Alketas tomb
The so-called Alketas tomb is an early Hellenistic tomb in Termessos , an archaeological site in the Pisidia region (today Antalya Province , Turkey). The identification of the grave owner with Alketas , a general of Alexander the Great (d. 319), is an assumption.
The tomb, which was hewn out of the limestone, is poorly preserved, also because of earthquake damage. It is believed that it remained unfinished. The floor is completely missing. Two sides are preserved that are at right angles to each other.
Northwest side
You can see the life-size relief of a rider with breastplate on a horse galloping to the right. The right arm is raised as if to throw a lance, the left foot is moved forward, the right foot is moved back. The horse, especially its head, is more finely carved out than the human figure. It is compared with depictions of horses on the Alexander sarcophagus .
To the right of this group, a complete set of military equipment is shown in relief: greaves, helmet, round shield and sword.
Northeast side
A three-part composition has been preserved, consisting of a bed ( Kline ) in a niche, to which stone steps lead up. Karl Lanckoroński described a massive stone bench made from the natural rock to hold a corpse (length 180 cm, width 60 cm, depth 40 cm). The reliefs of the mattress and pillow are missing today; the day bed is shown in a three-sided enclosure, the upper part of which forms a kind of slatted lattice, over which a gable of a canopy rises. Above the grave, there is a relief of an eagle flying to the left, holding a snake in its fangs.
To the left of the Kline a container for bones opens (Ostothek) with false doors cut into the rock, according to Olga Palagia: three ossuaries , two of them in the form of houses, one in the form of a throne.
To the right of the couch is an arrangement of grave goods in relief, including a table with animal feet. The objects shown here bring up the theme of the symposium .
Stylistic classification
The iconography of the tomb is Greek. Although there are Macedonian parallels to the representation of furniture as stone reliefs, the group of rider and horse is considered the work of a local ( Lycian ) artist.
Web links
literature
- Anastasia Pekridou: The Alketas tomb in Termessos . (= Istanbul communications. Supplement 32). Tuebingen 1986.
- Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway : Hellenistic Sculpture , Volume 1, Madison 2001, pp. 36-38.
- Karl Lanckoroński (ed.): Cities of Pamphylia and Pisidia , Volume 2: Pisidia . Vienna 1892. p. 64 ff. ( Digitized version )
- Olga Palagia: Commemorating the Dead: Grave Markers, Tombs, and Tomb Paintings, 400-30 BCE. In: MM Miles (Ed.): A Companion to Greek Architecture, Oxford 2016. pp. 374–389, here p. 386. ( PDF )
Coordinates: 36 ° 59 ′ 4.9 ″ N , 30 ° 27 ′ 45.7 ″ E