While the seemingly endless discussions about
this tomb being looted or not are still going on, I would rather focus on what has
been achieved recently.
The Greek Ministry of Culture has released a
new press statement over the weekend about the Tomb of Amphipolis, and it seems that the room
behind the outer entrance wall with the guarding sphinxes has been entirely
cleared. The entire floor of which we saw just a hint of last week, has been
exposed and looks really grand with the shards of white marble from Thasos on
a red background. A true red carpet! The ceiling held another surprise: a
beautiful rosette with traces of red, yellow, and blue paint.
The wall at the other end of this room, the top
of which was already revealed last week, has surprised us with two large marble
caryatids flanking the entrance to the second room still to be disclosed. The
face of the caryatid on the west side is nearly intact, while the eastern one
is missing her face. The features are quite delicate and very uncommon. Curls
hang down over their shoulders and they are dressed in sleeved dresses – a
rather exceptional detail. Somehow they remind me of Kore statues with traces of
blue and red paint, but their posture and sleeves seem to indicate that they
might be of a date later than the fourth century BC as suggested so far.
A first peep into the passage behind the
caryatids leads experts to believe there is a kind of “false ceiling” underneath
the vault, made of limestone slabs decorated with painted blocks imitating a
coffered ceiling.
It seems we are in for more surprises and
definitely more questions.
