Temple Tomb Research Articles

A relief with Mithraic scenes on a sarcophagus lid: iconographic and literary issues

AbstractDuring the excavations of the team of the University of Chieti in the area of Ain Hofra, in the East necropolis of Cyrene, several interesting sculptures were found in tombs A and C, also called the Tomb of the Sarcophagi and the Tomb of the Sculptures. In this paper a specific find from Tomb A is presented, as it is a rare example of a Mithraic relief from a private funerary context. The find has only previously been published for the translation and presentation of the inscription; however, an analysis and interpretation of the relief together with the inscription has never been tackled. The very fragmentary lid is made of white marble, presenting a very lively iconographic sequence of Mithraic schemata, in combination with a metrical inscription within a central tabula ansata. The find context is particularly monumental and is characterized by two Temple Tombs built in ashlar masonry located on the plateau of Ain Hofra overlooking the wadi (canyon) and the fertile terraces below. This multidisciplinary article looks at the iconographic elements, the epigraphic implications and the monumental context of the Mithraic reliefs.

Where to put them? Burial location in middle Hellenistic to late Roman Sagalassos, southwest Anatolia

AbstractIn classical archaeology the spatial aspects of deathscapes and associated funerary phenomena are often taken at face value. Beginning from a relational understanding of space, this article examines the necropoleis of middle Hellenistic to late Roman Sagalassos (second century BC to fifth century AD) within the wider context of the city. To facilitate this methodologically, four spatial aspects are investigated for the Hellenistic, Roman Imperial and late Roman periods: the relations between the spaces of the living and dead, landscaping practices, visibility and accessibility. These four aspects offer insight into the funerary and non-funerary relations from which the necropoleis emerged, developed, expanded and eventually disappeared. A whole range of funerary phenomena are included, ranging from cinerary urns, rectangular and vase-shaped ostothekai, aediculae, naiskoi, arcosolia and sarcophagi to larger sepulchral structures like temple tombs. In addition to being compared with urban developments, the observed patterns are further evaluated within the larger framework of Asia Minor. Ultimately, the enunciated archaeological patterns facilitate multicausal answers to where the Sagalassians placed their dead, if and how this changed and became more varied, and why these developments occurred in particular (re)configurations of time-space.

WARISAN MONUMENTAL PENINGGALAN KESULTANAN PALEMBANG DARUSSALAM YANG TERAKULTURASI

Historical records, Palembang was victorious during the Srivijaya kingdom, and even became a center of international trade, this made the immigrants from various countries great concern to come to the Sriwijaya kingdom. those who are motivated to spread religion (da'wah, missionaries, zending), there are also those who wish to colonize/control completely the natural wealth owned by Sriwijaya. The heritage of Sriwijaya, namely the monumental buildings of the Palembang Darussalam Sultanate, can still be found in Palembang, such as the Palembang Grand Mosque, Merogan Mosque, Suro Mosque, Kuto Besak Fort, the tombs of the Sultan of Palembang, including the Gede Ing Suro Tomb, Angsoko Temple Tomb, Sabo Tomb. Kingking, Walang Temple Tomb, Tengkurep Crater Tomb, and Limas House. 
 Keywords: Heritage, Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam.

The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Theban Mortuary Temple of the Vizier Nebneteru, Reused by Khonsuirdis and Others

The Third Intermediate Period temple tomb, or mortuary temple, of Nebneteru, most often referred to as the tomb of Khonsuirdis, was described by Petrie as ‘one of the most prominent landmarks of the western side of Thebes’, yet remains little discussed in the scholarly literature. It was excavated by Petrie in the 1890s and more fully by an Italian team in the 1970s, but never fully published. The scattered references to archaeological and textual evidence for the monument and those interred within it are surveyed in this article, including new evidence from the University of Arizona Egyptian Expedition’s excavations at the adjoining site of the Tausret Memorial Temple. In light of recently updated understandings of Third Intermediate Period material culture, an argument is made for a revised early Twenty-Fifth Dynasty dating of the monument. The mortuary temple of Nebneteru, though little known, offers a rare and interesting glimpse into the funerary belief and practice of the Egyptian high élite in the early Twenty-Fifth Dynasty.

The Language of Ruins: Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Memnon Colossus

The Language of Ruins: Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Memnon Colossus

A Forgotten Roman Mausoleum In Darende, Malatya: The Architectural Features and Conservation Issues of the Ozan Monument

The single-chamber temple tomb in Darende, Malatya, referred to today as the Ozan Monument, is a continuation of the mausoleum tradition that began to be popular in Anatolia in the Hellenistic Period. This type of tomb was built monumentally in the form of a Greek temple in order to deify, glorify and elevate the dead to the heroic level and also bestow upon the dead fame and honor. It is one of the outstanding examples of the Roman mausolea which have survived to the present day in good condition. Since there is no inscription on this monument, it is not possible to surmise the name of the dead or its builder. Its construction techniques, style and the features of its decorative components indicate that it was built roughly in the 2nd century AD. Overall on the monument there is some structural damage and surface deterioration on the stones. The biggest problem of the monument is the ruptures in the corner stones of the facades and the missing stones at the base and the foundation. Nonetheless, the monument has survived to today and has maintained its physical integrity to a great extent. The restitution drawings were prepared by analyzing the marks remaining on the building and similar temple tombs of the same period. The restoration project was substantially based on the restitution and the necessary interventions were determined to support the building in the best way possible and carry it to the future.

The Archaeological Activity of J.T. Milik During His Stay in Jerusalem (1952-1961)

As a thirty-year-old Polish biblical scholar, J. T. Milik (1922-2006) would certainly not have expected that, alongside the study of scrolls, archaeological research would occupy his time for a decade in the École Biblique of Jerusalem. Yet by March 1952 he had already discovered the Cave of Timothy in the Qumran cliff and in September of the same year he worked with Father Roland de Vaux in Cave 4 and discovered Cave 5. He then took part in the second, third, forth and fifth expeditions at Khirbet Qumran and at ‘Ain Feshkha and undertook small excavations with Frank M. Cross in the heart of the Judean Desert. He also cooperated with Father Bellarmino Bagatti at Dominus Flevit in Jerusalem and personally discovered several Second Temple tombs with ossuaries close to Jerusalem. Furthermore, in cooperation with Father Jean Starcky, he found many hundreds of Nabataean inscriptions over the course of two expeditions. He certainly was not only a genius epigrapher, brilliant philologist and the co-founder of Qumranology, but also, in the best sense of the word, a biblical archaeologist.

DOĞU DAĞLIK KİLİKİA'DA (OLBA BÖLGESİNDE) BULUNAN İKİ YENİ MEZAR ANITI**

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.

Monumental tomb forms in the Olba region

AbstractOne of the most studied subjects in the Olba region is the graves. Nevertheless, new grave forms emerge with each new study conducted there, and old studies are re-evaluated based on recent findings. In some rare cases, results accepted up to now may change. This study addresses such a possibility in terms of burial customs. In this study, tombs, also referred to here as monuments, are considered. Examples of new forms of tomb monuments that were previously unknown, or only a few of which were published before, are presented. The features of these monuments are used to introduce new and strong evidence with regards to the chronology. One of the most important results is the discovery of evidence for the practice of cremation, accepted as a rare occurrence during the antique period. Based on this, a shift in the process of burial customs during the Roman period, especially for the temple tombs, is suggested as a new dating criterion.

Pisidia Survey Project: Melli 2000

AbstractThe third survey campaign of the Pisidia Survey Project at Melli took place in September 2000. Work on the remains of the small, semi-circular theatre completed the study of the monumental city centre and allowed the suggestion of a roughly Severan construction date. In addition, the remains of the early Christian period in the ancient city and in its north necropolis area were recorded, proving that older pagan buildings were partially re-used to build them and that several basilicas had a number of construction phases. A continuation of the study of the remains in the domestic areas of the city allowed a reconstruction of their organisation and showed that richer and poorer houses occupied the same quarters. Finally, work on the monumental temple tombs in the north necropolis was also completed. In general, it has become clear that the city flourished from the Hellenistic period throughout Roman times and into the early Christian period.

Notes from Knossos, Part III

The present contribution in this series of Notes is principally concerned with vases in Heraklion Museum which excavators of Knossos either did not publish or illustrated very sketchily. The vases range in date from MM III/LM I to LM IIIC. Two groups are from Evans's excavations in the Palace and near the Temple Tomb, five pots may be ascribed to Hogarth's tests on Gypsadhes Hill and a further five were found by Forsdyke in the Mavrospelio Cemetery.Both vases appear on a photograph numbered 465.1 in the Evans archives of the Ashmolean Museum. They were then unrestored and included with them is a much larger amphora decorated with body bands and a disc on the shoulder, Plate 57a. The back of the print has been annotated; Evans gives brief descriptions, stating that the amphora was 48 cm high; Mackenzie ascribes the vases to the ‘Deposit with tripod W of the NE Magazines’ while, at the bottom, is written in Greek in a hand which I take to be that of their foreman ‘In the North Magazines’. It looks as though the excavators were uncertain where the pots had been found and the foreman was called in to help.

A Note on the LM IB Marine Style at Knossos

The published corpus of LM IB Marine Style pottery from Knossos is small. It includes: 1. A jar from the Royal Road, AR (1961–2) 28 fig. 36.2. A jar from the South-west Corner of the Palace, PM iv 280 fig. 215.3. A ewer from the House of the Sanctuary, ibid, iv 215 fig. 165.4. A tall alabastron from the Tomb of the Double Axes, TDoAx. 87.5. A bridge-spouted jar from a chamber tomb near the Temple Tomb, PM iv 279 fig. 214.6. A fragment from a jar, ibid, ii 506 fig. 310a.7. A fragment from a flower-pot, ibid, ii 506 fig. 310b–c.

Five tombs at Knossos

On the east slope of Lower Gypsades hill, about 100 metres west of the Temple Tomb, a chamber tomb came to light in August 1958, when a cutting for a new water pipe was driven through the area (A in Plate 9 a). In the course of this operation, part of a plain larnax (iii) was sliced off, and much earth removed from the west end of the collapsed chamber: at no point, however, had the municipal workmen penetrated to the tomb floor.The chamber was approached by a sloping dromos (Plate 9 a: length 2·80 metres; max. width 1 metre), roughly cut into the natural kouskouras rock: its walls were approximately perpendicular. Although the gradient varied a good deal, there was no suggestion of a stairway.The blocking wall was found in good condition. Of especial interest were the numerous fragments of larnakes that had been built into its fabric: some of them could be recognized as belonging to each of the three fragmentary larnakes (i, ii, v) whose scattered pieces were found below and around the two undisturbed burials in the chamber (iii, iv). We may thus distinguish two periods in the history of the tomb: larnakes i, ii, and v were evidently smashed up in order to make room for iv and iii, which must have been deposited in that order. The debris of v was found under iv, with a few adult bones in its wreckage. Part of i lay on the floor near the south-west corner, where two plain vases (2, 3) were found in situ, hence, also, came most of the fragments of the fine L.M. IIIA 2 stirrup vase (1), although its other pieces were scattered all over the floor of the tomb. This small group of offerings may belong to the disturbed adult skeleton, whose skull lay up against the lower edge of iii. Curiously, some fragments of i and ii were also found above the broken lid of iv (Plate 9 b): perhaps the lid of the later larnax was accidentally smashed at the time of the funeral, in which case the debris from earlier burials could have been piled up above it, as a rough and ready means of protection.

A Minoan shaft-grave on the slopes opposite the Temple Tomb (Knossos Survey 152)

The slopes of Ailias beyond the Kairatos stream to the east of the Minoan city have so far largely escaped the intensive vineyard cultivation that has swallowed so much of the land round Knossos. Isolated tombs and cemeteries (e.g. Knossos Survey 58, 95, 96) have been explored on these slopes due east and north of the Palace of Minos, but virtually nothing has yet been recorded from the area to the south. Minoan sherds on the surface of the fields opposite the Temple Tomb, however, suggest the possible existence of tombs in this area.In 1951 on the lower slopes here on land belonging to Evstratios Sarikis a hole was dug to plant an olive tree, leading to the removal of some large stones and disclosing a right-angled cut in the rock, which was noticed by the sharp and practised eye of Spiro Vasilakis. Two years later with the permission of Dr. Platon, Ephor of Antiquities for Crete, I cleared the cutting during the course of the School's excavations in the Middle Minoan cemetery higher on the slopes of Ailias to the north. The cutting, which was rectangular, measuring 1·90 × 1·40 at the bottom, and 1·20 deep from the surface of the rock at the highest point in the south-east corner, is perhaps best explained as a plundered Minoan shaft-grave, although no sign of a burial or of any grave goods was found in it. It was entirely filled below the level of the rock surface with large blocks of the local limestone, several of them worked, and including a slab which might have served as the covering for a shaft-grave, and a pyramid with a square socket in the top (A on the plan, Fig. I ), evidently the base for some ritual object like a double axe.

Shrines in Sepulchres? A Re-Examination of Three Middle to Late Minoan Tombs

The three tombs with which this paper is primarily concerned are the tholos tomb at Apesokari in the Messara, the Temple Tomb at Knossos, and Tomb 5 at Ayia Triadha. These tombs have several features in common which do not occur in ordinary Middle Minoan tombs: the multiplicity of rooms in addition to the sepulchral chamber, the presence of pillar rooms, and the inclusion of a room which appears to be a shrine. Two of the three are built entirely above ground; the third was constructed in a huge cut made in the hill slope, possibly because in this way it could be oriented East-West. Two of the three are situated near

A Late Minoan Tomb at Knossos

During the course of agricultural operations on the vineyard of one Kosti Psilakis, south of the Temple Tomb and on the opposite side of the Herakleion-Arkhanes road, three vases in stone and two in pottery were uncovered by the cultivator and were appropriated by the Herakleion Museum.On 24 April 1940 Miss Vronwy Fisher (now Mrs. Hankey) and I excavated the site on behalf of the British School at Athens and uncovered a very small chamber tomb, of which most of the chamber walls and all of the dromos walls had been cut away. One or possibly two L.M. III burials had suffered severely, but the earliest burial on the inmost or western side of the chamber seems to have remained undisturbed until 1940, when Psilakis began to lay out a vineyard here.