Tomb of Payava
About
Carved to resemble a timber house with a vaulted roof, this stone sarcophagus tomb belonged to the Lycian dynast Payava and stood among the monumental tombs of Xanthos. Its reliefs show the deceased receiving visitors in Persian dress, blending Lycian, Greek, and Achaemenid style in one monument. The carved sarcophagus was later shipped to the British Museum, though its base remains at the site.
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
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