Urn Tomb at Petra
About
One of Petra's grandest royal tombs, cut into the cliff face of Jabal al-Khubtha above a broad forecourt on stone arches, with a facade rising some 17 meters. A large stone urn carved atop its pediment gave the tomb its name and may mark the resting place of a Nabataean king. Vaulted chambers built beneath the terrace served for storage or further burials. Only eleven years into Roman rule over Arabia Petraea by 117 CE, it remained one of the most striking monuments in the new province.
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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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 →