Posted on 03/05/2016 2:34:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv
An incomplete inscription might reopen the debate about the identity of the owner of a tomb from the Alexander the Great era, according to new research into blocks from the circular retaining wall of the mysterious mound. The tomb was unsealed in northern Greece 18 months ago.
Dated to between 325 B.C. -- two years before Alexander the Great's death -- and 300 B.C., the tomb is located in Amphipolis, east of Thessaloniki, and is billed as the largest of its kind in the Greek world, measuring more than 1,600 feet in circumference.
According to study author Andrew Chugg, a missing P, or pi, clearly discards the archaeologists's theory linking the burial to Hephaestion, Alexander the Great's beloved friend and general.
Chugg argues that the blocks, originally cut for monuments to Hephaistion on Alexander's order, were simply re-used to build the massive tomb a few years after the Macedonian king's death...
Featuring the monogram of Hephaestion, the three inscriptions were decoded to read: PARELABON HFAISTIWN ANT. According to Peristeri and her team, they meant "I, Antigonus received construction material for the erection of a monument in honor of Hephaestion."
During her presentation, Peristeri showed sketches and photos of two inscriptions which read ARELABON. The word would have stood for PARELABON, meaning "received by" or "received for."
"They left a blank space in their drawing. Everyone thought it meant the P was simply not there on the stone of the block," said Chugg, who also authored "The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
The sketch of the inscribed block presented by the Greek archaeologists (top); Chugg's reconstruction from the 1970s photo shows how the P of PARELABON was cut off the block when it was shortened. [Andrew Chugg (red characters in the inscription); American School of Classical Studies at Athens (bottom photo)]
2300 years from now archaeologists may discover the tombs of zero or hilderbeast and declare it a Superfund area.
I read some speculation that it is the tomb of, Olympias, the mother of Alexander. The dates - as cited here - would make sense. Although she was executed - stoned to death - by political rivals, she may have been given a royal tomb. She would have been a royal and prestigious figure, simply because of being the mother of Alexander.
I sure hope they don't unseal it and unleash a new plague on all of mankind all over again. The un-dead must remain restrained. Even now Imhotep fears their arrival in the underworld.
Chugg argues that the blocks, originally cut for monuments to Hephaistion on Alexander's order, were simply re-used to build the massive tomb a few years after the Macedonian king's death...
They will marvel at the copious amounts of urine on and around the tombs.
a great source for salt peter in the manufacture of future gun powders no doubt
It was probably some mover-and-shaker of the time, who died at the top of his or her fame, and fell into obscurity almost immediately. That’s the case with most of the burials in Egypt as well. Alexander the Great’s sarcophagus is described in at least one surviving ancient source, and probably slid into the Mediterranean during that quake that also destroyed the Pharos lighthouse. But that’s the one burial everyone would just love to find on dry land. :’)
Julius Caesar’s cremation spot:
http://www.google.com/search?q=julius+caesar’s+cremation+spot&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch
By contrast, I’ve never heard that any of the graves of the scumbags who murdered him are known today.
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