Inscribed Stones / Sarcophagi

Inscribed Stones , In Caesarea, the streets, the public buildings and the burial tombs were all decorated with dedication inscriptions. During the first three-hundred years of the first millennium CE, Latin was the most used language in these inscriptions. From the fourth century on, with the beginning of the Byzantine Empire, the Greek language replaced the Latin., The context of these inscriptions reflects the nature of the city – a thriving, Roman provincial capital. The inscriptions shed light on the public affairs of the city, on its administrative and commercial institutions, on political and private connections, and on citizens’ names, professions and beliefs. The inscriptions are an invaluable source for the study of the city’s history., Sarcophagi , Burial in large stone coffins (sarcophagi) was common throughout the Mediterranean Basin in the second and third centuries CE. This burial custom was first used by Pagans, and then adopted by the Jews, Christians and Samaritans. In Greek, sarcophagus means “meat eater”. The sarcophagus is made of two parts: an elongated chest in which to lay the deceased, and a lid. The sarcophagi were usually placed within burial structures (mausoleum; plural: mausolea) or rock-cut burial caves. The cemetery of Caesarea was located outside the area of urban construction., Excavations at Caesarea unearthed marble sarcophagi imported from Asia Minor during the second-third centuries CE; the marble was quarried on the Island of Proconnesus in the Marble Sea (Marmara). These sarcophagi are characteristically large, adorned with rosettes, garlands, and occasionally with mythological images as well. The sarcophagi lids were carved in the shape of a gabled roof, at times decorated with a pattern of tiles or scales. Some of the sarcophagi were imported to Caesarea with only an outline of their decoration, perhaps in fear of breakage during transport, or in order to finalize their decoration in accordance with the client’s taste on the spot. Often, the sarcophagi’s decoration was not complicated, due possibly to lack of time or economical considerations, or this kind of uncompleted sarcophagus may have been fashionable at the time.,