A new addition to the Vatican Museums:
Visitors to the Vatican will soon be able to descend into an ancient world of the dead, a newly unveiled necropolis that was a burial place for the rich and not-so-affluent during Roman imperial rule.
Vatican Museums officials and archaeologists on Monday gave a press tour of the necropolis, which was unearthed three years ago during construction of a parking lot. One archaeologist said sculptures, engravings and other objects found entombed with the dead made the find a "little Pompeii" of cemeteries.
The burial places, ranging from simple terra-cotta funerary urns with ashes still inside to ornately sculptured sarcophagi, date from between the era of Augustus (23 B.C. to 14 A.D.) to that of Constantine in the first part of the 4th century.
From specially constructed walkways, visitors can look down on some skeletons, including that of an infant buried by loved ones who left a hen’s egg beside the body. The egg, whose smashed shell was reconstructed by archaeologists, might have symbolized hopes for a rebirth, said officials at a Vatican Museums news conference.
The remains of the child, whose gender wasn’t determined, were discovered during the construction of the walkways, after the main excavation had finished, said Daniele Battistoni, a Vatican archaeologist.
Buried there were upper class Romans as well as simple artisans, with symbols of their trade, offering what archaeologists called rare insights into middle and lower-middle class life.
"We found a little Pompeii of funeral" life, said Giandomenico Spinola, a head of the Museums’ classical antiquities department.
snip
Starting later this week, tourists, in groups of 25 or less, will be able to visit the necropolis, after writing to the Vatican Museums for permission. Initially, the tour will be available on Fridays and Saturdays, and on other days as well if it proves popular.
I can’t figure out where it is in relation to everything else – if someone could clarify, that would be great.
One headstone in the newly found necropolis marks the last resting place of Alcimus, one of Nero’s slaves, who according to the inscription was in charge of maintaining the scenery at the Theatre of Pompey.
Vatican scholars said that the burial ground had been so well preserved partly because of a landslide at the end of the 2nd century AD which covered much of it. The mosaic floor of one mausoleum depicts Dionysus, the god of wine, propped up by a satyr.
Here’s the Vatican Information Service release
Funerary altars, urns, and sarcophagi with figures in bas-relief have also been brought to light. Of particular interest is the sarcophagus of a young ‘equites’ (knight), Publius Caesilius Victorinus (270-290 AD), which shows a figure in prayer next to a tree and with a bird above. Some of the tomb inscriptions specify the profession and/or the place of origin of the occupants, while some of the altars have holes to hold flower garlands.
The archeological site may be visited on Fridays and Saturdays in groups of no more than 25 persons. Reservation is obligatory and may be done by sending a fax to Vatican Museums – Office for Special Visits (no. 0669881573) or by writing to visitespeciali.musei@scv.va.
Read Previous Post