From looted tombs to ancient society: a survey of the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene

Abstract

This paper uses the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene as a source of information about Cyrenean society and its evolution through time. The vitality of the aristocratic class produced, already by the sixth century BC, a tradition of monumental tombs using both, conventional, or foreign models according to the identity that each Cyrenean wanted to show. Tombs defined land holdings and the Southern Necropolis is an optimal setting to study their relationships with sanctuaries, roads and quarries. The continuing prosperity of the city increased the number and elaboration of tombs, especially in Classical/Hellenistic times when the Archaic territorial divisions became invisible in a landscape overcrowded by sepulchres. A tradition particularly focused on external façades was developed, possibly underlying a focus on funerary rituals held outside the tombs. After the Ptolemaic and Roman conquests this tradition was challenged by external models and Cyreneans tried to adapt foreign customs into their ancient ritual systems, for example through portrait-busts. With time the foreign models prevailed and the tombs displayed elements shared with a wider Roman cultural elite, nevertheless, already from the third century AD onwards, the regional crises sign the end of the monumental necropolis' phenomenon.

Documenting an unknown funerary complex at Cyrene: ‘The Garden Tomb’. Architectural evolution and epigraphic issues

“…Following the early phases of the tomb, the insertion of the cubiculum occurred during Roman Imperial times, indicating a revitalisation of the monument (Cherstich 2008a, 135–38; 2008b, 84–87; Cinalli 2008), as often happens elsewhere in the necropolis. In the Garden Tomb the cubiculum is integrated into the former scheme of the interior arrangement as a lateral extension (whereas in tombs N165 and N226 for example, it adulterates the previous arrangement, absorbing some parts of it: Thorn 2005, 393, fig.…”

A ‘living’ necropolis: change and reuse in the cemeteries of Cyrene

“…It is true that the majority of the Cyrenean tombs were built anew during the Hellenistic period (e.g. L. Cherstich 2008b, 78–9), but this does not mean that building a new monument was the only available option. Choosing to reuse an old tomb belonging to one's family could imply, for example, the desire to underline ancestry and to show clear dynastic links.…”

“…S4) occupy quarrying lots which were wholly ‘spent’ just to build them, without producing further blocks to be used elsewhere. Nevertheless, in the majority of other cases, the funerary lots started as normal quarries which were reused as tombs when the production of the block ended (L. Cherstich 2008b, 80–82). Sometimes tombs received peculiar attention and they could even be turned into unique cultic places, as possibly happened in the Archaic ‘sanctuary-tomb’ at Ain Hofra (Menozzi 2006, 67; Menozzi 2015).…”

“…By mapping the survey results one can make chronological maps of the area, showing that the Southern Necropolis is in itself a landscape of reuse (Figure 1) (L. Cherstich 2008b, figs 1 and 3). The earliest tombs, dating to the late sixth and fifth centuries BC, seem to be spread according to a regular scheme, which was mostly ignored by later tombs (L. Cherstich 2008b, 77–78). The Hellenistic period was, in fact, the peak of the monumental funerary culture and therefore all the available space was occupied with funerary monuments.…”

“…quarry (possibly used for the nearby temple). Furthermore, the presence of Archaic rock-cut tomb S69 (L. Cherstich 2008b, 76, fig. 2) demonstrates the existence of quarrying activities in creating the Balagrae road not later than the early fifth century BC (Figure 3).…”