The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distance from a city, as opposed to tombs within cities, which were common in various places and periods of history. They are different fromgrave fields, which did not have structures or markers above the ground. While the word is most commonly used for ancient sites, the name was revived in the early 19th century and applied to planned city cemeteries, such as theGlasgow Necropolis.
Probably the best-known one is theGiza Necropolis. Made famous by theGreat Pyramid of Giza, which was included in theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World, the necropolis includes three major pyramid tombs ofOld Kingdom kings and several smaller pyramids related to the royal burials, as well asmastabas (a typical royal tomb of the early Dynastic period) and tombs and graveyards for lesser personages.[citation needed]The pyramids at Giza, especially the Great Pyramid of Khufu, are awe-inspiring structures that have stood the test of time for thousands of years.
Other ancient Egyptian necropoleis of note are the necropolis ofSaqqara, home to theStep Pyramid of Djoser and other royal burials; the necropolis ofDahshur, site of theRed Pyramid ofSneferu, the oldest "true" pyramid; andAbydos, site of a necropolis containing burials from thePredynastic through theLate Period. Apair of small necropoleis of Theban-style rock-cut tombs started to take shape in thewadis east of Akhetaten (modernAmarna) during theAmarna Period of the New Kingdom; while it appears that the tombs were not ultimately used for burials due to the collapse of the Amarna regime about 20 years after the foundation of Akhetaten, the tomb decorations provide much information about that era of ancient Egyptian history.
Tumuli are placed along a street in the Banditaccia necropolis ofCerveteri, Italy.
TheEtruscans took the concept of a "city of the dead" quite literally.[editorializing] The typical tomb at the Banditaccia necropolis atCerveteri consists of atumulus which covers one or morerock-cut subterranean tombs. These tombs had multiple chambers and were elaborately decorated like contemporary houses. The arrangement of the tumuli in a grid of streets gave it an appearance similar to the cities of the living.[2] The art historianNigel Spivey considers the namecemetery inadequate and argues that only the termnecropolis can accurately represent these sophisticated burial sites.[3][4] Etruscan necropoli were usually located on hills or slopes of hills.[5]
In theMycenean Greek period predatingancient Greece, burials could be performed inside the city. InMycenae, for example, the royal tombs were located in a precinct within the city walls. This changed during the ancient Greek period when necropoleis usually lined the roads outside a city. There existed some degree of variation within the ancient Greek world however.Sparta was notable for continuing the practice of burial within the city.[6]
Not far from Persepolis, you can find Naqsh-e Rostam, where Persian kings like Darius I and II, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes are buried in tombs carved into the cliffs.[7]Naqsh-e Rostam is an ancient necropolis located about 12 km (7.5 mi) northwest ofPersepolis, inFars Province,Iran. The oldest relief at Naqsh-i Rustam dates toc. 1000 BC. Though it is severely damaged, it depicts a faint image of a man with unusualheadgear and is thought to beElamite in origin. The depiction is part of a larger image, most of which was removed at the command ofBahram II. Four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings are carved out of the rock face at a considerable height above the ground. The tombs are known locally as the "Persian crosses", after the shape of thefacades of the tombs. Later,Sassanian kings added a series ofrock reliefs below the tombs.
The site ofBin Tepe served as a necropolis forSardis, the capital of theLydian Empire. It consists of over 100tumuli including the monumentalTumulus ofAlyattes which was commented on by ancient writers includingHerodotus and still marks the landscape today. Though Lydian elites also used other burial styles, tumuli are so numerous throughout Lydia that they are used to track settlement patterns. The style was adopted around 600 BC, likely inspired by similarPhrygian tombs atGordion. It continued after the Persian conquest of Lydia, into the Hellenistic and Roman eras.[8](pp1121)[9][10]
Myra
Myra is an ancient city in Lycia that has two areas filled with rock-cut tombs. These tombs are carved into the cliffs and look like the fronts of temples. The two burial sites are called the river necropolis and the ocean necropolis. The ocean necropolis is located just northwest of the ancient theater.[11]
Rome
The 'Vila de Madrid' necropolis is located in Barcelona, Catalonia. The first archaeological digs happened in the 1950s and uncovered many graves along a side road that was part of the Roman city of Barcino's western cemetery.[12]
In more recent times, some cemeteries are also called necropolises because they look like cities made of above-ground tombs, especially in areas like New Orleans, where the ground is too wet for traditional burials.[1] The world's largest remaining operating necropolis from theVictorian era, for example, isRookwood Necropolis, inNew South Wales, Australia.
A modern era example isColma, California, United States. Known as the "City of Souls," Colma is a small town with about 1,600 living people but nearly 1.5 million buried in its cemeteries. Covering two square miles, the town is more about graves than homes. Funerals often cause the most traffic, and residents get automated alerts when big funeral processions are on the way.[13]
^Greenewalt, Crawford (2011). "Sardis: A First Millenium B.C.E. Capital in Western Anatolia". In Steadman, Sharon; McMahon, Gregory (eds.).The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Anatolia. Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195376142.013.0052.
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