Aug 28 2012
∞
Knidos excavation reveals tomb robbing in antiquity
Excavation work at the Tholos Mausoleum in the 2012 season has discovered that some items from the grave were stolen or damaged by ancient grave robbers. The theft was detected by archaeologists from Selçuk University, revealing that grave robbers existed even 1,800 years ago.
“We found that ancient robbers were quicker to rob graves than present-day ones. Grave robbers robbed the mausoleum 350 years after the burial of the first owners of the graves, in the 4th century B.C. We found a candle belonging to the grave robbers, which they dropped in their rush to escape. We believe they escaped in a hurry and dropped a 1-millimeter golden ornament from among the stolen valuables,” Dr. Ertekin Doksanaltı said.
