* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sens. Blackburn, Warnock introduce CREATE Act to provide tax relief to music creators – Yahoo Home

    Sens. Blackburn and Warnock Launch CREATE Act to Deliver Tax Relief for Music Creators

    That’s (Political) Entertainment: When Theatre Meets Politics

    Future Script: How Generative AI Is Changing Collective Bargaining in the Entertainment Industry – Jackson Lewis

    Future Script: How Generative AI Is Transforming Collective Bargaining in Entertainment

    The SBA’s live-entertainment bailout was supposed to end two years ago. We still don’t know how $1.5 billion was spent. – Yahoo Home

    $1.5 Billion Live-Entertainment Bailout: Two Years Later, Where Did the Money Go?

    Wall Street Bets: Caesars, Golden Entertainment, Churchill Downs, GLPI, Boyd – CDC Gaming

    Top Wall Street Bets: Caesars, Golden Entertainment, Churchill Downs, GLPI, and Boyd Take Center Stage

    Micro wrestling coming to NE Ohio – Cleveland.com

    Get Ready, NE Ohio: Micro Wrestling Is Making Its Exciting Debut!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue … – Yahoo.co

    Cognizant Q2 2025 Earnings: Impressive Revenue Growth and Key Takeaways

    Revving Up The U.S. Technology Engine – Forbes

    Revving Up The U.S. Technology Engine – Forbes

    More than just a hockey player – Rochester Institute of Technology Athletics

    Beyond the Ice: The Inspiring Journey of a Remarkable Athlete from Rochester Institute of Technology

    Smart Logistics in Warehousing – From Legacy Protocols to Green IoT – How Technology Is Reshaping the Sustainable Supply Chain – Logistics Viewpoints –

    Smart Logistics in Warehousing – From Legacy Protocols to Green IoT – How Technology Is Reshaping the Sustainable Supply Chain – Logistics Viewpoints –

    AI’s race in the dark with China – Axios

    The High-Stakes AI Race: Innovation and Competition in the Shadows

    Eagle Unveils Revolutionary X-Ray Technology at Pack Expo

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sens. Blackburn, Warnock introduce CREATE Act to provide tax relief to music creators – Yahoo Home

    Sens. Blackburn and Warnock Launch CREATE Act to Deliver Tax Relief for Music Creators

    That’s (Political) Entertainment: When Theatre Meets Politics

    Future Script: How Generative AI Is Changing Collective Bargaining in the Entertainment Industry – Jackson Lewis

    Future Script: How Generative AI Is Transforming Collective Bargaining in Entertainment

    The SBA’s live-entertainment bailout was supposed to end two years ago. We still don’t know how $1.5 billion was spent. – Yahoo Home

    $1.5 Billion Live-Entertainment Bailout: Two Years Later, Where Did the Money Go?

    Wall Street Bets: Caesars, Golden Entertainment, Churchill Downs, GLPI, Boyd – CDC Gaming

    Top Wall Street Bets: Caesars, Golden Entertainment, Churchill Downs, GLPI, and Boyd Take Center Stage

    Micro wrestling coming to NE Ohio – Cleveland.com

    Get Ready, NE Ohio: Micro Wrestling Is Making Its Exciting Debut!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue … – Yahoo.co

    Cognizant Q2 2025 Earnings: Impressive Revenue Growth and Key Takeaways

    Revving Up The U.S. Technology Engine – Forbes

    Revving Up The U.S. Technology Engine – Forbes

    More than just a hockey player – Rochester Institute of Technology Athletics

    Beyond the Ice: The Inspiring Journey of a Remarkable Athlete from Rochester Institute of Technology

    Smart Logistics in Warehousing – From Legacy Protocols to Green IoT – How Technology Is Reshaping the Sustainable Supply Chain – Logistics Viewpoints –

    Smart Logistics in Warehousing – From Legacy Protocols to Green IoT – How Technology Is Reshaping the Sustainable Supply Chain – Logistics Viewpoints –

    AI’s race in the dark with China – Axios

    The High-Stakes AI Race: Innovation and Competition in the Shadows

    Eagle Unveils Revolutionary X-Ray Technology at Pack Expo

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

These historic Greek sites shed fresh light on Alexander the Great’s lost kingdom

January 4, 2024
in Science
These historic Greek sites shed fresh light on Alexander the Great’s lost kingdom
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ByJulia Buckley

Published January 3, 2024

• 8 min read

You’ve probably heard of Alexander the Great, the king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon in the fourth century B.C. Known for conquering lands as far away as India, and taking steps toward creating the world’s first multicultural empire, he was a legend even before his death at 32. But until recently, there were few historic places travelers could visit to learn about his life.

Now, the ancient city where Alexander was crowned is being brought to light in northern Greece. The Polycentric Museum of Aigai, opened in late 2022, is bringing back the original capital of ancient Macedonia, an hour’s drive west of Thessaloníki. (Greek Macedonia, which joined the country in 1913, includes the separate country of North Macedonia, bordering Greece.)

While the Macedonians had moved their capital to Pella, about 30 miles northeast, by the time Alexander was born, the older city of Aigai (near present-day Vergina) remained the center of political and religious life. It’s where Philip II of Macedon—Alexander’s father—was famously assassinated in 336 B.C. Alexander was hastily crowned in the palace afterward, and Philip was buried nearby.

Aigai was lost for around 2,000 years until 1997, when Philip’s tomb was discovered by archaeologist Manolis Andronikos. Open to the public since 1997, the Royal Tombs  are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a subterranean museum in the tumulus (ancient burial mound) containing four royal graves, including Philip’s.

Visitors can walk between the tombs in the darkness and marvel at the door of Philip’s grave—adorned with a 2,360-year-old fresco depicting the king and Alexander hunting. Nearby, burial artifacts are on display, including ivory couches, rich textiles that once wrapped bones, and delicate golden wreaths and ossuaries. There’s even a set of Philip’s gleaming armor.

Alexander’s burial site has never been found—its location is one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. But the Royal Tombs offer a compelling glimpse of ancient Macedonian aristocracy, a contrast to the new adjacent museum which explores everyday life in the kingdom.

(New clues surface about where Alexander the Great’s tomb might be.)

A museum for regular people, not just royals

The sites of Aigai are overseen by Angeliki Kottaridi, director of the Imathia Ephorate of Antiquities. She always wanted to tell the story of the commoners of the city, too. The new Central Museum Building does just that, transforming the remains of Aigai into a vast, “scattered” (or polycentric) site. In contrast to the low-lit Royal Tombs, the new showplace is made of gleaming white stone and flooded with natural light.

“I wanted this to have a different concept,” says Kottaridi, explaining the distinction between the two museums. “White is the light from beyond—so this is a place from beyond, where [the dead] can share their stories.”

(Adventure along ancient Greece’s legendary river to the underworld.)

The new museum begins in an atrium displaying part of the columned peristyle of Aigai’s Royal Palace—a vast building whose double colonnade, Kottaridi says, inspired architecture from Athens to Asia—and then shows sculptures from the ancient city, including a formidable, stern-faced statue of Eurydice, Alexander’s grandmother.

Giving life to the ‘worthless’

The museum’s main hall further illustrates the lives of ordinary citizens by displaying very ordinary things—lamps, keys, pots, figurines, and simple iron nails—in backlit cases, like works of art.

“For the first time, there’s no taboo about exhibiting ‘worthless’ items,” says tour guide Athina Tsakiri, who has been bringing visitors to the site since it opened. “This is cheap stuff that usually nobody pays attention to.”

“In other museums, you have just masterpieces; here we have normal things, the reality of life,” adds Kottaridi.

(Learn about Alexander the Great’s powerful warrior mother.)

One case contains nothing but terracotta tile shards—clearly disturbed while wet—with a human handprint and the claw and paw prints of dogs, cats, and roosters.

Another area showcases the domestic lives of women, with cases of jewelry, hairpins, makeup pots, and a loom reconstructed on a plastic frame, slung with dozens of terracotta weights.

A case of hand-turned iron keys stands as evidence of past lives. “The houses aren’t with us, but the key is the idea of the house,” says Kottaridi.

The final gallery of the small museum showcases relics from cremations of Philip and Alexander’s ancestors from 580-300 B.C. Back then, royals (initially, only the men) were cremated on funeral pyres with house-like structures built on top of them. Potshards, nails, and even half-melted door-knockers are all piled together, left as they would have been after a cremation. Jewelry placed on the bodies of nine Macedonian queens has been reconstructed in life-size cases, including that of the fifth-century-B.C. “Lady of Aigai,” whose body, dressed in gold, was excavated by Kottaridi in 1988.

For Tsakiri, the museum also helps contextualize the achievements of Philip and Alexander. “It’s special because you can trace the history and the culture of those people from the very beginning,” she says. “Philip didn’t appear out of nowhere—what he did and what his son did had very strong foundations.”

Bringing a city back to life

Many items on display at the new museum come from recent digs within Aigai, and the plan is to rotate exhibits frequently and showcase new finds. Less than a tenth of the city has been excavated so far, says Kottaridi. “We have a lot of work to do.” 

The Romans destroyed the Aigai Royal Palace after conquering Macedonia in 168 B.C. This month, after two decades of excavation, its ruins open as the fourth section of the polycentric site (including the two museums and a nearby church).

“We needed a space to show the city. It’s a new idea to approach the whole site as a big museum with units in different geographical spots,” says Kottaridi. “I’m very proud that we’re bringing back the Macedonians.”

what to know

How to get there: Vergina and the Polycentric Museum of Aigai are an hour’s drive west of Thessaloníki. There are also hourly buses from Thessaloníki to Veria; from there, buses go to Vergina four times a day on weekdays.

Where to stay: The nearby town of Veria holds Byzantine and Ottoman ruins plus an ancient Jewish Quarter, which is home to small hotels such as Kokkino Spiti, with rooms in a 19th-century mansion. 

How to see it: Athina Tsakiri offers half-day tours from $153, or full days from $218 (book via email at [email protected]). For more information, see discovergreece.com.   

Julia Buckley is a Venice, Italy-based travel writer. Follow her on X.

This story was created with assistance from Discover Greece.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/alexander-the-great-greek-tombs-museum-aigai

Tags: HistoricscienceThese
Previous Post

Co-occurring ripple oscillations facilitate neuronal interactions between cortical locations in humans

Next Post

10 simple ways to change your life in 2024

New DNA Analysis Allows Scientists To Identify Specific Animals by Their Feces – Smithsonian Institution

Breakthrough DNA Analysis Enables Scientists to Identify Animals Just from Their Feces

July 31, 2025
Some killer whales hunt in pairs to maximize their bounty – Science News

Some killer whales hunt in pairs to maximize their bounty – Science News

July 31, 2025
Be Like Blippi Week – Adventure Science Center

Join the Fun: Be Like Blippi Week at Adventure Science Center!

July 31, 2025
Martha Stewart questions Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand: ‘Hope she knows what she’s talking about’ – Page Six

Martha Stewart Raises Eyebrows Over Meghan Markle’s Lifestyle Brand: “Hope She Knows What She’s Talking About

July 31, 2025
Trump Executive Order Ends De Minimis Exemption for Rest of World – The New York Times

Trump Executive Order Ends De Minimis Exemption for Rest of World – The New York Times

July 31, 2025
Mexico’s economy grew 0.7% in Q2, outpacing analysts’ forecasts – Mexico News Daily

Mexico’s economy grew 0.7% in Q2, outpacing analysts’ forecasts – Mexico News Daily

July 31, 2025
Sens. Blackburn, Warnock introduce CREATE Act to provide tax relief to music creators – Yahoo Home

Sens. Blackburn and Warnock Launch CREATE Act to Deliver Tax Relief for Music Creators

July 31, 2025
Malnutrition rates reach alarming levels in Gaza, WHO warns – World Health Organization (WHO)

Malnutrition rates reach alarming levels in Gaza, WHO warns – World Health Organization (WHO)

July 31, 2025
Ahead of Trade Deadline, Trump Threatens Canada for Backing Palestinian State – The New York Times

Trump Delivers Stark Warning to Canada Over Backing Palestinian State Ahead of Trade Deadline

July 31, 2025
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Revenue … – Yahoo.co

Cognizant Q2 2025 Earnings: Impressive Revenue Growth and Key Takeaways

July 31, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (747)
  • Economy (772)
  • Entertainment (21,652)
  • General (16,209)
  • Health (9,809)
  • Lifestyle (780)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (774)
  • Politics (781)
  • Science (15,985)
  • Sports (21,269)
  • Technology (15,751)
  • World (755)

Recent News

New DNA Analysis Allows Scientists To Identify Specific Animals by Their Feces – Smithsonian Institution

Breakthrough DNA Analysis Enables Scientists to Identify Animals Just from Their Feces

July 31, 2025
Some killer whales hunt in pairs to maximize their bounty – Science News

Some killer whales hunt in pairs to maximize their bounty – Science News

July 31, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version