Alexandria's founded by Alexander
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Finding Cassope in Epirus
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
The Ingenious Tower of the Winds in Athens
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Aphrodisias, the city of Aphrodite (Turkey)
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Bello come un dio
Thursday, December 15, 2016
The Battle of Gaugamela
The details of this battle are very complex. Nobody, not even Alexander, could have a comprehensive overview of how the fight unfolded, and the historical accounts tell only a very partial story. The battlefield was too vast and dusty to make sense of what was going on beyond anyone’s immediate space. The main conclusion is that the battle was won, but with Darius on the run, Alexander could not yet claim his crown as King of Persia.
[Pictures from Oliver Stone's movie Alexander, except the picture of Harran, which is mine]
Saturday, December 10, 2016
The Hippodamian plan, not so Greek after all
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
An unexpected encounter with Alexander at Delphi
[Click here to see more pictures of Delphi]
Friday, December 2, 2016
Putting Archaeological sites on the Map of Afghanistan
Yet it remains extremely difficult to pinpoint the exact location of many of these archaeological sites since they have been destroyed by looters and illicit antique dealers or simply by people tending their fields. In urban areas, recent houses have been built right over existing ancient remains.
DAFA hopes that when the map is complete and made available to everyone, they can participate in the protection of Afghanistan’s precious archaeological sites. Let's wish them luck!
Monday, November 28, 2016
The tempting site of Kibyra
The site will open to the public at some time in 2017.
Friday, November 25, 2016
Olympie, the daughter of Alexander
Monday, November 21, 2016
Cyrus the Great, venerated by the Iranians today
Poor Cyrus, who respected the customs and beliefs of all nations, and truly deserved to be called “Great”. Translated in today’s vocabulary, we should say that he was famous for his achievements in human rights, politics and military strategy. After all, he laid the foundations for a central administration and a government that worked to the benefit of his subjects. It is sad to see how his great principles have been turned into a political and religious discussion, something he definitely did not want.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
The siege of Sangala (in modern Pakistan)
[Picture of the Hydraotes River from Wikipedia By Vjdchauhan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0]
[Map from Travel, Tourism, Transport and Maps of Pakistan]
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Euromos, just a bowshot away
Several years ago, while driving down from Kusadasi to Milas, I was intrigued by a signpost pointing towards Euromos. I had never heard of this city that showed on my map with three dots, typically telling me these were ruins of some kind.
As it turned
out, these columns belonged to a temple dedicated to Zeus, which with its 17
columns still standing, is one of the best-preserved temples in
Wind and weather have definitely left their marks on this building dating from the 2nd century BC. As so often, I was the only visitor, but I had a ball stepping onto the crepidoma of the temple, trying to figure out its layout and the sacred cella. I even found a strange relief of a double ax, which I learned, later on, belonged to the Carian Zeus.
Since 2011, excavations have started again at Euromos. These will involve cleaning the blackened columns but also a more extensive analysis of the site. There are still many blocks of this temple lying around, and they hope to use them to understand this wonderful place better.
When I walked away from the temple, I thought there was very little else to see. However, I soon discovered a few tiers of what must have been the theater and a flat that could have been the agora. More excavation work has been carried out in recent years, exposing more of the theater and the agora and a bath and some city walls.
As usual, the purpose of these restorations is to draw more tourists to the area, but for me, nothing can replace that very first approach frozen in time!