Posted on 10/08/2023 7:36:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The tomb of a courtesan who seduced the elite 'during Alexander the Great's campaigns' has been discovered after 2,300 years.
Found south of Jerusalem, Israel, it contained the cremated remains of a young woman, and a rare box mirror that looks 'as if it was made yesterday'.
Experts say she was a hetaira – a high-class escort from ancient Greece, who offered elite clients not only sex, but also companionship and intellectual stimulation.
And she may have plied her trade accompanying the armies of Alexander the Great, or those who warred for his vast empire after the conqueror's demise.
The discovery, which is detailed in a new study, is thought to be the first hetairai tomb ever found.
Co-author Guy Stiebel, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University, said it also offered the earliest evidence of cremation found in Israel from the Hellenistic period.
The study concludes: 'It is most likely that this is the tomb of a woman of Greek origin who accompanied a senior member of the Hellenistic army or government, during Alexander the Great's campaigns or more likely during The Wars of the Diadochi (successors).'
...But the tomb's roadside location and distance from any settlement suggested the deceased was accompanying an army on the move – something Greek wives rarely did.
Hence they concluded the tomb belonged to a hetaira...
Dr Stiebel said future tests could reveal precisely whose army the woman was escorting.
He said: 'There are several possibilities ranging from the time of Alexander, through to the Diadochi and the first Syrian Wars.
'For all there are various hints in both the archaeological and historical records.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It’s interesting that the remains had been given the mummy treatment.
It’s understandable that the church doesn’t want to look like a bunch of nimrods with a phony religious relic.
nectanebo II’s sarcophagus - you will have read the extrapolation of size of funerary block from the relics in venice as well. this sarcophagus was referred to as having been used for alexander well into recorded history.
nectanebo certainly never got to use it, and ptolemy would have needed something suitable fast while the funerary casing was being made.
one of those interesting sets of suggestive data points which we are very unlikely to ever get anything further on.
i have no doubt there is private interest among church officials in knowing the answer as well, but we know how that goes.
Chugg has certainly gotten some attention over the years; the funerary casing measurement study apparently persuaded the british museum to modify the language on nectanebo II’s sarcophagus.
but once again, chugg says he thinks even if this was ‘alexander’s mummy’ there is only a 25% chance it is actually alexanders due to various points in history it might have been replaced for perfectly pragmatic and understandable reasons.
Apparently the earliest surviving account of his sarcophagus having been available follows the last surviving account of the A the G sarco having been seen, by just a few years.
BTW, there’s a clickbait POS YouTube channel called Future Unity, all their stuff is utter garbage, they’ve got a vid about how Alexander the Great’s been found. Also Genghis Khan. And Cleopatra. And King Arthur. Yeah, I’m buyin’ this. [barf]
Their vid is a bunch of froth, and plastered-together montages, but discusses St Mark’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXCjw7TDRi4
http://www.alexanderstomb.com/main/index.html
this is apparently chugg’s own site. some interesting citations/details including the documented movement of alexander’s corpse from memphis to alexandria, etc.
there are interviews with chugg also, if one digs. i did years ago, I think that is where I found his 25% chance is original corpse even if his theory is correct comment.
it is pointed out that alexander had a couple of well-documented wounds which might be visible on extant remains (or missing), which would be a non-invasive method of examination. a pipe-dream of course, church will never allow anyone to examine them with this theory out there.
It probably should be done soon, because like as not, some “accident” will happen that will burn the church to the ground. Perhaps the funding request could use the “climate change” pretext, and soak up some money that would otherwise go to some fake study used to crush our liberty.
Thanks for the link!
The top-dollar high class hetarai/courtesans of the ancient world were required to have a real education-no affirmative action hires-so Kamala would not have been one because she is as dumb as a box of rocks...
I’ve read that there were courtesan schools in Athens and Rome that taught these fancy escorts/call girls philosophy, languages, some mathematics, poetry, music-as well as sexual things like positions, how to please a man, etc. They make today’s fanciest prostitutes/escorts look like common putas...
Thanks for the links to the info on Aspasia and empress Theodora-both very determined women in an era when the only way for a woman to achieve much of anything was to be a high-class escort/call girl...
That’s what they were, but called courtesans.
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