cameras saying how important the discovery is on many levels. He noted that Greece has a rich history and that “us Greeks are very proud of our cultural heritage.”
The media rushed to magnify the importance of the discovery, adding more pomp to the spectacle. At the same time, archaeologists added more suspense, telling the media that by the end of August the mystery will be solved. Different sources working on the project and government officials started leaking information on possible dates that the big mystery will be uncovered. They turned Amphipolis into a TV series where each episode ends at a crucial moment with a “to be continued” on the screen. One wonders what is the reason for all this pomp?
Amphipolis: The Greek Government Savior
The shaky New Democracy and PASOK coalition government has been accused of using the Amphipolis tomb as a distraction. August found millions of Greeks disgruntled once more because of the villainous raid on their income in the form of the new property tax (ENFIA). Hundreds of thousands of homeowners found that they have to pay a lot more for their properties than they did the previous years. In some cases, the owner of a piece of land in a mountainous area has to pay tax equivalent to that of an apartment in Manhattan. The Ministry of Finance admitted that there were many errors made in the calculation of property taxes. And to add insult to injury, the errors were attributed to factors like the retirement of experienced employees who used to calculate taxes or the fact that the law came to the Ministry written in English.
The Casta tomb (or Amphipolis tomb as is widely known) is a good circus for the Greek government and its friends in the Greek media. Unfortunately, there is no bread to go with it. In fact, it seems that the bread is stolen from Greek people or exchanged for more circuses. Maybe by saying that us Greeks are proud of our heritage, the Prime Minister implied that we shouldn’t mind paying exorbitant taxes to live in our country. Tantalizing people’s minds with glories of the past in order to forget present nightmares has often been an effective tool in the hands of Greek politicians. Especially when the future looks bleak as it is now.
And the mystery of who and what is inside the tomb continues. Every day there is a new estimate as to when the archaeologists will get inside the chamber. Meanwhile, the property tax issues, the problematic election of the new Greek President, the “red” house loans, the new pension cuts and trimmed salaries seem to be conveniently swept under the carpet provided by the tomb.
One wonders if the unknown yet occupants of the Amphipolis tomb and the headless sphinxes that guard them will have to pay the new property tax in the end.
To be continued…


I know this is a totally different time to the discovery in question now, this sliver of information really stood out to me do you know where I can find more information about the iron weapons and swords. What I speak of is in the sentence below that is copied.

"Indeed, he found a graveyard from the Iron Age with many coffin-like boxes containing the remains of women, children and men in armor, holding weapons."

[Poligiros]

How pathetic .. "Greek" Settlers dumped in the occupied territories of Macedonia 1913 on wards attempting to create a falsified history for themselves
Your'e history settlers belongs in Asia Minor and Turkey , not in Macedonia

Hi,

Don't want to insult, but as previoulsy mentioned one side of my family lines was not dumped in Aegean Macedonia, but are native and are Greek as far back as we know! I thought we agreed that there was always a substantial Greek contingency in parts of Aegean Macedonia?

As for "occupied territories", you are partially correct as prior to settlers being "dumped", Aegean Macedonia was under Turkish occupation for a while, like a great deal of the Balkans.

As a point of interest, what was the demographic of Amphipolis and surrounding villages, prior to the population exchanges, does anyone have maps with ethnicities?

BTW, I think I faced a temporary ban for using the term RoMacedonia??? I use that and Aegean Macedonia to distinguish between the two when making a point, I thought that was within the forum rules?

Best regards

[Soldier of Macedon]

I thought we agreed that there was always a substantial Greek contingency in parts of Aegean Macedonia?

The only thing that we will agree on is that there was a Romaic element in Macedonia, most of whom were not ethnic Greeks but adherents to the Patriarchate. This is a Macedonian forum and our view of our own history is given prevalence here. Don't push your contrary views any further or you will find yourself gone again, this time permanently.

As for "occupied territories", you are partially correct as prior to settlers being "dumped", Aegean Macedonia was under Turkish occupation for a while, like a great deal of the Balkans.

As far as the indigenous Macedonian population of Macedonia is concerned, the Turkish occupation was replaced by a Greek one.

BTW, I think I faced a temporary ban for using the term RoMacedonia??? I use that and Aegean Macedonia to distinguish between the two when making a point, I thought that was within the forum rules?

You will refer to the country as Macedonia when talking about it specifically or when comparing it to neighbouring countries. When distinguishing it from Aegean Macedonia, you will use the Republic of Macedonia, or the Macedonian Republic. Although I don't usually have an issue with RoMacedonia, in your case it is not acceptable because you do it in a manner to avoid using the term Macedonia on its own. As for Macedonians, irrespective of which part, you will refer to them as Macedonians, because they are the same people. Same applies for the Macedonian language. This is the first and last time I will explain this to you.

[iceman]

Im talking about settlers who have been dumped in Macedonia in the 1920's from Asia Minor and Turkey in the 1920's and have now all of a sudden have been calling themselves " Macedonians" , tell me this .. Jewish settlers who are dumped in the occupied territories of Palestine .. do the Jewish settlers now all a sudden call themselves "Palestinians" or even " Jewish Palestinian" ... One day you'll wake up .

Hi,

Don't want to insult, but as previoulsy mentioned one side of my family lines was not dumped in Aegean Macedonia, but are native and are Greek as far back as we know! I thought we agreed that there was always a substantial Greek contingency in parts of Aegean Macedonia?

As for "occupied territories", you are partially correct as prior to settlers being "dumped", Aegean Macedonia was under Turkish occupation for a while, like a great deal of the Balkans.

As a point of interest, what was the demographic of Amphipolis and surrounding villages, prior to the population exchanges, does anyone have maps with ethnicities?

BTW, I think I faced a temporary ban for using the term RoMacedonia??? I use that and Aegean Macedonia to distinguish between the two when making a point, I thought that was within the forum rules?

Best regards

[George S.]

poligyrus in any of the so called greek settlements were hardly that many ast was a greek outpost.I've seen populations of a few hundred in the old days and today the poulations are similar or less in prefectures.Places you or others you mention as indigenous are hardly anything but.The real indigenous people were the macedonians called endopi by the greeks .The macedonians were the majority in the aegean area.You are derogating us by saying you or other greek settlements were indigenous.This is false and not true.You ignore the real facts and try to proclaim something else that is false.
You along with your greek friends claim you were indigenous is totally false.Amphipolis had a prior name and it wasnt greek.Greeks if any arrived much later .So today in the occupied territoriesYour kind is digging for someone elses artifacts macedonian and calling it greek.

[spitfire]

BTW, I think I faced a temporary ban for using the term RoMacedonia??? I use that and Aegean Macedonia to distinguish between the two when making a point, I thought that was within the forum rules?

Best regards

RoMacedonia is almost like saying FYROM. It's misleading, not to mention impolite. I use RoM for short for Republic of Macedonia but not RoMacedonia. That would be like saying RoGreece, and its people RoGrecians... ! It doesn't make sense. Be courteous. After all we are guests here.

As far as the tomb. I believe that chances are it's been plundered. I also think that it's probably a tomb of a VIP of the time, It's highly unlikely that Alexander is burried there. Of course we will have to wait and see.
Samaras maybe is waiting for the annual address in Thessaloniki to say about the tomb, but I'm not sure how he is going to use it. Again we will have to wait and see.

[Philosopher]

RoMacedonia is almost like saying FYROM. It's misleading, not to mention impolite. I use RoM for short for Republic of Macedonia but not RoMacedonia. That would be like saying RoGreece, and its people RoGrecians... ! It doesn't make sense. Be courteous. After all we are guests here.

As far as the tomb. I believe that chances are it's been plundered. I also think that it's probably a tomb of a VIP of the time, It's highly unlikely that Alexander is burried there. Of course we will have to wait and see.
Samaras maybe is waiting for the annual address in Thessaloniki to say about the tomb, but I'm not sure how he is going to use it. Again we will have to wait and see.

The difference between you two, however, is that you are from Athens, and the Athenians and southern Greeks are less dogmatic about this issue, whereas our friend Poligiros is from Aegean Macedonia, where the name issue is more pronounced.

[Soldier of Macedon]

I use RoM for short for Republic of Macedonia.......

Then use HR instead of Hellenic Republic, RoS instead of Republic of Serbia, RoB instead Republic of Bulgaria........or, rather than confusing readers who aren't aware of these acronyms, just use the actual short form names of each country, ie; Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. It takes a couple of seconds to type in a few extra letters.

I also think that it's probably a tomb of a VIP of the time, It's highly unlikely that Alexander is burried there. Of course we will have to wait and see.

I agree.

[spitfire]

The difference between you two, however, is that you are from Athens, and the Athenians and southern Greeks are less dogmatic about this issue, whereas our friend Poligiros is from Aegean Macedonia, where the name issue is more pronounced.

I'm here in search of the truth. I prefer seeing people as individuals with respect to their opinion and keep an open mind about everything. Now I'm off it before I'm referred to as "traitor"

Then use HR instead of Hellenic Republic, RoS instead of Republic of Serbia, RoB instead Republic of Bulgaria........or, rather than confusing readers who aren't aware of these acronyms, just use the actual short form names of each country, ie; Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. It takes a couple of seconds to type in a few extra letters.

I have no problem writing Macedonia when referring to the country and Macedonians when referring to its people. Thanks for the guidelines. I will.

[Philosopher]

I'm here in search of the truth. I prefer seeing people as individuals with respect to their opinion and keep an open mind about everything. Now I'm off it before I'm referred to as "traitor"

Wouldn't it be nice if, one day, in the Balkans, there is mutual respect for everyone's ethnic identity, mutual respect that we are all indigenous Balkan people, mutual respect for our histories, and mutual cooperation between ourselves socially, economically, politically, and militarily?

The Balkan Peninsula is the most beautiful part of continental Europe and friendly relations can only make it better for ourselves and foreigners.

[spitfire]

Wouldn't it be nice if, one day, in the Balkans, there is mutual respect for everyone's ethnic identity, mutual respect that we are all indigenous Balkan people, mutual respect for our histories, and mutual cooperation between ourselves socially, economically, politically, and militarily?

The Balkan Peninsula is the most beautiful part of continental Europe and friendly relations can only make it better for ourselves and foreigners.

You are tempting me to speak about how the Greeks assassinated their own idea of freedom mate. Man this is how the police will knock on my door... Just Kidding.

The Riga od Fere vision and his constitution about the rights of the people eh?
We are off-topic.

[Redsun]

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/09/2014_542664

04/09/14

Tighter security ordered at Amphipolis tomb

Regional authorities in Central Macedonia, where archaeologists are excavating a large burial mound that has sparked intense media interest and captivated the public’s imagination have asked the government to increase security at the site. The request was made during a meeting on Thursday between Governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Public Order Minister Vassilis Kililias.

Reports said that the ministry will introduce additional measures to safeguard the tomb that dates to between 325 and 300 BC, about the end of warrior-king Alexander the Great’s reign.


Security from what? I thought the authorities were present at the site, there was a report about security forces present to guard the tomb from thieves. With that taken care of, why do they need to "increase" security, whats the reason?

[Bill77]

Security from what? I thought the authorities were present at the site, there was a report about security forces present to guard the tomb from thieves. With that taken care of, why do they need to "increase" security, whats the reason?

keep non sanctioned media and other observers at a distance I suppose so it dosen't hinder The purification process.