About petrified trees in Greece

It never occurred to me that petrified trees were ever found in Greece, as I am only aware of the remains that exist in an around the National Petrified Forest in northeastern Arizona, U.S.A.

During my travels through the Greek province of Thrace, I was surprised to find the fossilized remains of a 20 million-years-old oak tree. This 22-meter-long specimen at Tychero is carefully fenced and protected – rightfully so, of course. Expressing my astonishment, I was further informed that a far greater number of petrified trees had been exposed on the island of Lesbos.

At the time, I secretly wondered whether Alexander had seen this tree or other such bits when he marched through the area before crossing the Hellespont. This is not the kind of information one can find in a history book, and even writers from antiquity would not have bothered about it. But the question remained in the back of my head.

I did not think further about these trees, till I came across an article in the Archaeological News Network showing an exquisite picture of two petrified tree trunks of respectively 21 and 23 meters recently uncovered on the island of Lesbos. These are coniferous trees, possibly belonging to the sequoia tree family.

[Picture from the Archaeological News Network]

A petrified tree is one of the wonders that nature creates. The petrifying process is triggered by volcanic eruptions when mudflows cover the landscape. All organic material which is then enclosed in this layer of lava slowly fossilizes. What happens is that each and every molecule of the tree, from its leaves and seeds to the trunk and roots is preserved and that is what we see today. Some trees remain standing, others fall over, but all of them create a fairy-tale world in a wide range of colors, ranging from green and black to yellow and red. A most spectacular view!

What Oxyrhynchus revealed so far

Several years ago, I was at the Getty Villa in Malibu to be treated to two theatrical plays from antiquity, one Greek, The Woman from Samos by Menander, and one Roman, Casina by Plautus.

Set at dusk in the Peristyle of the Villa from which the statues had been removed for the occasion, it was a unique setting to see an old play in the New World.

Evidently, the Greek play caught my attention, and it was explained that Menander’s The Woman from Samos had only recently been recovered from the Egyptian desert and had never been performed before. 

The Egyptian desert as the finding place was an odd fact that I could not place at the time until, one day, I learned about the papyrus heap of Oxyrhynchus (see: Hellenica Oxyrhynchia by P.J. McKechnie and S.J. Kern and Get involved with Oxyrhynchus). At this dumpsite, many Greek texts that had been lost for centuries eventually surfaced. Large fragments have been salvaged, like works by Sappho and Alcaeus, poems by Pindar, and considerable bits of authors like Euripides and Sophocles. Also recovered were the most complete diagrams from Euclid’s Elements, a life of Euripides by Satyrus the Peripatetic, and an epitome of seven of the 120 books of Livy that are otherwise lost.

But among the pile of papyri, Menander benefited most from the finds at Oxyrhynchus, with fragments of Misoumenos, Dis Exapaton, Epitrepontes, Karchedonios, Dyskolos (The Bad-Tempered Man or The Malcontent), and Kolax. At last, we have enough works to recognize his status in the Greek theater.

Menander was an Athenian tragedian who lived in the 4th century BC. He was born around 342 BC, and who knows, Alexander may have heard of him or even seen one of his plays while he was in Asia. Menander was a prolific and much-imitated writer whose success was recognized for centuries after his death. The Romans scrambled to collect unknown plays, which they adapted and translated into Latin. Unfortunately, none of Menander’s plays survived until this chance discovery in the Egyptian desert. 

As I was flipping through a pile of papers, the very program from the Getty Villa fell into my hands again – a most gratifying rekindling of memories. It had been an evening I would never forget.

The popular The Woman from Samos is a play of deception and misunderstanding in which a marriage that everyone desires almost fails to happen, two women and a baby are almost ruined, and a loving father almost loses his only son, because the people at home and the people abroad have both been doing things behind each other's backs - but somehow everything ends happily after all. It is a complicated story, yet played in such a way that it keeps our attention on edge. It was, of course, executed in English translation. 

Greek sarcophagus found near Kerch, Crimea

The Greek colonies around the Black Sea have been the subject of earlier debates and blog-posts (see: The many colonies of Miletus). In that context, it became important to focus particularly on the territories colonized by Miletus on the Kerch peninsula (western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus) and the Taman peninsula (eastern side of the Cimmerian Bosporus).

[Credit: Myrmekion Expedition of the State Hermitage Museum, 

taken from The Archaeological News Network]

The earliest settlements on the Crimea date from the second half of the 6^th century BC around Myrmekion near the city of Kerch. Until now, only about ten Greek tombs had been found in the Crimea and were discovered prior to 1917.

It was a great surprise to find new burial sites during this year’s excavations. Among them, one small tomb measuring approximately 0.70m x 0.40m was cut from one single piece. When it was opened, it turned out to be empty but, strangely enough, it had not been robbed either – a puzzling situation for archaeologists because it had been securely sealed with a stone slab.

Evidently, scientists are speculating about the reason for creating an empty tomb. It may have had a mere symbolic function, or it may have contained ashes. An archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage Museum in Russia is investigating this case further.

It never ceases to amaze me that new discoveries keep raising ever more questions!

Stunning Gandharan art to be returned to Afghanistan

British Border Forces and London Police have worked together to intercept ancient artifacts from Afghanistan that was part of an illegal shipment entering Britain in 2002.

Among the items, are a number of exquisite sculptures from Gandhara that have been dated to the 4th century BC, mostly heads made of clay and painted. Also confiscated was a wonderful bodhisattva torso in Hellenistic style. These artifacts were discovered at Heathrow Airport where two crudely made wooden crates from Peshawar, Pakistan caught the attention of the authorities.

The 4^th century BC heads discovered at Heathrow airport in 2002 

[Credit: Trustees of the British Museum]

The nine heads and the torso were examined closely by the British Museum and are made ready to be returned home. Pending this operation, the museum is seeking permission from the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul to exhibit some of the heads in London. That would be a great opportunity for any art lover.

Previously, in 2011, a collection of 154 Mesopotamian clay tablets from the period between the 6^th and 4^th century BC was seized and entrusted to the British Museum. It has been established that these cuneiform tablets belonged to the administrative archives of Irisagrig, Iraq. This Sumerian site, whose location has not yet been determined, has been very badly looted and hundreds of tablets and thousands of clay bullae have made their illicit way to the U.S. as well.

The clay tablets that are now held by the British Museum will soon return to the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad.

It is lovely to see that at least some of the stolen goods are returning to their homeland.

Dancing with the Lion: Becoming by Dr. Jeanne Reames

Dancing with the Lion: Becoming by Dr. Jeanne Reames (ISBN: 978-1-62649-896-9) is a historical fiction book about the youth of Alexander the Great.

It is not fair - yet inevitable - to compare this novel to Mary Renault’s Fire from Heaven since they both handle Alexander’s coming of age where close to no resources from antiquity are available. It is interesting – and, as a matter of fact reassuring - to find that the main characters of Alexander, Hephaistion, and Philip match in both versions.

But there are many differences as well. For a start, fifty years have passed since Fire from Heaven and archaeology, especially in northern Greece and Macedonia have revealed a substantial amount of information. On that base, Jeanne Reames could set the story in a context that is much closer to the truth. There is, for instance, the more detailed description of the palaces of Pella and Aegae, the sanctuary of Dion, and the location of Mieza.

On the other hand, however, the characters in Dancing with the Lion go by their Greek/Macedonian names, and although this may tie them straightforwardly to antiquity, I find it annoying – as if reading history in a foreign language wondering about who is who. The use of Greek words, translated or not, is not really a plus either.

All in all, the book is a good read, but I could have done without the last chapter about the initiation ceremony. I agree that it is a great effort to put something like this together, but I fail to see what it is adding - if anything - to the story or to the images of Alexander or Hephaistion. This ends the book in a rather abrupt way.

I understand there is a sequel in the making, Dancing with the Lion: Rise, which I suppose is a continuation, but there is nothing to indicate this is the case. Besides, I do not understand the title. Is Alexander the lion or Hephaistion and, if so, why? Or is there a hidden meaning that will be revealed only at the end of the second book?

It is sad to come to these conclusions for the dialogues are well constructed, and as I said, the story is well-placed in its Macedonian context.

The realm of King Sopeithes included modern Bhera?

After having stopped at the Hyphasis River (modern Beas) to build his Twelve Altars (see: Alexander erected twelve altars on the banks of the Hyphasis), Alexander returned to the Hydaspes River (modern Jhelum), where he founded Alexandria Nicaea and Alexandria Bucephala (see: Locating Alexandria Nicaea and Alexandria Bucephala).

At this point, Alexander split his army into three divisions: Craterus would lead his party down the right bank of the Hydaspes, Hephaistion the left bank, and Alexander would sail down the river to its confluence with the Indus River and the Ocean beyond.

Arrian (using Ptolemy’s account) states that both generals were instructed to march at all speeds to the palace of King Sopeithes. Why these orders were issued and what happened further, he does not tell. Diodorus and Curtius, who followed the writing of Cleitarchus, place the encounter with Sopeithes as early as the Hyphasis River, just after the siege of Sangala (see: The siege of Sangala, in modern Pakistan).

Whatever the case, the encounter of Alexander with Sopeithes is very well rendered in Andrew Chugg’s book “Alexander the Great in India. A Reconstruction of Cleitarchus,” which I used hereafter.

Sopeithes had the reputation of ruling with high moral principles. For him, moral eminence and physical beauty were rated above everything else. A young child was judged by its physical condition and, as a result, was allowed to live on if it was handsome, healthy, and vigorous. Otherwise, the youngster was killed. At the time of their marriage, the young people were matched with the sole objective of producing beautiful and athletic offspring, as opposed to the usual values of dowries or wealth. It is unsurprising to learn that the citizens considered themselves superior to others.

When Alexander arrived at the town occupied by Sopeithes, he found the city gates closed and its walls and towers unmanned. He assumed that either the city was abandoned or this was a trap. Imagine his amazement when the massive doors were flung wide open, and the Indian king stepped forward to meet him, flanked by his two eldest sons. Three handsome men and a very tall king wrapped in long garments embellished with gold and purple welcomed Alexander, who must have been impressed, if not by the wealth, then certainly by the attractive and imposing personages. The king wore gilded sandals set with jewels; strings of pearls hung down from his shoulders to his wrist, and huge dazzling gemstones adorned his ears. He held a golden scepter set with beryl that he yielded to Alexander in a gesture of goodwill. Sopeithes surrendered himself and his kingdom to Alexander.

He certainly knew how to win Alexander’s heart, and the young conqueror generously reinstated Sopeithes in his kingship. With so much generosity to go around, Sopeithes organized entertainment for the entire Macedonian force that lasted several days. Alexander was showered with splendid gifts, including a party of 150 large hunting dogs of unique valiant breed.

Now the location of this unnamed city held by Sopeithes is subject to discussion. Still, based on Arrian and the analysis made by Alexander Cunningham in 1871, it is thought to be Bhera on the right bank of the Hydaspes River (today, the new city of Bhera stands on the left bank). Recent excavations have exposed several mounds (Barrian mounds) yielding artifacts from Achaemenid, Greek, and Mauryan times.

[Picture from PAK]

The modern village of Mong, built on top of Alexandria Nicea, lies only 10 kilometers away, making it plausible that Alexander crossed the Hydaspes near Bhera.

It is noteworthy that another King Sophytes in the eastern territories, minted his own coins in Greek style between 315 and 305 BC. He may have been a satrap under Seleucos I.

Peculiar history of Pharos (modern Hvar)

It is common knowledge that from the 8th century BC onward, the Greeks set out to establish colonies or trading ports around the Mediterranean Sea.

Magna Graecia (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy), which includes southern Italy and Sicily, may be one of the most striking examples, but we tend to forget the lands on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea, which eventually were also absorbed by the Roman Empire.

[Picture from Visit World Heritage]

One such rare and little-known colony is Pharos, situated on the modern island of Hvar off the coast of Croatia. These Greek settlers came from the island of Paros, and Diodorus tells us that this occurred in 384 BC. Dionysios, the tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, lent a helping hand if only to increase his influence further north. 

Unlike other Greek settlements on the Dalmatian coast like Dubrovnik and Zadar, Pharos survived the centuries in a most peculiar shape in the plains surrounding modern Stari Grad. 

At first glance, we see fields of olive trees, vines, and other crops in parcels separated by low walls or streets and paths. Yet, the attentive eye will notice that all these fields are drawn in a correct grit pattern that seems inspired by the Hippodamian plan of ancient cities. Careful measurements reveal that this flat plain which covers an area of approximately 6 x 3.5 kilometers, counts 75 units each in a constant size of 181m x 905m. Each such plot was in turn subdivided in five square parcels of 181m x 181m, corresponding to a field that could be tended by a single family. Interestingly the basic unit of 181 meters equals the length of a Greek stadium of about 180 meters, which, based on the limited excavations of these lands, links the foundation to Greek Pharos in 384 BC. 

It is pretty amazing to find that today’s farmers in this part of Croatia still respect the old boundaries and plow the same land as their ancestors did nearly 2,500 years ago. It transpires that the Greek system was so efficient that it did not require any change or adaptation over the centuries and never fell out of use.

Underscoring the Greek ownership is a boundary stone from the 4th or 3rd century BC that was recovered in the area, carrying the inscription “Oros Mathios Pytheo,” in other words, “border [of the land of] Mathios [son of] Pytheas.” Another record containing a redistribution of lands dates from shortly after the Roman conquest in 218 BC. 

The Greek colonization has been repeatedly discussed in previous blogs besides the abovementioned one about Magna Graecia. More examples can be found at The many colonies of Miletus treating mainly about the area around the Black Sea, and Egypt, the land of the free for ancient Greeks focusing on the Greek city of Naucratis.

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.