VATICAN CITY (Oct. 9) – Visitors to the Vatican soon will 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.
The necropolis, which was unearthed three years ago during construction of a parking lot, will open to the public this week. One archaeologist said on Monday that sculptures, engravings and other objects found entombed with the dead made the find a “little Pompeii” of cemeteries.
The burial sites, 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, officials at a Vatican Museums news conference said Monday.
The remains of the child, whose gender was not determined, were discovered during the construction of the walkways, after the main excavation had finished, said Daniele Battistoni, a Vatican archaeologist.
[…] “We have had the mausoleums of Hadrian and Augustus,” Spinola said, referring to majestic monuments along the Tiber in Rome, “but we were short on these middle- and lower-class” burial places.
The burial sites help “document the middle class, which usually escapes us,” said Paolo Liverani, an archaeologist and former Museums official who worked as a consultant on the site. “You don’t construct history with only generals and kings.”
Among those buried in the necropolis was a set designer for Pompey’s Theater, notorious for being near the spot where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death. Decorating the designer’s tomb were some symbols of his trade — a compass and a T-square.(READ MORE).
Los visitantes que vayan al Vaticano podrán descender a uno antiguo mundo de los muertos, una nueva necrópolis descubierta que servía de enterramiento durante el Imperio Romano. La necrópolis fue encontrada al hacer obras para un párking y, según un arqueólogo, puede ser considerada como la “pequeña Pompeya” de los cementerios. Se podrá ver algunos esqueletos, incluido el de un niño enterrado con un huevo de gallina, que los científicos creen que simbolizaba la esperanza del renacimiento.
“Teníamos los mausoleos de Adriano y de Augusto”, relata Spínola, el Jefe de Conservación de los Museos Vaticanos, pero “no teníamos casi enterramientos de esta clase. La historia no se hace solo de reyes y generales”. Entre otros está enterrado allí el arquitecto que diseñó el Teatro de Pompeyo, notorio porque está cerca del punto donde apuñalaron hasta la muerte a César.
UPDATE: Some photos:
A marble statue of a sleeping slave appears at the site of a Roman necropolis in the Vatican in a photograph released October 9, 2006.
A sarcophagus adorned with a woman and victory wings lies at the site of a Roman necropolis in the Vatican in a photograph released October 9, 2006.
In this undated photo provided Monday, Oct. 9, 2006 by the Vatican Museums, a general view of an ancient necropolis unearthed at the Vatican is seen. Vatican Museums officials and archaeologists on Monday unveiled the necropolis, which was unearthed three years ago during the construction of a parking lot for Vatican City employees and vehicles. Visitors to the Vatican will soon be able to step into the newly unveiled necropolis likened by archaeologists to a ”little Pompeii” of cemeteries which were the final resting place of the rich and not-so-affluent inhabitants during centuries of Roman imperial Rule. (AP Photo / Vatican Museums, ho)
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