Clik here to view.
Turquoise mining site unknown to Alexander?
China is a long way from Alexander’s path but I can’t help wondering how much of China the Greeks knew after all. The subject has been developed in an earlier post The First Emperor, China’s Terracotta...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Imagine Bucephalus dressed up in his finest attire
Among the manycolonies founded by Miletus on the western shore of the Black Sea is ApolloniaPontica (modern Sozopol in Bulgaria) in ca. 610 BC (see: The many colonies of Miletus). Its original name was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The benefit of digitizing coins
All the museums and private collectors in the World possess innumerable coins, either from antiquity or simply dating to the past centuries or so. Until now, each coin had to be recorded and documented...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Saving Afghanistan's Incredible Heritage
As it is utterly impossible to summarize this wonderful article written by CNRS News, giving a thorough insight in the problems archaeology is facing in Afghanistan, I'll limit myself to the following...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A unique Egyptian baris found at Thonis-Heracleion
In an earlier blog, I discussed the site of Thonis-Heracleion at the mouth of the Nile (see: Heracleion, ancient Greek port in Egypt). Excavations revealed a large number of ships that had sunken in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crossing the Danube River
The mighty DanubeRiver forms the modern border between Bulgaria and Romania, except in its lower course where it falls entirely within Romania before emptying into the Black Sea. This is where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The hassle about the Victorious Youth at the Getty Museum
The Getty Bronze, better known as the Victorious Youth, is a centerpiece of the Museum at the Getty Villa in Malibu but maybe not for long because Italy wants it back.[Image via the Getty Open Content...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Flash flood of the Pulvar River in Pasargadae
Most of the visitors who have paid tribute to Cyrus the Great at his Tomb in Pasargadae saw it in a wide flat dry plain where it is hard to find any trace of the Pulvar River (read more at: Cyrus the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finally, Athens has its statue of Alexander the Great
It is hard to believe that although the Greeks are very fanatic about “their” Alexander the Great, no statue was ever erected to his honor in Athens. Macedonian Greece has several, such as in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The elusive tomb of Alexander the Great
Once again, the hunt is on for the tomb of Alexander - and not only in Alexandria. On a more or less regular base, we are bombarded with articles of archaeologists who have found the great conqueror’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bactrian fortress after Alexander
After Alexander’s death, Seleucus came to rule over the eastern part of his Empire which included Bactria in Central Asia.[View of the Uzundara citadel from above [Credit: Nigora Dvurechenskaya]....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Shipwrecks from Alexander era
Divers have recently been investigation the seabed off the coast of Lebanon, more precisely just south of Tyre, the city Alexander besieged in 332 BC.So far, eleven shipwrecks were explored, and they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indo-Greek blacksmith discovered in Pakistan
Peshawar is the first city in Pakistan which Hephaistion and Perdiccas reached with about half the Macedonians as they proceeded east from the Khyber Pass to build a bridge over the IndusRiver....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Exquisite frescoes unearthed in Jordan
A Hellenistic tomb consisting of two funerary chambers has been recently found in Dion, one of the cities belonging to the Decapolis in the first century AD (see: Alexander, founder of Gerasa). It was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sitalces, commander of the Thracians
Apart from one single event related byCurtius, Arrian is the only ancient author to mention Sitalces by name. His true origins remain rather obscure but apparently he was a prince, maybe even the son...
View ArticleClik here to view.
3D imaging to the rescue of Palmyra’s Temple of Bel
These days, 3D imaging has become almost common good offering endless possibilities, but recreating a section of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra is quite something different.We all remember how the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New theory about the foundation of Apamea
In an earlier blog (see: Apamea, heritage of Alexander), I mentioned how the Macedonian military camp of Pellamay have been founded by Alexander when he returned from Egypt in 331 BC.The Hellenistic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chinese search for immortality
The search for immortality is from all times but here we are confronted with a liquid that was meant to do just that!The precious elixir of life was discovered in China’s HenanProvince inside a bronze...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Massive plundering of art in the early years of the Roman Empire
The plundering and looting of art work has been going on for centuries and it was not EmperorAugustus’ scoop. In a previous blog Wartime Looting in antiquity, I already covered a great deal of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What did the ancient citizens of Sagalassos look like?
Talking about Sagalassos, or about any city from antiquity, it merely comes down to buildings and stones. So, it is very rewarding to find archaeologists making the effort to give the people who lived...
View Article