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An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2022 6:43 pm
by system1988
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The text below is an article by Antonio Corso, posted on Facebook.

The following article has been published recently and concerns inter alia Kasta.

https://www.academia.edu/87675719/Maced ... lted_tombs
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The author claims that 'the excavation was carried out too rapidly' but I can testify that K. Peristeri and the other members of the team followed fully the archaeological methodology in the field work on Kasta. This assertion is just slander.
She also claims that 'the tomb was attributed to the circle of Alexander the Great and dated to the last quarter of the 4th
BCE even before it was excavated.' However the date to the end of the 4th c. BC is based on the shape of the clamps joining the blocks which does not exist after that period, moreover it is based on the coins found there which include one of Alexander the Great, finally it relies on 4th c. pottery found during the excavation and shown by K. Peristeri in the Macedonian conference of 2017: the author of the commented article was in the audience, thus she has no excuse for ignoring these details .
She also claims that 'The original suggestion that it was the tomb of Hephaestion had to be abandoned after the discovery that it contained at least five burials.' However this is hardly true. Prof. Mavrogiannis published seminal articles ('Considerazioni storiche sulla sepoltura dell'«ateniese» Hephaestion ad Amphipolis ed il problema della scelta del porto fluviale della Macedonia per il grande tumulo' and 'PARELAVON HEPHAESTIONOS (reading and design Arch. M. Lefantzis). The inscription from the Kasta Tumulus at Amphipolis', both in academia.edu) in which he shows that the attribution of the tumulus to Hephaestion relies on epigraphical evidence. Moreover I have shown in my article 'the sculptures of the tumulus Kasta' (also in academia.edu) a head also probably from Kasta which likely represents Hephaestion (it is attached to this post). Thus this attribution has not been abandoned at all.
She also claims that 'There is no façade (...) the barrel vault at the entrance is in plain view'. This mistake is just unbelievable because Dr. Lefantzis has shown that there was a propylon in front of room 1 of the tumulus: the blocks recognized to be part of this propylon were shown by Dr. Lefantzis in his power points in two lectures held in Athens in 2019. The author of the commented article was in the auditorium of one of these two lectures, thus she has no excuse in ignoring these data.
She also claims that 'The caryatids, also of Thasian marble, are created in an archaistic style which finds parallels in the late Hellenistic period.' However I provided very close comparanda for the style of these Korai in the sculpture of the late 4th c. BC in my above mentioned article, K. Peristeri has also shown comparisons in the same period, thus the author cannot assert that.
Then she attributes the actual configuration of the tumulus to 'to a refurbishment after the Roman conquest of Macedonia, which would explain the tomb’s grandiose scale and the lavish use of Thasian marble.' That idea is contradicted by the above mentioned materials found in the tomb, moreover by the C14 date of an element of wood found in the barrel vault.
Rebus sic stantibus, scholars are warned to use the commented article with great care

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:37 pm
by hiphys
Very interesting. I'll ask two questions about this head: 1) What is the dating. 2) I see a groove in the hair: is it possible he wore a diadema?
Thank you!

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:25 am
by system1988
Thank you for your question
In the case of the the Kasta monument ,various sculptures have been found during the excavation (PDF "The sculpures of the Kastas tumulus "'.A.Corso , Academia ) The professor A.Corso identified them because of the technique and because of the type of marble ,as belonging to the Kasta monument His next research was to locate other fragments that belong to the sculptural decoration of the Kasta , since it is known that the monument was looted both in ancient and modern times .And in fact he found some , one of which ,is the head of a young in the Louvre museum, made of the same type of marble ,and which resembles the head of the inscribed votive relief of Hephaestion in Thessaloniki Museum ,and dates to the last quarter of the 4th century b.C (E.Βουτυρας , ,Ηφαιστιων Ηρως , Εγνατια 2,1990 ,123-173)
As for the presence of a groove in the head, the young man would wear a crown ,an element that leads us to a royal presence .Hephaestion after his marriage to the second daughter of Darius (Drypetis) he now belonged to the royal family of Macedonia , and after his death was considered a Hero /God

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 7:58 pm
by Alexias
Thanks for this. I thought I had seen that image before but couldn't remember where from.

I think the paper is right to be a bit cautious about the Amphipolis tomb. That we have not had a publication giving the full results of the excavation after 8 years is troubling as we still not had any definite answers. It just seems to have all disappeared after the excitement.

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:20 am
by chris_taylor
Alexias wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 7:58 pm Thanks for this. I thought I had seen that image before but couldn't remember where from.

I think the paper is right to be a bit cautious about the Amphipolis tomb. That we have not had a publication giving the full results of the excavation after 8 years is troubling as we still not had any definite answers. It just seems to have all disappeared after the excitement.
to avoid misunderstandings - which paper is right to be cautious: the original one by Palagia, or the one by Corsa which criticizes it?

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 11:37 am
by chris_taylor
system1988 wrote: Mon Dec 12, 2022 11:25 am Thank you for your question
In the case of the the Kasta monument ,various sculptures have been found during the excavation (PDF "The sculpures of the Kastas tumulus "'.A.Corso , Academia ) The professor A.Corso identified them because of the technique and because of the type of marble ,as belonging to the Kasta monument"
thanks, but I'm completely confused now: "sculptures have been found during the excavations".

that seems pretty clear to me: someone at Kasta stuck a spade into the ground and dug up a lump of marble. we know exactly where it happened, probably within an inch of the actual place because there'll be geotagged photos of it still lying in the ground.

what more is there to identify?

Re: An alleged head of Hephaestion

Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 2:47 pm
by Alexias
Palagia. There did seem a huge rush to attribute this monument to Hephaestion, even his tomb, at the time. But then multiple burials were found, and the rest of the mound doesn't appear to have been investigated despite there appearing to be a further structure within the mound.

Palagia's text
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