A charred ivory statuette discovered in Greece may have once adorned the elusive throne of Midas, the golden king of legend and lore, an American archaeologist will announce today.

French excavators first uncovered the elaborate 23-centimetre (nine-inch) figure from an ancient trash pit in Delphi, Greece in 1939. Carved in the shape of a lion and its tamer, archeologists have long disagreed on its origin.

Most scholars have believed the relic to be Greek until now. But an intricate series of hints and clues have convinced Dr. Keith DeVries, an esteemed archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, that the ivory figure was once part of the throne of King Midas of Phrygia, in what is now Turkey -- approximately 1,000 kilometres from Delphi.

The ornate throne, extolled by the ancients for its beauty, disappeared five centuries before the birth of Christ. The last known reference to it appears in the work of the historian Herodotus, who is affectionately regarded as the Greek "Father of History."

Writing between 450 and 430 BC, three centuries after Midas' rule, Herodotus noted the king had sent the throne as a gift to the god Apollo at Delphi, a major centre of his worship. Herodotus recorded seeing the throne stored in the Corinthian Treasury there.

The throne is believed to be one of the very seats in which Midas used to sit when presiding at court. Midas was the first known non-Greek to have made an offering to a Greek god, a symbol of his power as a ruler, Dr. DeVries said.

He believes the throne was likely thrown into a pit and burned at Delphi as an offering to Apollo.

The trash pit in which the statuette was found is just nine metres (30 feet) from where the Corinthian Treasury once stood.

The statuette's intricate detailing also suggested to Dr. DeVries that it was not Greek. As a former director of the University of Pennsylvania's excavation project at Gordion, the Phrygian capital, Dr. DeVries noticed stylistic similarities between sculptures unearthed at the Gordion site and the statuette's large, bulging eyes, large head, short torso and long legs.

The decorative band below the lion tamer's feet also mirrors patterns found on Phrygian pottery and woodwork, Dr. DeVries added.

A new round of radio-carbon analysis also allows the statuette to be dated even further back in time than it has been previously, to the late eighth or early seventh centuries BC -- Midas' era.

Ancient records uncovered in Assyria show that Midas was the warrior king of Phrygia from at least 717 to 709 BC. He ruled the kingdom at its pinnacle, before it fell during a Cimmerian invasion decades later.

Moreover, the lion-tamer statuette has unusual cuttings on one side, suggesting it was once attached to something, possibly a piece of furniture. Dr. DeVries believes the convergence of all the clues provides compelling evidence that the statuette was a support for one of the throne's arms.

"It all adds up to a strong case that this statuette was once attached to the King's throne -- which, by the way, Herodotus terms 'well worth seeing,'" Dr. DeVries said.

He will present his theory for the first time today at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Philadelphia.

Other researchers agreed the case is convincing, although whether Dr. DeVries is correct may never be conclusively known.

"This is an extremely reasonable hypothesis, but it's the kind of thing you'll never prove," said Dr. T. Cuyler Young, curator emeritus of the Royal Ontario Museum who specializes in Near Eastern archaeology.

"The world of history and archaeology is full of very good ideas that nobody's ever going to prove. It's the nature of the profession."

Even if the statuette is merely a piece of Phrygian artwork imported to Delphi, and not necessarily part of Midas' throne, it still makes a significant contribution to the field, added Dr. Margaret Miller, a specialist in classical archaeology at the University of Toronto.

Although the statuette was uncovered in 1939, its study was abandoned during the Second World War. It remained largely untouched until Dr. DeVries, associate curator at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, began researching its origins.

Teams of researchers from the Philadelphia-based museum have been studying Midas' tomb and Phrygia for decades. His tomb was so well preserved that when researchers first pried it open in 1957, they were met by the reek of dirty dishes left behind after his funeral bash some 2,500 years ago.

According to ancient Greek legend, the god Dionysus granted Midas a wish to reward him for a generous act. He greedily asked that everything he touched be turned to gold. Even food and drink were transformed to gold as soon as they touched his lips, so he went hungry in spite of his wealth.