- Toumba
Toumba is a neighborhood on the eastern side of
Thessaloniki ,Greece . It is divided horizontally into Ano Toumba and Kato Toumba (Upper and Lower Toumba) by a flume, and it is part of 4th Division of Thessaloniki Municipality.Etymology
The literal translation of the word "Toumba" has the same root as the Anglo-Saxon "
Tomb " which relates to theAncient Greek "Tύμβος"LSJ : [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23105882 Tumbos] , which means a memorial burrying place for the honoured dead, usually a crypt in a small hill or a small building. (see Archaeological interest, below)PAOK Thessaloniki Football Stadium
The Toumba neighborhood hosts the home stadium of PAOK Thessaloniki FC, which bears the same name, "
Toumba Stadium ".Archaeological interest
In the middle of Toumba there is the archeological site of an ancient settlement, discovered in 1895. It consists of a) of a steep-sided mound or tell ('Toumba' in Modern Greek) and b) a low table (Trapeza in Modern Greek) spreading around its base. Both toumba and table are the product of centuries of human habitation as debris layers built up with the passage of time. The Toumba was occupied principally during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (3000-700 BC, while the Table was occupied from the Early Iron Age through the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods (c 800-200 BC). This community might be identified as Ancient
Therma or part of it. Therma, along with 25 other villages, was united byCassander , in order to form Thessaloniki in 315 BC (Stravon VII 21 & 24). The excavations are still in progress, conducted by the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki (on the Toumba) and the Greek Archaeological Service (on the Table). Both excavations have made and continue to make important contributions to understanding the nature of human activity in the prehistoric and early historic periods inCentral Macedonia and theThermaic Gulf .This site must not be confused with the Early Iron Age site of Toumba at
Lefkandi , on the island of Euboea, which is referred to in the article cited below in the External links.ee also
*
Assiros External links
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=6DunQUWKQiAC&pg=PA168&dq=Toumba+Mycenaean+Thessaloniki&sig=wnZ00bKBYTVOxrgdr4AXs4ZXBRU Urbanism in the Aegean Bronze Age] by Keith Branigan
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=6wNCsdOFlAsC&pg=PA373&dq=Toumba+Mycenaean&lr=&sig=hf2eiVlOl8YIlWJud4nh8EbX9Yo Geometric Greece: 900-700 BC] by John Nicolas Coldstream
* [http://faculty.vassar.edu/jolott/old_courses/crosscurrents2001/Lefkandi/toumba.htm Archaeology of burial mound at Toumba] (Toumba at Lefkandi in Euboea).
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