Alexander story in the news

[derek]

All,

I saw this on the BBC website this morning:

Alexander's Gulf outpost uncovered

Alexander the Great's awe-inspiring conquest of Asia is drawing archaeologists to a desert island off the shores of Iraq.
Greek government experts are going to Failaka - a Gulf outpost of Alexander's army, now governed by Kuwait.
The island's bullet-holed buildings tell of a conflict still fresh in people's memories - Saddam Hussein's brief occupation of Kuwait in the early 1990s.
Beneath the sun-baked sands of Failaka, archaeologists hope to unearth the secrets of an earlier conquest - a settlement established by Alexander's general, Nearchus, in the 4th Century BC.
The excavations will focus on the ruins of an ancient citadel and cemetery, the general secretary of the Greek culture ministry, Christos Zahopoulos, told the BBC News website.
Earlier work by French archaeologists has uncovered the remnants of a temple to Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting, as well as several Greek coins and idols.

According to Michael Wood, the author of a book on Alexander, the period after the conqueror's death saw Hellenistic culture take root across a broad swathe of land, from India to Egypt.
He cites the example of Uruk, a site near Basra in southern Iraq, where inscriptions have been found bearing the names of the local ruling class.
The names, Wood says, are a hybrid of ancient Babylonian and Greek titles - and they date to several hundred years after Alexander's death.
Alexander's conquest of Asia also accelerated commerce in his colonies, giving rise to what Wood describes as "the first globalisation".
Failaka's position, at the point where the Tigris and Euphrates pour into the Gulf, means it would have been ideally placed to exploit this economic boom.
Mr Wood says the Greek team's findings may reveal more of how the ancient civilisations of the Gulf thrived on trade with their contemporaries in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.
The Greek archaeologists will begin their excavations in November, Greece's culture ministry says.
Much of the work will be centred around the site of the ancient town of Icarea.
According to Mr Zahopoulos, the team will also carry out restoration on artefacts and ruins that have already been unearthed.

Alexander was born in 356BC to the king of Macedon, in northern Greece.
By his early thirties, he had conquered much of the ancient world, from Egypt to India.
He died at the age of 33 of a high fever in Babylon, in what is now Iraq.
Failaka's name is thought to descend from the Greek word for outpost - "fylakio".
Before the Greeks arrived, the island had been inhabited by the Bronze Age Dilmun civilisation.
By the time Saddam Hussein's troops invaded in 1990, the island had become the longest continually-inhabited site in Kuwait.
Most of the civilian population fled for the mainland during the Iraqi occupation. Few have returned.

[Theseus]

This is really exciting! Thank you for sharing it. I think I'll surf around and see if I can find any more info.

[Theseus]

Here is a picture of the outpost.

[ruthaki]

Wow! Isn't that exciting. And thanks for providing the photo. It just goes to show, Alexander isn't really 'dead'. His spirit and the spirit of his companions lives on!

[Theseus]

Here is a bit more info:
On his way back west from India, Alexander the Great’s Admiral Nearchos reached the island of Failaka, about 20 kilometers from what is now Kuwait City, and founded a town there called Icaros. Twenty-five centuries later, that Hellenistic city is slowly coming to light again on the 24-square-kilometer island that was depopulated during the Gulf War of 1991.

This coming November, Greek archaeologists are to go to the island to continue the excavations, organize the site, and restore the finds from that ancient Greek colony in the heart of the East. An accord to that effect was signed on July 25 by Culture Ministry General Secretary Christos Zachopoulos and the Kuwait National Council Secretary-General for Culture, the Arts and Letters Bader Abdulwahab Al-Rifae.

The island, which reflects “many periods of archaeological interest,” said Zachopoulos, has been previously excavated and has revealed part of a Hellenistic town and a temple to Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of hunting.

Many Greek coins and inscriptions have been found, along with figurines and ceramic vessels. The most important artifact found so far is the Icaros inscription, consisting of 42 verses in Greek, a find that was decisive in identifying the island with the city of Icaros referred to by ancient historians Strabo and Arrian. Previous excavations were carried out by teams of archaeologists from Denmark, the USA, Italy, France and Kuwait.

Zachopoulos highlighted that the agreement signed is part of a broader cooperation program between the Culture Ministry and the Arab world that includes archaeological missions to Jordan, Oman and Syria. The Greek team is headed by archaeologist Angeliki Kottaridou, who has worked at the site in Vergina, and her deputy Panayiotis Hadzidakis, head of the Delos site.
Greek archaeologists plan to excavate an ancient colony founded by Alexander the Great in the Gulf of Kuwait in the fourth century BC, Culture Ministry said on Wednesday.

“The site on Failaka island is of particular importance to Greece as it was founded by Macedonians and other Greeks on Alexander the Great’s expeditionary force,” said Culture Ministry General Secretary Christos Zahopoulos.

Greek archaeologists are planning to excavate the ancient colony founded by Alexander the Great on Failaka Island off Kuwait in the 4th century BC. The town was built by Greeks on Alexander’s expeditionary force.

The agreement between Greece and Kuwait signed in July will enable the Greek team to excavate the ancient town of Icarus on the island, organise the site and restore its finds, the Ministry said in a statement. The Greek mission’s departure date was not announced.

Prior excavation on Failaka island by French archaeologists has partially unearthed the Greek outpost, believed to have been created by forces under the command of Alexander’s admiral Nearchus in the fourth century BC.

A temple to Artemis, the ancient Greek goddess of hunting, has been found on the site along with Greek coins, idols, vessels and an inscription bearing 43 verses in Greek, Zahopoulos said. The inscription sustained damage in the Iraqi invasion of 1991 which also forced the evacuation of Failaka’s inhabitants.

Archaeologists from Denmark, the United States, Italy and Slovakia have also worked on the now-deserted island, whose name is believed to be descended from ‘fylakio’, the Greek word for outpost.

The ruler of the ancient Kingdom of Macedon based in modern-day northern Greece, Alexander the Great created through conquest an empire stretching into modern-day India and Egypt.

[Vergina Sun]

All this sounds terribly thrilling. I'm not one to greatly hope for amazing archaeological finds, but I just can't help myself! I wonder what they will find?

[Theseus]

All this sounds terribly thrilling. I'm not one to greatly hope for amazing archaeological finds, but I just can't help myself! I wonder what they will find?

I was thinking about this last night! It would be great to find so many things that were used in every day life like pottery, coins (they have found some already), but what I would love is if they found something like some papyrus scrolls stored safely in a box that are still in tact with orders or something from Alexander or his Generals. It's one of the hardest things to come by because those type of things don't hold up well over so many years, but if they have been sealed safely some of it may remain. They occasionally find these type of things in Egypt. There may be inscriptions on walls when they dig further. I would give almost anything to be there digging with those archeologist in November!

[alejandro]

what I would love is if they found something like some papyrus scrolls stored safely in a box that are still in tact with orders or something from Alexander or his Generals.

Indeed, this could be very interesting because this place, given its position, would have been an important one regarding the preparations for the Arabian expedition. If such orders were found we may get a better picture of what actually happened in Alexander's last months of life, which seem to be so blurry and vitiated by propaganda. Let's cross our fingers!

Best,
Alejandro

[Theseus]

what I would love is if they found something like some papyrus scrolls stored safely in a box that are still in tact with orders or something from Alexander or his Generals.

Indeed, this could be very interesting because this place, given its position, would have been an important one regarding the preparations for the Arabian expedition. If such orders were found we may get a better picture of what actually happened in Alexander's last months of life, which seem to be so blurry and vitiated by propaganda. Let's cross our fingers!

Best,
Alejandro

I agree 100%! To find something like that could really give us insight into the last part of Alexander's life. I have seen so many things in the years I have studied ancient Egypt. We know so much more in the past say 10 years with all of the discoveries. I hope there are many more things to be discovered concerning Alexander. I was watching something on tv last night and they mentioned how Alexander changed history in the several short years he lived. Each find can open up so many aspects of what was going on back then. It's like just cracking a door a little bit at a time and being able to see more and more with every discovery. It's so exciting when they find things like this.