03-13-2008, 03:33 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Hellas
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My Mood: | New Philippi finds presented Excavations conducted at the archaeological site of Philippi since 1988 have unearthed new findings.
Philippi is an ancient town east of Thessaloniki in central-eastern Macedonia, northern Greece, situated east of the Strymon River on the border with the province of Thrace.
King Philip II of Macedon (382-336 BC), the father of Alexander the Great, gave the town its name and fortified it to control nearby gold mines. In 42 BC it was the scene of the decisive Roman battle in which Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus) defeated Brutus and Cassius, the leading assassins of Julius Caesar. Many Christian ruins, especially of the 5th - 6th century AD, are spread over the site. St. Paul had preached the gospel to Christian converts there.
Private residences and an agora in successive residential phases through the centuries have been discovered in the region of Philippi as new excavations brought to light up to three layers of settlements, one built on top of the other during different time periods.
Among the findings of the new university-sponsored excavation, to be presented during the 21st meeting assessing the 2007 archaeological work, which was launched Thursday at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum, is a 4th century AD mosaic floor of impressive technique featuring geometrical design.
The recently unearthed floor was discovered beneath findings that were built earlier, dated in the times of Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD).
In 2006 and 2007, excavations were funded by Thessaloniki's Aristotle University and the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry conducted with the participation of archaeology professors, associate professors and over forty graduate and postgraduate archeology students. ANA |
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