Secret tomb linked to King Midas discovered — and it's oozing ‘a high level of wealth': scientists
Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old tomb in Turkey that is potentially connected to King Midas — and contains rare artifacts and cremated remains of a high-ranking individual.
'Based on these artifacts, we estimate that the person in the tomb chamber may be a member of the royal family associated with Gordion and Midas,' Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the Turkish minister of culture and tourism, announced at a news conference earlier this month, Live Science reported.
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The excavations were carried out over four months by archaeologists with the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, PA and researchers with the Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University,
The blinged-out burial ground, which dates back to the 8th century B.C., was discovered 60 miles west of the Turkish capital of Ankara in Gordion, the ancient capital of the Phrygian kingdom.
4 The Gordion dig site. 'The person buried here was not an ordinary person,' according to Yücel Şenyurt, co-director of the Gordion excavation.
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This empire ruled over most of western and central Anatolia in the first millennium B.C, Fox News reported.
Among the ancient civilization's most notable rulers was King Midas, who was depicted in Greek mythology as being able to turn anything he touched into gold — a parable against the dangers of unchecked greed.
And while the real historical figure didn't literally gild items upon contact, he was likely no stranger to riches: There are reportedly 47 decadent burial mounds that have been excavated at Gordion.
4 An illustration showing the fictional King Midas accidentally turning his daughter to gold.
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The latest one, Tumulus T-26, contained a wooden burial chamber brimming with a treasure trove of artifacts, including well-preserved iron tools and bronze implements.
These 'attest to a high level of wealth,' according to C. Brian Rose, Gordion excavation co-director and an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
4 Researchers at the excavation site.
Penn Museum
Ersoy said they were the 'most concentrated group' of such artifacts after the hoard found in the previously-excavated Midas Mound, which contained a long coffin atop purple textiles that potentially housed a high-status official, possibly Midas' father Gordias.
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In Tumulus T-26, archaeologists found cremated remains that were the oldest at the repository.
4 Aerial view of the ongoing excavations.
Penn Museum
'What's really interesting is that it's a cremation burial,' said Rose, adding that 'this is the only example from the 8th century' at the site.
This special treatment post-mortem 'clearly shows us that the person buried here was not an ordinary person,' according to Yücel Şenyurt, co-director of the Gordion excavation.
Another factor that suggests a relation to King Midas was the tomb's proximity to the one where the golden ruler's father was likely interred.
'Royal tombs are often organized in clusters, so it seems likely that the newly excavated tombs belonged to his family,' C. Brian Rose told Fox News.
Also notable were a pair of bronze cauldrons that were used to serve food at a funeral feast. While there was no food residue on said containers, archaeologists did find some 'from the funeral ceremony of Midas' father in 740 BCE,' according to Rose.
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'We therefore know that they served a spicy lentil and barbecued sheep or goat stew that was washed down with an alcoholic beverage – a mixture of grape wine, barley beer and honey mead,' he said.
Some even sported wax strips with the name of the owner, so these dishes could be easily found if they were put down.
Despite excavating the Gordion repository for over 75 years, archaeologists have a long way to go before they finish excavating the myriad structures and settlements housed there.
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