The Macedonian tomb "of the Judgment" is located near Naoussa, in Kopanos, on the borders of Anthemion municipality. It is a monumental two-chambered tomb with a two-story facade in the Doric and Ionic style. The facade of the tomb is decorated with four paintings, depicting the scene of the Judgment of the dead in the Underworld from which the tomb took its conventional name. It dates back to the beginning of the 3rd century BC. The tomb is closed to the public as even today the restoration and maintenance of its painted decoration is in progress.
This is the largest and most monumental Macedonian tomb that has so far been uncovered in the area, which came to light by accident in 1954.
It is the only Macedonian tomb with a two-story facade, in which the Doric style alternates below and the Ionic style above. Four Doric semi-columns and two pilasters in the corners support the arch and the zoophoro.
On the lower floor of the facade, four Doric style semi-columns support the Doric triglyph and metopes depicting in relief scenes of Centauromachia (fight between Centaurs and Lapiths).
Above the cornice and from a colorful zone with floral decoration grows the Ionic frieze, where in a series of plaster reliefs a battle between Macedonians and Persians is depicted. The scene probably refers to the recent confrontation between the Macedonians and the Persians at the time of the construction of the tomb (beginning of the 3rd century BC).
Just below the pediment, between the six Ionic semi-columns and the two pilasters, seven plastic false windows are depicted, in imitation of wooden windows, while only a few parts of the pediment are preserved, which testify that it was ornate and colorful.
The painting of the four panels of the facade is of unique magnificence, it belongs to the sphere of the religious beliefs of the Greeks and refers to the Platonic dialogue of Gorgias.
It consists of four independent panels that grow between the Doric semi-columns. To the left of the tomb's central entrance, in two paintings, the deceased is shown being led by Hermes Psychopompos to the Judges of the Underworld. To the right of the entrance are depicted Aeakos and Rhadamanthys, the two mythical Judges of Hades. The deceased, dressed in a short tunic and breastplate, is the only one not recorded epigraphically, apparently because he was a well-known figure in Miesza society. It is assumed that this is the Miesian general of Alexander the Great Peukestas.
Internally, the tomb is divided into a narrow, but high vestibule and the main burial chamber.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou