Messagetoeagle.com – Apparently stolen coins from the ancient site of Amphipolis are at the British Museum and in Germany.
They are believed to have been smuggled to these countries by soldiers passing through the area, such as the 2nd Kings Shopshire Light Infantry in 1916 and Nazi soldiers passing through the area during the German Occupation of Greece in WW2,” reported Protothema.
Artefacts at the British Museum are dated back to the 6th century B.C. They were probably stolen by British soldiers fighting Bulgarians in the region from 1916-1918 and some of the antiquities were donated to the museum by the soldiers.
Lion of Amphipolis
“A British brigade was planning to transfer to London 1,000 pieces of the monument precinct, along with the statue of the lion.
Mr. Michalis Lefantzis, the architect who elaborated the draft of Kasta Tomb for the Ministry of Culture made a shocking revelation today, at the event dedicated to ancient Amphipolis.
Citing historical evidence, Mr. Lefantzis told the journalists attending the presentation that a British brigade was planning to transfer to London 1,000 pieces of the monument precinct, along with the statue of the lion.
| On the day of the transfer, Austrian and Bulgarian troops attacked the British convoy and, as a result, the barges sunk in the river Strymonas and the ancient artifacts were "saved", reports Protothema.
Mr. Lefantzis also revealed that several local residents have been secretly returning parts of the precinct which they kept as mementos in their homes!” |
The proud Lion of Amphipolis has been a trademark of the Greek region of Serres and a symbol of Macedonia in Northern Greece.
The 5.3-meter tall statue was found in 1912 after the 7th division of the Greek army found it at the base of the Strymonas River during drainage works there. A legend was started that no doubt the unknown sculptor of the work, realising that the Lion missed its tongue, threw it into the river so that nobody would see it.
Parthenon Marbles – c. 447–438 BCE – British Museum, London. Source: Wikipedia
August 1916, British soldiers building fortifications at the bridge of Amphipolis found the marble parts and tried to smuggle them to England, however their efforts were stopped when Bulgarians who had just seized Paggaion attacked them.
According to archaeologists, the "material of the Lions base had been re-used as a dam since the Roman era."
Historians and archaeologists initially believed that it was erected as a symbolic monument to express the power of Amphipolis. It is reminded that a few months ago, photo documents have emerged showing British soldiers of the 2nd Kings Shopshire Light Infantry posing with skulls excavated during the construction of trenches and dugouts in the area of Amphipolis.
Artifacts at the British Museum are believed to have been stolen by soldiers like them, fighting Bulgarians in the region from 1916-1918.
