3,000 yr-old Greek city Tenea found by archaeologists

A group of Trojan prisoners founded the town of Tenea after their devastating defeat by the Greek hero Odysseus and an enormous wooden horse in the Trojan War, according to ancient Greek texts and myths.

More than 3,000 years later, near a small village in southern Greece called Chiliomodi, researchers have uncovered archaeological evidence of the city’s existence for the first time.

The search began back in 1984 when the archaeologist Elena Korka uncovered a sarcophagus in the village, which is located in the Peloponnese region, south of Athens. “After I uncovered the sarcophagus, I knew I had to go back for more,” Korka told the New York Times.

Korka, who directs the Office for Supervision of Antiquaries and Private Archaeological Collections in Greece’s Ministry of Culture, returned with a team to the site in 2013 to begin the current excavations.

In September 2018, following an ancient road, the researchers found a graveyard containing the remains of two men, five women and two children, including one woman buried in the same grave with her child.

The tombs were stocked with bone, bronze and gold jewellery, silver and gold coins, vases and other valuable grave items, indicating the wealth of those buried there. But when the archaeologists continued their search north of the cemetery, they stumbled on an even bigger find: the remains of buildings from the ancient city of Tenea itself.

Inside an area measuring some 672 meters square, the researchers found beams and columns, clay, marble and stone floors and walls, according to a statement released by the Greek cultural ministry announcing the find.

In addition to a number of amphoras (jars) and a collection of more than 200 coins—another indication of the wealth and economic independence of the city—they also uncovered the tombs of two fetuses.

Korka told the Times that the presence of the babies’ tombs helped identify the site as the city itself, as babies were buried in residential areas and not in graveyards.

The ancient Greek historian Pausanias, who lived and wrote in the second century A.D., suggested that the founders of Tenea may have been Trojans who were taken prisoner by Agamemnon, the Mycenaean king.

This occurred in the aftermath of the Trojan War, which—if it actually happened—took place more than 3,000 years ago, in the 13th or 12th century B.C.

Around the 5th century B.C., tales of mythical Greek king Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother, noted that he was raised in Tenea.

Until now, archaeologists had uncovered no evidence of the city’s existence outside of historical texts and myths.

The collection of coins and the graves found at the site near Chiliomodi span the period from the early Hellenistic years, after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., into the Roman Empire. In 146 B.C., Romans occupied Greece, bringing Tenea under imperial control.

According to the statement from the Greek cultural ministry, the archaeological evidence suggests Tenea grew economically during the reign of Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (A.D. 193-211).

But the city seems to have suffered after the Gothic king Alaric raided the Peloponnese between A.D. 396 and 397, as relatively few artefacts were found dating to the fourth century. During the sixth century A.D., the city may have been abandoned.

Now, more than 1,400 years later, archaeologists are exploring it once again. 

“It is significant that the remnants of the city, the paved roads, the architectural structure, came to light,” Korka told Reuters. “We’ve found evidence of life and death…and all this is just a small part of the history of the place.” 

Amazing mosaic of the ancient Greek god Poseidon found in Turkey

Archaeological excavations in the southern Turkish province of Adana’s Yumurtalık district have unearthed a rare mosaic depicting the ancient Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. It is believed to date back to the 3rd or 4th century B.C.

The Poseidon mosaic was found in the frigidarium (large cold pool of a Roman bath) part of the ancient bath at the ancient city of Aegae, which is a 1st-degree archaeological field.

The bottom part of the mosaic contains partly ruined writing in Greek: “Greetings to all of you bathing.” 

Adana Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Sabri Tari said the coastal Yumurtalık district was called Aegae in the ancient era.

Tari said the city served as a naval base in the era of the Roman Empire and it was also a famous place for Asclepius, the god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. 

“One of three big Asclepius temples of the ancient world is in this city,” he added. 

Tari said the region is rich in historical tissue, and they had previously found a mosaic depicting the god of love, Eros. 

“We found a new mosaic during recent excavations. The Poseidon mosaic, which is a rare one in terms of its beauty, was unearthed in the grounds of the frigidarium,” he said. 

Mosaic nearly 11 square meters 

Adana Museum Deputy Director Nedim Dervişoğlu said they continued to place a big importance on excavations in order to further boost the province’s tourism potential, with such works carried out in a number of different parts of the city. 

“During excavations, we found a mosaic on a field over a space of 11.39 square meters. It is separated into two main panels.

The depiction in the southeastern part of the mosaic has been completely destroyed while the depiction in the north shows Poseidon carrying a trident.

There are dolphins in the right and left of Poseidon. When the excavations are completed around the mosaic, the depiction will be meaningful. We believe it dates back to the 3rd or 4th century B.C.,” Dervişoğlu said.

Ancient Greek helmet found buried next to ‘elite warrior’ who died 2,400 years ago

In a rock-cut tomb where a warrior was laid to rest more than 2,000 years ago, an ancient Greek war helmet has been uncovered. The Illyrian helmet still boasts its classic open-faced design, which was first developed in the Peloponnese region of Greece during the 8th and 7th centuries BC.

The tomb was built on the side of a mountain in Zakotarac, on the Pelješac peninsula, in southern Dalmatia, Croatia.

Archaeologists have also uncovered a trove of ancient weapons and unearthed another set of remains of a woman buried with a bronze bracelet around her wrist.

The discovery was made by archaeologists at Zagreb University, in collaboration with Dubrovnik Museums, which believes the grave was used for an elite member of the Greek military.

The Illyrian helmet was first used by ancient Greek Etruscans and Scythians and was later adopted by Illyrians – earning its well-known name.

The type of helmet also became popular in Italy, where it was constructed from ivory. The helmet became obsolete in most parts of Greece in the early 5th century BC – and its use in Illyria ended by the 4th century BC.

Along with finding the helmet used during the Greco-Persian Wars, the team uncovered a number of ‘grave goods’, which were personal items buried with the dead.

Some fifteen bronze and silver fibulae, ten needles or pins, several spiral bronze ornaments and pincers as well as several hundred glass paste and amber beads, once parts of a necklace were all in the tomb.

Dr. Domagoj Perkić, a curator with Dubrovnik Museums, said: ‘To date, more than thirty different vessels have been defined, mainly of Greek provenance, probably from the main Attic and Italic workshops.’

‘It has to be emphasized that these were the most expensive kinds of pots of the time, which the local population put alongside the deceased as grave goods for their life beyond the grave.’

‘Whether these vessels were bought or plundered during acts of piracy cannot be known, but those who gave them were very certainly aware of their value.’

The warrior, according to researches, was buried wearing the helmet, as it sits where his skull once was – it has deteriorated over the last thousands of years.

The team found the tomb while restoring damaged burial mounds in the area, which they believe was once seen as a sacred place.

The warrior’s mound is more than nine feet deep and six feet wide, and his body was laid to rest in the west-east direction.