Koroibos burial precinct

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In the foreground the burial area of ​​Koroibos on the street, in the background individual grave steles.

The burial precinct of Koroibos from the Demos Melite is one of the most famous preserved burial ensembles of the Kerameikos , the most important and largest ancient cemetery in Athens . The grave stele of Hegeso found here is particularly well known .

The burial area of Koroibos is on the north side of the grave road (District XVIII), to the right of the burial area of Eubios and to the left of three individual steles, including the stele of Samakion and the stele of the rider Menes . The front wall is 7.60 meters wide. It is no longer clear whether the wall was originally built from stone blocks or mud bricks when it was destroyed in 338 BC. When the Macedonians conquered Athens under Philip II , the burial area was badly affected, the stones were removed and not replaced afterwards. During the restorations after the excavation, the broken stone wall was made as a dry stone wall and built on the ancient foundation.

The three grave monuments in today's list.

Originally the grave monuments stood on a flat tumulus . Unlike many other tombs of the Kerameikos, they were not directly on the street, but rather set back a little in the room. Due to the local conditions, they are strung together closely. The exactly parallel alignment prevented mutual shading. In the center stood a 2.80 meter high palmette stele . The founder of the grave, Koroibos, son of Kleidemides, had his name carved on it under the palmettes . Koroibos bears the same name as the architect who Pericles had commissioned with Metagenes and Xenocles to renovate the Telesterion in Eleusis . Martha Weber is certain that it is the same person, Jutta Stroszeck is more cautious. Later the names of the following grave owners were carved, Koroibos' son Kleidemides and his son Koroibos. After the destruction in 338 BC BC the grave changed hands. The new owner also had his name immortalized on the central stele: Euthydemos, son of Sosicles from one of the two demons named Eitea . Later his son Sosikles had his name added. The stele shows how much the level of Kerameikos has changed over the centuries. The Koroibos stele always stood upright until it was excavated. Damage to the tip shows traces of wagon wheels. As a result, the level in Gräberstrasse has risen several meters over the course of time, until the stele finally disappeared completely underground in early Christian times. Today the stele is the only original in the grave district.

To the left of the stele was the famous grave stele of Hegeso, which dates from the end of the 5th century BC. Is dated. Today the original is exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens (inventory number 3624). In the grounds of the Kerameikos there is now a modern copy that was embedded in the original limestone base. In the base, to the left of the relief, there is still space for a marble vessel, which has not been preserved, but for which an opening has been preserved in the base. Unlike the central grave stele, the stele for Hegeso showed the wealth of the family of the grave owner. The inscription Hegeso des Proxenos leaves it unclear whether she was the wife or daughter of a Proxenus. It is possible that she was the daughter of a proxenus from Acharnai and thus married into the Koroibos family. The relief is probably also symbolic of the other women in the family.

To the right of the palmette stele is a copy of the stele for Kleidemos , the son of Kleidemides from the Demos Melite. The original is kept in the Kerameikos Museum (inventory number 274 - P 1072). The stele shows a loutrophore in relief. This identifies the deceased for whom it was drawn up as an unmarried man. The surviving inscription names the brother of the grave-maker Koroibos, Kleidemides, as the person for whom the stele was erected. Depicted loutrophores were a code familiar to the people of ancient Greece. The vessel had something to do with the wedding, which is why it was clear here that the deceased had no descendants and had to rely on strangers to take care of his grave cult, which included reading the inscription and pronouncing the name. The base still shows traces of red stucco, it was probably previously in use elsewhere and was reused here . A grave epigram can be read on both sides of the Loutrophore , which was intended for Kleidemos, who died around 400.

Apparently, they have not been changed since the erection of the three reliefs, the last chronologically that of the Hegeso. Even after the destruction in 338 BC No repair or renovation can be identified. Thus the three steles were always in association. The grave monuments were found early on during the excavations of the Athens Archaeological Society by Athanasios S. Rhousopoulos (1823–1898) in 1870. In later excavations by the German Archaeological Institute between 1936 and 1940 under the direction of Karl Kübler , the grave district and its graves were exposed and then restored.

literature

Web links

Commons : Koroibos Tomb  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 37 ° 58 ′ 43.2 ″  N , 23 ° 43 ′ 0.5 ″  E