Macedonian Tombs

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

The finds from Aigai -the city that after a succession of disasters fer into oblivion under the dust of centuries- have not only given back to the royal metropolis its name and identity, they have also enabled us to re-write the history of Macedonia, and more: the discoveries at Aigai document, in the most enthralling way, the ashtonishing evolution of the Macedonians, a conservative tribe with achaic structures which, under the inspired leadership of Philip II and Alexander the Great, became a radical instrument thet change the history of the world. The new ideas and trends that defined thw course of the Hellenistic world over time generated in the environment of Philip II and left priceless traces in thw soil of Aigai.
Thus, the initiative of the John S. Latsis Public Foundation tales on special significance, as this book provides the opportunity -30 years after the fascinating first publication of Manolis Andronicos' discovery of the royal treasures- to present for the first time, to the public and experts alike, all the finds revealed during the enormous task of restoring the palace, to the royal tombs that have come to light just this year (2013). These finds consolidate the picture, confirming the initial identification, while at the same time paving the way for an overall re-assessment of the Macedonians' contribution to Greece and to civilisation.

This article provides new information about the territorial distribution of the calyx-cups from the Middle Strymon valley and inland Thrace by discussing an unpublished fragment of a calyx-cup with an emblema of Dionysus’ head (inv. # 125, figs. 1 – 2) from the area of Heraclea Sintica near the village of Rupite, municipality of Petrich. The fragment, now stored in collection of Museum of History in Petrich, was collected by school children from the club „Young Historian“ during informal walks in the area of Kozhuh Mount, before the first excavations on the site by Prof. A. Milchev in 1958. Based on examples from secure stratified contexts from sites in inland Thrace (Sboryanovo, Pistiros) and Macedonia (Amphipolis, Vergina) the grey clay calyx-cup from Heraclea Sintica can be dated to the last quarter of the fourth century BC.

The subject of the present study revolves around the burials of warriors in the area of Greece during antiquity, with emphasis on the phenomenon of burying the dead with arms. The time period, which is examined here begins from the Iron Age and reaches up to the Hellenistic Era. The first part of the thesis is divided into four chapters based on the chronological classification of findings. In the first chapter, I present the warrior burials of the Iron Age by geographical region, starting from the North and heading to the South. Afterward, I proceed to the chapters concerning the Archaic, the Classical, and finally, the Hellenistic Era. In the second part, I present the conclusions of the study that was conducted, the above are accompanied by detailed tables that record the archaeological data that were assembled. The conclusions follow the same structure as the main part of the thesis, as they are presented in the same chronological order.

Monumental funerary stone architecture in north-eastern Thrace, during the early Hellenistic period, indirectly reflects the strong Macedonian political involvement in the area starting with Philip II, and its consequences on the social structuring and material expression of local elites, either Getae or Greek. These new elites, including political factions inside the poleis supporting the various Macedonian rulers competing for power on a continental scale, embraced identities and power representation symbols which alluded to their new political partners and/or reflected their increased access to resources and cultural models. For cities like Odessos and Callatis, it is reasonably to presume that the existence of permanent Macedonian guards, active for decades, led to the emergence of mixed families with political ties and resources.

In the Great Russian Orthodox Encyclopedia we read: “В 963 году в Македоний произошло восстание, окончившееся изгнанием болгар и основанием собственного государства,” translated from Russian: „In the year 963 in Macedonia happened un uprising, which ended with expulsion of the Bulgars and founding of an independent kingdom.“ 
963 is the factual year recognized by the conventional historiography as the date when the new Macedonian kingdom was founded and officialized.

K. Tzanavari, Ancient Lete. The city and its cemeteries.
Rescue excavations and epigraphic evidence that refer to ancient Lete have shown that the city was located on the hills and the plain that spread after the Derveni pass, on the western edge of the Langadas basin. The first archaeological research took place during the Ottoman era and carried on after the liberation of Macedonia and during World War I, as part of the archaeological campaign of the Armée d’Orient.
The structural remains, the pottery collected from both excavations and field surveys, as well as the burial data revealed recently in the area, testify that the city was founded around the middle of the 6th c. BC. Depositional fills argue for the continuation of habitation in the 5th c. BC. Few structural remnants survive from the 4th century; the burial evidence however are more representative of the era, with characteristic grave goods, such as clay vessels and terracotta figurines from Attic workshops, as well as their local imitations. It has been attested through inscriptions that the city had an urban organization, while its impressive development at the time is associated with king Cassander, who paid attention to his motherland after 316 BC. A small part of the city wall, at its northern edge, was revealed, dating to that era, and the sanctuary of Demeter flourished at the same time, enriched by cult and votive marble statuettes. The organized cemeteries of the city were located around its periphery. The unlooted graves found at Derveni also belong to the cemeteries of Lete, dating to the late 4th and early 3rd c. BC, with a variety of unique grave goods and metal vessels, whose representations reflect the beliefs in the afterlife. The most important find was the Derveni Papyrus, whose theological-cosmogonic text proved the initiation of the deceased and functioned as a passport for him, to secure eternal bliss for him in the underworld.
The flourishing economic environment that developed after Alexander’s Asian Campaign favored the creation of workshops. These workshops dealt with sculpture, metallurgy, goldsmithing, pottery and coroplastic production, sometimes imitating Attic prototypes. Particularly regarding the sculpture workshops, it is evident that their distinctive artistic character has been influenced by Athenian artists. This prosperity continued in the reign of Antigonos Gonatas (272-239 BC), an era of stability and affluence, and partly as further in time as the dissolution of the Macedonian kingdom by the Romans in 148 BC. Via Egnatia, which crossed Lete as it connected the Adriatic with the Black Sea, contributed to its economic development and created favorable conditions for the installation of Roman settlers.
However, the Roman civil wars that were fought in Macedonia between the armies of Caesar and Pompey (49-48 BC) and later among the legions of the Triumvirate of Antony, Octavian and Lepidus against the armies of Brutus (42 BC) left their marks on the city, as the abandonment and destruction of houses and villas indicate. A group of lavish villas was founded in the city’s region in the late Hellenistic and Roman times, which span as far as the late 4th c. AD. They probably belonged to the Roman elite, which owned vast properties, as is also attested in the region of Langadas via inscriptions. Finally, the fact that one of the gates on the western city walls of Thessaloniki that led to Mygdonia was named Letaia, attests the city’s importance even during the Byzantine era.

The study focuses on the monumental elements of the 4th-3rd centuries BC cemeteries of Kallatis: the use of large tumuli, the implementation of a systematized network of funerary plots, the extent of the burial grounds, the discovery of a series of built chamber tombs under tumuli with elements of decorated architecture, including mural paintings and exceptional presence of a statue topping a tumulus. The detection and morphological characterization of archaeological features and the recovering of the funerary landscapes' spatial layout were based on historiographic study, remote-sensing and geophysical investigations.

The Macedonian tomb presented here was unearthed in 1910 in Macedonia, still under the Turkish occupation. This is the so-called “Tomb of Langadas”, named thus when published by the Greek ottoman archaeologist Theodoros Macridy / or “Tomb of Macridy bey”, after the excavator’s name. The documentation and the graphical representation of the tomb were undertaken by the painter Halil Édhem bey (1851-1938). The marble door of the chamber, as well as all the findings that escaped the looting, were transferred in that same year to the Ottoman Imperial Museum (Istanbul Arkeoloji Muzesi), in Istanbul.  Only the marble door is exhibited to this day.
This Macedonian tomb is constructed using brownish blocks of limestone and has two chambers and a façade of the Ionic order. The façade is decorated with wall paintings, like other monuments of the same type found in the greater area of ancient Macedonia. The door leading to the antechamber was wooden, while the one of the chamber was made of marble. According to the relevant descriptions, the bronze elements of the doors, as well as their decorative and functional reliefs, were gilded, and can be compared with relevant finds, indicating thus the dating of the monument at the end of 4th cent. B.C. The main burial took place inside a cist tomb, which had been constructed underneath a complex marble structure.

This paper focuses on a Macedonian tomb that was unearthed at 1995 in the well known cemetery at Derveni, a necropolis of the ancient town of Lete. The city and its cemeteries sprawled over the hills of the Derveni pass and the western part of the fertile plain of Langadas. This strategic position on two main roads - leading from the Aegean into the central Balkans and linking the Thermaikos Gulf with eastern Macedonia - justifies the long, continuous habitation of the site, from the very early Neolithic period until the Roman era.
The discovery in 1962 of a remarkable number of unlooted cist graves containing rich grave offerings was an event of considerable archeological significance in Macedonia.The new two-chamber vaulted Macedonian tomb has been found under a tumulus situated alongside the main road leading from the Thermaic Golf to the East Macedonia.
The tomb has been robbed. at the roman times, however some grave offerings that escaped the looting lead to its dating to the time of Cassander, a leader of the Macedonian kingdom at the end of 4th and the beginning of 3rd c. BC.
The tomb is constructed using brownish blocks of limestone. A dromos leads to the entrance, which is barred with a high wall of stone blocks. The double-leafed door leading to the antechamber was made of marble, while the one of the chamber was wooden. In both chambers the inner face of the walls and the barell vault of stone massonry were finished with white stucco. The floor was covered with poros slabs.
As we conclude from the variety of burial structures, which were found inside the chamber, the tomb was intended for the burial of the members of the same family.

One of the cities of Macedonia listed by Claudius Ptolemaeus (Geogr. III, 12, 23) and Pliny the Younger (NH. V, 10, 17) in the imperial age is Lete. Its location is about 12 kilometers NW of Thessaloniki. The city and its cemeteries sprawled over the hills of the Derveni pass and the western part of the fertile plain of Langadas. This strategic position on two main roads - leading from the Aegean into the central Balkans and linking the Thermaikos Gulf with eastern Macedonia - justifies the long, continuous habitation of the site, from the very early Neolithic period until the Roman era.The key factor in the city’s economic development in the Roman age was its position on the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road running from the Adriatic Sea through northern Greece to the Bosporus.Throughout its history Lete controlled an extensive agricultural territorium, from which it derived much of its wealth. As research has repeatedly shown, cities cannot flourish without a substantial agricultural surplus to supply their markets.  Roman citizens and freedmen, seem to have begun settling in and around the city before the end of the republic era, and, adopting Greek as their language, to have set up banks and commercial activities and acquired land.

Stone artifacts are a pivotal reference feature in prehistory and a criterion for defining the cultural stages of the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.
In historical times, the stone is the basic raw material in fortifications, architecture, sculpture and industrial applications. The evolution of the contribution of the stone to the above applications is described from the Minoan era, cradle of the Greek technology, to the Byzantine period.
Particular emphasis is given to rare prestigious rocks, such as the krokeatis lithos (lapis lakedaemonius), the Milos obsidian, the red marble of Mani, the red porphyrite of Egypt and the Aswan granite, stones of widespread utilization in the Mediterranean.
The application of various types of limestone in the Archaic monuments in the Helladic region is described, the gradual replacement of limestone by marbles, the marble provenance and their behaviour in weathering and atmospheric pollution. The weak points of the Pentelic marble and the supremacy the Parian Lithos are cross-examined, based on the weathering deterioration of the Parthenon and the Temple of Hephaestus sculptures under identical environmental conditions.
The marble symbolism in Roman and Byzantine times are also noted. The architectural decoration with marble monoliths from distant quarries scattered all over the Roman Empire, often in inhospitable areas, was considered as one of the greatest technical achievements of the time. Red porphyrite, on the other hand, is par excellence an imperial symbol for the Romans, but also for the Byzantine emperors. The adjective Porphyrogennetos is connected to the birth chamber of the Queen-children in the palace of Constantinople, whose floor and walls were lined with porphyry slabs.
The construction of stone arches and vaults, a great development encountered in Greece in defensive walls and Macedonian tombs in the late classical times, is also briefly mentioned.
Finally, the progress since the middle of the last century of the scientific study of the quality, conservation and the provenance of marbles and the contribution of Greek researchers are also summarized.

Abstract Narratives of transformation in Iron Age societies on the periphery of the Greek world have positioned colonial powers as agents of change. Archaeological sites exhibiting apparent Greek or Macedonian evidence are often taken to exemplify Hellenisation, whereby ‘barbarians’ adopted ‘more advanced’ Greek practices. Such narratives, however, are imbued with assumptions of cultural superiority, failing to elucidate the complexity of past social interactions and how these manifest in the archaeological record. The barrel-vaulted reservoir at the site of Kale-Krševica in Serbia reveals that the simplistic framework of Hellenisation is insufficient to explain the construction of this unique hydraulic installation.

More than twenty years have passed since the excavation of the burial tumulus of Aghios Athanassios in Thessaloniki. The revealing, in June 1994, of the 4th c. BC Macedonian tomb, with the extraordinary painted façade in an excellent state of conservation, has been one of the major archaeological discoveries of the decade.
The construction studies for the permanent protection cell of the monument were immediately prepared by the 16th Ephorate of Antiquities and the corresponding project was ready since 1998. However, in 2001, the Restoration Department of the Ministry of Culture cancelled the approved studies, proposing new ones. The building of the shelter finally began in October 2008, fourteen years after the excavation, and lasted until May 2012, along with many technical problems and setbacks due to bureaucracy. Brief archaeological surveys were carried out in places which had not been investigated in 1994, revealing the rest of the funeral pyre and elucidating details concerning the construction of the great tumulus. The most important find though, was the discovery in its entirety of the ancient dromos that led to the tomb entrance. Measuring up to 24,2 metres in length (and 4 metres in width), it is one of the longest passageways leading to a Macedonian tomb found to date.
Nevertheless, the monument is still inaccessible to the general public. The reconstruction of the tumulus, as well as the external access to the shelter have not yet been totally completed, while the nearby chamber tomb, also painted, remains exposed to the east side.

One of the cities of Macedonia listed by Claudius Ptolemaeus (Geogr. III, 12, 23) and Pliny the Younger (NH. V, 10, 17) in the imperial age is Lete. Its location is about 12 kilometers NW of Thessaloniki. The city and its cemeteries sprawled over the hills of the Derveni pass and the western part of the fertile plain of Langadas. This strategic position on two main roads - leading from the Aegean into the central Balkans and linking the Thermaikos Gulf with eastern Macedonia - justifies the long, continuous habitation of the site, from the very early Neolithic period until the Roman era.
Derveni, Turkish place-name meaning a narrow pass, is located approximately 12 km. along the road from Thessaloniki to Kavala. On the area in which, in 1962, the famous unrobbed cist tombs were found a new Macedonian tomb was discovered. It is a twin-chamber tomb, that has been robbed in antiquity. A built cist tomb was discoverd inside the dromos leading into the interior of the Macedonian tomb, ornamented with wall paintigs. The objects depicted are releted with female elegance as well as the rituals of marriage and death. Both these monuments dating from the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 3rd century BC.

Αντικείμενο της παρούσας εργασίας αποτελεί η εξέταση ενός από τα κεντρικά στοιχεία που οδήγησαν τον Ανδρόνικο στην πεποίθηση ότι ο τάφος ανήκει σε βασιλιά και συγκεκριμένα στον Φίλιππο Β’, το οποίο ήταν το πολυτελές και πολυπληθές σύνολο όπλων που βρέθηκαν στον τάφο, αλλά και οι απόψεις των άλλων ερευνητών σχετικά με τις δυνατότητες ιστορικής ερμηνείας των όπλων αυτών. Ύστερα από την συνόψιση των σχετικών απόψεων της προγενέστερης βιβλιογραφίας διαπιστώνεται κατ’ αρχήν ότι τα όπλα του τάφου έχουν ιδιαιτέρως σημαντική συμμετοχή στην επιχειρηματολογία για την ταύτιση των κατόχων του. Σε αυτά αναγνωρίζονται βασιλικά insignia και η συνταρακτική πιθανότητα να αγγίζουμε προσωπικά αντικείμενα του Μ. Αλεξάνδρου μένει ανοιχτή. Το ερώτημα λοιπόν που εξετάζεται εδώ είναι το εξής: μπορούν πράγματι τα όπλα του τάφου να δικαιολογήσουν την αρχική βεβαιότητα για την ταύτιση του νεκρού με τον Φίλιππο Β’ και όχι με την Φίλιππο Γ΄ ή αντιθέτως να στηρίξουν την πρόταση συσχετισμού τους με τον ίδιο τον Μ. Αλέξανδρο, υποστηρίζοντας την απόδοση του τάφου στον Φίλιππο Γ΄ Αρριδαίο ή ακόμη έστω να συμβάλλουν στην απόδοση του τάφου σε κάποιον Μακεδόνα βασιλιά;

Στη λεγόμενη "Μικρή Τούμπα", βορειανατολικά του χωριού της Αγίας Παρασκευής Θεσσαλονίκης, ανακαλύφθηκε μετά από αρχαιολογικές έρευνες που πραγματοποιήθηκαν το 1983 στην περιοχή, ένας συλημένος διθάλαμος μακεδονικός τάφος με δωρική πρόσοψη και δρόμο. Το παραπάνω αρχιτεκτονικό μνημείο χρονολογείται εκ των ευρημάτων του στην πρώιμη ελληνιστική περίοδο και πιο συγκεκριμένα στα τέλη του 4ου αι. π.Χ.
Ο καμαροσκεπής τάφος καλυπτόταν από χωμάτινο τύμβο, που επισήμαινε τη θέση του, διαμέτρου 33,00 μ. και συνολικού ύψους 6,50 μ., ενώ το ίδιο το κτίσμα έχει μήκος 6,50 μ., πλάτος 4,00 μ. και μέγιστο ύψος 4,80 μ. Είναι κατασκευασμένος με δόμους από τοπικό πωρόλιθο και φέρει επίχρισμα κονιάματος τόσο στην επιμελημένη του πρόσοψη, όσο και στην επιφάνεια των εσωτερικών χώρων του, για την απόκρυψη και τον εξωραϊσμό των κατασκευαστικών ατελειών.

Εξετάζεται ένα προσάρτημα του κολεού του ξίφους, ο μύκης. Στο πρώτο μέρος της εργασίας βάσει των πηγών λύνεται το πρόβλημα της βιβλιογραφίας σχετικά με τον προσδιορισμό τους μύκητος του ξίφους. Στη συνέχεια εξετάζονται α) οι αρχαίες πηγές που αναφέρονται στον μύκητα, β) οι μύκητες στην τέχνη και γ) οι σωζόμενοι μύκητες. Στο δεύτερο μέρος εξετάζονται οι μύκητες που σώζονται και ειδικότερα, α) η γεωγραφική διάδοση του μύκητα, β) η διακόσμησή του, γ) το σχήμα του, δ) το υλικό από το οποίο κατασκευάστηκε, ε) τα κατασκευαστικά στοιχεία και στ) η χρονολόγησή του. Με την εργασία αυτή αποδεικνύεται ότι ο μύκης ονομάζεται το προσάρτημα της κάτω απόληξης του κολεού και όχι η απόληξη της κώπης του ξίφους. Επίσης, για πρώτη φορά παρουσιάζονται στοιχεία που βεβαιώνουν ότι σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις οι κολεοί των ξιφών έφεραν διακόσμηση με αργυρές ή επίχρυσες ψήφους.

Ο λεγόμενος «τάφος της Ευρυδίκης» που αποκαλύφθηκε στη Βεργίνα το 1987, χρονολογήθηκε από τον ανασκαφέα του Μ. Ανδρόνικο στο 340 π.Χ. Η χρονολόγηση αυτή έγινε γενικά δεκτή και καθόρισε τη χρονολόγηση της εμφάνισης των Μακεδονικών τάφων ως αρχιτεκτονικού τύπου ταφικού μνημείου, καθώς θεωρείται ότι ο τάφος αυτός αποτελεί το αρχαιότερο γνωστό δείγμα της κατηγορίας του. Επιπλέον, με βάση το μνημείο αυτό, θεωρείται ότι τεκμηριώθηκε η άποψη ότι ο μακεδονικός τάφος ως αρχιτεκτονικός τύπος δεν δημιουργήθηκε από τη μεταφορά ανατολικών αρχιτεκτονικών μορφών, μετά την επαφή των Μακεδόνων με την Ασία κατά την εκστρατεία του Μ. Αλεξάνδρου, αλλά αποτελεί τοπική δημιουργία Μακεδόνων αρχιτεκτόνων, η οποία προηγείται χρονικά της εκστρατείας. Η εργασία αυτή εξετάζει κατά πόσον τα επιχειρήματα στα οποία βασίστηκε η χρονολόγηση του συγκεκριμένου μνημείου είναι βάσιμα και οδηγούν σε στέρεη χρονολόγησή του, ικανή να αποτελέσει την αφετηρία χρονολόγησης αυτής της μεγάλης σειράς σημαντικών μνημείων, για τα οποία η έρευνα παρουσιάζει αμείωτο ενδιαφέρον.

In 1983, a looted double-chamber Macedonian tomb, with a Doric façade and a dromos (entrance way), dating to the late 4th century BC, was discovered in the so-called “Mikri Toumba”, northeast of the village of Agia Paraskevi in Thessaloniki. With regard to the monumental façade of the tomb, two rectangular antae support the epistyle, above which the Doric entablature with the blue triglyphs, the white metopes, and the pediment is placed. the marble double-door of the monument is quite impressive, as it has bronze functional and decorative attachments, such as the rivet caps, the handle, and the lock disk. Nowadays, it is a famous exhibit of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.