The Lion’s Mausoleum of Hippos of the Decapolis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article presents the results of excavations and study of one of the mausolea at Antiochia Hippos, one of the cities of the Decapolis. The Lion's Mausoleum stands within the necropolis on the side of the main road leading to Hippos, just a couple of hundred metres from the main city gate. This Roman period mausoleum is the only tomb at Hippos to be thoroughly excavated and studied, and it is among the few in the region that survived partly with remnants of architectural details and sculpture, including a statue of a lion after which the mausoleum is named. The excavations of the building were completed in 2019 and produced a wealth of finds. The small finds, together with construction methods and materials, indicate that the mausoleum was constructed in the early 2nd century ad and used through the 3rd and the early 4th century ad. The surviving architectural remains allow reconstruction of a square ground floor with additional two floors above, and a hypothetical conical roof, in total over 13 m high. The finds allow for better understanding of the burial customs of the wealthy inhabitants of one of the cities of the Decapolis during the Roman period. The contextualization gives a broader glance on the variety of Roman mausolea in the Decapolis and the surrounding Hauran and Galilee.