The "Polycentric Museum of Aigai", the birthplace of Alexander the Great, has opened its doors to the public

A decades-long vision, the new, multi-faceted, central building of the Polycentric Museum of Aigai was inaugurated yesterday by Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.

The museum is a new, holistic, and dynamic approach to the relationship between archaeological site, museum, and visitor. It integrates and unites the new central building with the whole of the archaeological site of Aigai (Vergina), which includes the Palace of Philip, the burial cluster of the Temenids, as well as the Museum of the Royal Tombs.

The Palace of Aigai, known today as Vergina, is considered not only the largest but, together with the Parthenon, the most important building of classical Greece.

The central museum building was designed to become the symbolic entrance gate to the archaeological site and the history of the Aigai, the history and culture of the Macedonians, but also the Hellenistic World, since this will host the physical headquarters of the digital museum "Alexander the Great, from Aigai to the Ecumene (World)".

In the case of Aigai, the planning of the projects had from the beginning the aim of the systematic and universal restoration and highlighting of the particularly extensive archaeological site so that it could develop into a huge archaeological park with modern and high-level infrastructure and services that will offer visitors full, unified, and comprehensive knowledge and experience of the history of the city of Aigai, its kings, and wider Macedonia.

The royal tombs are presented within a grass covered mound, mimicking the original burial tumulus

The main phase of redevelopment and enhancement of the area of the Palace and the Necropolis, an area of almost 550 acres, has already been completed, which, in the summer of 2021, opened to the public as a visitable tree-planted area for archaeological and naturalistic tours.

The large atrium will host the exhibition of architectural members from the palace.

The Polycentric Museum of Aigai currently comprises the following sections:

1. The main museum building: The project was joined in 2010 and the construction of the shell was completed in 2016. Between the years 2014-2016 the demolition/restoration of the upper floor of the propylon and part of the side arcades of the palace presented in the large atrium of the museum was completed.

2. The Museum of the Royal Tombs with the tomb of Philip II.

3. The archaeological park of the necropolis with the royal burial cluster of the Temenids.

4. The palace and the theater.

5. The recorded church of Agios Dimitrios located at the eastern end of the archaeological site.

6. Any monuments, clusters of monuments or parts of the archaeological site that are maintained, organized and can receive visitors can be successively added to this set.

The main building of the museum, apart from the introductory exhibit "A Window into the World of Alexander the Great"” hosts five exhibitions:

1. The exhibition of architectural members with the restored part of the palace as a central exhibit: In the large atrium of the museum, in a protected area, a 30-meter-long section of the upper floor of the central part of the facade of the Palace of Aigai has been restored.

2. The exhibition of sculptures, which concerns findings from long-term excavations at the wider archaeological site of Aigai,.

3. The central exhibition "Memory of Aigai"” in which findings from the excavations of Aigai are exhibited, presents findings that reveal the identity of the city, traces of religious ceremonies, and the foundation of the palace.

4. The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World," held in collaboration with the Numismatic Museum and the collector Theodoros Aravanis: The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World" tries to approach the phenomenon of the Hellenistic World, the expansion of Greek civilization to the Far East, through the forms of the protagonists of developments, as depicted on coins, the official symbols of their power and authority.

5. The art exhibition "Material Memory" features works by the painter Christos Bokorou that were created especially for the presentation in the museum of Aigai.

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We’re about to find out even more in the following video. Here’s 10 reasons why no one is allowed over the ice wall in antartica. Enjoy!

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In this video we will discuss the Top 10 Craziest Ocean Discoveries that have blown our minds! Let’s not waste any more time and start right away!

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Almost three miles of ice buries most of Antarctica, cloaking a continent half again as large as the United States. But when an Antarctic ice shelf the size of Manhattan collapsed in less than a month in 2002, it shocked scientists and raised the alarming possibility that Antarctica may be headed for a meltdown. Even a 10 percent loss of Antarctica's ice would cause catastrophic flooding of coastal cities unlike any seen before in human history. What are the chances of a widespread melt? "Secrets Beneath the Ice" explores whether Antarctica's climate past can offer clues to what may happen.

NOVA follows a state-of-the-art expedition that is drilling three-quarters of a mile into the Antarctic seafloor. The drill is recovering rock cores that reveal intimate details of climate and fauna from a time in the distant past when the Earth was just a few degrees warmer than it is today. As researchers grapple with the harshest conditions on the planet, they discover astonishing new clues about Antarctica's past—clues that carry ominous implications for coastal cities around the globe.

Today we’re investigating whether something is happening on Antarctica and if it’s hidden from us.

A 2,200-year-old Greek sling bullet was discovered in Israel

The weapon is inscribed in Greek and was probably used against the Hasmoneans during the Hanukkah-related rebellion.

Israel's Ephorate of Antiquities on Thursday unveiled a lead sling projectile from the Hellenistic period bearing a Greek inscription vowing victory in battle and possibly linked to the Hanukkah story.

According to Israeli media, the 2,200-year-old projectile is 4.4 centimeters long. It was excavated in the city of Giavne (s.s. in Greco-Roman times, it was known as Iamnia) and bears the inscription "Victory of Hercules and Aaron", in a possible attempt to intimidate the enemy.

"It is not unlikely that the projectile is related to the conflict between the Greeks and the Hasmoneans," said Pablo Betzer and Dr. Daniel Varga, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Betzer said projectiles like this "provide concrete evidence that a huge battle took place here (in Yavneh) during this period". The city was an ally of the Greeks at the time of the Hasmonean rebellion in the 2nd century BC. against the rule of the Seleucid empire ruled by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The result of Antiochus' oppressive Hellenistic policy was the outbreak of the Maccabean revolution, which would lead after hard struggles to the independence of Judea.

The researchers, however, pointed out that it is not known exactly in what context the sling was used and that there was no conclusive evidence that it belonged to a Greek soldier of the Hellenistic period.

According to Professor Yulia Ustinova of Ben-Gurion University who deciphered the inscription, "the pair of deities Hauron (s.s. deity of the Canaanites) and Heracles were considered the divine protectors of Yavne during the Hellenistic period. The inscription on a sling bullet is the first archaeological evidence of the two protectors of the city. Until today, the couple was only known from an inscription on the Greek island of Delos."

"Lead sling projectiles are known in the ancient world, beginning in the fifth century BC, but few individual sling projectiles containing inscriptions have been found in Israel. The inscriptions convey a rallying message for warriors aimed at raising their morale, scaring the enemy, or a call intended to magically activate the sling orb itself," said Ustinova.

The custom of inscribing messages or slogans on ammunition has survived to the present day. During World War II, American troops painted "Happy Holidays" on the bombs they dropped on German targets. In 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, US troops wrote messages on bombs intended for Osama Bin Laden.

What was Count Dracula really like? Biomolecular material from his manuscript reveals

"Historical biomolecules" found on a handwritten letter by Vlad Tepes are expected to offer scientists new knowledge about the Romanian voivode who inspired Irish author Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Portrait of Vlad the Impaler or Dracula by an anonymous 16th century artist - Photo: Getty Images

Last May, exactly 125 years after the publication of "Dracula", one of the leading examples of the so-called "Gothic novel", two scientists focused on the study of a document from the 15th century signed by Vlad himself - the so-called Impaler, because of the extermination practices he applied to his enemies.

Gleb and Svetland Zilberstein aim to extract genetic material, sweat, saliva and fingerprints from the letter Dracula himself wrote in a room in Transylvania 5.5 centuries ago.

The date of the letter is August 4, 1475 and the addressee is the people of Sibiu whom Dracula informed that he would settle in their city shortly.

"Protein detectives" of history

They are called "protein detectives", although they themselves prefer the more conventional and more... prosaic "historical chemists".

As the Zilbersteins argue, from this genetic material they can form a picture not only of the physical profile of the Wallachia Voivodeship, but also of the environmental conditions in which it lived.

"It was mystical that we were extracting the Dracula molecules on the day Bram Stroker's novel was published 125 years ago," says Gleb Gilbertine. "We had not planned the date. All night long, after the process of collecting Dracula's molecules, it rained, dogs howled, and lightning lit up the night sky. The atmosphere was truly magical. Count Dracula blessed his release from the Romanian archive."

Born in Kazakhstan and living in Tel Aviv for 26 years, the Zilbersteins collaborated with Professor Pier Giorgio Righetti of the Polytechnic University of Milan to develop a biochemical assay used to collect proteins from objects touched or worn by long-dead people. Among the manuscripts they have studied were those of Russian authors Mikhail Bulgakov and Anton Chekhov.

“After Bulgakov, we took on Anton Chekov. We analyzed the shirt he was wearing when he died, and his last letter. Chekov suffered from tuberculosis and used various substances as painkillers, but died of a stroke. After Chekhov we began to study George Orwell's letter to Moscow and found traces of tuberculosis that stuck in Spain," says Silberstein.

As he notes, this analysis offers insight into the lifestyle of each individual, but also the environmental setting in which he lived.

"With our analysis, we expect a picture of the biomolecular portrait of Vlad Dracula when he wrote or signed these letters - meaning his state of health, what he ate and what the atmosphere around him was like," he explains.

This 2000 Year Old Bible Revealed Lost Chapter With Terrifying Knowledge About The Human Race

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12 Most Incredible Abandoned Objects That Really Exist

Every building and location on this planet has a story. In some cases, it's easy to tell those stories because the places are still full of people and life. In other cases, those stories have been forgotten because the people have moved on, and the places are now abandoned. In this video, we're going to do something about that. We've found some of the most amazing abandoned places on Earth, and we're going to tell you their stories right now!

Archaeologists Have Unearthed An Incredible Artifact At The Site Where Jesus Fed The 5000

In Israel’s Jordan Park, a team of archaeologists are hard at work. The sounds of tools sparking against stone fills the air as they continue painstakingly investigating the area in Golan Heights. And the researchers are a relatively common sight for any locals passing by, too, as they’ve been excavating this particular site – called et-Tell – for decades. On this particular day, however, the group unearth a truly incredible find. Furthermore, they will come to realize that the approximately 3,000-year-old artifact may have formed part of the backdrop for one of Jesus Christ’s most iconic miracles.

Archaeologists Discover Secrets of Egypt's Forgotten Pharaoh

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Cleopatra the Great has become virtually synonymous with the term "female pharaoh." Yet, as Joann Fletcher reveals, Mark Antony's famous wife (Cleopatra) was merely the culmination of three millennia of female rulers. In the history of Egypt, during the dynastic period (3000 to 332 BC), there were only a few women who managed to rule as pharaohs, rather than wielding power as the ‘great wife’ of a male king. And among those, Hatshepsut is believed to be the first woman to rule the land with the full authority of a pharaoh. However, the existence of this great pharaoh is almost lost to the sands of time.

DISTURBING Thing Trapped In Ice SHOCK Scientist!

They say that humans are social animals. It's mostly just curiosity that drives their interactions. They've explored the depths of the ocean and the heights of the sky, but that's not enough to satisfy their thirst for knowledge. Due to this curiosity, researchers have found strange things that have been trapped in ice. What are they? How did they get there? This will be discussed in this video. Don't Miss Out!

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What Did Ancient Rome Look Like? (Cinematic Animation)

What Did Ancient Rome Really Look Like?

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Scientists Have Discovered A Stargate Hidden Inside This Old Temple In Sri Lanka

Human history is secretive and vast; so many truths have been lost to time and became mysteries for us to ponder. Secrets, however, are always uncovered. The blessed city of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka possesses an ancient chart-like carving which has in recent memory taken supernatural and investigative communities by storm. Some believe that the Anuradhapura gateway is actually a “stargate” a portal which humans could use to traverse the larger universe.
Scientists have discovered a Stargate hidden inside this old temple in Sri Lanka.

Today, we take a look at this Stargate that was discovered inside an old temple in Sri Lanka.

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In today's video we are taking a look at the most brutal Guillotine, and what made this beheading device such a popular event for the towns folk!

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Today we’re answering that and many more questions you may have about being guillotined in the following video!