Tomb 47Isola Sacra Menu

 

Tomb 47 is one of the most interesting tombs in this necropolis. On the front side the grave was equipped with a fountain and therefore can be called a burial monument. Besides that, the kind of materials used for the building shows that tomb 47 was one of the latest tombs built on the Isola Sacra.
The grave consisted of two floors, two burial chambers, a solarium in front of the upper burial chamber and a space that was hardly accessible. Because the latter room was covered inside with waterproof material, one might think of a cistern (water reservoir), connected with the fountain outside. That fountain had a central well flanked by two niches and marble steps from which water was running down. Finally the water was collected in a basin in front of the steps.

The whole building is surrounded by a walled-in courtyard. The back wall of the burial chamber was extended on both sides, so that the courtyard was provided with two large wings. The new side walls had at least two rows of six arcosolia. Beneath the floor of each wing eighteen formae have been found, each with room for two bodies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entrance of the lower burial chamber lies on the north side. The stairs for reaching the upper floor are located on the south side.

So, the entrance of the upper burial chamber, which is by the way completely destroyed, must have been on the south or east side.
From the lower burial chamber we can hardly tell anything about the burial rites. There were probably a mosaic floor and marble sarcophagi. Investigation below the floor has brought to light several older tombs; tombs "alla cappuccina", tombs "a cassone" and amphorae. During the building of tomb 47 these graves have been spared.

On behalf of the heavy construction for the double burial chamber, a shuttering was developed which was only using the space between the existing tombs.
According to the construction and the plan, we can date tomb 47 to the end of the third century AD. Artifacts such as oil lamps and coins show that tomb 47 has been used at least till the late fourth century AD.

 

 

 

• Sources
• Russel Meigs - Roman Ostia, At the Clarendon Press 1973
• Guido Calza - Necropoli nell'Isola Sacra'(1940)
• Dr. Jan Theo Bakker.
• Hilding Thylander - Inscriptions du port d'Ostie (Lund C W K Gleerup 1952).
• Ida Baldassarre, Irene Bragantini, Chiara Morselli and Franc Taglietti - Necropoli di Porto, Isola Sacra (Roma 1996).
  
  
• Notes
• 1:The fountain described by I. Baldassarre was not recognized by G. Calza. In his first report he saw the marble stairs as a way to reach the upper floor. He mentioned, however, the discovery of a thin lead pipe for water and an ornament for pouring out water - I. Baldassarre, I. Bragantini, Ch. Morselli and and F. Taglietti: Necropoli di Porto (1996) - Guido Calza: Necropoli Nell’Isola Sacra 1940