Location | Orvieto, Umbria, Italy |
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Coordinates | 42°43′15.6″N12°06′9.2″E / 42.721000°N 12.102556°E |
The Crocifisso del Tufo is an Etruscan necropolis in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. [1]
The necropolis owes its name to a crucifix engraved in the tuff inside a rock chapel, carved into the rock on which the city stands. The small church that gave the name to the necropolis can also be reached via a pedestrian path that descends from Porta Maggiore.[ citation needed ]
It is dated to at least the 6th century because of inscriptions found at the site. [2] It was attended from the 8th to the 3rd centuries B.C. [3] However, its apex of development was in the 6th and 5th centuries. [3] It is to this time that the layout of the necropolis, grouped in blocks, is dated. [3] It consists of over 200 tombs. [4] The burials were fashioned from the local stone-like amalgam called tuff , a mixture of lava and ash. [2] [4] They are of "chamber" type, mostly arranged in a network of sepulchral streets, forming an orthogonal system. [2]
The lots, "defined by orthogonal intersecting roads that were occupied by tombs of the cubic kind—"a dado" like dice—follow a rigid disposition reflecting a social organization of an egalitarian kind." [3]
The burials that can be visited today belong to individual families; they were closed with a slab of tuff and cushioned with blocks of tuff. Each tomb has the family name in Etruscan inscribed on the entrance lintels. [2] [3]
Riccardo Mancini, an Orvieto native who had been working on Etruscan sites since the 1870s, inherited some property, to which land was possibly added through marriage. In this property, he discovered the Crocifisso del Tufo necropolis. It lay unknown and untouched for over 2000 years. [2]
The objects found at the site can be seen at the Museums of Orvieto. [4] Some of them are luxurious items, showing the wealthiness achieved by a large part of the population. [3]
Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English, is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara contains numerous pyramids, including the Pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb, and a number of mastaba tombs. Located some 30 km (19 mi) south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km.
Orvieto is a city and comune in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone.
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Caere is the Latin name given by the Romans to one of the larger cities of southern Etruria, the modern Cerveteri, approximately 50–60 kilometres north-northwest of Rome. To the Etruscans it was known as Cisra, to the Greeks as Agylla and to the Phoenicians as 𐤊𐤉𐤔𐤓𐤉𐤀.
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Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 10th and 1st centuries BC. From around 750 BC it was heavily influenced by Greek art, which was imported by the Etruscans, but always retained distinct characteristics. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta, wall-painting and metalworking especially in bronze. Jewellery and engraved gems of high quality were produced.
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The Tomb of the Triclinium ) is an Etruscan tomb in the Necropolis of Monterozzi dated to approximately 470 BC. The tomb is named after the Roman triclinium, a type of formal dining room, which appears in the frescoes of the tomb. It has been described as one of the most famous of all Etruscan tombs.
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The National Archaeological Museum of Orvieto is s a museum in Orvieto, region of Umbria, Italy. It is located adjacent to the Duomo in the Gothic-style 13th-century Papal Palace in Piazza Duomo.
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