Capo Boeo
Capo Boeo , also called Cape Boeo in German , is a cape on the extreme western tip of the island of Sicily . The cape is located in the urban area of Marsala and, together with Capo Peloro and Capo Pachino, forms a flat and flat strip of land only 5 meters above sea level.
As Cape Boeo in the narrower sense, an archaeological site of Punic , Greek and Roman settlements and the largest necropolis in Sicily is referred to.
Excavation site
On the north-west and south-west side the area borders on the Mediterranean Sea and on its south-east side on today's city of Marsala. To the northeast, the area was undeveloped and turned into agricultural land.
Around 400 BC A first urban settlement emerged after the settlement area near Mozia had been abandoned. For the Phoenicians who settled here , this was the most important outpost for the crossings from Carthage in North Africa, only 140 km away . The size and power of this city is illustrated by the failed attempt by Dionysius in 368 BC. After his conquests of Selinunte , Entella and Eryx and with a following of 30,000 foot soldiers, 3,000 horsemen and 300 warships to besiege the city called Lilybaion (later Roman: Lilybaeum ). The city was a prosperous community until well after the fall of Carthage (146 BC). Cicero , who lived in 75 BC. BC Quaestor in Lilybaeum and whose career began here, reports from "splendidissima civitas Lilybitana". Particularly important for the city was of course its port, which was mentioned both by Cicero and in inscriptions on the excavation site.
Nowadays, apart from a few wine stores from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as the little church of San Giovanni al Boeo, the place is undeveloped, after the permanent settlement behind the city wall to the area of today's building boundary of Marsala shifted only in the middle of the 16th century. The largest of the buildings still existing there today is that of the Museo Archeologico Baglio Anselmi , which has also been the headquarters of the excavation management since 1986. In addition to the extensive regional finds, this museum also shows a Punic ship in its original dimensions that was found in the Mediterranean in the 1970s . It is the only warship that has been scientifically restored.
The 30 hectare archaeological excavation site was placed under cultural protection in 1939. The earliest archaeological excavations were carried out in the second half of the 19th century. From this period there is evidence of visible ancient building structures that probably belonged to the remains of towers and fortification walls that were lost through coastal erosion and disregard. The excavations carried out in 1883 were documented and archived, but never published.
All research today is based on aerial photographs from 1963 by Giulio Schmiedt (* 1912), who recognized the historical significance. In addition, geomagnetic prospecting was carried out in 1999/2000 for better support .
necropolis
Near the current location of Salinella northeast of the ancient Lilybaeum is the former necropolis, which was separated from it by the moat. Of all the aspects scientifically investigated on Cape Boeo, that of the necropolis is considered to be the best-researched due to the advances made in the 1990s and 2000s. Medium-strength limestone in the subsoil made the construction of the tombs easier. The necropolis has been used for many centuries.
There were both funeral burials and funeral urns , often mixed in one burial chamber. The graves of the Punic period are mostly laid out in a north-south orientation. Three different types of graves can be distinguished:
- According to current knowledge, a simple, rectangular ditch or crypt with a vertical shaft is the most common burial method. The average size is 2 × 0.7 × 0.1 m (length × width × depth).
- At the bottom of the shaft one or two opposite burial chambers. These chambers are rectangular or trapezoidal. The walls reveal both traces of work and decorations.
- Simple crypt or shaft without burial chambers. Maximum depth two meters.
Today it can be established that some of the tombs have been used several times, probably for members of the same family. The urns were designed very differently: some in the shape of an amphora, as simple terracotta vases or rectangular boxes with a gable roof, some decorated with acroteria . Ointment vessels, oil lamps, paterae , smaller jugs, and later toiletries such as mirrors, scissors, scrapers, perfume bottles, etc. were found as grave goods .
In Roman times, both the parallel use of burial and cremation, the architectural form and the type of grave goods have been preserved.
The crypt of Crispia Salvia has a special place . It was only found around 1990 and is considered unique. The walls of the underground, 5 × 5 meter large crypt are extensively painted with figural scenes and decorative elements. The lively and intense colors in yellow and red contrast particularly well with the other wall surfaces, which are kept white and blue. Opposite the entrance steps are two winged figures holding a garland. Next to it is a clay tablet embedded in the wall with a Latin dedication, in which a 45-year-old wife is paid homage to “libenti animo” after fifteen years of marriage.
The crypt is ten steps deep, carved into the tuff stone , and contains six burial niches that are worked into the walls, two of which form arcosolia , four are rectangular in shape. Due to the design and nature of the clay tablet, the burial should be dated to the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. The arcosolia are certainly of a later date, as is another, external arcosol, which was determined in the 4th century.
literature
- Rossella Giglio : Mozia. Lilybaeum. An archaeological walk. Anselmo, Trapani 2003, ISBN 8-8882-1603-0 .
- Sarah Braune: Convivium funebre. Design and function of Roman grave lines as rooms for sepulkral banquet celebrations. (= Spudasmata . Vol. 121). Olms, Hildesheim et al. 2008, ISBN 978-3-487-13850-3 (also: Hamburg, University, dissertation, 2007).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cicero, Reden gegen Verres 2,5,107 ( online, Italian )
- ^ Museo archeologico regional Lilibeo Marsala - Baglio Anselmi . Access date: July 18, 2020.
- ↑ extensive source collection "Soprintendenza del Mare" (PDF; 717 kB) of the Assessorato Regionale Beni Culturali, Ambientali e PI, Dipartimento regional dei beni culturali e ambientali, dell'educazione permanente e dell'architettura e dell'arte contemporanea (ital.)
- ^ VIAF data set
- ↑ [1] ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.)
Coordinates: 37 ° 48 ′ 7 ″ N , 12 ° 25 ′ 28 ″ E