Southern Necropolis
About
Gerasa buried its dead beyond the south gate along the road to Philadelphia, sinking shaft tombs into worked-out limestone quarries. The cemetery stretched more than a mile and held intact skeletons, skull-less burials and cremated bone in the same ground. In 117 CE it was still in daily use. Hadrian's builders closed quarry and necropolis together in the 130s and drove new foundations through the tomb chambers.
What happened here
The dead are outside the walls because the law requires it, so the approach to every town is lined with them. Tombs face the road in rows, grand ones in front and simpler markers behind, all of them addressed to the passer-by. Burial clubs let ordinary people and slaves pay a monthly subscription for a place in a communal vault and a decent funeral; the alternative is a pit. Families come out on anniversaries and at the February festival, eat at the graveside, and pour wine into a pipe set into the ground. Undertakers, stonecutters and letter-cutters work nearby and compete on price. Ground is bought by the foot, and the frontage on the road costs the most.
Sources
Nearby
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 →