Athens - Greek archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient palace associated with Ajax the Great, a legendary warrior-king cited by Homer as a key participant in the Trojan War, the senior archaeologist supervising the project said Monday.
Dating from the 13th century BC, the Mycenaean-era palace found on the small island of Salamis, west of Athens, is part of a four-level complex extending over 750 square metres, supervising archaeologist Yiannos Lolos said in a statement.
"Travellers and archaeologists have been seeking this city from the early 19th century," Lolos said.
"This is one of the few cases where a Mycenaean-era palace can be attributed to a famed Homeric hero...with every possible certainty," he added.
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| 'Travellers and archaeologists have been seeking this city from the early 19th century' |
The city, named 'Kychreia' on an epigraph found on the Athens Acropolis that dates from the first century BC, is mentioned by the ancient geographer Strabo. Its geographical location also concurs with writings by ancient poets Hesiod and Sophocles, Lolos said.
Working on the island hilltop of Kanakia for the past six years, the archaeological team found an entire ancient citadel with at least 33 rooms and other buildings.
The team also found a variety of items of Cypriot and Anatolian origin, testifying to the city's contact with the eastern Mediterranean basin.
Among the discoveries were part of a Cyprus-made bronze talent, an ancient heavy unit of coinage, and a rare piece of armour stamped with the royal mark of Ramesses II the Great, an Egyptian Pharaoh of the 13th century BC.
The island of Salamis was also the site of a 480 BC Greek naval victory over the Persians which effectively ended their invasion of Greece.
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