Abstract

The tomb monuments handled in this paper are located in the Olba region, east of Rough Cilicia. It is common for the tomb monuments which are named as D1 and D2 that they have a prostylos plan. Architrave and frieze are worked out of the same block and the upper construction elements show parallelities to each other. Both possess pediments. Besides there similarities, differences between the two tombs are obvious: The capitals of the columns of D1 are Ionic, those of D2 are Doric. D1 has a burial chamber constructed of carved stones. On the other hand the burial chamber of D2 is carved out of the main rock and has the cha­racteristics of a rock-cut tomb. The D1 tomb has a gable roof and a pediment. The roof of this tomb consists of plain blocks streched from one arch to the other. Over these blocks rest the gable formed roof blocks. Therefore this monument is a temple tomb in all its details. Furthermore the burial chamber shows the typical decoration of a temple tomb. By D2 the pediment was intended only for the front part and seems not to have a gable behind. D2 just imitates monumental tombs, itself being a rock-cut tomb. One of the most important criteria for the dating of the tombs are the Ionic capitals of D1. The par­allels for these capitals in Anatolia are dated between the late 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The other tombs with Ionic capitals in the Olba region are also dated to the same period. Two of these are the temple tombs in Imbriogon Kome with Ionic capitals on the lower columns. The roof co­nstruction of these temple tombs stand also with their roof construction close to tomb D1. The third tomb with Ionic capital is a rock-cut tomb and should not be dated earlier than the 2nd century AD. The given facts point to early 3rd century AD for D1. It is possible to offer the same date also for D2 because of the similarities.

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