A team of researchers has analyzed more than 165 gold objects found in four monumental tombs in the Bay of Volos, in the Greek region of Thessaly, revealing fascinating details about how Mycenaean craftsmen worked with this precious metal more than 3,500 years ago. The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, offers […]
Greece
Posted inAncient Greece, Culture
Diotima of Mantinea, the Priestess Who Taught Socrates the Philosophy of Love
In his dialogues, Plato mentions an enigmatic figure who stands out both for her wisdom and her gender: a woman named Diotima of Mantinea. She was a priestess who instructed none other than Socrates in the philosophy of love, but did she really exist, or was she a literary device used by Plato to convey […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Identity of the Occupants of the Tomb of Persephone in Vergina Revealed: They Are Not Philip II and His Wife
An international team of scientists has unveiled new findings about the enigmatic Tomb I, known as the Tomb of Persephone, located in the Great Tumulus of Vergina, Greece. This monument, considered part of the funerary complex of the Macedonian kings, has been the subject of debate for decades. Now, thanks to advanced techniques such as […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
Evidence of Ancient Ritual to “Kill” the Dead and Destroy Their Tombs in a Final Feast 4,000 Years Ago Found in Crete
On the island of Crete, famous for its Minoan palaces and legends like the labyrinth of the Minotaur, an international team of archaeologists has discovered something even more intriguing: how the ancient Cretans symbolically “killed” their dead. This was not a violent act, but rather a carefully planned ritual to close a chapter of their […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Science
Gears in the Antikythera Mechanism May Have Caused It to Malfunction
A recent study conducted by researchers at the National University of Mar del Plata (Argentina) has revealed new details about the famous Antikythera Mechanism, considered the world’s oldest computer. This device, discovered in a Greek shipwreck from the 1st century BCE, was used to predict astronomical phenomena such as eclipses and planetary movements. However, the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
The Mysteries of the Pythia, the Great Priestess of the Temple of Apollo Who Embodied the Oracle of Delphi
Sibyl, Phymonoe, Xenoclea, Aristocleia, Perialla, Themistoclea… These names will sound unfamiliar to almost everyone, and it’s no wonder, because although they belong to women of Ancient Greece, they weren’t queens or royal consorts, nor were they goddesses, muses, philosophers, or poets. These were the names of some of the most famous Pythias, that is, the […]
Posted inAncient Greece
Bias of Priene, the most prominent of the Seven Sages, recommended loving friends as if they were enemies and freed women from slavery
In the 6th century BC, at the peak of the Greek Archaic period, Priene was a small Ionian city overlooking the Aegean Sea. Located on the coast of Caria in Anatolia, north of Miletus, Priene was not known for its military power or its conquests, but for being the home of one of the Seven […]
Posted inClassical Archaeology
Excavations in Ancient Leucas Fully Reveal the First Theater Discovered in the Ionian Islands
Excavations in the ancient city of Leucas have brought to light the first theater discovered in the Ionian Islands. This majestic monument, situated in a privileged position, dominates the landscape of the ancient city and offers an exceptional testimony to the cultural and architectural splendor of the era. Founded in the late 7th century BCE […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Longest Known Inscription in the Undeciphered Linear A Script of Minoan civilization, Found on an Ivory Scepter in Knossos
A team of archaeologists has discovered in Knossos, on the Greek island of Crete, the longest Linear A inscription found to date. The script appears on a circular ivory object with an attached handle, discovered in a context of clear religious significance within a Neopalatial building. Besides providing the longest inscription in this yet-to-be-deciphered system, […]
Posted inAncient Greece, Art
The Extraordinary Chigi Olpe: The Oldest Depiction of the Judgment of Paris and the Formation of Hoplite Phalanxes
In 1882, in an Etruscan tomb near Veii, about 16 kilometers north of Rome, a Greek pitcher—an olpe—was discovered. It had remained hidden in a burial chamber that had been sealed off in antiquity due to a collapse, which allowed it to reach us in an exceptional state of preservation. It was not Etruscan but […]
