Amphipolis, This famous State of Eastern Macedonia, the unique colony of Athens, came out, at last, from the oblivion into which was thrown for centuries, not only the barbarian invasions, but the ignorance and indifference of the Greeks against their illustrious history.
The remarkable monument, that gradually reveals the archaeological hoe in the Hill region "Kasta" of Amphipolis, just outside the current (New) Mesolakia of the municipality of Amphipolis, initiated the interest of millions of people throughout the planet and, between them and the interest of most Greeks.
Many written all these days, advancing the excavations in the remarkable tomb of Amphipolis, and their recurrence will not add anything to the historical knowledge.
That's why I chose to bring to light some small, but unidentified fragments from the history of perilampris, Macedonian state, hoping that will contribute in this way, even little, the global update of those Greeks, with particular interest and suspense watching, day by day, the evolution of the excavations, waiting for the "miracle", that will give them back their national dignity, which deprive them daily, the economic crisis and the demands of lenders of our country.
THE Egnatia Odos and the Hill Kasta.
The first, small fragment of the history of Amphipolis got from the master thesis of prematurely lost, brilliant philologist and archaeologist, Calf Otatzi, that was titled "Egnatia Odos: From Amphipolis in Philippi ", (Edition Dimou Kavalas).
In this work the author, looking at some miliaria (ododeiktes) the famous, the Roman via Egnatia, which was constructed by the Romans after the conquest of Greece and which, According to Strabo, EC of Apollonia was to Makedonian... bebimatismeni at mile and katestilwmeni until Detection and Evros river», found in small Souli, Ofrynio in, the New Kerdyllia and elsewhere, "see" this great Highway passes between the Hill "Kasta", where already excavated the resplendent tomb and on the Hill 133, where by decades are currently being dug up the ruins and tombs from the Neolithic period and reaching the iron age.
The Musk Otatzis says, specific, that the Via Egnatia "it is more likely to avoid the Hill on which was built the Amphi ¬ Poli, but after the Struma to heading North, to pass out from Amphipolis 162 and specifically surrounded the Eastern wall of the city and continued immediately after heading northeast toward the foothills of Pageos and the hill that is today known by the number 133.
In this area found a miliario era Emperor Caracalla, which lists the distance of a mile.
Likely number is not filled in, because at this point there is miliarioy's wear- But if the number of a mile is right, then the miliario should not be found away from the place that was mounted on the Egnatia highway.
The road continued heading northeast and passing through the Hill 133 and the Hill of "Kasta", to continue in the same direction, at the same time almost to the northern foothills of Pageos.
There is still today a footpath from Amphipolis leads in passing this, between two hills. The autopsy and the investigation yielded no traces of an ancient road, but it is very likely to have been destroyed by cultivation of fields.
Ofrynio village and the wall of the Byzantine Chrysoupoli found walled miliario Egnatia, which also dates back to the years of Caracalla.
It is unknown where moved to the medieval precinct, but the distance of 4 miles that reads, considering as a starting point the Amphipolis, shows that this was mounted in Egnatia Street immediately after the Hill 133 and from this point the distance is not too great to be transferred later to the wall of the Byzantine Chrysoupoli.
May well (This) constitute an indication, that the Via Egnatia passed between two hills, to proceed after alongside the northern foothills of Paggaio».
An unknown, well, but particularly important element adds the Musk Otatzis what we learn everyday about the Macedonian Tomb being excavated in the Hill "Kasta" of Amphipolis.
That this tomb found onto the largest street of ancient times, the Roman via Egnatia, which flew from the South side of, with that this place can mean, either in terms of any sylisi of, either, Instead, as regards any protection from the Romans!
The discovery of the lion of Amphipolis.
A second, virtually unknown until today aspect of the history of Amphipolis is that of finding fragments of a large sculpture of a lion of Amphipolis and their sygkollisis, which does not cease to be topical now, the excavations on the Hill "Kasta" place the lion this, as sepulchral monument, on the Macedonian tomb and put an end (or start from the beginning;) the discussions, that for decades were giving and taking, about where, eventually, was mounted this wonderful work of art!
Here you can consult, from an unknown in our country work of Oscar Broneer, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chicago, which, with title «The lion monument at Amphipolis», done the 1941 and don't ever translated in Greek, nor ever was issued by Greek, Publishing House than the other article, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Thessaloniki, George Bakalaki, which, titled "the lion of Amphipolis», published in the July issue of 1960 the magazine «PERIIGITIKI», (SLE. 15-17), to make you partakers of below, interesting, I hope, details of ' modern ' history of the lion of Amphipolis:
For the first time in the Balkan wars 1912 – 1913 Greek soldiers found pieces from the base of the great monument and informed immediately the archaeological service, which sent archaeologists on the ground c. Economou and a. Orlando, whom, though, up to the first world war, before you proceed to investigation and revelation of the monument.
In the summer of 1916 British officers, an expeditionary force, in a break of the battles that were fought in the vicinity of the mouth of the Struma, among allies and in Bulgarian troops, they found and shards of lion and wanted to carry on the coast, (apparently to carry home), but, because of their weight and volume, but because of that main blocked by Bulgarian artillery, that "pound" shore, where were English ships, It succeeded and the fragments of the monument remained exposed to weather conditions until, the year 1930, the members of the French, Archaeological School of Athens, P. Collart and P. Devampez, prosklithenta by Mr. Tsatsos, an employee of the American company Ulen Monks, which had already undertake land drainage in the area of Strymon, attended in the place where they were splinters and studied for the first time, chronologisan them in the time of the Peloponnesian War, the results of their research published in the archaeological Journal Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique.
The draft of the reunification and reconstruction of the fragments of a lion on a new basis was arrested and executed by the company's engineers Monks-Ulen, R. W. Gausman and W. J. Judge, who aroused his interest then Ambassador of u.s.a. in Greece, k. Lincoln Mac Veagh, who requested a meeting with the French archaeologists, Archaeological School of Athens and in particular with the subsequent Director of, Pierre Roussel and with Michel Feyel, Paul Lemerle, Henri Ducoux, who visited the Memorial again, examined all existing fragments, they made detailed plans and proposed design of the reconstruction of the lion, in a manner not abstained at all from the final, a later reconstruction of the!
As regards, though the base of the monument, the proposal to restore the proven totally wrong.
Until the 1936, only members of the French archaeological School of Athens were occupied with the monument, from the 1936 But even after, with the intercession of k. Lincoln Mac Veagh, the above School collaborated with the American School of archaeological studies of Athens and commissioned further actions, from the French school in k. Jaques Roger, from the American school in k. Oscar Broneer, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chicago, who and shared, eventually, the rights of the study and publication of findings.
From the 8 until the 17 Jun 1936, 20 laborers worked on the excavation of the site where they had found the remaining pieces of the lion and the base of the, unearthed other pieces and the very basis of the monument (sic) and everything was ready for the interlock, taken to realize the outstanding sculptor k. Andreas Panagiotakis, Professor of the University of Athens and the national sculptor, Archaeological Museum.
He, from the autumn of 1937 and after, having built a plaster copy of the statue, in size the same as the ancient, proceeded to the reconstruction of the monument, having, Unfortunately, at his disposal, only eleven pieces from ancient sculpture, of which only nine (9) It was consecutive, While those pieces were missing, (as it was the piece of the head, immediately above the eyes), filled with white cement.
The sculpture of Lion remade reached height 5,37 measures, but of the anastilwtes escaped some detail, that was, though, important!
So, I saw that lacked a narrow strip of the neck, with lush mane of beast and so, the head with the neck became a squat structure. Ignored, also, the fact that the lion's eyes were nested (additional), probably made from different colored stone or metal and in place of bulbs placed white cement.
That, though, that is important and of great interest to those who follow the discussions this time, about whether the lion of Amphipolis was the Tomb excavated mound that signal on the Hill "Kasta" of Mesolakias, is the fact that the respective speeches all outstanding scientists, (archaeologists, engineers, etc.), involved with the discovery of fragments of the monument and their restoration, agree that the pedestal, on top of which was placed in antiquity the lion, is the same as that found in the excavations, at the soil surface, in the place where today is located the sculpture and the pedestal which consists of two different sections, 1) a pwrino quadrangle, front, consisting of approximately fifty surfaces and 2) another section, resembling a retaining wall at Π shape, among which (two sections) There is empty, which was interpreted by the fact that the ground, at this point, climbs steeply southwards, consistently, the two sections do not need single and compact Foundation.
If, well, the lion was the mound of signal Hill ' Kasta, How is that found where it was located and the ancient the podium and at the exact same point was restored and stands up today;
Modern pedestal, though, on which erected the restored lion, constructed not from material of the ancient the podium, (Since that's not found in the excavations of 1931-1934), but from another ancient material from surfaces, cornices and other architectural members that came from buildings of Amphipolis, the 2nd b.c.. century and which were used in the construction of a medieval dam, which stood in the Struma, a little further down from there found the fragments of a lion which had to mess up the company's engineers Monks-Ulen, during the drainage works performed.
All, also, scientists involved with the restoration of the lion, but many others, accepted that the whole monument was a sepulchral monument, part of which was the only concrete sculpture.
Most, end, of them chronologisan the monument in the 4th b.c.. century, with Prof.. Oscar Broneer dating to shortly after the death of Alexander the great, the Professor. George Bakalaki to places just before the battle of Chaeronea, (338 e.g.)
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