The Tumulus Tomb of Amphipolis lies on the hill of Kasta inside a 500-meter long surrounding wall of marble and limestone. The Marble wall is almost a perfect circle 3 meters high with a cornice of marble from the Aegean Island of Thassos. This great Tomb and the surrounding wall with its special base and unique design is likely the work of the Architect Deinokratis, who lived at the time of Alexander the Great. Deinokratis and was Alexander's chosen Architect and also a very important person in the time of Alexander.
The Entry of the Tomb is 13 steps down from the surrounding Wall.
The Entry Arch contains two headless/wingless Sphinxes, amazing works of classic art. In front of the Arch and Sphinx Portal there is a Limestone wall protecting and concealing the entire entry of this vast tomb. The design of the Entry and surrounding wall are unique to the ancient Greece world.
Originally on the top of the Tomb there was a great Stone Lion, the Lion of Amphipolis. The Lion it's self is 5.3 meters high and has a stone base that makes a total [with Lion] height of 15.84 meters. The sculpture who carved the two entry Sphinxes is the person that sculpted the colossal Lion. We usually associate a Lion with a battle, like the battle of Chaeronea or with for some great General. Since there was no battle around the time the Tomb was built, the archaeologists suggest that the person inside the Tomb could also be some great General from Alexander's time.
The fact that the Tomb is still sealed is very important because it means that it may contain items and information of great historical value and that they are still in place. Because the tomb was still sealed and filled with sand/soil, tomb raiders would not have entered far inside. Only the end of the excavation will tell the whole story of Who and When.
This vast Tomb, the Lion and the two Sphinxes represent amazing beauty from the ancient world and may be the guardians of the contents to one of greatest Archaeology excavations of our time.
Source: www.theamphipolistomb.com
At the 4th of September it took place a meeting with all the concerning parties at the Kasta Tumulus site. The General Secretary of the Minister of Culture ms. Lina Mendoni, the scientific team, the leader archeologist ms. Peristeri, and members of the Directorate of Ancient Monuments of the Ministry of Culture.The applied safety measures have been estimated, because of the rain storm of the previous night, and the conclusion was that they are sufficient. The works of protection are constantly on the go in order to keep the tumulus protected and to provide a safe working environment for the members of the excavation team.Friday the 5th of September. The work of removing the dirt progressed further inside, behind the second wall in order to balance the pressure it withstands from the existing soil from both sides. 2m from the ceiling and at the height of 4,5m there was found a rectangular plate of marble in excellent condition (pic1) and the dimensions of it : 4,2m long, 1m wide and 21cm thick. It’s partly on the top of the third wall (pic2). On the lower part of the plate there are drawings of panels with rosette in the center with blue, yellow and red color. (pic3,4). It is a part of the ceiling.At the same room, between the second and the third wall there is a significant amount of damage on the ceiling, which needed to be secured. (pic5).On the second wall the architrave and the cornice needed to be secured. Also the base of architrave is now visible. There is a crack on the architrave through all its height and for that reason they have placed an immense amount of supporting equipment around it.Saturday the 6th of September. The removal of the dirt in front of the architrave, allowed the further support of it.
07-09-14 PRESS RELEASE
