Daily Mail: Does the tomb belong to Alexander the Great or to Olympias?

What leads scholars to the above conclusion – How the sphinxes and caryatids may indicate who the “occupier” of the tomb is

Have they found the tomb of Alexander the Great? Or is it his mother who is buried in Amphipolis? In any case Greek archeologists seem all the more that the mystery tomb hides an exciting secret.

According to British newspaper Daily Mail, the “occupier” of the tomb is a person of great importance and is most likely to be Alexander the Great or his mother Olympias.

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While all kinds of speculations about who is the mysterious person hiding in the ancient tomb continue, a new report  of an academic claims that is the mother of Alexander the Great, while a number of scholars believe that the presence of the female figures of Caryatids could possibly indicate that the tomb in the area of Amphipolis belongs to a woman.

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Writer Andrew Chugg who has written a book in relation to the finding of Alexander’s the Great tomb as well as plenty scientific work,, published his controversial argument of the newspaper “The Greek Reporter”. He argues that the sphinxes guarding the tomb are decorated in a manner similar to these found in the tombs of the two queens of Macedonia, including the grandmother of the King.

Further, the sphinxes guarding the tomb are also similar to a pair of sphinxes found at Saqqara, which is believed to be the site of the first tomb of Alexander the Great, whose body was transferred after his death.

Greece Ancinet Tomb

Moreover the writer highlights that the facades of the tombs of Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II, and Alexander D, are similar to the front of the monument found in Amphipolis.  Apart from that, there are similarities between the coating and the rosettes (textured decorative) found in Amphipolis, and those inside of Philip II.

In conclusion of all the above, he believes that the tomb in Amphipolis was build for Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias or even for his wife Roxane, which seem that they both have died in Amphipoli at the same period of time, in the last quarter of the 4th century BC “. He believes that, since Caryatids are female figures probably klodones which were the priestesses of Dionysous.

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Plutarch wrote to a biography about Alexander the Great, that his mother consorted with the priestesses. However, there are many experts who claim that the tomb belongs to one of the servants of the king.

According to the article the area of the tomb
Finally, according to the article the burial id dated between 325 and 300 BC, which means that it could be built during the reign of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists have now entered the third chamber of the tomb and the disclosures are expected within the next month, or even towards the end of 2014.

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