Corinthian Tomb
About
Carved into Petra's eastern cliff face between 40 and 70 CE, this tomb takes its name from capitals loosely resembling the Corinthian order, though they're actually Nabataean floral horn designs. Its facade spans nearly 28 meters wide and 28 meters tall, modeled on the design of the famous Treasury nearby. The layout borrows heavily from Ptolemaic architecture that had developed in Alexandria. It stands directly beside the even larger Palace Tomb along the same royal cliff.
What happened here
Roman burial is a family matter conducted in public. The dead are carried out of town, cremated or laid in the ground, and mourned with formal noise; the funeral of anyone important is a procession with masks of the ancestors carried by hired men. The tomb that follows is designed to be read by strangers on the road: name, age, offices, sometimes a trade shown in relief, often a line addressed directly to the passer-by. Ordinary people appear here as they nowhere else — a baker with his ovens carved on the front, a freedman naming the woman he could finally marry, a child's age given in days. Anniversaries bring the family back with food and wine.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →