Archaeologists from the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Christopher Ratté, discovered a cache of ancient Greek gold coins buried in an underground room of a residence in Notion, an ancient Greek-speaking city-state in western Turkey.

The coins, featuring the image of a crouched archer, were likely minted in Sardis around the 5th century B.C. and were possibly used to pay mercenaries.

The valuable coin hoard was likely buried during a time of conflict. Theories suggest they belonged to Persian sympathizers or Greek mercenaries who were unable to retrieve them due to defeat or misfortune.

The discovery of the precious metal coin cache in controlled archaeological excavations is considered rare, as it is unusual for a treasure to be buried without the intention of recovery.

The stylistic clues on the coins helped date them precisely to the 5th century B.C., aiding in understanding the sequence of events leading to their burial.

Notion was situated in a contested frontier zone at the time of the hoard's deposition.

Between 430 BC and 427 BC, a group of Persian supporters and mercenaries captured Notion, but the Athenian general Paches killed the pro-Persian mercenaries, leading to the expulsion of the Persian sympathizers and Athenian control over the city.

The excavation, which began in 2022, has unearthed artifacts such as pottery fragments from ancient periods, including some dating back to the 5th century BC.

The pot filled with gold coins was found in a corner of an ancient house.

Dr. Ratté mentioned that finding such a valuable treasure in a controlled archaeological excavation is very rare.

The gold coins found in Notion are now kept in the Ephesus Museum in Izmir as archaeologists continue their work in the region.

Sources: New York Times, Live Science, Diario Uno, Enikos, Tehran Times, Noticia Brasil, Polsat News, Haber7, VnExpress, SINDOnews

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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An ancient manuscript believed to be "The History of the Academy" by Philodemus of Gadara has revealed new information about Plato's last hours and burial place.

The manuscript, deciphered using advanced technologies like optical coherence tomography, hyperspectral infrared imaging, machine learning, and CT scans, suggests that Plato was buried in the private garden of the Platonic Academy in Athens, near the sacred altar of the Muses.

Italy's National Research Council announced the new findings June 23. According to the announcement more than a thousand words were deciphered from a Herculaneum scroll carbonized by volcanic ash.

It claims that on his deathbed, while suffering from fever, Plato criticized the slow rhythm of a Thracian slave's music.

The text suggests that Plato believed death was a transition of the soul to the eternal world of forms.

It offers clarity on the circumstances under which Plato was sold as a slave, either after Socrates' death in 399 BC or after the conquest of Aegina by Spartans in 404 BC, challenging the previous belief that he was sold in 387 BCE during his time in Sicily.

The Platonic Academy, where Plato was buried, was destroyed in 86 BC by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla, according to the manuscript.

Sources: Greek Reporter, Popular Mechanics, HotNews, Archaeology, Sify, DC News, El Confidencial, Historia

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

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Divers have discovered rare remains of a military vessel in the ancient sunken city of Thônis-Heracleion – once Egypt's largest port on the Mediterranean – and a funerary complex illustrating the presence of Greek merchants, the country said on Monday.

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The city, which controlled the entrance to Egypt at the mouth of a western branch of the Nile, dominated the area for centuries before the foundation of Alexandria nearby by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE.

Destroyed and sunk along with a wide area of the Nile delta by several earthquakes and tidal waves, Thônis-Heracleion was rediscovered in 2001 in Abu Qir bay near Alexandria, now Egypt's secon- largest city.

The military vessel, discovered by an Egyptian-French mission led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), sank when the famed temple of Amun it was mooring next to collapsed in the second century BCE.

A preliminary study shows the hull of the 25-meter (82-foot) flat-bottomed ship, with oars and a large sail, was built in the classical tradition and also had features of Ancient Egyptian construction, Egypt's tourism and antiquities ministry said.

In another part of the city, the mission revealed the remains of a large Greek funerary area dating back to the first years of the 4th century BCE, it said.

"This discovery beautifully illustrates the presence of the Greek merchants who lived in that city," the ministry said, adding that the Greeks were allowed to settle there during the late Pharaonic dynasties.

"They built their own sanctuaries close to the huge temple of Amun. Those were destroyed, simultaneously and their remains are found mixed with those of the Egyptian temple."

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Israeli researchers announced last week the discovery of an ancient Christian church in the Golan Heights that dates from the Byzantine Era.

An excavation team from the Israel Antiquities Authority said that the church dated back to 400 CE and had likely built upon a pagan temple dedicated to the Greek god Pan, according to The Times of Israel.

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According to Professor Adi Erlich of the University of Haifa, the 5th-century builders likely converted the ancient temple for their own purposes. Erlich also noted that the church may be the site where Jesus tasked Peter with establishing Christianity, as mentioned in Matthew 16:18.

"You are Peter and, on this rock, I will build my Church," the passage reads.

After discovering an inscription carved on an altar to Pan, the satyr god of shepherds, music, and sex, IAA archaeologists said they were confident the highly stylized open-air temple had once been dedicated to Pan.

The very word Banias, the name of the Golan Heights spring that is the source of the Jordan River, is thought to be a slight Arabic corruption and alteration of the word Panias or Paneus – a reference to the same god.

The church was discovered as part of a conservation project by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the University of Haifa to preserve monumental archaeology.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Four water-dropping planes and two helicopters helped dozens of firefighters contain the blaze Sunday after it reached the fringes of one of Greece's most important archaeological sites, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southwest of Athens.

"The damage caused by yesterday's fire was the least possible," Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said.

"Smoke blackened some walls," Mendoni added. "The problem is [only] aesthetic."

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