Minoan Gold

Minoan, about 1850-1550 BC. 'Master (or Mistress) of the Animals'

The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age society that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from about the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. 'Minoan' was coined after the mythic King Minos.

Minos is associated in myth with the labyrinth, which identifies with the site at Knossos.

The Minoan civilization developed from local Neolithic culture around 3100 BC, with complex urban settlements starting around 2000 BC. According to Greek mythology, King Minos of Crete had the craftsman Daedalus construct the Labyrinth in order to conceal the Minotaur.Salzburg Multiple lane labyrinth with Theseus and the Minotauros in the center.

The Minotaur was a half bull and half man creature that yearly ate the Athernian tribute of fourteen young men and women.

The Bronze Age began in Crete as the island developed centers of commerce. This enabled the upper classes to expand their influence. The ground would be laid for a monarchist power structure - a precondition for great empires. Around 1450 BCE, Minoan culture experienced a turning point due to a natural catastrophe, possibly the eruption of Thera. (Santorin) The palace in Knossos seems to have remained largely intact. The Minoan palace sites were occupied by the Myceneans around 1420 BC. By 1200 BC the Minoans had faded into history.

Signet ring dates to around 1500 BCE

UK gardeners land gold hoard

A family weeding their garden in New Forest in 2020 discovered a hoard of gold coins that may have been hidden during the dissolution of the monasteries there. The find of 63 gold coins and one silver coin, mostly date from the reigns of kings from Edward IV to Henry VIII. The coins were likely hidden around 1540 and sold for over $20k USD.

Four gold coins depicting Henry VIII have the initials of three of his wives on them. The initials stand for his first three wives Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. Henry VIII put the initials of whoever his wife was at the time on his coins but stopped the practice after Jane. Henry divorced Catherine, beheaded Anne and lost Jane when she died after giving birth.

Athenian tetradrachm

Athenians struck their first coins circa 560 BCE with the first tetradrachms appearing around 515 BCE. The obverse of the first Athenian tetradrachm depicts the head of a Gorgon, which Athena created. Athena’s uncle Poseidon raped the priestess Medusa in Athena’s temple; Athena was outraged over the desecration, but she had no power over the god of the sea so she instead punished Medusa, turning her into a Gorgon, a monster with snakes for hair.

Athenians struck the first of their iconic “Owl” Tetradrachms around 510 BCE. The obverse portrays the helmeted head of Athena while the reverse depicts Athena’s owl and a sprig of olive, with the inscription AΘE (an abbreviation of AΘENAION, meaning “of the Athenians”). The owl is closely associated with Athena as the goddess of wisdom.

Early Tetradrachm. c. 475-465 BCE.

Athens became extremely wealthy due to the vast veins of silver ore found in the mines of Laurion in 483 BCE. This led to the Athenian mint churning out huge numbers of tetradrachms. They became the world's first true trade currency. Athens entered a period where it was the principal city of the Greek world.

The Athenian Owl tetradrachm was minted for over 400 years. The Athenian Owl gained widespread use due to it's high silver content and high production. The Athenian government minted coins at a profit, building state coffers. As the mines of Laurion were eventually depleted Athen's influence fell.

Despite the coin’s many revisions, the general design remained the same. The obverse depicts the Greek goddess Athena, who represents wisdom and warfare. The ideals are portrayed in Athena’s large eyes, representing wisdom, and her crested war helmet, representing war. The Owl appears with two-leaf olive sprig, representing olives and olive oil, the primary exports of Athens. The Athenian Owl tetradrachm remained the dominant currency in the ancient world until Roman coinage replaced it in the 1st century B.C.

Death of Alexander the Great

When Alexander the Great fell ill and died after 12 days of excruciating suffering, his mind was alert until the very end.

It is said before burning himself alive on a funeral pyre, Calanus's last words to Alexander were "We shall meet in Babylon." Nobody knew what this meant as Alexander had no plans to go there. In February 323 BC, Alexander ordered his armies to prepare for the march to Babylon. He was warned not to enter the city.

When Alexander the Great mysteriously died in Babylon in 323 B.C. at age 32, his body didn’t begin to decay for six days. To the ancient Greeks, this confirmed that he was not an ordinary man, but a god. It may have been because he was completely paralyzed and still alive. In the week before Alexander's death, accounts mention chills, sweats, exhaustion and high fever. He may have suffered from the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), which caused his death. Guillain–Barré syndrome is a rapid-onset muscle weakness caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system.

After Alexander died the future of his empire was uncertain. His generals scrambled to determine who should succeed him as Alexander had no heir. On his deathbed, Alexander passed his signet ring to Perdiccas, nominating him as his successor, but Perdiccas did not claim power immediately.

This coin was minted within a year of Alexander’s death

Princess Roxana of Bactria was pregnant with Alexander’s child at the time, and the gender of the baby was unknown.

Roxane - Wife of Alexander the Great

The factions reached a compromise, and when Alexander IV was born in August 323 BCE, he and Philip III were jointly made kings but acted only as figureheads, while Perdiccas would actually rule the Empire as regent. The new regime was met with confusion, eventually resulting in the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BCE and 40 years of war between the fragmented generals, splitting Alexander’s Empire into the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Seleucid Empire, the Kingdom of Pergamon, and Macedonia.

Octavian and the Battle of Actium

Octavian was the son of Julius Caesar's niece, Atia.  Octavian was 20 years old when he learned of Caesar's assassination. Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law and so had adopted Octavian, his grand-nephew, in his will, making him his primary heir. Octavian returned to Italy to avenge Caesar's murder. In 43 BCE, he formed the Second Triumvirate with Marc Antony and Lepidus. They defeated Brutus and Cassius and divided the empire, with Octavian holding most of the West and Antony the East.

Antony and Cleopatra grew closer as Octavian worked to restore Italy. In 33 BC, the Second Triumvirate ended, leaving Antony with no legal authority. Octavian began a campaign against him, declaring war against Cleopatra.

Octavian’s admiral Marcus Agrippa held Antony’s fleet back in the bay of Actium in Greece. Antony and Cleopatra escaped, leaving the rest of his men to surrender. Antony fled to Alexandria where he and Cleopatra eventually took their own lives in August, 30 BCE; this marked the end of the Roman civil wars.

This coin was minted in Rome, 13-14 AD.

Rome was officially transformed from a Republic to a Principate in January, 27 BCE. Octavian was crowned 'Augustus'. Over the next 40 years, Augustus shared his authority with the Senate. It would not be until Augustus’ coinage reform in 23 BCE that the gold aureus would come into standard use. In addition to his reorganization of the state and institutions of Rome, Augustus introduced a formal system of fixed ratios between denominations of coins.

Siberia's Valley of the Kings

The Arzhan-2 Scythian burial is one the most amazing discoveries ever made. For the first time faces of the buried couple have been revealed. A vale north of Turan, Tuva has become famous for its pancake-shaped Scythian kurgany (burial mounds).

Excavations in 2001 unearthed magnificent artifacts dating from 600 BC. Arzhaan I is the largest kurgan in Tuva. A dig in the early 1970s turned up thousands of gold and silver artifacts.

The valley holds an amazing 700 burial sites and eight large kurgany. In addition to 44 pounds of gold, researchers discovered items made of iron, turquoise, amber and wood. The royal tomb Arzhan 2 was excavated in July, 2015 and is about 2,600 years old. The unknown monarch was entombed with 14 horses, a defining symbol of wealth by the Scythian.

Beside him lay his queen and 33 others lie entombed, including 5 children. They were all likely sacrificed to accompany him on his journey to the afterlife. The burial chamber contained some 9,300 decorative gold pieces ... more than 20 kg of gold. DNA analysis indicated those buried were from the Iranian ethno-linguistic group. Analysis of strontium isotopes in the bones reveal all were locals except for the queen. The king was about 50 years old and analysis of his remains revealed that he died of prostate cancer. It's thought that in his last years he wouldn't have been able to walk.