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Excavaciones en Macedonia; Pella, Vergina - Aigai

terraeantiqvae — 2006-02-13T10:22:00+01:00

Pella

Historical evidence relating to Pella, the capital of ancient Macedonia, is limited in extent. This capital of the greatest power in Greece throughout the entire Hellenistic period, can only be delineated by means of archaeological excavation. The results of the long-term, systematic excavations provide a picture of a large, wealthy, superbly organised city, in which the concepts of the grand-scale and the monumental were predominant.

History

Pella was not the first capital of the Macedonian kingdom. Perdikkas, the inaugurator of the royal dynasty of the Argeadai, set out from the mountains of Upper Macedonia and settled in the southern part of the fertile plain of Central Macedonia, in the foothills of the Pierian mountains, near the river Haliakmon. Here, about the middle of the 7th c. BC, was founded Aigai as capital.
Some centuries later, when Macedonia began to emerge from her isolation on to the stage of history, strategic considerations dictated a change of the site for the capital. It was the king Archelaos (413-399 BC), son of Perdikkas II and a major political figure, who probably saw the necessity to transfer the capital. He select the hitherto insignificant township of Pella on the north coast of the Thermaic gulf. The site of the new capital near the sea and in the easternmost part of the kingdom was of decisive importance with regard to the later Macedonian expansion to the east.

Palace

Archelaos
Archelaos was one of the most important personalities in Macedonian history. A great innovator, he not only transferred his capital, but also oversaw the reform of the administration of the kingdom and the reorganisation of the army and the fleet. During his reign, a period of peace and creativity, Macedonia enjoyed great prosperity. Archelaos was careful to cultivate peaceful relations with the Greeks in the south and invited to his court major intellectual and artistic figures. Amongst them the tragedians Euripides and Agathon, the painter Zeuxis, the musician Timotheos, the epic poet Choirilos and others. According to tradition, Euripides spent the last years of his life at the court of Archelaos, where he wrote the tragedies Archelaos, which has not survived, and the Bacchae, one of his most important plays. Archelaos built a majestic palace at Pella which was decorated by Zeuxis, the greatest painter of the age (Aelian, Varia Historia XIV, 17).

Mosaic decoration,
griffin tearing apart a deer, 312-300 BC

Philip II and Alexander the Great
The violent death of Archelaos interrupted the development of the state. His work was continued, after an interval of some decades, by Philip II (360-336 BC). Philip's efforts were not confined solely to the internal development, but were directed mainly to the expansion of Macedonian political power. During these years Pella reached the summit of her prosperity. It became the "greatest of the cities in Macedonia" (Xenophon, Hellenika V, 2, 13).

Alexander, grown up in Pella

Its fame was spread throughout the entire known world by the conquests of Alexander the Great (336-323 BC). After Alexander's death, incessant disputes broke out between his successors, each of whom aimed at establishing himself on the Macedonian throne. These disputes only ended after many decades, with the ascent to the throne of Antigonos Gonatas (276-239 BC). Antigonos' descendants ruled the country wisely. The Macedonian capital at this period was not only a powerful political centre that determined the fortunes of Greece, but at the same time an intellectual and artistic centre.

The Romans
After the conquest of Macedonia by the Romans, following the defeat of the last Macedonian king, Perseus, at Pydna in 168 BC, Pella was converted into a provincial Roman city, while Thessaloniki became the capital of the large Roman province. Pella continued to exist and produce for a few more decades, but vanished from the stage of history in the early years of the lst c. BC, probably destroyed by earthquake. A century later, historical sources refer to a mass of ruins covering the area where the once powerful, brilliant capital had flourished.

Literature
The first mention of the name of Pella is by the historian Herodotus (VII, 123), who states: "..The voyage (of the fleet of Xerxes) ended at Therma, the place appointed, and the towns of Sindus and Chalestra, where it came to the river Axius; this is the boundary, between the Mygdonian and the Bottiaean territory, wherein stand the towns of Ichnae and Pella on the narrow strip of sea coast". The two cities, Ichnae and Pella, were in a steinon chorion, a narrow strip of land by the sea.
Alluvial deposits led to the silting up of the sea, with the result that today Pella is no longer the coastal city it was in antiquity, but is about 30 kilometres inland. The deposits carried by these rivers gradually created extensive marshes around Pella, leading to a deterioration in its climate, to which allusion is made at least in the last years of the city's life as capital.
Another feature of the region are the large, thick forests that covered the entire surrounding area. It was this striking, mysterious landscape, with its dense forests and marshes, that inspired Euripides to write his tragedy the Bacchae. The site of the mentioned by Herodotus seems, from archaeological indications, to be in the area of the modern irrigation canal. The choice of site for the new city was a highly successful one. Built in an open area and on level terrain that sloped upwards slightly to the north, where it ended in a low hill, the city had the best possible orientation, facing south. This was of great importance, when the major source of heating was the sun. The hill to the north, moreover, was an ideal site to house the central authority.
The historian Livy (XLIV 46, 4-11) gives interesting information on the site of the city. When Aemilius Paulus, the conqueror of Perseus at the battle of Pydna, reached Pella, he encamped outside the city before entering it. There he expressed his admiration for the ideal site occupied by the city, which was encircled by a stout fortification wall. To the South of it, in the direction of the sea, was a small elevation in the land, known as the Phakos so called from its lentoid shape (phaki in greek), which was fortified by a wall. The city communicated with the Phakas by means of a bridge. According to Livy (XLIV 6, 1-2), the royal treasury was located on the Phakos.

Excavations
The city had lain covered by earth and in oblivion for two millennia when it was brought to light by the archaeologist's spade. After the liberation of Macedonia in 1912, one of the first concerns of the Greek state was to uncover the old, brilliant capital.
The excavations commenced in 1914, but were suspended after two seasons on account of the First World War. At this time part of a late Hellenistic house was discovered, with a subterranean cistern and a few, though important portable finds.
A chance event once more brought to light the ruins of the brilliant capital in the spring of 1957. A series of Ionic column drums were discovered during the construction of the ground floor of a small building in the modern settlement. This find was of great importance and led to the beginning of systematic excavations. Large-scale excavations were conducted from 1957 to 1963, at first under Professor Ph. Petsas, and later under the direction of the late Ch. Makaronas, with the unstinting support of the state, through the then prime minister K. Karamanlis.

From: Maria Siganidou and Maria Lilimpaki-Akamati, Pella, Capital of Macedonians (Ministry of Culture), Athens 1997.
Photos: Fokko Dijkstra

Editor(s): fd
Latest revision: 18. May 2004 11:43

Fuente: http://www.chain.to/index.php?did=105&sort=b&subject=view_article&id=2399

Vergina - Aigai

Excavations at Vergina, have revolutionized Macedonian archaeology since the 1970s. A series of chamber tombs, unearthed here by Professor Manolis Andronikos (1919-92), are now unequivocally accepted as those of Philip II and other members of the Macedonian royal family. This means that the site itself must be that of Aigai, the original Macedonian royal capital before the shift to Pella, and later its necropolis. Finds from the site and tombs, the richest Greek trove since the discovery of Mycenae, are exhibited on the spot. The main tombs are displayed in situ; visitors walk down narrow underground passages into a climate-controlled bunker which allows them to see the ornamental facades and the empty chambers beyond. Overhead the earth of the tumulus has been replaced.

The site
Ancient Aigai is documented as the sanctuary and royal burial place of the Macedonian kings. It was here that PhiIip II was assassinated and buried - and tradition maintained that the dynasty would be destroyed if any king were buried elsewhere. As indeed happened after the death of AIexander the Great in Asia. Until Andronikos's finds in November 1977 - the culmination of decades of work on the site - Aigai had long been assumed to be lost beneath modern Edhessa, a theory now completely discarded.

What Andronikos discovered, under a tumulus just outside modern Vergina, were several large and indisputably Macedonian chamber tombs, identified as the Royal Tombs. From outside, all that's visible is a low hillock with skylights and long ramps leading inside, but once underground the facades and doorways of the several tombs are well illuminated, behind glass.

You're meant to tour the four tombs in the order IV-I-II-III. Tomb IV, the so-called 'Doric', was looted in antiquity; so too was Tomb I, that of 'Persephone', but it retained a delicate and exquisitely crafted mural of the rape of Persephone by Hades, the only complete example of an ancient Greek painting that has yet been found.

Tomb II, confidently identified as that of Philip II, is a much grander vaulted tomb with a Doric facade adorned by a sumptuous painted frieze of Philip, Alexander and their retinue on a lion hunt. This - incredibly - was intact, having been deliberately disguised with rubble from later tomb pillagings.

Among the treasures to emerge - now displayed in the dimly lit but well-labelled hall here - were a marble sarcophagus containing a gold larnax or ossuary, its cover embossed with the exploding, eight-point-star symbol of the royal line on its lid, a symbol now harnessed irrevocably to the Greek-nationalist juggernaut. Still more significantly, five small ivory heads were found, among them representations of both Philip II and Alexander. It was this clue, as well as the fact that the skull bore marks of a disfiguring facial wound Philip was known to have sustained, that led to the identification of the tomb as his.

Also on view is the famous gold oak-leaf wreath, and a more modest companion larnax found in the antechamber, presumed to contain the carefully wrapped bones and ashes of a legitimate queen or concubine.

Text from: The Rough Guide to Greece
Photos: Fokko Dijkstra

Editor(s): fd
Latest revision: 18. May 2004 11:43

Fuente: http://www.chain.to/index.php?did=90&sort=m&subject=view_article&id=2397

Mosaic Floor Dionysos riding a Panther

A Red-Figure Hydria

Head of Alexander the Great

Clay Figurine of Athena

Devotional Statue of Isis

Statue of Dionysos

Asklepios Daugthers

Incribed grave stele

Mural paintings

Silver ossuary

Statues of Orestes and Electra

Metal exhibits mainly from the necropolis of Kozani

dating from the Iron Age to the 3^rd century BC

Examples of pottery, stonework, and koroplastics

from all periods from Kozani prefecture

Marble head of a female statue from Elane dated to the 4th century B.C.

A gold fibula from the 2^nd half of the 6th century BC

Vessels with matt-painted decoration from the 14th century BC

Clay figurine of a kore (young woman), dated to the second half of the 6th century B.C.

Clay figurine of ancient Greek Goddess Athena

A clay stand with matt-painted decoration from the 14th century BC

Four Statues from the Heroon at Palatiano

Kouros of Evropos

A giant kouros

Dionysos and muse

Statue of Aphrodite

Marble stele depicting a woman

Statue of a woman

Tomb III, probably belonged to Alexander IV

The Funerary Pyre of Philip II

The Coach of Philip II Ornamented with Ivory

The Collapsed Heroon

The Local God Olganos

The Hunter and Boar Group

A Bronze Hydria Kalpis

A Statue of the Herron at Stratoni

Clay Members of the Sanctuary of Ammon Zeus at Afytos

Grave stele of the Roman period from Petres (2^nd cent. BC)

Giant Ancient Egyptian Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo

terraeantiqvae — 2006-02-12T20:13:00+01:00

Giant Ancient Egyptian Sun Temple Discovered in Cairo

Archaeologists announced Sunday that they have discovered an ancient sun temple containing large statues of the pharaoh Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt.

The temple was found in a suburb of Cairo called Ain Shams. The site was once part of the ancient city of Heliopolis, which served as the center of sun worship in ancient Egypt. The chief sun god, Re, was the patron sun god of Heliopolis.

Ramses II, who is believed to have ruled Egypt from around 1279 to 1213 B.C., is known for his military exploits and monumental building projects. To celebrate his victories, he erected statues and temples to himself all over Egypt.

"The area where we are excavating now is where Ramses II of the 19th dynasty [1320 to 1200 B.C.] built an enormous temple for Re, the largest temple of Ramses II ever found," said Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo.

Hawass is also a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence.

An Egyptian team has been cooperating with a team from the German Archaeological Institute on the excavations in the Ain Shams and Matariya neighborhoods of Cairo.

Egyptologists not involved with the discovery said it confirms suspicions that much of ancient Egypt has been buried under modern cities and still remains to be found.

Pink Granite Statue

The temple was built of limestone, and the archaeologists have uncovered the remains of one pillar bearing inscriptions of Ramses II.

The researchers are currently excavating the entrance area and the west side of the temple site. They have found chambers for the storage of wheat, a kiln for making amulets, part of a large statue—the head of which weighs 5 tons (4.5 metric tons) and would have stood almost 20 feet (6 meters) tall—and another head of granite, weighing 2 tons (1.8 metric tons).

"Perhaps the most exciting [find] is an unusual seated statue that shows Ramses II in the leopard skin of a priest, showing that he built this temple as the high priest of Re," Hawass said.

"This statue is in the style of dynasty 12 [1991 to 1786 B.C.] and may have been usurped by Ramses II," he added, meaning that it may have been altered to resemble Ramses II.

"This is an important discovery, giving us information about the cult of Re."

Ramses II, who made a name for himself by battling the Hittites and the Syrians, is traditionally believed to have been the Pharaoh of Exodus, the biblical figure from whom Moses demanded that his people be released.

Ramses II erected monuments to himself up and down the Nile with records of his achievements. His most famous temple is Abu Simbel, which was carved into a sandstone mountain on the banks of the Nile, near what is now Egypt's southern border. (See photo gallery: "Towering Treasures of Ramses.")

Heliopolis

Numerous temples to Egypt's many sun gods—particularly the chief god Re—were also built in ancient Heliopolis.

"This was the center for the worship of the sun god Re," Hawass said.

"A number of important remains have been discovered here, and there is evidence that this cult went back at least to the Old Kingdom [from about 2700 to 2200 B.C.] if not before and was active to the end of Egyptian history."

The German excavations show that lakes or swamps dominated the area in ancient times.

Most of the temples of ancient Heliopolis were later plundered, and the area is now covered with residential buildings.

The discovery of the sun temple may shed light on the status of Heliopolis in ancient Egypt.

"We do not know enough about Heliopolis, which was one of the main cities in Egypt and moreover a religious and, let us say, intellectual center," said French archaeologist Alain Zivie, leader of a team that has been excavating Saqqara, the cemetery of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, for more than two decades.

Zivie says the discovery also shows that much of ancient Egypt's treasures are still buried under modern cities, particularly Cairo and its suburbs.

"Cairo is the child of three cities: Memphis, [the Roman fortress of] Babylon of Egypt, and Heliopolis," Zivie said. "Expanding more and more, it swallows now its three mothers, especially Babylon and Heliopolis. But these [ancient cities] are not completely lost. They continue to exist in the underground Cairo."

Leo Depuydt, an Egyptologist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, agrees.

"The recent find of a giant temple built by Ramses II, ancient Egypt's greatest builder pharaoh, in Cairo again reminds us of how archaeological discovery would increase exponentially—almost beyond imagination—if digging under urban centers and dismantling buildings of later date ever becomes, technically and politically, even more feasible," he said.

Fuente: Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News, March 1, 2006

Enlace: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0301_060301_egypt_2.html

Descubren restos de ciudad antigua en Egipto

Trabajadores limpian los restos de una puerta de un templo en una excavación arqueológica, la cual formaba parte de un mercado popular y próximo a una zona residencial en El Cairo, Egipto.

Fuente: AP / El Cairo, Egipto / TABASCO HOY, 2 de marzo de 2006

internet@tabascohoy.com.mx

Enlace: http://www.tabascohoy.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=99246

A picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities 27 February 2006, shows the site of an ancient solar temple that has been discovered beneath a flea market in a Cairo suburb. Royal statues in pink-coloured granite, probably from the time of Ramses II (13th century BC) and weighing five tonnes, were found in the temple and are now in the custody of the Council of Antiquities. The suburb of Ein Shams (eye of the sun) was built on top of the ancient city of Heliopolis, meaning city of the sun in Greek, and was famed for its theology and philosophy schools. AFP PHOTO/EGYPTIAN SUPREME COUNCIL OF ANTIQUITIES/HO (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)
10:59 a.m. ET, 2/27/06

A picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities 27 February 2006 shows parts of a statue believed to be the head of 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramses II. The statue was recently discovered beneath a flea market in the Cairo suburb of Ain Shams (Sun Spring). Ramses II ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1279 BC to 1213 BC and was known as the Builder King because of the number of temples and monuments he built for himself during his long reign. 1:04 a.m. ET, 2/27/06

Ancient sun temple uncovered in Cairo

Artifacts include statues believed to be Ramses II

Updated: 1:33 p.m. ET Feb. 28, 2006

CAIRO, Egypt - Archaeologists discovered a pharaonic sun temple with large statues believed to be of King Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt's antiquities chief said Sunday.

The partially uncovered site is the largest sun temple ever found in the capital's Aim Shams and Matariya districts, where the ancient city of Heliopolis — the center of pharaonic sun worship — was located, Zahi Hawass told The Associated Press.

Among the artifacts was a pink granite statue weighing 4 to 5 tons whose features "resemble those of Ramses II," said Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Also found was a 5-foot-high (1.5-meter-high) statue of a seated figure with hieroglyphics that include three tablets with the name of Ramses II — and the 3-ton head from a royal statue, the council said in a statement.

The green pavement stones of the temple's floor were also uncovered.

An Egyptian team working in cooperation with the German Archaeological Mission in Egypt discovered the site under the Souq al-Khamis, a popular market in eastern Cairo, Hawass said.

"The market has to be removed" as archaeologists excavate the entire site, Hawass said.

King Ramses II, who ruled Egypt for 66 years from 1270 to 1213 B.C., had erected monuments up and down the Nile with records of his achievements, as well as building temples — including Abu Simbel, erected near what is now Egypt's southern border.

Numerous temples to Egypt's sun gods — particularly the chief god Ra — were built in ancient Heliopolis. But little remains of what was once the ancient Egyptians' most sacred cities, since much of the stone used in the temples was later plundered.

The area is now covered with residential neighborhoods, close to a modern district called Heliopolis, in Egypt's packed capital.

Templo del Sol debajo del mercado

Contrariamente a otros sitios arqueológicos conocidos, como Guiza donde se ubican las pirámides y la esfinge, o Sakkara donde está la pirámide escalonada, "Matariya" no es un barrio turístico.

Foto: Con brochas y espátulas, los obreros limpian las ruinas.

No es fácil dar con el nuevo templo del Sol.

Las calles sobrepobladas difícilmente indican que hay un tesoro arqueológico escondido debajo de un mercado sobre ruedas.

Pero es parte de la cebolla egipcia, como alguna vez me dijera el intelectual Milad Hanna, usando la metáfora para describir las capas de historia e identidades de esta nación.

Justamente, este barrio del este de Cairo se encuentra en el distrito de Ain Shams, que significa literalmente el ojo del Sol en árabe, un nombre de origen claramente faraónico.

Y es que debajo de los grises edificios donde se incuba la expansión demográfica egipcia, se extiende la antigua ciudad de Heliopolis, dedicada al culto del Sol.

Mercado detenido, limpieza a la orden

Luego de recibir instrucciones de los residentes, finalmente damos con un edificio en construcción detrás de la estación de autobuses. Se supone que algún día iba a ser el mercado nuevo, parte de Suk al Jamís, pero la construcción fue interrumpida desde el 2003.

No sabemos que va a pasar con el mercado, pero preferimos que esto sea un sitio turístico. Además hay que cuidar la civilización egipcia

"Fue cuando primero nos dimos cuenta de que había algo aquí debajo", dice Gamal, uno de los encargados del lugar. "Y desde entonces hemos estado limpiando la zona".

A un costado del edificio, hay tres rectángulos a un par de metros debajo del nivel del suelo, donde trabajan hombres y mujeres con brochas y espátulas.

Me acerco para ver de cerca la labor de limpieza. Son habitantes del barrio; inclusive hay una señora completamente cubierta con un velo negro, limpiando una estatua con una pequeña brocha de pintura, mientras recibe una llamada en su celular. Lejos de la imagen tradicional de un obrero.

"Primero la espátula y después la brocha", me explica uno de los hombres inclinado sobre una piedra con inscripciones. "No sabemos que va a pasar con el mercado, pero preferimos que esto sea un sitio turístico. Además hay que cuidar la civilización egipcia."

Rompecabezas rosa

Me desplazo al siguiente predio arqueológico, donde hay un rompecabezas de granito rosa sobre la tierra; una cabeza con rostro faraónico tirada por aquí, una estatua de Ramsés II partida a la mitad por allá. Me percato por el movimiento de los colegas fotógrafos y camarógrafos que ha llegado el director del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades, Zahi Hawass.

Foto: Zahi Hawass, del Consejo Supremo de Antigüedades, visitó el lugar.

- El "doctor Zahi", perseguido por el séquito mediático, peina rápidamente la zona antes de escoger un lugar adecuado para hacer declaraciones.

"Estamos muy contentos de anunciar el descubrimiento del templo más grande de Ramsés II en Cairo", declara con una gran sonrisa.

"Sabemos que esta área era uno de los centros religiosos más importantes, y está ubicada en el centro de Cairo. Era un centro para el Dios Ra y al mismo tiempo la primera universidad en la historia de la humanidad, llamada Un, hace 5.000 años".

Entre las ruinas faraónicas hay piedras que indican la existencia de una estatua de hasta cinco metros de altura, que correspondía a Ramsés II.

Rey de reyes

Quizás lo más importante del descubrimiento es saber que Ramsés II fue quien erigió el templo, a pesar de que los estudios demuestran que el centro religioso existía desde antes, en la dinastía XII, hace unos 3.700 años.

"Este rey que creó templos o estatuas en todo el país, insistió en construir un gran templo como éste donde él mismo figura como alto sacerdote de Ra". Zahi Hawass

"El descubrimiento de este templo ampliará los conocimientos que tenemos de los tiempos de Ramsés II. Este rey que creó templos o estatuas en todo el país, insistió en construir un gran templo como éste donde él mismo figura como alto sacerdote de Ra".

¿Pero quién era este rey? "Ramsés era el más grande de los reyes, gobernó durante 66 años, tuvo ocho mujeres (entre ellas una hija, como era costumbre de los reyes), más de 100 hijos, y erigió enormes templos como el de Abu Simbel, Luxor y el Ramesseum", asevera el director del Supremo Consejo de Antigüedades.

BBC Mundo inquiere por qué ha tomado tanto tiempo dar con este templo, a sabiendas de que la zona tiene grandes riquezas arqueológicas.

"Las cosas están enterradas debajo de las casas, y por eso no podemos hacer planes", responde Hawass.

"Tan sólo el año pasado cuando se construía una mezquita hallamos dos tumbas intactas. Esta área se preparaba para abrir un nuevo mercado, hasta que descubrimos el templo. Todas los grandes descubrimientos suceden por accidente. Y éste es uno de ellos".

Celebraciones

Los trabajadores locales aprovechan la visita de Hawass, quien es una celebridad internacional y parece disfrutar su fama con un "baño de pueblo".

Foto: Todo apunta a que era Ramses II.

Se toma varias fotos, da varios apretones de mano, y le traen el desayuno, un enorme "fetir" o crepa que come con miel.

Mientras se limpia las manos pegajosas, Hawass pronuncia unas últimas palabras sobre el futuro del lugar: "Continuaremos con la excavación debajo de las casas de Cairo y esperamos encontrar más evidencia, por lo que necesitaremos de otro año para entender la extensión del templo".

Algún día el sitio probablemente será parte de la ruta turística, pero por ahora es increíble encontrar el rostro de Ramsés enterrado aquí en medio de los grises edificios hacinados.

Prueba de ello, la curiosa mirada de los vecinos que desde sus ventanas observan otro gran descubrimiento arqueológico.

Fuente: Karim Hauser / BBC Mundo, El Cairo, 5 de marzo de 2006

Enlace: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_4771000/4771288.stm