Tomb of Aegisthus

Tomb of Aegisthus

Τάφος του Αιγίσθου
The façade of the Tomb of Aegisthus, showing the small relieving triangle above the lintel.
Location of the Tomb of Aegisthus in the Peloponnese
Location	Mycenae, Greece
Coordinates	37°43′51″N 22°45′20″E / 37.7307°N 22.7556°E / 37.7307; 22.7556
History
Material	poros stone, conglomerate, marble.
Founded	c. 1450 BCE
Periods	Late Bronze Age
Cultures	Mycenaean Greece
Site notes
Excavation dates	1922
Archaeologists	Alan Wace, Winifred Lamb
Public access	Yes
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Designated	1999
Part of	Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns
Reference no.	941

The Tomb of Aegisthus is a Mycenaean tholos tomb located near the citadel of Mycenae, Greece. It was constructed in the Late Helladic IIA period,^[1] approximately 1510–1450 BCE,^[2] and rediscovered in the 19th century. It was first excavated by Winifred Lamb in 1922,^[3] as part of a project led by Alan Wace.

The Tomb of Aegisthus is the third-largest tholos tomb at Mycenae and the fourth-largest in the Aegean.^[1] Its architecture shows various transitional features between the architectural style of the oldest and later tholoi at Mycenae, such as the incorporation of ashlar masonry into the dromos and the use of a relieving triangle, though this latter feature was not recognised until the 1990s. Scholars have debated whether the tomb was constructed in a single phase, or whether some of these features represent later modifications to the tomb.

The tomb's traditional name comes from Greek mythology, in which Aegisthus was a king of Mycenae and the murderer of both Atreus and Agamemnon. No burials were found inside the tomb and the identity of the person or people who may have constructed it remains a mystery: the name likely dates to the late 19th or early 20th centuries, by association with the nearby tholoi conventionally known as the Treasury of Atreus and the Tomb of Clytemnestra.

At the time of its construction, the tomb was the largest in the Aegean region. The dating of the tomb was important in the 1920s in settling the so-called "Helladic Heresy", and clarifying the relationship between Mycenaean Greece and Minoan Crete.