Glossary Tombs and burial
Necropolis
Also called: necropoleis
A large cemetery, especially the burial ground of an ancient town, usually set apart from the settlement itself.
From the Greek for 'city of the dead'. In Cyprus the word is used for the extensive cemeteries of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age towns: Enkomi, Salamis, Amathus, Kourion, Marion and others, each with hundreds of rock-cut chamber tombs used over centuries. Because tombs preserve whole vessels, most complete Cypriot pottery and jewellery in museums comes from necropoleis rather than from settlements. See mortuary practices.
Full entry: Society, Ritual, and Identity in Ancient Cypriot Mortuary Practice
Related terms
- Intramural and extramural
Inside (intramural) or outside (extramural) a settlement or its walls; used above all of where the dead were buried.
- Royal tombs
The monumental built tombs of the Iron Age kings and elite of Cyprus, best known at Salamis, where horses were killed at the funeral.
- Grave goods
Objects placed with the dead at burial, such as pots, tools, weapons, jewellery and food.