Buried with bed and all

During expansion works of the lignite mine in Mavropigi, Upper Macedonia, some 65 km southwest of Vergina, the grave of a woman has been discovered. It was remarkable because it could be proved that she had been buried with bed and all. 

Beds are generally made of wood, which disintegrates over the centuries. This is also the case for the present example, except for the bronze bed legs – the only ones that survived the test of time. The burial custom to place the dead on a bed was pretty common in the area of Pella and Pieria but none had been found till now. Eventually scholars were able to reconstruct a miniature model which they consider to be very realistic. They agree that this bed was the most luxurious and expensive anyone could afford in the first or perhaps second century BC. The plan is to make a truthful reconstruction that will find a place of choice at the Archaeological Museum of Aiani. 

[Picture credit: ANA-MPA]

The valuable and abundant grave goods indicate that the region of Mavropigi enjoyed a high degree of prosperity and it is not impossible that this burial is linked to a royal family as is the case in neighboring Aiani. 

Based on the golden laurel leaves that surrounded the head of this woman, it has been suggested that she might belong to such royalty although they may also indicate that she held some important religious position since the laurel refers to Apollo. She also had a golden mouthpiece and on her hand bits of gold threads have been found, which may have been part of her dress or a veil that covered her body. The grave yielded a bone needle and a stone bead, and the woman was crowned with four clay myrrh pots, a clay amphora and a glass myrrh pot. The bones of this woman will be examined at the laboratory of Aiani for anthropological study. 

The region of Upper Macedonia seldom makes headlines. However, it should be noted that Ptolemy, the later Pharaoh of Egypt was born here, more precisely at Eordea. From similar origin were Aristonous, one of Alexander’s Bodyguards and Peithon, another Bodyguard who after the king’s death became satrap of Media.