When archaeologists excavated these sites, they discovered three burial chambers, about four to five meters long, in which they found several well-preserved skeletons.
Unusually luxurious Bronze Age tombs were discovered by archaeologists during excavations in Dromolaxia, near Larnaca’s Salt Lake, in front of the Hala Sultan Mosque. Skeletons with luxurious diadems and necklaces were found in the underground burial chambers, as well as an abundance of valuable burial gifts made of gold, precious stones and ivory. The tombs are among the most luxurious in the Mediterranean since the Bronze Age. The remains and offerings refer to kings and members of the ruling elite of the region, as reported by the German scientific journal “Wissenschaft”.
Already in 1897, archaeologists had discovered the first traces of a Bronze Age civilization in the area, which is located near the current airport of Larnaca, and began excavations. Since the 1970s, research teams have been discovering more and more parts of the Bronze Age city using new methods. Their findings show that the area spanned 50 hectares from 1630 to 1150 BC. and included quarters with residences of nobles as well as copper workshops. Objects from Egypt, Mycenae, Minoan Crete, Sardinia and Mesopotamia also show that its inhabitants had extensive cultural and economic relations. From the vases and specific jewels, which were found, it also follows that there must have been a special relationship with Tiryns.
In 2016, a team of archaeologists led by Peter Fischer, a professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, discovered a Bronze Age cemetery in front of the Hala Sultan Mosque, with some richly decorated tombs. Members of the ruling elite were buried in underground chambers, along with their jewelry and imported luxuries. With the help of magnetometer measurements, researchers have now discovered other, even richer graves there. “We compared the places where broken ceramic fragments were found with the map of the magnetometer, and several large cavities appeared about two meters below the surface of the earth,” as Fischer reports in the relevant scientific announcement (Södeberg Expedition 2023).
When archaeologists excavated these sites, they discovered three burial chambers, about four to five meters long, in which they found several well-preserved skeletons. They also contained an enormous number of offerings, far surpassing in quantity and quality the already rich finds of the earlier tombs found. “We found more than 500 intact artifacts in just two of these burial chambers. “Many of these objects are made of precious metals, precious stones, ivory or are high-quality ceramics”, also notes the Swedish head of research. Valuable bronze weapons decorated with ivory and a gold-framed hematite seal were also found in the graves.
Among the dead was a woman surrounded by dozens of ceramic vessels, jewelry and a round bronze mirror. With her in the grave were the bones of a child, about one year old, who had been buried with a ceramic toy. “Some others, men and women, wore diadems and necklaces with pendants of excellent quality. The style and material of the pendants suggest that they were made in Egypt in the second half of the 18th dynasty, possibly during the time of Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun,” according to the statement. The diadems are decorated with embossed images of bulls, gazelles, lions and flowers.
“Given the richness of these grave goods, it is reasonable to assume that these were royal tombs, although we do not yet know what form of government the city had at the time, but those buried here were undoubtedly part of the ruling elite,” according to Fischer. This view is also supported by the fact that many of the valuable offerings come from other cultures of the Mediterranean region. Apparently they were imported luxury goods and valuables. These include gold and ivory from Egypt, blue lapis lazuli (lazurite) from Afghanistan, red carnelian from India, and blue-green mineral turquoise from Sinai. Amber from the Baltic region is also included among the findings. As the archaeologists explain, this elite could afford such lavish imports because it had become wealthy by extracting copper from the neighboring Mount Troodos: “Copper was an important commodity at the time because it was used in combination with tin to produce the harder copper alloy, which gave its name to the Bronze Age.”
Source :Skai
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