It seems that, for archeologists, it is the month of claiming you have discovered things that belong to ancient Hellenes. First the discovery of Aristotle's tomb and now Agamemnon's throne! Christofilis Maggidis, who heads excavations at the site in southern Greece, said Tuesday that the chunk of worked limestone was found two years ago, in a streambed under the imposing Mycean citadel. He told a press conference in Athens that the royal throne was among sections of the hilltop palace that collapsed during an earthquake around 1200 BC.


Maggidis makes a bit of a leap in judgement: Mycenae flourished from the mid-14th to the 12th century BC. and was one of Greece's most significant late bronze age centers. The most famous of all, Agamemnon, led the Greek army that besieged and sacked Troy, according to Homer's epics. It is not clear to what extent the myths were inspired by memories of historic events. No other thrones have been found in mainland Greece's Mycenaean palaces. An older, smaller example was found in the Minoan palace of Knossos, on the island of Krete. As such, this throne--=if it is in fact a throne--could have seated Agamamnon himself.

Greek Culture Ministry officials have distanced themselves from the identification, citing a separate study that ruled the chunk to be part of a stone basin. But Maggidis said the find was unmistakably made for sitting on, and would have been no use for holding liquids as it is made of porous stone. The precise type of stone used has not been found anywhere else in the palace of Mycenae, although a similar material was used extensively in the citadel's massive defensive walls and in the magnificent beehive tombs where its rulers were buried.

Maggidis said other parts of the throne may lie beneath Mycenae, and hopes to secure a permit to fully excavate the streambed.

 
I am not sure I should specify this or not, but researchers have found no evidence at all that Agamamnon, as the king described in the Odysseia by Homeros, actually ever existed. There might be possible evidence of a 14th century BC king named 'Akagamunas' whom Agamemnon might have been modelled on, but that is as far as the evidence goes. So, needless to say at least, I am just a touch sceptical. I would, however, be interested in discovering if Maggidis was right about the stone being part fo a throne, however.