More Royal Tombs found at Aegae

Talking about the Royal Tombs at Aegae (modern Vergina), the impressive Tomb of Philip II of Macedonia immediately comes to mind. In contrast, other smaller but not less important tombs are often dismissed.

Despite the financial problems in Greece, it is heartwarming to hear that excavations are still ongoing, bringing three new tombs to light, especially in Alexander’s homeland. The tombs are located near the Vergina Town Hall amidst a cluster of earlier discovered tombs closely related to Alexander’s ancestors, the Temenids, who fled Argos in the early 9th century BC to settle here.

Picture from Archaeology News Network 

The largest of these three tombs stands almost up to its original height and still shows traces of blue and red painted bands. Inside, the funerary bed and urn were placed at the southern end.

Yet the tomb on the north side, dating probably from mid 5th century BC, seems more impressive, although its walls only reach up to approximately 4.5 meters. The hypostyle hall measures 7 x 5 meters, with two Ionian columns on high square bases supporting the stone ceiling, while four framing semi-columns add an elegant touch. Each corner is filled with quarter-columns, and amazingly, a recuperated capital still has traces of white plaster under blue and red painted Ionian scrolls. The entrance is from the north in between two semi-columns and can be reached through a monumental stairway. Here too, the funerary bed and urn are located opposite the doorway. According to scholars, this tomb is very promising regarding the history of the origins of Macedonian tombs. Later, the tomb seems to have been used as a depository for several corpses of horses, dogs, and adults, as well as infants and toddlers, mingled with shards of pottery, tiles, and pieces of a marble funerary stele. These remains were apparently thrown in together during a single, probably tragic incident that seems to be connected with the destruction of Aegae by the Romans and the fall of the Macedonian Kingdom – as a consequence of Perseus’ defeat at Pydna in 168 BC.

All tombs were looted in antiquity, and it is thought that this looting might coincide with the destruction of the royal necropolis of Aegae in 276 BC. Yet some significant finds were made: a gold relief, probably a decorative element for a shield; a golden oak leaf, once part of a wreath and proof that the tomb belonged to a man; pieces of a cuirass in the form of scales; and several golden discs carrying the Macedonian star.

Interestingly, the archaeologists dug deeper underground to expose a fifteen-meter-long floor paved with pebbles. This floor, together with a few bits of white and colored plaster from the walls, seems to pertain to the original building, of which nothing else is left. They could date this early construction thanks to a coin of Perdiccas II (454-413 BC) discovered on the premises. Fragments of a larger sculpted floral motif with spiral shoots, buds, and acanthus leaves may indicate that these elements belonged to a funeral monument.

In the end, these new discoveries may lead to learning more about the fate of the Macedonian Kingdom from the time of King Amyntas (530-498 BC) and Alexander I (498-454 BC), ancestors to both Philip II and Alexander the Great, as those earlier times are still mostly shrouded in mystery. Exciting stuff!

[See: the Archaeology News Network for more information]