Roman monumental tomb of Kenchreai
The Roman Monumental Tomb of Kenchreai is the tomb of a wealthy Roman near the ancient site of Kenchreai in Corinthia in Greece . It was built between the middle of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd century.
exploration
The tomb was discovered in 1963 about 600 m northeast of the ancient port of Kenchreai. In July and August of the following year it was partially excavated by Robert L. Scranton . The American archaeologist Wellington Willson Cummer finally fully exposed it in March 1969.
description
The tomb was outside the city walls of Kenchreai. It was probably about 200 m east of the road from Kenchreai to Isthmia and could be seen from there. The proximity of the location to the sea seems to indicate the close relationship between the grave owner and seafaring. It was a free-standing grave - atypical at the time.
The monument stood on a two-tier, square base made of Eleusinian limestone with an edge length of 10.20 m. The also square superstructure with an edge length of 8.35 m had a height of about 4 m and was made of limestone, which was clad with marble. The upper end was finished with Ionic rod ornaments . The wave profile was decorated with a lesbian leaf pattern, above it there was a tooth cut and a sima with acanthus leaves . Inside there was a burial chamber made of stone blocks measuring 1.90 × 2.30 m and 1.40 m high. The sarcophagus or funeral urn was buried here. The burial chamber was probably roofed with a false vault made of stone blocks.
The front of the building was probably to the east, as 41 fragments of a Latin inscription were found here. Cummer put the fragments together to form a 10-line epitaph and identified Lucius Castricius Regulus as a possible grave owner in an optimistic reconstruction. This is known as a wealthy and generous Roman from another inscription from Corinth . He was agonothet of the Isthmian Games and Duovir Quinquennalis in AD 21/22.
About 6 m south of the monument, Scranton found a late Roman or Byzantine church from the 5th or 6th century. Some architectural fragments of the grave were built in here. It follows that the building was partially demolished at that time. A lime kiln was found about 16 m to the west , in which the marble fragments that are missing today were probably burned to lime. Christian graves were found in the church.
Web links
literature
- Robert L. Scranton, Edwin S. Ramage: Investigations at Kenchreai, 1963 in Hesperia , Volume 33, 1964, p. 145
- Robert L. Scranton, Edwin S. Ramage: Investigations at Corinthian Kenchreai in Hesperia , Volume 36, 1967, p. 186
- Wellington Willson Cummer: A monumental Roman tomb at Corinthian Kenchreai , University of Pennsylvania 1970
- Wellington Willson Cummer: A Roman Tomb at Corinthian Kenchreai in Hesperia , Volume 40, 1971, pp. 205-231 ( online )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joseph L. Rife, Melissa Moore Morison, Alix Barbet, Richard K. Dunn, Douglas H. Ubelaker, Florence Monier: Life and Death at a Port at Roman Greece , in Hesperia , Volume 76, 2007, p. 157
Coordinates: 37 ° 53 ′ 16.2 ″ N , 22 ° 59 ′ 59.3 ″ E