Great Hypogeum of el-Wardian
The Great Hypogeum el-Wardian (also Catacombs of el-Wardian ) is the largest known Hellenistic tomb in Alexandria . The complex is probably between 80 and 30 BC. BC and is located west of the ancient city in an area that mainly served as a necropolis .
The complex was already described by the Danish traveler Frederick Lewis Norden (1708–1742), who visited the city in 1737 or 1738. The next description comes from Carsten Niebuhr , who paid her a visit in 1761. Since then, the catacombs have been considered a major attraction of the city, but their location has been forgotten over time. They were only rediscovered in 1952 by the Italian archaeologist Achille Adriani .
The facility is carved into the rock and is over 50 m long and sometimes 30 m wide. The center is a hall with twelve pillars around a courtyard . The hall is around 15 × 15 m and probably recreates the peristyle of Hellenistic houses. On both sides of this hall there are smaller halls with graves, in the rear part further halls and a domed hall. Almost nothing is left of the former decoration of the facility. There are also no remains of the original burials. The walls are partially covered with graffiti, including one by Josef Wenzel Radetzky von Radetz , dated July 19, 1855.
Individual evidence
- ^ Judith McKenzie: The Architecture of Alexandiea and Egypr, 300 BC - AD 700 , ISBN 978-0-300-17094-8 , p. 193
literature
- Marjorie Susan Venit: The Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria: The Theater of the Dead. , New York 2002, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521806593 , pp. 131-32, fig. 112
- Günter Grimm: Alexandria. The first royal city in the Hellenistic world. von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2337-9 , pp. 126-128.
Coordinates: 31 ° 10 ′ 0.5 ″ N , 29 ° 52 ′ 31.8 ″ E