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Anastasia Balezdrova

There is no entrance leading to the fourth chamber of the tomb in Amphipolis, as announced today by the Greek Ministry of Culture, thus putting an end to the expectations that were caused by the fact that a marble column had been discovered at the particular place. Chief Secretary of the Ministry Lena Mendoni does not exclude that the floor of the third chamber could be a horizontal partition wall.

"This is a working hypothesis, which can neither be rejected nor proved by the data currently available," she said, adding that archaeologists are encountering an increasing amount of evidence of treasure hunting in the tomb.

At the same time, at a depth of two feet under the limestone on the floor of the third chamber archaeologists have discovered parts of the wings of the sphinxes and a piece of the neck of the second of them as well as missing parts from the mosaic on "The Abduction of Persephone by Pluto," which covers the floor of the second chamber, immediately after the caryatids.

The Ministry has introduced the first video from the excavations in the tomb. It shows the uncovering of the mosaic that impresses with its beauty.

Commenting on the work of his colleagues in Amphipolis, Bulgarian archaeologist Nikolay Ovcharov said, "I ​​have been following the course of excavations in the media, although we are not far away from Amphipolis. In general, I often go to Greece, but I have not been there. I am aware that they have found interesting things, scenes. Obviously, what comes out is unique and I congratulate them for that."

He said that many interesting events occurred in the region in the era of the tomb construction. "This is the time when the Macedonian kingdom was created and the heyday of one of the Thracian states, the state of Odrisses, whose capital Seuthopolis is near Koprinka dam in the vicinity of the present city of Kazanlak.

These were the main forces, the Macedonian kingdom and the Thracian state of Odrisses south of the Balkan Mountains, the country of the Getae north of it, and of course, the Greek poleis that were a serious factor at that time," said Prof. Ovcharov.

 
According to the announcement of the Greek Ministry of Culture, the discovery of the missing parts of the sphinxes wings will help restore the statues in full.

In the coming days the excavations at Amphipolis will continue, clearing the soil piled up in the third chamber.