THIS CHAPTER INVESTIGATES A DIFFERENT TYPE OF SPACE, THAT OF THE built tomb. What were the dominant guidelines in designing a final resting place? How were tombs built, organized, and decorated? This chapter is not concerned with in-depth descriptions of the architectural features of the tombs, an effort that would be thwarted in any case by large gaps in the available data. Rather, it aims to identify the overarching patterns in the way people were buried, and how these inform us about funerary rituals. The previous chapter signaled the persistence of older customs in the Roman period, such as the continuous use of pre-Roman cemeteries. As cities expanded, additional burial grounds were created, and it is here that new concepts of cemetery space, related to visibility and spatial connections between the tomb and settlement, started to appear. This chapter takes the theme of continuity and change to the tomb itself.

The first part of the chapter presents an overview of the different architectural types by summarizing the more extensive discussion of tomb types presented in Appendix 2. A discussion about the reliability of the distributions of tomb types precedes this section. The second part investigates the combinations of different types across space and time, and assesses the degrees of diversity and uniformity in Syrian cemeteries. These are then compared to pre-Roman practices and connected to changing concepts of funerary display. The discussion at the end of the chapter problematizes the sample a bit further by focusing on research biases inherent in the data set. It concludes with an investigation of the possible architecture models for the new elements in the tomb architecture, and places Syrian mortuary practices in the cultural milieu of the East Mediterranean, Rome, and the Iranian world.

TOMB TYPES

We can distinguish at least nine distinct architectural types of tomb in the sample from the Roman period. These immediately tell us that Syrians did not choose similar grave forms, or bury the dead in tombs of the same size, outlook, and material. Far from it, in fact. The funerary assemblage is characterized by a great eclecticism in architectural shapes and forms of decoration. In order to give a sense of the range, this section describes each of the architectural types separately. First, however, a few methodological notes are necessary.