Mass Graves discovered in Himera

Himera was situated at the border between the Greek colonies of Sicily and the lands controlled by the Carthaginians. The conflicts that ensued led to bloody battles in 480 BC and 409 BC as I developed in an earlier blog, The Battle of Himera, a major confrontation.

[Picture of one of the mass graves. 

Credit: Archaeological Superintendence Palermo]

In the end, the Carthaginians took Himera and razed the city to the ground. I vividly remember staring at my feet for traces of blood left by the scores of soldiers who lost their lives on this soil.

When modern road works were carried out in the area, the grim contents of seven mass graves were discovered, exposing thousands of skeletons of the brave men aged between 15 and 57.  The high concentration of male skeletons and the deep wounds they incurred also link the graves to both fierce battles. Amazingly the bodies have been neatly arranged in an orderly fashion, a true proof of reverence for the dead.

Another thirty burial sites near the mass graves was reserved for the horses, most probably the soldiers’ mounts that died with them on the battlefield – according to experts they are related to the severe clash of 480 BC.

The battle of 409 BC, on the other hand seems to have affected the entire population of Himera  since hundreds of skeletons both male and female of all ages were piled up chaotically and buried in a hurry by the survivors. Their remains have been found in front of the city walls and in the eastern part of the necropolis.

[Picture of the necropolis of Himera. 

Credit: Archaeological Superintendence Palermo]

The necropolis proper used by the civilians yielded a wide array of graves ranging from mere dug-outs to wooden coffins, stone sarcophagi, and cremations. It is noteworthy that many skeletons of newborn babies were found as they were placed in terracotta amphorae as the rate of infant mortality was high at the time. During close analysis of the remains, one case of cranial surgery performed on a 19-21 year old girl was established. This intervention dates from between the 6^th and 5^th century BC and testifies of advanced medical skill for that era.

Finds from the necropolis of Himera, the largest ever discovered in Sicily, have been in storage for at least ten years and were never shown to the public. The sixteen crates of artifacts have now been transferred to the Real Albergo dei Poveri in Palermo pending the final plan to display them in a fitting museum either in Termini Imerese or at the site of Himera itself. It is indeed so much nicer to have the object exhibited close to their finding place.

Bactrian correspondence before Alexander’s arrival

Although Bactria was part of the Achaemenid Empire until the arrival of Alexander the Great, we may find it difficult to imagine that those faraway people knew how to write and even to entertain a substantial correspondence with their Lord and Master in Persia.

It is time to think about this twice as among the treasures of the Khalili Collections, there is a group of 48 documents from ancient Bactria, all written in Aramaic – one of the official languages used at the Persian Court.

[List of supplies, year 2 of Alexander - The Khalili Collections]

I had never heard of the Khalili Collections before and found that it has been put together by Nasser David Khalili, who was born in Iran and moved to study in the United States. He started collecting art in the 1970s and brought the best pieces together under the auspices of the Khalili Family Trust. It contains a great variety of precious artifacts that are divided into eight separate categories. The choices made are very specific: Islamic Art from 700 to 2000; Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage covering the same period; Japanese Art of Meiji Period from 1868 to 1912; Japanese Kimono from 1700 to 2000; Swedish Textiles from 1700 to 1900; Spanish Damascened Metalwork from 1850 to 1900; Enamels of the World from 1700 to 2000; and the section what this blog is about, Aramaic Documents from 535 BC to 324 BC.

The collection of Aramaic documents consists of letters and business accounts exchanged between Akhvamazda, the satrap of Bactria with his seat in Bactra (modern Balkh) and Bagavant, the governor. This is a unique and first-time glimpse into the correspondence and the administration of Bactria and Sogdiana. It also shows how the provincial satraps acted to implement the royal decrees in all the corners of the kingdom.

The majority of these documents were written during the reign of Darius III. The oldest ones belong to the rule of Artaxerxes III and the most recent ones to the days of Alexander. This means they were penned down in times of great turmoil in Central Asia.

In antiquity, documents were generally written on papyrus, etched in stone, or carved in clay. Of these Aramaic documents, however, thirty were written on leather, and eighteen were inscribed on wooden sticks used as tallies. Two of the leather documents are of particular interest as one casually mentions the fall of the Persian Empire with Bessus. He had killed Darius III and had claimed the crown for himself while heading for Warnu (Aornos). The other texts belong to the year 7 of King Alexander’s reign and contains a long list of supplies. The tallies inscribed on wooden sticks are also unique since this is the oldest form of bookkeeping ever found.

[Tally, year 3 of Darius - Khalili Collections]

The tallies are a quite interesting feature. They consist of short wooden sticks split in two in such a way that one obtains a flat inside surface. The tree bark on the outer surface is usually removed. The inscriptions are made in a kind of standard pattern, such as “With X from Y. In the year Z of King Darius”. Except for one undated example, all tallies were written during the reign of Darius III (336-330 BC). The way this system worked was that the sender and the receiver each kept one of the two halves of the stick. The theory goes that the notches carved on the side of the stick were cut holding the two halves together. This way, each party held an identical record of the transaction, and in case of dispute, it was easy enough to put the two halves back together to prove any discrepancy.

The leather documents apparently dealt with mundane affairs, like the delivery of food rations to officials, the instruction about building fortification around a city, or the need to send soldiers from the fort to fight a plague of locusts that was threatening the crops. They also mention which animals to use for meat and which as beasts of burden. It transpires that chickens, horses, and camels were among the favorite ones.

A full study of these Aramaic Documents can be found in a catalog published by the Khalili Family Trust in 2012 under the title Aramaic Documents from Ancient Bactria.

A Graeco-Roman building exposed in Pelusium

A substantial building measuring some 2,500 m2 has been uncovered in ancient Pelusium, the city Alexander occupied when he entered Egypt in 333 BC (see: The fame of elusive Pelusium).

[Picture from Archaeological News Network]

Based on archaeological study, this building was most probably used during the rule of the Ptolemies and the Romans. Representatives of the citizens assembled here for the meetings of the Senate Council to take important decisions about the public affairs.

The rectangular construction was made of red brick and limestone originally covered with slabs of marble. The excavations revealed remains of three 60 cm-thick circular benches inside

During this season’s excavations works, the main street of Pelusium was also exposed.

So far nothing related to the Alexander era has been retrieved, but then the city was used as a quarry during the 5^th and 6^th century AD. This means that lots of information has been lost over time.

Dating the foundation of Apamea

It has taken much time and in-depth study, but in the end, Prof. Marek T. Olszewski from the University of Warsaw has reached the conclusion that Apamea was founded in 320 BC by Antipater and his son Cassander.

The theory had been suggested earlier (see: New theory about the foundation of Apamea) upon examination of the photographs of sections of a large mosaic that was discovered and looted in 2011 (see: The unique mosaic from Apamea). As the mosaics disappeared through illegal channels, the scholars only had these pictures taken shortly after the artwork had been unearthed to go by.

[Credit: Anonymous photographer, image modified and sharpened by D. Zielinska]

It had been established that the mosaics were probably made in de 4^th century AD but the presence of Antipater and Cassander was still raising questions. Until now, archaeologists thought that Apamea had been founded around 330 BC by Alexander the Great as Pella. A closer examination led them to believe that Pella was a Macedonian fortress founded after Alexander died in 320 BC; or that it was built by Antigonus Monophthalmus between 307 and 304 BC.

The latest analysis, however, is leading to a different conclusion. The mosaics do indeed show the foundation of the city (apparently on top of the fortress of Pella) in 320 BC by Antipater, who was still Regent of Alexander’s Empire after his death, and Cassander, who was commanding the Macedonian cavalry.

Around 300 BC, Seleucos I Nicator took the city calling it Apamea, as he named it after his wife, Apame. As an exception, she is being shown in the picture as well (a rare and unique event) sitting behind the table on which gold and silver coins are piled up to be used for the (re)construction of the new city (see: More illegal mosaics from Apamea).

Based on their latest analysis, researchers now agree that the discovery of these mosaics is very important for the history of the Middle East in Hellenistic times. They also believe that these pictures are inspired by paintings and texts from that era that have not reached us.

Apamea remained a powerful military center under the Seleucids and beyond when it became part of the Roman Empire. In the 4^th century AD, when these mosaics were created, the city was promoted to the capital of the Roman province of Syria Secunda. As such, it survived till the Persians destroyed it in the 7^th century AD. Apamea was eventually rebuilt to be finally abandoned after the severe earthquake of 1152.

It is most unfortunate that so much of the archaeological site of Apamea has been destroyed by IS and looters since my visit in 2009, hardly two years before the outbreak of the civil war in Syria. It will take more time still before law and order are restored in that part of the world.

Alexander bust recovered from museum storage

It is beyond comprehension that museums, large and small, do not have a complete inventory of their collections. The storage rooms and basements are typically still filled with crates and boxes full of artifacts, which can be quite surprising at times.

[Picture from Art Net News by Angeliki Kottarid]

The latest news of such a “discovery” comes from the Archaeological Museum of Veroia, where a forgotten bust of Alexander the Great has been spotted. It could not immediately be identified as such because the piece was recovered from re-used building material in Veroia.

After analysis by Angeliki Kottarid, director of the museum and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, the hitherto unknown portrait has been confirmed to represent Alexander. The work is believed to date from the 2^nd century BC and is one of the rare examples recovered from Macedonia proper.

The good news is that, after being cleaned and restored, it will be exhibited at the Museum of the Macedonian Royal Tombs in Vergina – probably by the end of 2020.

Geography by Strabo

Strabo, a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, was born in Asia Minor towards the end of the first century BC. He traveled extensively through most of the Roman Empire, from Italy to the Near East, and lived for a while in Rome and Alexandria.

His concept of geography cannot be compared to our modern look at the world, and one needs a good map to follow his steps as he describes his route from one city to the next, across mountains and rivers, treating us to pretty reliable distances (in stadia) between the main features.

On the way, he likes to include some local history, informing us of notable people who lived there and sharing their accomplishments or bringing particular facts and figures to the attention of the reader. It makes a far from dull reading and instead demands our full attention as he juggles with many names of people and cities.

Strabo wrote his Geography in seventeen separate books, which in the edition from the Loeb Classical Library (also containing the original Greek text), are published in eight volumes altogether.

My edition is in a translation by Horace Leonard Jones, and I limited myself to those volumes that are somehow connected to Alexander the Great - of course. These are:

Volume 4, Book VIII handling Macedon and Greece, and Book IX on Athens, Boeotia, Thessaly

Volume 5, Book X is about Aetolia, Crete, Other Islands; Book XI for Asia Minor including Caucasian areas and Armenia, and Book XII on Asia Minor (continued): Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, etc. Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia.

Volume 6, Book XIII treats Asia Minor (continued): from Propontis onward. Lesbos, Troad, and Book XIV on Asia Minor (continued): Ionia, Caria, Islands of Samos, Chios, Rhodes; Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia; Cyprus.

Volume 7, Book XV covers India and Parthia (Persia) = Iran, and Book XVI on Assyria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Arabia.

At the end of each Volume, we find maps and an extensive but not always complete Index, which are valuable tools when doing specific research.

In any case, these books make excellent reference material.

The Pharaonic Race as opposed to the Race of Marathon

The story of the race of Marathon went down into history in 490 BC when the messenger Phidippides ran from the Battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the Persians – a distance of some 42 kilometers.

The legend involving Phidippides takes the meaning of Marathon one step further as Herodotus tells us that the brave man after stopping at Athens, ran all the way to Sparta to ask for their army support and join the Greek fight against the Persians - a total of 240 kilometers.

In the days of Plutarch, who lived 46 to 119 AD, the above legend blended with that of the messenger who left from Marathon after the battle.

Whatever the truth, it is the race from Marathon to Athens that was revived for the first modern Olympic Games that were held in Athens in 1896, and that is usually contemplated when talking about a marathon. Unlike the modern running contests, the Race of Marathon was a sole and unique event.

To my greatest surprise, I recently learned that Pharaoh Taharqa, who ruled Egypt from 690 to 660 BC, designed a 100-kilometer-run for his soldiers to improve their physical condition and make them ready for battle against the Assyrians.

[Picture from World's Marathons]

An inscription to that effect was discovered in 1977, and the itinerary ran through the desert. Starting from the Sakkara Fayoum Oasis next to the Pyramid of Sakkara, the road led to the Pyramid of Hawara also at Fayoum, and onwards to the pyramids of Chefren, Elleshet, and Dahshour, to reach Memphis, and to end again at the Pyramid of Sakkara.

This ancient Egyptian marathon is also revived today to create a contemporary competition in the same historical setting. The annual race is open to individuals wishing to run the entire distance but also to 2-5 persons relay categories in which each runner has to run at least 10 kilometers. Today’s athletes enjoy the support of their coaches and are provided with food and drinks, and other necessary services along the road. This year’s Pharaonic Race will be held in November, still in the desert heat.

Italy demands more artwork back from the Getty Museum

Once again, Italy is on the warpath claiming the return of another four artifacts back from the Getty Museum, besides the famous Lysippos mentioned earlier (see: The hassle about the Victorious Youth at the Getty Museum).

This time, the Italian Ministry of Culture is claiming two Roman marble lions that stood in the Palazzo Spaventa in Preturo (near Aquila); a mosaic of Medusa taken from the Museo Nazionale Romano in Rome; and a painting of the Oracle of Delphi from the 19^th century that was stolen from the Istituto San Lorenzo in Aversa near Naples during WW2.

[Mosaic Floor with Head of Medusa [Credit: J. Paul Getty Trust]]

As always, endless legal battles are unfolding as both the Getty Museum and the Italians claim they are the rightful owners of these works of art.

In earlier blogs, I pointed out that looting already existed in antiquity (see: Massive plundering of art in the early years of the Roman Empire and Wartime looting in antiquity) and examples of illegal digging and transactions on the black market abound during recent decennia all over the Middle-East (see: Loss of our Cultural Heritage in the Middle-Eastern conflicts), including Syria see: How Syria is Loosing its Precious Heritage), Iraq (see: Museum of Bagdad, what’s new?), and Afghanistan (see: Saving Afghanistan's Incredible Heritage) as well as in other war-thorn countries like Pakistan (see: Hidden treasures in northern Pakistan), Egypt (see: Looting of antiquities in Egypt) or Libya (see: Still hope, though scant, for Libya’s cultural heritage) to name just a few.

[The Oracle by Camillo Miola (Biacca), 1840 - 1919 [Credit: J. Paul Getty Trust]

Of course, these examples do not justify the claims expressed by either party.

It was and still remains an open question as to what to do with archaeological finds. Leaving them in situ is not always an option, and it may be safer to transfer them inside the protective walls of a museum. Which museum in the end is entitled to safeguard these treasure is another matter for debate. I am afraid there is no clear cut answer to any of these possibilities.