Pharaoh’s tomb discovered by archaeologists in Egypt<\/a><\/h4>\nDr. Josef Wegner, Penn Museum curator who is based in Philadelphia, recently uncovered a groundbreaking discovery: an unknown pharaoh’s tomb, dating back 3,600 years. (Credit: Josef Wegner for the Penn Museum)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The lecture hall of an “impressive high school” from an ancient Greek<\/a> settlement was recently uncovered in Italy \u2013 with the discovery highlighting the similarities between ancient and modern schooling.<\/p>\nThe Free University of Berlin announced the find in a press release on April 9. The excavation took place in Agrigento, Italy, on the southwestern coast of Sicily.<\/p>\n
Agrigento was founded in 580 B.C. as the largest Greek colony in Sicily. The settlement boasted both a high school and a grammar school \u2013 yet the lecture hall of the complex was only unearthed this past March.<\/p>\n
ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: \u2018PRESERVED QUITE WELL\u2019<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nUniversity officials described the hall as “a small covered theater that could accommodate around 200 people on eight rising, semicircular rows of seats,” said a statement translated from German to English.<\/p>\n
It went on, “When the grammar school was built in the 2nd century B.C., no other currently known grammar school in the ancient world offered such a lecture hall. It was only 250 to 300 years later that the large high school in Pergamon (Turkey) received a theater-like auditorium.”<\/p>\n
\n![\"Antiker](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/fup-25-055-antiker-hoersaal.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nAn aerial image of Agrigento, which features, in German captions, “rooms for sports and lessons,” a lecture hall, a “large space” and a swimming pool.<\/span> (Thomas Lappi \u2013 Monika Tr\u00fcmper, \u00a9 Free University of Berlin, Institute for Classical Archaeology)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe hall was primarily used for intellectual activities such as lessons, as well as educational demonstrations and competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Schools in antiquity placed an emphasis on healthy minds and healthy bodies \u2014 and teachers ensured that young men were physically and intellectually ready for adult life.<\/p>\n
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LONG-LOST TOMB OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH IN EGYPT<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n“From the 4th century BC, [Greek] cities built large complexes with running tracks, bathing facilities and rooms where young men could train and learn,” the press release said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, the school in Agrigento is the only ancient structure in the western Mediterranean that offered a large swimming pool and 200-meter-long running tracks, according to officials.<\/p>\n
\n![\"Excavator](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/fig_04.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nAn archaeologist is seen surveying the site of the Agrigento gymnasium.<\/span> (S. Kay \/ Free University of Berlin)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nExcavators also found a semi-circular section of the lecture hall, where “teachers and students once performed in front of an audience.”<\/p>\n
“[T]wo large blocks with a Greek inscription were found, the letters of which were engraved in the white-plastered soft limestone and highlighted with red paint,” the press release noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com\/lifestyle<\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/a><\/p>\nArchaeologists also came across an inscription indicating that the gymnasium was financed by a citizen who dedicated the structure to Greek gods.<\/p>\n
“Mention is made of a gymnasiarch, the head of the gymnasium, and the renewal of the roof of the apodyterium (changing room), which a generous citizen financed from his own resources and dedicated to the gods of the gymnasium, Hermes and Heracles,” the statement read.<\/p>\n
\n![\"Inscriptions](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/fig_02.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nInscriptions on seats in the gymnasium of Agrigento were found in previous excavations.<\/span> (M. Tr\u00fcmper \/ Free University of Berlin)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe inscription is highly unusual, experts say, and helps to “provide insights into the social life of the city.”<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n“The letter form suggests that the inscription was engraved in the late 1st century B.C., when Agrigento had long been under Roman rule.<\/a>” the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n![\"Agrigento\"](\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/1200\/675\/agrigento.jpg?ve=1&tl=1\")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n\n\nAgrigento was founded in 580 B.C. as the largest Greek colony in Sicily.<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“Nevertheless, the Greek language,<\/a> Greek offices and traditions continued to be maintained, and the Greek high school continued to be used and maintained as a central training center for young people.”<\/p>\n
The Free University of Berlin announced the find in a press release on April 9. The excavation took place in Agrigento, Italy, on the southwestern coast of Sicily.<\/p>\n
Agrigento was founded in 580 B.C. as the largest Greek colony in Sicily. The settlement boasted both a high school and a grammar school \u2013 yet the lecture hall of the complex was only unearthed this past March.<\/p>\n
ANCIENT SETTLEMENT REVEALS REMAINS OF 1,800-YEAR-OLD DOG, BAFFLING EXPERTS: \u2018PRESERVED QUITE WELL\u2019<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n University officials described the hall as “a small covered theater that could accommodate around 200 people on eight rising, semicircular rows of seats,” said a statement translated from German to English.<\/p>\n It went on, “When the grammar school was built in the 2nd century B.C., no other currently known grammar school in the ancient world offered such a lecture hall. It was only 250 to 300 years later that the large high school in Pergamon (Turkey) received a theater-like auditorium.”<\/p>\n An aerial image of Agrigento, which features, in German captions, “rooms for sports and lessons,” a lecture hall, a “large space” and a swimming pool.<\/span> (Thomas Lappi \u2013 Monika Tr\u00fcmper, \u00a9 Free University of Berlin, Institute for Classical Archaeology)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The hall was primarily used for intellectual activities such as lessons, as well as educational demonstrations and competitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Schools in antiquity placed an emphasis on healthy minds and healthy bodies \u2014 and teachers ensured that young men were physically and intellectually ready for adult life.<\/p>\n ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER LONG-LOST TOMB OF UNKNOWN PHARAOH IN EGYPT<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “From the 4th century BC, [Greek] cities built large complexes with running tracks, bathing facilities and rooms where young men could train and learn,” the press release said.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, the school in Agrigento is the only ancient structure in the western Mediterranean that offered a large swimming pool and 200-meter-long running tracks, according to officials.<\/p>\n An archaeologist is seen surveying the site of the Agrigento gymnasium.<\/span> (S. Kay \/ Free University of Berlin)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Excavators also found a semi-circular section of the lecture hall, where “teachers and students once performed in front of an audience.”<\/p>\n “[T]wo large blocks with a Greek inscription were found, the letters of which were engraved in the white-plastered soft limestone and highlighted with red paint,” the press release noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com\/lifestyle<\/u><\/strong><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n Archaeologists also came across an inscription indicating that the gymnasium was financed by a citizen who dedicated the structure to Greek gods.<\/p>\n “Mention is made of a gymnasiarch, the head of the gymnasium, and the renewal of the roof of the apodyterium (changing room), which a generous citizen financed from his own resources and dedicated to the gods of the gymnasium, Hermes and Heracles,” the statement read.<\/p>\n Inscriptions on seats in the gymnasium of Agrigento were found in previous excavations.<\/span> (M. Tr\u00fcmper \/ Free University of Berlin)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The inscription is highly unusual, experts say, and helps to “provide insights into the social life of the city.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n “The letter form suggests that the inscription was engraved in the late 1st century B.C., when Agrigento had long been under Roman rule.<\/a>” the statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Agrigento was founded in 580 B.C. as the largest Greek colony in Sicily.<\/span> (iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “Nevertheless, the Greek language,<\/a> Greek offices and traditions continued to be maintained, and the Greek high school continued to be used and maintained as a central training center for young people.”<\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n