Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found in Israel

israelnationalnews.com ^ | 08/25/09, 5:31 PM / Last Update: 08/26/09, 8:01 AM | Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

[Nikas777]

The mini-Alexander gemstone carving Israel News photo: (Tel Dor Excavation Delegation)

Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) Excavations in Tel Dor have turned up a rare and unexpected work of Hellenistic art: a precious stone bearing the miniature carved likeness of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists are calling it an important find, indicating the great skill of the artist. The Tel Dor dig, under the guidance and direction of Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University and Dr. Ilan Sharon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, has just ended its summer excavation season. For more than 30 years, scientists have been excavating in Tel Dor, identified as the site of the Biblical town of Dor. The town's location, on Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast some 30 kilometers south of Haifa, made it an important international port in ancient times.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

There are enough representations of Alexander to say that it looks like him.
Personally I’d rather have been captured by his father, but to each his own.

[tarheelswamprat]

I am having a little trouble finding his true mouth. I see two of them.

No, it's his tongue sticking out between his teeth. He's giving the ancient Hellenic version of a "Bronx cheer"... /g

[Ciexyz]

What a hunk. The face that launched a thousand ships.

[BenLurkin]

Unbelievable!

[Louis Foxwell]

Odd, doesn’t look like Sal.
Well, you have to picture Sal before he got his nose done.

Dxmn Romans and their Dxmn noses.

[SunkenCiv]

Would be easy to miss it, at that size.