Ezekiel a prophet of God was in Babylon during the captivity of the Jews and he was shown in vision what was happening in the temple at Jerusalem. In brief he saw creeping things and beasts, idols of the house of Israel pourtrayed upon the walls, 70 men of the ancients with their incense who say in their minds ‘ the Lord doesn’t see us; the Lord has forsaken the earth,’ 25 men worshipping the sun. The rest of the chapter shows God’s displeasure. This was all about 597BC.
Ezekial 8: 10 – 16
The site at Vergina includes a palace, theater and various tombs belonging to those considered important. We didn’t see the palace ruins but the theatre was where Phillip II was assinated (336 BC) by Pausaias while attending his daughter’s wedding and his burial took place from there too.
This museum is so sympathetically done to keep everything in perfect condition.
Here the front of the tomb is exactly as it was when built for him after his assination in 336 BC.
They haven’t opened the solid door as there is a crack in the lintel.
Working from behind these doors in the main chamber they believe Phillip, Olympias and their son Alexander were buried among all their artifacts.
The neck armour of
Phillip II’s sixth wife,
Queen Meda of Odessos.
A gorytos, a ‘bag’ to hold both the arrows and the bow so a warrior could free his hands.
This was found in the antichamber.
The copper greeves to protect Phillip’s legs .
These were found next to him in the main chamber.
It was surprising for the archaeologists to find a burial in an antichamber discovered 23 centuries since it took place. There is some evidence that it is Cleopatra, who had been one of Phillip’s wives. The woman’s bones were intact and wrapped in purple with a gold diadem on top . There was also an all-gold myrtle wreath found in another part of this chamber.
The tombs, several of which are still being excavated have paintings too. Here is one which tells the story of Hades abducting Persophone.
Just out of this picture is her mother crying and pleading for her release.
This was part of what was discovered in 1977.
They are now under partial cover and give one a glimpse of what Phillip’s would be like beyond the doors.
These tombs would have had paintings, vessels with perfume and gold.
That has all gone.
Thank you for being with us a bit. I hope this will fascinate you enough to look further into these ancient civilisations. As Henri Fredric Amiel says:
It is by teaching we teach ourselves,
By relating we observe,
By affirming we examine,
By showing that we look,
By writing that we think,
By pumping that we draw water into the well.
Sandy 🙂
Fascinating! I am so glad we could travel with you Thanks for sharing x
So glad you found it fascinating too.
Really worth reading more about. Modern archaeological practise is so sensitive to keeping things whole. I expect we will see more paintings revealed soon.
It’s so easy to forget about all those thousands of years and civilisations that existed before us. Fascinating.
Ah, great to read your comment! Yes, real women like us. I loved that museum.
So interesting, Sandy! What a great museum.
Yes, they worked around it and everything is lit up in darkness and kept at the right temperature. They are so careful to keep things at their best.