Ricotti, E.S.P. (2026). "Elephant tomb at Carmona." Gardens of the Roman Empire, accessed October 2, 2026. https://roman-gardens.github.io/id/1ed466c4a5/

Elephant tomb at Carmona

Published: 2026-10-01
Last modified: 2026-10-01

Dates

unspecified

Excavation Dates

unspecified

Garden Description

In the necropolis of Carmona, near Seville, is a very large and deep tomb created in a shallow area that had been excavated in the rock (Fig. 1). Named the Elephant tomb after a statue of an elephant found just at the entrance of the repository. (Fig. 1, b). In a corner of the tomb, there was a very regular kitchen where the servants could prepare the "refrigeri" dinner (Fig. 1, k). Nearby a pit (Fig. 1, p) furnished water both to the kitchen and to a nearby vast ritual basin for purification (Fig. 1, r). The triclinium for the relatives was set just outside the tomb (Fig. 1, a) while a stone bench was set around tables cut in the rock (Fig. 1, c) for the servants and other family's dependents. Gardens may well have occupied the free spaces outside the tomb. It is certainly one of the most interesting tomb that I have visited, and has features often present in Punic tombs of the North Africa. Thus I reconstructed (Fig. 2) and also photographed it (Fig. 3).

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the Elephant tomb at the necropolis of Carmona near Seville.

Images

Fig. 2: Aerial view reconstruction of the tomb.
Credit: Reconstruction by author.
Fig. 3: Photo of the Tomb of the Elefant at Carmona.
Credit: Photo by author.

Bibliography

  • Vaquerizo Gil, Desiderio, Necroìpolis urbanas en Baetica, Tarragona 2010. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places