Vergina, The Royal Tombs by Manolis Andronicos

Vergina, The Royal Tombs by Manolis Andronicos (ISBN 960-213-128-4) is the ultimate book about the excavations in and around Vergina and in particular for the tombs found in the Great Tumulus.

Manolis Andronicos largely dedicated his life to archaeology, and after much determination, he is the one who has discovered the undisturbed resting place of King Philip II of Macedonia under the Great Tumulus in Vergina. His love for his work and his analytical approach to his excavations shine through this marvelous book.

The many large pictures alone make it worth browsing through this book, but Andronicos’ careful explanations, experiences, and theories make it a fascinating read.

He starts with a short but clear description of the theater of Aegae, as Vergina was called in antiquity, followed by a detailed walk through the remains of the Palace of Aegae. We will remember that King Philip was murdered at this very theater in 336 BC and that this is the place where the reign of Alexander the Great commenced.

The major part of the book obviously concentrates on the excavations of the Great Tumulus from his first attempts to the discovery of the many grave stele, the Tomb of Persephone, “Philip’s Tomb,” and finally the so-called Prince’s Tomb. Photographs taken during the many years of hard and intensive work give an excellent view of the problems, hopes, diagnoses, and results of these diggings. Especially for “Philip’s Tomb,” he describes the structure and paintings of the tomb, itemizes and analyses all the grave goods from weapons to vessels, to finally the gold larnax and the royal gold diadem. Then, in turn, he focuses on the contents of the antechamber where a smaller larnax was located together with a magnificent gorytos, a set of greaves, a pectoral, and a charming myrtle wreath.

Finally, the ”Prince’s Tomb” is being examined, the outside and inside of the building, and the grave goods, among which is the marvelous silver urn that contained the bones of the dead, crowned with a gold wreath.

Andronicos ends this book with a special chapter holding his conclusions, where he explains how and why he made the statements he did. Instead of a dry archaeological report, this book is very pleasant to read or just to have at hand for relaxed browsing among these unique examples of Greek art at its best.