Ongoing excavations in an ancient Greek city in western Turkey have uncovered artifacts and archaeological remains dating back to the 5th century BC, including an extraordinary number of gold coins that had been hidden for more than 2,000 years.
The discovered treasure, likely intentionally buried beneath the floor of a 5th-century BC house, might tell the story of an ancient mercenary soldier during those times of conflict. “The discovery of such a valuable find in an archaeological excavation is very rare,” said the excavation leader, Dr. Christopher Ratté. “No one buries a hoard of coins, especially coins made from precious metals, without intending to retrieve it. So, only some major misfortune could explain the preservation of such a treasure.”
The site features the typical elements of an ancient Greek city, such as a theater, temples, city houses, and a marketplace. The artifacts found tell the story of those who lived in the city not only during the period between the reign of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire but also hundreds of years earlier when tensions were high between Greek civilization and the Persian Empire.
The coins found belong to the Persian Empire, dating from the 6th century BC to around 330 BC. The reasons that might have led the owner to abandon the coins could be related to the Hellenic attacks of that time, which massacred a group of mercenaries for Persia.
