A gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great

A new discovery by a team directed by Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of the University of Haifa and Dr. Ilan Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great was uncovered during excavations by them. Is that really a portrait of Alexander the Great?

The stone is less than a centimeter high and its width is less than half a centimeter. Dr. Gilboa, Chair of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa said, "The emperor is portrayed as young and forceful, with a strong chin, straight nose and long curly hair held in place by a diadem."

This tiny gem was unearthed by a volunteer during excavation of a public structure from the Hellenistic period in the south of Tel Dor, excavated by a team from the University of Washington at Seattle headed by Prof. Sarah Stroup. Dr. Jessica Nitschke, professor of classical archaeology at Georgetown University in Washington DC, identified the engraved motif as a bust of Alexander the Great. This has been confirmed by Prof. Andrew Stewart of the University of California at Berkeley, an expert on images of Alexander and author of a book on this topic.

Via - redOrbit.com, 15 Sept 2009

Categories: Archaeology , Science