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Dick Osseman | all galleries >> Aizanoi >> Aizanoi necropolis > Aizanoi june 2008 2164.jpg
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15-JUN-2008

Aizanoi june 2008 2164.jpg

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Typical for this area are gravestones in the form of door, symbolizing the entrance to the underworld. A lot of these are on display near the temple. Most of them are from the second century AD and on inscription mainly mention the deceased and the founders of the stone. Symbols indicate who was remembered: eagles, lions, bulls for men for instance.

On the left: a man’s gravestone with a border decoration in Greek/Phrygian style.
On the right: A double gravestone, for a man and his wife. The space above the left ‘door’ is decorated with a bull (a male symbol), while the counterpart on the right bears the image of a basket, filled with wool – which is a female symbol.
Such double gravestones are rather uncommon in Anatolia, and seem to fit in a late-Phrygian tradition; palmettes and geometric motifs (crosses and interlocking rectangular lines) appear on Phrygian rock monuments (6th century BC) too.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: (amongst others) Wikipedia.

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