[attach id=377114 size="medium"]The head of a sphinx discovered in Amphipolis, northern Greece. Photo: Hellenic Culture Ministry/Reuters[/attach]

Archaeologists unearthed the missing head of one of the two sphinxes found guarding the entrance of an ancient tomb in Greece’s northeast, as the diggers made their way into the monument’s inner chambers, the culture ministry said.

The tomb on the Amphipolis site, about 100km from Greece’s second-biggest city Thessaloniki, has been hailed by archaeologists as a major discovery from the era of Alexander the Great. They say it appears to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece.

The marble head, slightly damaged on the nose, has curls falling on the statue’s left shoulder and traces of a reddish colour.

“It is a sculpture of exceptional art,” the ministry said, adding that fragments of the two sphinxes’ wings were also found.

Excavations, which began in 2012, have not yet determined who is buried in the tomb. They have uncovered an intricate mosaic depicting the god Hermes as the conductor of souls to the afterlife. Made up of coloured pebbles, it covers the floor of a room thought to be the antechamber to the main burial ground.

Culture ministry officials have said that the monument appears to belong to a prominent Macedonian from the 300-325BC era.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.