The Research Project
Themistocles, Alexander the Great and even Gyges and Croesus, Kings of Lydia – these and other greats of the ancient world would never have ventured a decision of any great consequence without first consulting an oracle. In his Tragedy of Oedipus, Sophocles mentions all three of the greatest oracles of the time in one and the same breath – Delphi, Didyma and Abae.
The locations of the first two of these sacred sites (in what we today call Greece and Turkey) have been known to us for many years. But where is Abae? What happened to the third greatest oracle of the ancient world? Where could the buildings of the legendary sacred site of Abae have once stood? Where did the oft-depicted oracle take place?
This unanswered question has pre-occupied generations of historians and archeologists. Until recently, no one had succeeded in finding Abae. But now an international team led by archeologist Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier seems to have cracked the oracle enigma. One of the most important sites of ancient Greek history has been snatched back from oblivion.
According to the team, Abae was located not far from the small village of Kalapodi in central Greece, less than 100km east of Delphi. The excavation site is on a mountain slope overlooking a wide valley, amid rolling, fertile landscape. At the heart of the sacred site, there are two temples alongside one another. Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier has been performing excavation work around the south temple since 2004 and up to this point has identified six different temples, which had been erected on top of each other in chronological sequence. And so this shows that this has been a sacred site for more then 1200 years. But was it the long sought after oracle?
A camera accompanied the archeologists during their fascinating excavation works.
The further excavations are documented in the second L.I.S.A.video series.
Project leadershipProf Dr Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier
LocationKalapodi (Greece)
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Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Barbara elsas