Funerary Architecture

The towering earthen mound standing at the center of the First Emperor of Qin, Qin Shihuangdi's (- B.C.E.) Lishan necropolis at present-day Lintong in Xi'an, Shaanxi province was arguably the single greatest burial marker in ancient China. For centuries, this gigantic unopened monument has sparked curiosity and aroused interest among people regarding its nature. Without physically damaging the target, in - Chinese archaeologists used a new geophysical remote sensor to scan the surface of the mound, digitally probed into its inner structure, and detected a nine-stepped wall that bounds an aboveground burial shaft stretching down deep into the ground. This novel structure begs the following questions: what are the basic elements of this tomb mound, how do they work together within a coherent plan, and why was it made?

Ta’ Braxia cemetery represents a change in sensibility that led to a new consciousness towards death, depicted not only in the
new design of the urban cemetery, its architecture and landscape, but also in the ephemera related to death, dying and the funerary monuments. It established 19th-century laws, customs and architecture for Malta’s first urban cemetery. Ta’ Braxia helped to implement the then contemporary consciousness towards death and burial that would eventually lead the island to modernism. However, these changes were not willingly embraced by the local Catholic Church, and what makes Ta’ Braxia cemetery more unique is that it broke new ground, during the Protestant-Catholic tensions.

RESUMEN:
En este artículo intentaré esclarecer el funcionamiento del ritual funerario durante la época ibérica en la zona de Bastetania, a partir de la interpretación de los restos arqueológicos. El eje de referencia que nos conducirá por todo este proceso será Cerro de Santuario, una necrópolis ibérica del siglo IV a.n.e. correspondiente al oppidum de Basti (Cerro Cepero), ubicada en el término municipal de la actual Baza (Granada).
Para ello, me basaré en la memoria de excavaciones que elaboró Francisco Presedo Velo en 1982. Los datos que nos proporciona constituirán el germen a partir del cual ascenderemos por los entresijos de este aspecto tan subjetivo de la Arqueología.

This paper reviews the evidence for Neolithic burial practices in SE Arabia, focusing in particular on sites in the Ja'alan region of eastern Oman. Attention is given to the nature of material buried with human remains, including jewellery and, most interestingly, the bones and shells of green turtles in the burials of Ra's al-Hamra 5 and 10. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible evidence for "necrophobia" at the 5 th millennium BC Neolithic necropolis of Suwayh 1.

Egyptians went to great lengths to protect their dead from the omnipresent threat of robbery by incorporating specially developed architectural features in their tombs. However, until now the architecture of tomb security has rarely been studied as a subject in its own right and is usually treated as a secondary topic in publications of a scholarly nature, which tend to regard its role as incidental to the design of the tomb rather than perhaps being the driving force behind it. In this seminar, I discussed the questions asked, issues raised and methodology employed in my recent PhD thesis on Tomb Security.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution in the second part of the eighteenth-century England was fuelled by the invention of mechanical devices such as the hydraulic pump.  The adoption of this machine had a fundamental impact in trade, commerce as well as transport. Its influence eventually reached out to unusual applications such as that of the catafalque - a mechanical device based on the principle of the hydraulic pump - which became a fashionable feature in nineteenth-century Victorian necropolises. The introduction of such a mechanical innovation into the Victorian Necropolis throws open a series of questions on the matter of burial rituals and the perception of death in the nineteenth century.

The following paper studies how mechanical devices were introduced as part of London’s burial rituals between the nineteenth and twentieth century, and aims to understand how they enhanced the ideas of solemnity and dignity in funeral traditions. Inevitably, the subject throws open a series of questions starting with how and why these mechanical devices arrived to be used in these new cemeteries in the first place? What were their purposes? How did people react to them? How could a machine find its place in and be reconciled with these otherwise romantic cemeteries?

The necropolis of Norchia, in the area of Viterbo (80 km. North of Rome), with its rock-cut tombs, is one of the most important archaeological sites of southern Etruria. This is an important and rare example of rock architecture, one of the few preserved in Italy. The Norchia Project is focused on the study and the publication of the tombs of the necropolis called "Pile B" of Norchia (VT) in the book Norchia II. It concerns graphic and photographic documentation and the study of all archaeological finds from the tombs, and also the architectural study of the tombs dug in the period 1971-1974, along the "Fosso del Pile" (south-east of the city), in the central area, known as "Pile B". The project also includes the study and the publication of the Temple Tombs at the Fosso dell'Acqualta at Norchia (VT) in the book Norchia III. These rock-cut temple tombs have facades that imitate those of a Doric temple with pediments, friezes, protomi and acroteria carved into the tufa. Thanks to the drawings made by Canina or Ainsley, for exemple, not only the original design but also the state of conservation of the monuments in the 19th century is known. This is of the utmost importance seeing the poor state of conservation of the monuments nowadays. The rock-cut tombs are an interesting feature of Anatolian architecture in general. The aim of the study will be to compare the Etruscan rock-cut temple tombs of Norchia with the rock-cut tombs of Turkey (in ancient Caria and Lycia) and to point out the differences. The hub of this architectural model seems to me to have been Macedonia, home/heart of the kingdom that, with Alexander the Great, became an empire extending eastward to India.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

Con questo breve contributo si è tentato di tracciare un quadro tipologico aggiornato dell'architettura funeraria rupestre di età romana in Etruria meridionale (Figura 1), sulla base del pregevole studio di E. Di Paolo 1 , raccogliendo la documentazione disponibile e proponendo alcuni possibili confronti con realizzazioni di ambito romano meglio note e datate con maggior sicurezza 2 . L'elemento peculiare di tali monumenti, diffusi non solo nelle necropoli dei centri etrusco-romani, ma anche all'interno delle stesse antiche necropoli etrusche, va individuato nel carattere "rupestre" dei monumenti e nell'intimo rapporto, tipico dell'architettura etrusca, tra questi e l'ambiente circostante.

ABSTRACT: This lecture (Part-2) continues the examination of Old Kingdom elite tombs, looking at (1) other types of middle-upper class tombs that emerge in Old Kingdom Egypt (i.e., rock-cut tombs; rock-cut mastaba tombs); (2) various reasons why such apparently “different” tombs emerge and whether they really are so different (i.e., identical components; non-structural elements); (3) ancient tomb robbing, robbers, and how some tomb builders/owners try to combat robbery (e.g., decoy chambers); (4) a brief discussion of changes in tomb design during the ED-Old Kingdom; (5) the sorts of texts and decoration (genres) found in middle-upper class tombs; (6) the artists and various techniques applied in decorating elite tombs (e.g., training; painting; relief work; stages; etc.); (7) the various ways in which Ancient Egyptian artists portrayed things (e.g., twisted profile; architecture); (8) the various types of decorative themes that emerged in Old Kingdom elite tombs; (9) the significance of the various decoration (genres) found throughout elite tombs (e.g., essential/key funerary elements [e.g., banquet scene] versus less crucial/non-essential things [e.g., daily life and other scenes]); (10) other things we can say about the elite tomb architecture, decoration, and their significance (e.g., nullifying potential dangers in decoration [depicting snakes without heads]; superstitions regarding completing funeral procession scenes); (11) the different types of elite burial chambers and examples of and changes in  decorated ones (versus mostly non-decorated ones); (12) some examples of non-royal sarcophagi (i.e., “stone coffins”: rectilinear boxes); (13) selected examples of non-royal, elite coffins (i.e., wooden, rectilinear boxes); (14) some "typical" mortuary furnishings (burial goods) found in elite tombs; and (15) the forms of and furnishings in middle class and lower class tombs and graves (only a brief summary to illustrate the burial practices of the bulk of Egypt's Old Kingdom populace).  The lecture ends with a series of text slides summarizing the main points from both parts 1-2 of the lectures on elite Old Kingdom tombs.  UPDATED: March 13, 2023. Much editing/formatting, plus some new images, and adding a selected set of sources (end slides)

ANDRONIKOS, Manolis; Vergina: The royal tombs and the ancient city; Athens, Ekdotike Athenon S. A., 1989, 244 pp., 28 cm. [ISBN 9602131284] Si hay algo que despierta la imaginación de los aficionados a la Historia y, más si cabe, de los profesionales que se dedican a ella, son los grandes descubrimientos arqueológicos. Los más importantes, hasta la fecha, se han realizado hace tanto tiempo que las publicaciones surgidas a su amparo abundan en cantidad y calidad; sin embargo, aún quedan hallazgos que, por la importancia de los personajes asociados a éstos, siguen cautivando a quienes están convencidos de poder desvelar sus secretos al resto de la humanidad. Hasta hace pocos años, uno de ellos era la supuesta tumba de Filipo II, hijo de Amintas, el más importante gobernante macedonio de la Antigüedad tra su propio hijo, Alejandro el Grande. Su supuesta morada fue descubierta por Manolis Andronikos, en 1977, cerca de la antigua capital macedonia de Egas, en la actual pequeña población de Vergina, situada en la región de Imathia, Macedonia Central.

This report documents the results of a two day survey of the crypt underlying the Non-conformist chapel at Sheffield General Cemetery, Sheffield (NGR SK 34132 85882), undertaken by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. It was found that the crypt spans 2 subterranean floors, built in the Egyptian style in stone and handmade red brick. The first floor covers a total area that is up to 23m long and 9m wide, and comprises a main central passage with a separate space at the north end (under the portico) and the south end, and a total of 12 adjacent vaults. One vault contained human skeletal remains. The second subterranean floor is only accessible by ladder, and comprises four separate spaces. A total of 5 non-ferrous or composite metal artefacts were recovered. It is recommended that the Hadfield family vault be fully excavated and recorded, and that measures are taken to ensure that the doorway in the second subterranean floor be made structurally safe.

"Representations", N. 129, Winter 2015.

The essay analyzes the project of maintaining the body of V. I. Lenin in the Mausoleum in Moscow for the past ninety years, focusing on the unique biological science that developed around this project, and the unexpected political role this body has performed.

The Valley of the Fallen – the great monument that Francisco Franco devised, in those dead during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War’s honour – enjoys a leading position amongst the memorials erected along the warlike 20th century, not only because of its impressive size and technical display but also because of its unwonted conception. With a symbolic background of High Middle Ages echoes, it joins architectural approaches from ideas arisen at the end of 18th century with scenic aspects already romantic but full of symbolist and expressionist tendencies, from the end of 19th century and the beginning of 20th century.

Discovered more than a century ago, the Tomb of the Erotes
and the Amarynthos Tomb located in the territory of Eretria
have never been thoroughly studied. The luxurious furniture
of these monuments has attracted a certain amount of critical
attention, but the graves themselves, of Macedonian type, have
been largely neglected.
After an introduction focused on the Macedonian tombs, whose
origin goes back to Northern Greece and whose main characteristic
is the barrel-vault, the first chapter introduces the main
issues related to their distribution and chronology.
Chapters Two to Four exhaustively describe the remains of both
graves. The study of their architecture, interior planning, inscriptions
and offerings raises new questions about the funerary ritual and the
identity of their owners. It also leads to a revision of the chronology:
according to the author, the Tomb of the Erotes dates back to the
second quarter of the third century BC, and the Amarynthos Tomb
to the second half of the third century BC. These dates concur with
the historical data, which attest to the presence of a Macedonian
garrison in Eretria for at least two thirds of the third century BC.
Chapter Five is a comprehensive survey of the funerary ritual
linked to Macedonian Tombs. In the Eretrian tombs, the cremation
of the deceased along with their jewellery reminds practices
from Northern Greece. The collecting of the ashes in a piece of
tissue later placed in a stone urn or a bronze vase is another
example. In Greece, there is a clear link between stone furniture
and Macedonian Tombs, as well as between throne and the
royal/princely burial, since outside Eretria, this type of furniture
is only found in the royal necropolis of Vergina.
The royal or princely birth of the deceased buried in the
Eretrian thrones cannot be excluded, as the onomastic study
suggests. Kratesipolis, the first deceased buried in the central
throne, could be a princess from Northern Greece or Epirus. She
was probably related to her homonym, known to us through literary
sources and related in turn to the Macedonian rulers. The
magnificent tombs of Eretria may have been built for high-ranking
dignitaries, presumably members of the Macedonian garrison.
The study also focuses on the vaulted arch and its symbolism.
The presence of monumental pyres —ephemeral yet imposing
constructions— bears witness of a social class concerned with
decorum.
This book assesses the influence of oriental models, which
are especially manifest in the Amarynthos beds. The analysis
of their posts, characteristic of Achaemenid furniture, suggests
a close familiarity with Persian traditions. The owners of these
pieces could manifestly afford the services of experienced
sculptors who worked for the Macedonian elite, since this type
of posts is scarcely known outside Northern Greece and always
found in a Macedonian context.
Also belonging to the Macedonian cultural sphere are some
offerings of the Tomb of the Erotes (gold jewellery and bronze
vases), whose closest parallels are found in Northern Greece.
Moreover, the pictorial decoration of the Erotes Tomb was probably
inspired by Macedonian funerary painting, which often
reproduces garlands and hanging objects.
A last section discusses the Macedonian presence in Eretria.
It brings together literary, epigraphic and archaeological data,
all of which enrich our understanding of the history of the city’s
Macedonian past and highlight the presence of individuals from
Northern Greece.
Chapter Six broadens the scope of the Macedonian Tombs in
Central Greece. Long neglected, these monuments are nevertheless
remarkable and sometimes as spectacular as their models
from Northern Greece. Their construction required specialists mastering
the technique of the barrel-vault as well as several arithmetic
and geometric ratios (almost always maintained). The quality of the
work, too, betrays the presence of experts; a few original features
may have been the product of schools or regional workshops.
The inventory of Macedonian tombs in Greece is discussed in
its historical context, underlining the link between Macedonian
presence (often military) and subterranean barrel-vaulted chamber
tombs. It is noteworthy that five tombs of this type are known
in Euboea.
The book also tackles more general issues, such as local
production or terracotta imports to Eretria, the introduction of
the barrel-vault in Greece, the distribution of Macedonian tombs
and their social meaning. The latter shows that the rituals related
to the Macedonian tombs were part of a group’s identity, which
is more social than ethnic. They were used as markers for identification
of those who claimed a link (legitimate or not) with the
Macedonian elite. The ostentatious character of these monuments
is exemplified by the position of the Erotes Tomb, whose
tumulus is located on a natural hill and crowned by sculptures
visible from afar.
In many respects, these Macedonian tombs can be considered
exceptional. This monograph will hopefully contribute to
renew the interest they deserve for the study of Archaeology
and Hellenistic Art History, with Eretria and its Macedonian
past in background.

Egyptians went to great lengths to protect their dead from the omnipresent threat of robbery by incorporating specially developed architectural features in their tombs. However, the architecture of tomb security has rarely been studied as a subject in its own right and is usually treated as a secondary topic in publications of a scholarly nature, which tend to regard its role as incidental to the design of the tomb rather than perhaps being the driving force behind it. This issue had been raised by George Reisner (1908: 11) in the early twentieth century, who suggested that the rapid evolution of the architecture of tomb substructures in Egypt was more likely the result of the need for tomb security and a desire for increasingly grandiose tombs, rather than a development spurred by religious or funerary practices. Taking Reisner's premise much further, this book traces the development of the architecture of tomb security from the beginning of the Predynastic Period (c. 5000–4000 BC) until the early Fourth Dynasty (c. 2500 BC), and following a diachronic study of the developments in the Predynastic Period, it goes on to thematically examine the security precautions taken in private and royal tombs from the start of the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 BC) until the end of the reign of Sneferu (c. 2470 BC). Concomitantly, this study assesses what influence, if any, these security features may have had upon the architecture of Egyptian tomb design during the defined period. It concludes from the research that many aspects of the architecture of the Egyptian tomb were indeed originally the result of the need to make the tomb secure. Book available from Archaeopress of Oxford: www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/displayProductDetail.asp?id={A2B81C02-9E55-4139-ABBC-A8D67089431F}

The court histories of Shah Jahan state without ambiguity that he was responsible for the construction of his father’s tomb in Shahdara, Lahore. This chapter challenges the historical record through an examination of the imperfections present at Jahangir’s mausoleum complex, arguing that their presence would be inconceivable if Shah Jahan, who considered the perfection of his architectural commissions as reflective of the perfection of his rule, was the patron. Rather, such construction and decorative anomalies at the site can be attributed to the patronage of Jahangir’s queen, Nur Jahan. Through this discussion the importance of architecture as a medium through which the Mughal royals sought to perpetuate their individual legacies becomes clear, as despite the finished mausoleum and its associated complex being neither perfect nor a recognisable part of Shah Jahan’s imperial architectural oeuvre, he appropriated responsibility for its construction in his court histories.

Este artículo compara los antiguos rituales funerarios de velación (celebrados en las casas) e inhumación (en los cementerios, con su ritual de costumbres, en los que la presentación del cadáver era muy importante) con los nuevos rituales de velación en los tanatorios (lugares pensados para que la muerte no exista y se camufle con la vida), la cremación y los nuevos depósitos para depositar las cenizas (árboles, lagos, columbarios escondidos en las ciudades, ceniceros comunales...) o deshacerse de ellas. En estos (mar, aire, praderas en los cementerios, circuitos de agua...) no se conserva la reliquia sino la memoria, intentando esconder la muerte y aceptando falsamente que ésta no existe.

Desde el siglo XIII se asiste a un proceso general caracterizado por la monumentalización del espacio privado privilegiado destinado a servir de enterramiento. Este proceso es común a nobles y reyes, reservándose para los segundos los espacios privilegiados de catedrales como Sevilla, Córdoba o Toledo. En este trabajo nos ocupamos de señalar los espacios de inhumación elegidos por los monarcas Trastámara desde la creación de la primera capilla-panteón dinástica en la catedral de Toledo a la última capilla funeraria de la casa Trastámara, esta vez un espacio independiente junto a la nueva catedral de Granada.

The article presents a reconstruction and a first architectural analysis of the largest and most elaborate monumental tomb in ancient Thrace. Discovered in 2000, the tomb at Starosel, central Bulgaria, comprises an array of diverse plan components, structures, and decorative elements, masterfully blended into a unified composition. The outstanding craftmanship and skilful engineering indicate that it was the work of an experienced architect and stone-carvers of mixed backgrounds, with extensive knowledge of monumental architecture from across the Aegean. The analysis of the architecture, archaeological evidence, and historical context shows that the tomb was built between 350 and 330 B.C., most likely as a heroon for one of the last Odrysian rulers before Philip II of Macedon’s conquest of Thrace in 341 B.C. The article offers a new explanation of how tholos tombs appeared in Thrace: not through gradual local development, or import of a ready prototype, but as a fusion of architectural forms conceived by an itinerant architect for the needs of an Odrysian patron. Besides its significance for understanding the development of monumental architecture in Thrace, the Starosel tomb is particularly important for providing new insight into the process of hybridization of building traditions that came to define Hellenistic architecture.

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La conquista romana del Mediterráneo oriental y de Egipto amplió los horizontes de los mercaderes ítalo-romanos como nunca antes. A los pocos años de ocupar el territorio, eran cientos las caravanas y barcos que partían anualmente hacia la India y el lejano Oriente desde las ciudades y puertos ubicados en los límites del Imperio romano. Será con Augusto cuando se sienten las bases de un mercado cada vez más globalizado, permitiendo la libre circulación de los productos más deseados por las élites urbanas de la metrópolis romana.
Esta investigación aborda mediante el análisis epigráfico de más de doscientas inscripciones funerarias quienes fueron los personajes ligados al comercio y fabricación de joyas, vestidos, tintes y ungüentos en la ciudad de Roma. Estos productos se comercializaron entre la élite de la capital y entre los consumidores selectivos que emulaban la conducta de la aristocracia romana. El marco cronológico de estudio comprende la etapa que va desde finales del periodo republicano a finales del siglo tercero d.C. Y es precisamente el momento
relacionado con el cambio de era y el primer siglo d.C. cuando se ha podido relacionar cronológicamente un mayor número de inscripciones. A su vez, poder identificar la localización de sus tiendas o talleres nos ha permitido conocer de primera mano los diversos cambios en la topografía urbana de la ciudad.
Asimismo, con el objetivo de conocer los lugares de producción o extracción de estos bienes de carácter suntuarios se han descrito las diferentes rutas intercontinentales de aprovisionamiento de estos productos. En este punto, el análisis de los diferentes agentes
implicados en este comercio permite conocer las diferentes áreas de actuación, cuáles fueron los mercados más visitados y cuál fue el rol que jugó cada una de las potencias implicadas en este intercambio. Para ello se ha estudiado cuál fue el marco común de entendimiento para establecer estas relaciones.
Los resultados obtenidos han permitido ampliar la descripción tenida hasta ahora sobre un comercio tan selecto, así como proponer nuevas hipótesis interpretativas del tema.

English:
nunc patimur longae pacis mala, saevior armis
luxuria incubuit victumque ulciscitur orbem
(JUVENAL. SAT. II, 6, 292-297)

With these words the Roman author Juvenal evokes the evils associated with unbridled lust which had pushed Rome after the conquest of the so far known world. In this sense, the conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean and the annexation of Egypt under direct control by Rome resulted in the restoration and improvement of trade routes to the East, place of origin of most luxury goods markets as valued in Rome.
As part of our thesis about the luxury trade in the city of Rome during the Early Roman Empire, where we look specifically at luxury products, we wish to introduce how new access to these goods sparked a change in Roman society. In this respect, thanks to the study of lapidary inscriptions related with actors linked to the development and sale of
exotic products can be examined a series of changes that occurred from the new Roman state-run establishment under the principality of Augustus. The classical tradition will oppose a new order marked by the Roman elites demand for expensive products, creating fashions and customs unexplored to date, trying to slow it down with the
enactment of laws against excess and access.
These changes will be accompanied by other observable also in this work, highlighting, the emergence of new commercial characters and their existential increase in Rome: margaritarii, coronarii, vascularii, vestiarii, etc. In this process, indirectly new terms will be minted for defining new jobs and others will vary depending on use. Also, there
is a growing desire to show the life and personal work on the tombstones, making clear a new cultural fashion. Finally, this cultural transformation will extend to an urban modification of the Urbs, lifting exclusive spaces for the purchase and sale of these products

The purpose of this paper is to (re)consider Capilla de los Reyes in the Convent of Saint Dominic in Valencia, its possible function(s) and to assess the intentions behind its founding by king Alfonso V, king of Aragon, Sicily and Naples. This exceptional chapel, famous for its tenebrous grey diamond vaults, was built by architect Francesc Baldomar between 1439 and 1463. It belonged to a tradition of places of worship associated with royal residences in different cities in the Crown of Aragon, an entity composed by three kingdoms and a principality that were united only by the rule of a single dynasty. In an age of itinerant kingship, it was imperative to display magnificence, not only through palaces and residences, but also through chapels, cathedrals, monasteries and oratories. These religious spaces functioned as stages of royal piety, underscoring the king’s special relationship with the sacred in a context of rivalry with other Iberian and European monarchies. The royal chapel in Saint Dominic is undeniably a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture, but the patterns of intention for its function remain blurred and subject to further research. This was also one of a series of shrines where monarchic ideals of piety and proximity to the sacred could be made manifest: values of particular significance for a dynasty that made no claims to sacral kingship, but which nonetheless required a sense of royal sovereignty linked to holiness.

"This book presents the papers and discussions held at the second meeting of the European Megalithic Studies Group (Seville, Spain, November 2008). This is therefore a cooperative, international book that brings together leading specialists from several European countries, including France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and Spain. This volume revolves around two crucial aspects of recent research on prehistoric monuments: time (chronology) and matter (raw materials as used in both architecture and artefacts). Both topics have generated much discussion in recent years and form one of the main cutting edges of current research on prehistoric monuments. These two main themes have recently witnessed major advances thanks to the application of new scientific techniques to old and new archaeological problems. For the chronology theme, specific issues include the origin of prehistoric monuments, the limitations and advantages of newly available high-resolution dating techniques (such as AMS radiocarbon analysis of pigments, thermoluminiscence and OSL), and patterns of utilisation, re-utilisation and abandonment. For rare rocks, some of the specific issues covered by this book are rock selection, the frequency and type of rare materials (variscite, quartz, amber, etc.), trade and exchange, the manipulation of raw materials, the symbolic catchment of geological landscapes, and the sourcing of stones. The idea here is to explore the value, function and symbolism of the materials in their prehistoric context, their placement and positioning in relation to funerary structures (architecture) and human remains (individuals), and the evidence they provide for interregional interaction."

The aim of this contribution, within the categories of scale and size that characterize the theme of this volume, is to compare the two main monumental structures in the site of Grotta Porcina, located in southern inner Etruria. The two structures, a sepulchral tumulus and a funerary altar, are carved directly into the rock. The altar, surrounded by a theatrical structure, seems to imitate, with its circular layout and the access bridge to the top spared in the rock, the shape of the large sepulchral tumulus, placed just 85 meters away and in visual contact with it. A series of comparisons both with the Ceretan tumuli, which influence the shape of the tumulus and consequently also that of the altar, and with the stepped structures present in the dromoi/vestibules of the orientalizing tumuli of Tarquinia, leads us to think about the function of the altar and the meaning of its shape, transposition on a reduced scale of the sepulchral tumulus.

This international workshop is addressed to postgraduate students from Greece and Egypt interested in the material culture of death in the eastern Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman times. Invited speakers working on burial contexts, funerary art and architecture shall present thematic and interdisciplinary ways of analysis in which funerary archaeology provides insights on individuals and social groups. Themes that will be discussed include issues of wealth display, social, ethnic and religious identities, the social roles of particular groups of people (e.g. children, women, the elderly, elite or non-elite individuals), and the impact that major historical events may have had on the way individuals or specific groups of individuals treated their dead.

The workshop is organized by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the Archaeological Society of Alexandria (ASA), in collaboration with the Alexandrian Center of Hellenistic Studies (ACHS) of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, within the frame of the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between ASA and NKUA in 2021.

The Tel Arza burial cave, also known as the “Two-Story Tomb,” is one of the most elaborately decorated burial caves in the Second Temple period necropolis of Jerusalem (see Wiegmann and Baruch, this volume). Its facade, carved in bedrock, resembles that of a two-story edifice (Fig. 1): the lower story is designed as a distylos in antis facade, comprising two pseudo-Doric columns between two antae that are crowned by a Doric entablature, of which only the architrave and frieze have survived; the upper, partly-preserved story, bears the remains of two flat pilasters set atop molded bases. This paper presents an analysis of the architectural components of the decorated facade followed by a general discussion and comparative study of the composition of the entire facade as a means for providing a relative dating for the burial cave (for a detailed description of the facade and the exact measurements of its components, see Wiegmann and Baruch, this volume).

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE AMENDMENTS IN PUBLISHED VERSION. 

Starting from a reassessment of a monumental tomb, the historical importance of which has been overlooked due to its collapsed state, this paper shows how such monuments, including their artistic and architectural details, form essential data in modelling the history of places, and how attention to them can also expose gaps in research on landscape and economy that could make significant contributions to understanding the impact of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in ways not so far explored.

"In its day the collapsed, massive rock-cut tomb known as the Broken Lion Tomb, or Yılan Taş, located in the Köhnüş Valley north of Afyon, would have been one of the most impressive tomb monuments in Asia Minor.  Now lying in a pile of confused blocks that sheared off the edge of the cliff face into which it was carved, its original form is hard to imagine and its past glory and status not widely appreciated.  The style of its once rich relief sculptures suggests it was erected in the Achaemenid Persian Period, possibly in the first half or middle of the 5th century BC.  Contemporary occupation in the Phrygian Highlands is not well understood, but settlement remains seem modest, and although there may be some elements of continuity, overall the religious status of the area seems to change through the Persian period, the main locus of Matar worship shifting at some point to Pessinus further east.  This paper considers the appearance of the tomb and poses questions about its context, which can contribute to the history of the Phrygian Highlands and Achaemenid Empire more broadly."