Tomb Garden

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

unspecified

Excavation Dates

unspecified

Garden Description

A broken tombstone from Myra records part of a testator’s instructions to certain persons (gardeners?) charged with “not living elsewhere but staying in the heroon and themselves taking care of it completely” (ἀλλαχῆ οἰκῆσαι, μένειν δὲ ἐν τῶ ἡρώω καὶ αὐτοὺς ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν) in return for which “they are to have use of the walled garden and the buildings in it, two underground rooms, and the two corresponding rooms on the ground floor” (οἳ καὶ ἐχέτωσαν τὴν χρῆσιν τοῦ περιτετειχισμένου κηπίου καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ οἰκημάτων, οἴκων καταγείων δύο· καὶ τῶν κατ’ αὐτῶν ἀναγείων δύο). The two “houses” (oikoi) were probably humble structures, combining storage rooms for garden equipment and residential space for the gardeners.

Bibliography

E. Petersen and F. von Luschan, Reisen in Lykias, Milyas und Kibyratis II. Vienna, 1889, p. 36 no. 56. (worldcat)
J. Kubińska, Les monuments funéraires dans les inscriptions grecques de l’Asie Mineure. Warsaw, 1968, pp. 142-43. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places

Myra (Pleiades:639005)