We grow up listening to stories of hidden riches, pirate maps and their tales of adventures. These stories are intriguing but for the most part that's all they are, stories. Because those who go seeking for treasures usually end up empty-handed. At the same time, some people don't go seeking for it anywhere and just happen to stumble upon it out of sheer luck.
It was the summer of 2018 when a greek farmer discovered an unusual hole in his land. Unusual, because the land collapsed, on its own, into what seemed like endless hollow space. The farmer realized that he needed to call in archaeological experts who could take a look at what is inside it. Nobody could have suspected what they were about to discover.
This story began when a farmer, witnessed something unusual on his farm on a warm afternoon at Kentri, a small village on the island of Crete. The man has been the proud owner of this farm for more than ten years now. His dad bought it all those years ago and from him, it was passed on to his son. Farming has been a primary source of income for his family for years now. In fact, farming was a part of ancient Greece.
Greece has a long and rich history, dating back to 6500 BCE. It is a country with more than 2000 islands, the largest one being Crete. The people of mainland Ancient Greece were fascinated by the legends that Crete produced. Among the most popular legends was the story of a mythical creature called Minotaur.
The Minotaur is human in shape but with the head of a bull. The god Poseidon sent a beautiful white bull to Minos, the king of Crete, to be sacrificed. When Minos refused to kill the animal, Poseidon forced his wife, Queen Pasiphae, to fall in love with the bull. And it was because of the union of those two, woman and bull, that Minotaur was born.
For many years, Minotaur was trapped in a labyrinth especially designed to prevent him from escaping. Minos used to send seven maidens and seven young people from Athens to be devoured by the creature. This continued until one day when a hero came along. His name was Theseus. He offered himself to be sacrificed and killed the beast instead. He then fled with Minos' daughter, Ariadne.
There are some speculations about Minos not being a person at all. Recent excavations by the archaeologists have led them to believe that the name may simply be a title for the series of Cretan rulers. But the name was significant enough to act as an identifier for the civilization in the province.
Minoan civilization was named after Minos and was known for its complex palaces that looked like labyrinths. Many believed that these buildings were the inspiration behind the tale of Minotaur. They also created intricate art, pottery, etc. Much of its history is still unknown. There are discoveries yet to be made which could tell us more about how they lived and died.
That afternoon, the farmer was parking his car beneath an olive tree. He was trying to position it in a way that it is parked under the shade of an olive tree in his garden. He was trying to park his car when he felt that the ground underneath was not stable. As he drove his car forward, he heard a terrible sound. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
The farmer pushed the breaks of his car. He stepped out and took a look at the ground behind him. The earth had fallen and left a massive hole in the ground. He could not believe his eyes. A minute here or there could have led to a serious accident. He was wondering if something like this is normal because he has never witnessed anything like this before.
His mind started coming up with dozens of questions. Was there anything at the bottom of it? He stepped forward and decided to inspect the hole. He bent down on his knees and peeked inside. A frown made its way to the farmer's forehead. The hole didn't seem to have a base, it was just a massive dark hollow shell that seemed endless. None of this made any sense to him.
The farmer reached his car and pulled out a flashlight in hopes that it will provide him a good view of what is inside. He took the flashlight and beamed it inside the hole, he could finally see the bottom but not too sharply. His eyes caught something but he couldn't tell what it is. He couldn't investigate this by himself, it did not feel safe.
As his curiosity grew about his find, he decided to call archaeological experts and know their opinion about the thing. If they seemed interested he will ask them to come down and investigate what was at the bottom of this hole. He thought there might be a possibility where they don't take him seriously. But he had to try at least.
Much to his disappointment, nobody took him seriously. He couldn't prove that there was something underneath the hole. How could he prove that a nearly 4 feet wide hole appeared on his ground by itself? He clicked a few pictures and decided to mail it out to a few people in hopes they respond with some theories.
It had been a few days, and nobody had responded to the farmer. The farmer was tired of calling people and not getting any acknowledgment. Apparently, it was not easy to contact archaeologists. He had to think of a backup, any idea that could lead him somewhere.
After making a few more calls, the farmer got to know that he should contact The Lassithi Ephorate of Antiquities, the local heritage ministry. And apparently, he was making the right decision by reporting this incident. He came to know any finds like this needed to be immediately reported and failing to do so would result in breaking the law.
The farmer was prepared to convince them about how genuine his story is. But to his surprise, he received a vibe of astonishment on the other end of the phone. The person asked him to describe in detail what happened and called out a few people in his office which caused a commotion. Witnessing this reaction, the man wondered if he had found something significant.
The ministry didn't want to waste any time and confirmed to send their researchers and archaeologists to the site for exploration by the following day. The farmer was restless throughout the night. He kept wondering what could it be, is it a chest of treasure or some old coins maybe? He knew how ridiculous it sounds but he couldn't put his mind to rest.
The farmer was awake at the crack of dawn, way earlier than usual. He didn't know by what time they will be coming and he didn't want to miss out on anything. He had a quick breakfast of bacon and eggs. He was sipping on his coffee when he heard a commotion outside his window. The farmer jumped out of his chair and ran to the window.
As he peeked out of his window, he saw rows of trucks being pulled in front of his house. People dressed in high-waisted pants, boots, and hats were stepping out from the trucks. They were carrying backpacks and laptops and cameras. He reached for the door and stepped out to speak with them.
The farmer showed them the hole at his farm. There was a group of four people who were going to lead this investigation. One of the team leads took the farmer aside and requested him to describe the event in as much detail as he could. The farmer began recalling the events of that day and began to narrate the incident to him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team began to secure the area. They were loaded with tools like hand shovels, spades, buckets, mattocks, etc. They started to set everything up, their desks, their instruments, putting up shade, etc. The farmer watched in anticipation, it looked like people were preparing for an exciting event.
After securing the site, the archaeologists began to dig into the hole to open it up more and get to the bottom. It was like a show, people working at the same time in perfect coordination. People were clicking pictures and uploading them to a digital library. Everyone was excited but nobody could have predicted what they were about to see.
The digging was taking longer than anticipated. People were still going at it. The hole was almost 2 meters wide and they were still digging deeper. The farmer started getting anxious, was he mistaken? Is there nothing inside this hole? On the contrary, the archaeologists were not giving up. They were used to these kinds of explorations.
After digging for hours, the experts finally felt something. The hole was enclosed with a carved limestone measuring 2.5 meters wide. At the bottom of the hole, they found two small coffins placed on the northern-most and southern-most ends. The archaeologists knew one thing for sure, they had just discovered a buried tomb.
The group immediately started clicking pictures of the revealed base of the hole. The tomb didn't only have coffins but a bunch of other artifacts too. The coffins had intricate patterns on them, which resembled the ones from the Minoan dynasty. But they had to clean it up to reveal what the drawings on it were.
Once the found items were brushed off and studied properly, the experts recognized it immediately. Their speculation was correct, it was a tomb that was indeed sealed during Minoan times over 3400 years ago and had remained hidden all this time.
This discovery was surprising for multiple reasons. The first reason being, they have been searching for more artifacts from the Minoan dynasty and there were not enough artifacts found in all these years. So historians and archaeologists have not been able to study a lot about their time.
The second reason being, it was found in a part of Crete where Minoan findings were especially rare. Most evidence of the Minoan civilization that was found by archaeologists was in the lowlands, not the mountainous part of Ierapetra where this tomb was unearthed.
Given that this tomb was hidden from everyone for so many years, the artifacts were in marvelous condition. Everything was intact and researches had an absolute blast finding this untouched treasure, a 3400 years old tomb.
At the bottom of the hole, there was an eight-foot-deep and four-foot-wide tomb with two separate areas that had been carved into the stone. It had two rectangle boxes on either ends, north, and south, that dated back to the bronze age and as far as experts knew, were used by the Minoans. But what was inside them was still a mystery.
Even though the boxes looked like wooden chests, they were made of clay instead. These artifacts were called larnakes, larnax as singular. They were used for storing human remains, either in the form of ashes or body. They were so small that the bodies will not fit inside unless put in a crouching position. These were delicately decorated with ancient drawings of sea creatures, religious ceremonies, hunting patterns, etc.
The tomb didn't only contain boxes but also stunning pieces of greek pottery. It was handmade and tall in a typical traditional way, with a narrow neck and handles on either side. In Greek Amphora means "to carry on both sides" which explains the two handles on the neck. One of the larnakes was surrounded by more than twelve amphorae.
An amphora was a primary object in ancient Greece and was used for various reasons like transporting food items or storing them. Food items like olives, or liquids like oil or wine. During the Athenian Panathenaic games, the amphora was also offered as a prize to the winners. Even after all this time, their quality was remarkable which proves that they were made with the highest quality.
The size of the tomb and the quality of artifacts show that the tomb belonged to someone in the upper high class in a society but not exactly royalty. Despite this tomb providing a lot of information for the archaeologists about the Minoan dynasty, there have been previous findings of much more elaborate Minoan tombs which were probably designed for royalty. They were beehive-shaped structures with domed walls.
This finding echoed among archaeologists all around the world out of which, many asked for permission to come and explore the site for their research. Among these, the first ones on-site, found the tomb to have been built for two men. Other than that there is still a lot to find out about this tomb for which the skeletons need to be studied.
It is believed that the decline of the Minoan dynasty was caused by a series of natural disasters. Following the tragic volcanic eruption that befell the Santorini Islands, research has confirmed that the Minoan town of Akrotiri was demolished and buried. This town created history by being the largest town buried by an eruption, the central area of Minoan Civilization was merely 70 miles away from the site.
The eruption was so powerful that it could be heard 3000 miles away. It caused some serious climatic disorders one of which was the great tsunami. It swept across Crete's coast submerging many coastal Minoan towns. With the eruption and tsunami hitting at the same time, the destruction was massive. Scientists have discovered many pieces of evidence which prove the same thing.
In further investigations and studies, scientists have identified Minoan building material, pottery, and food residue infused with miniature fossilized seashells that lasted only in deep water, deposited up to 7 meters above sea level. This could have only happened by a single sweep of the tsunami.
When trying to look into the disappearance of Minoans experts have compared it with the South East Asia disaster in 2004 and made assumptions based on those similarities. For example, in the 2004 disaster, the population fell by 80% which means if the Minoans experienced the same loss it would have been extremely difficult to recover from it.
After the disappearance of the Minoans dynasty, the Myceneans, from mainland Greece, took over. Since its ancient days, Crete has been passed through by many rulers. After the Myceneans, it was the Romans followed by the Byzantines then the Arabs, then taken over by the Byzantines again, then Venice and later the Ottoman Turks took over. Crete was briefly independent before reuniting with Greece in 1913.
Some researchers claim that Minoans and Myceneans may have the same ancestors. Examining these skeletons and their tombs will shed more light on this theory. It may reveal more about the relationship shared between these two ancient cultures and dynasties.
Throughout all these years, most of Crete's treasure was either looted or destroyed, which makes this incident an extremely rare and significant finding. Especially because it was just a lucky accident. Turns out the irrigation pipe in the farm leaked and that is what made the earth damp causing it to collapse when the farmer's car drove forward. The limestone soil of the region is very strong but can be dissolved with prolonged exposure to water.
It is said that history lies beneath our feet. And this is especially true for Greece where the civilizations go back thousands of years. The story of this farmer proves that these historical relics can be found in unexpected places where we go about living our lives, doing our work. So the next time you come across a strange wide hole, take a look. You never know what you may find.