Roman tombstones

Roman tombstone base, 2nd century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

The British Museum had a few Roman tombstones when I visited in 2017. It’s hard, when viewing them, not to think about how many more there must have been that were lost to history. Seeing them in a museum, protected and preserved, allows us a glimpse into history, but also removes them from the area of the graves they were created to mark.

Tombstone for Gaius Saufeius, 1st century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

Tombstone, 1st century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

Tombstone, 3rd century CE, Lincoln, British Museum

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Greek stele

Continuing our visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, I photographed this stele – gravestone. The museum identifies the origin of the stele as the Kerameikos, tombs that sat just outside of the city of Athens. Like the Roman box in my last post, this is also marble, dated to the 5th century B.C.

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Roman cinerary box

This Roman marble box is used to hold cremated remains. The Minneapolis Institute of Art dates the box to the 1st century and states that the inscriptions indicate the remains are that of a man and woman who were freed slaves.

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