Posted on 10/30/2024 11:15:13 AM PDT by Red Badger
An international team of archaeologists, led by Antonis Bartsiokas with Democritus University of Thrace, in Greece, has uncovered evidence that a tunic found in one of the Royal Tombs at Vergina once belonged to Alexander the Great.
In his paper published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, Bartsiokas outlines the evidence surrounding the purple and white tunic and also claims that he and his team have definitively identified the remains of three of the people entombed at the famous burial site.
Prior research has suggested that several members of Alexander the Great's family were laid to rest in the Royal Tombs at Vergina—the gravesite of the famous Macedonian king is not known, though it is most certainly not the Royal Tombs at Vergina. Such findings have made the site in Greece famous. In this new effort, Bartsiokas and colleagues took a new look at three of the tombs at the site, which have been informally named Tomb I, II and III.
Using a variety of testing techniques and historical reference works, the researchers found what they describe as evidence that the remains in Tomb I belong to Philip II, Alexander's father. Those in Tomb II belong to Alexander's half-brother Philip III, and the remains in Tomb II are those of Alexander IV, Alexander's son, who died while still in his teens.
Perhaps most intriguing about the work, however, is the purple and white tunic found along with the remains in Tomb II—a tunic is a fitted jacket similar to that worn by Captain Picard of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." By testing via gas chromatography and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, the researchers determined that the tunic was made of cotton and had been dyed using a purple color that was only allowed for the elite.
They note also that the tunic was featured in a frieze in Tomb II by a hunter identified as Alexander. Also, the tunic was found near a scepter, oak wreath and diadem, all made of gold, which are believed to have a possible link with ancient Persia, and by extension, to Alexander.
The research team was not able to explain why the tunic and other gold materials associated with Alexander the Great were left in the tomb, though they suspect it might have had something to do with Philip III being crowned king when Alexander died.
More information: Antonis Bartsiokas, The Identification of the Sacred "Chiton" ( Sarapis ) of Pharaoh Alexander the Great in Tomb II at Vergina, Macedonia, Greece, Journal of Field Archaeology (2024). DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2024.2409503
Journal information: Journal of Field Archaeology
© 2024 Science X Network
PinGGG!................
Someone should put it on and go LARPing with it.
It will probably give magical powers to whoever is wearing it.
Must be some tunic…
Didn’t do Alex any good!.......................
Maybe some DNA?...................
His name was sewn on the pleats ?
lol - I misread that as “Virginia” and began wondering if Alexander had somehow managed to cross the ocean as part of his adventures!
Laundry tag
Thanks Red Badger.
Maybe some (G)re(A)(T) DNA.
If I could have found a way to put the (C) in there, I would have.
Wong Croke
Did it have his laundry mark?
Thats because his foam armor didn’t look bad ass enough with the tunic to justify magic powers.
I applaud archeologists and I admire their work but most of what they say, what they “find” is supposition, there is almost no way to say with absolute certainty that the garment was Alexanders, it’s fun to believe that it was, a lot of people enjoy make believe these days, so honestly whats the harm, right?
What’s the difference between archaeology and grave desecration?
Sounds like the hillbilly pronunciation of a similar word.
Coat check ticket
Time
Purple use to be the color of royalty because of how expensive the dye was. Then some fellow accidentally discovered how to make purple dye cheaply from coal tar.
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