Greek Tomb's Female Sculptures Fully Revealed

by Rossella Lorenzi

The two Caryatids are fully revealed.

Greek Ministry of Culture

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FemaleSculpturesRevealedinGreekTomb:Photos

View Caption +#1: The two Caryatids are fully revealed.

Greek Ministry of Culture

View Caption +#2: The statues wear high-soled red-and-yellow shoes.

Greek Ministry of Culture

View Caption +#3: Their toes are finely carved, as the rest of their bodies.

Greek Ministry of Culture

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This drawing shows the tomb reconstruction according to the ongoing excavation.

Greek Ministry of Culture

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Two finely carved female figures called Caryatids have been unearthed inside the mysterious tomb-in Amphipolis, which dates from the time of Alexander the Great. BLOG: Female Sculptures Guard Mysterious Tomb in Greece

Greek Ministry of Culture

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Wearing a sleeved tunic and earrings, the Caryatids feature long, thick hair covering their shoulders. BLOG: Mosaics Revealed at Alexander the Great-Era Tomb

Greek Ministry of Culture

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While the face of one sculpture survives nearly intact, the other is missing. PHOTOS: Accidental Archaeological Discoveries

Greek Ministry of Culture

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The right arm of one Caryatid and the left arm of the other are both outstretched, as if to symbolically prevent anyone from attempting to enter the grave. BLOG: ‘Alexander the Sexy’ Seen in New Portrait

Greek Ministry of Culture

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A perfectly preserved rectangular marble block, measuring 14 feet long and 3 feet wide, was unearthed at the bottom of the barrel vault. BLOG: Sphinxes Emerge From Huge Ancient Greek Tomb

Greek Ministry of Culture

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On the underside of the large marble block are traces of blue, red and yellow, representing panels with rosettes in the center. Other rosettes were previously found embossed on a marble beam. VIDEO: Ancient Lost Army Found?

Greek Ministry of Culture

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The two female statues guarding the massive burial complex in Amphipolis, in Greece's northeastern Macedonia region, can now be seen in all their glory from head to toe.
Pictures released by Greece's Culture Ministry on Sunday show the 7.45-foot-tall statues standing on a marble pedestal with high-soled red and yellow shoes.
"Their toes have been sculpted in great detail," the Greek ministry of culture said.

3rd Room of Ancient Greek Tomb Revealed

Carved in high relief of Thassos marble, the imposing twin statues, known as Caryatids, stand between two marble pillars supporting a beam. They were "buried" in the ground, sandwiched between two walls, one sealing the statues off and the other closing another chamber.
Wearing a long chiton -- a sleeveless garment from the Archaic period -- and earrings, the statues feature long, thick hair covering their shoulders. While the face of one Caryatid survives almost intact, the other is missing, but archaeologists have found some fragments of the face, as well as some pieces of their missing hands.
The sculptures appear to slightly lift their chitons with the corresponding hand. As for the figures's alternated raised arms, the archaeologists have interpreted them as a sign to symbolically prevent anyone attempting to enter the grave.

Mosaics Revealed at Alexander the Great-Era Tomb

The distance between the two pedestals on which the Caryatids stand is 5.5ft, which is the same as the door opening at the tomb's entrance. This is guarded by two headless, wingless sphinxes.
The excavation has so far uncovered three chambers in the tomb. Earlier today, the secretary of the Ministry of Culture Lina Mendoni said there might be a fourth chamber in the mysterious burial.
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Female Sculptures Guard Mysterious Tomb in Greece

by Rossella Lorenzi

Greek archaeologists made another amazing find on Saturday as they unearthed two finely sculpted Caryatids -- female sculptures -- inside a mysterious tomb from the time of Alexander the Great, in Amphipolis, about 65 miles from Thessaloniki.
Carved from marble with traces of blue-and-red paint, the Caryatids were found when a team of archaeologists, led by Katerina Peristeri, removed sandy soil in front of a sealing wall.

PHOTOS: Female Sculptures Revealed in Greek Tomb
The sculptures stood between two marble pillars that supported a beam. Wearing a sleeved tunic and earrings, they feature long, thick hair covering their shoulders. While the face of one Caryatid survives almost intact, the other is missing.
“The right arm of the western Caryatid and the left arm of the eastern one are both outstretched, as if to symbolically prevent anyone attempting to enter the grave,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, the team discovered two headless, wingless sphinxes guarding the tomb’s entrance.
“The presence of a second sealing wall with Caryatids supports the idea this is an outstanding monument of particular importance,” the ministry statement said.
Mosaics Revealed at Alexander the Great-Era Tomb
Pieces of the sculptures, such as parts of palm and finger fragments, were recovered from the soil.
Also, a perfectly preserved rectangular marble block, measuring 14 feet long and 3 feet wide, was unearthed at the bottom of the vault.
On the underside of the large block, the archaeologists found blue-, red- and yellow-painted decoration, representing panels with rosettes in the center.
Other rosettes were found earlier, embossed on a marble beam.
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According to Andrew Chugg, author of “The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great,” the rosettes at Amphipolis strongly resemble those decorating the edge bands of the gold coffin from the tomb of Philip II, Alexander the Great’s father.
“It’s looking as though a rosette is a badge of the occupant,” Chugg told Discovery News.
At the moment, Chugg considers Olympia, Alexander’s mother, as the person most likely buried in the magnificent tomb.
“The Caryatids are a truly spectacular find. The fact that we now have a second pair of sculpted female guardians is of course boosting the case for this being the tomb of an important queen,” Chugg said.
He noted that the sphinxes guarding the tomb entrance were a symbol of Macedonian queens from the late fourth century B.C.
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“Sphinxes are not particularly common in high-status Macedonian tombs of this era, but, significantly, sphinxes were prominent parts of the decoration of two thrones found in the late 4th century-B.C. tombs of two Macedonian queens in the royal cemetery at Aegae, modern Vergina,” Chugg wrote in the url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/09/07/is-the-mother-of-alexander-the-great-in-the-tomb-at-amphipolis/]Greek Reporter.
One of the thrones decorated with sphinxes was attributed to Eurydice I, Alexander the Great’s grandmother.
Historical records point to two Macedonian queens who died at Amphipolis in the last quarter of the fourth century B.C.: Olympias and Roxane, Alexander’s wife.
“Olympias is looking like a very strong candidate now, with Roxane in second place and a combination of the two is not unlikely,” Chugg concluded.

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