25.11.2024Vortrag: "Marble and travertine: The production, contexts, and life of Roman sarcophagi at Hierapolis of Phrygia" am 2. Dezember 2024

Marble and travertine: The production, contexts, and life of Roman sarcophagi at Hierapolis of Phrygia

During its peak of economic and cultural prosperity, betwwen the second and third centuries CE, Hierapolis of Phrygia (modern Pamukkale, in Turkey's Denizli region) was encircled by hundreds of tombs to the north east, and south, forming one of the most prominent features of the urban landscape. Acress these funerary areas, thousands of travertine sarcophagi and hundres of marble ones are dispersed among the buildings, placed on rooftops, and clustered within funerary precincts. Many of these sarcophagi remain in their original locations, near the structures they were associated with, along with related objects and inscriptions that completed the tomb's display.

This lecture presents the preliminary findings from the ongoing cataloging of sarcophagi at Hierapolis, carried out as part of the Italian Archaeological Mission. Specifically, through an examination of the decorative motifs on travertine sarcophagi and the fluted marble coffins characteristic of Hierapolis, the lecture explores the work of local workshops, the social identity and choices of their patrons, and the role of sarcophagi in shaping the funerary landscape. The burial grounds of Hierapolis and their sarcophagi offer a unique perspective for reconstructing workshop practices, technologies, and the competitive social dynamics of urban societies in the imperial Greek East.