DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0061
chap, xxxm.] GROTTA REGULINI-GALASSI. 45
Most of the niches are double, or for two bodies. Some,
beside inscriptions, have painted decorations—a wreath, for
instance, on one side, and some crotala, or castanets, on the
other, or a wreath, and a small pot or alabastron, repre-
sented as if suspended above the corpse. Between the
niches are elegant pilasters, and in front are the legs of
couches, and the usual long, paw-footed stools, all painted
on the stucco, to make each mortuary bed resemble a
festive-couch. On one of the square pillars which support
the beamed roof, is painted a large round shield. In the
ceiling between the pillars is a shaft cut through the rock,
from the plain above.3
Like most of the tombs of the Banditaccia, which are
below the surface, this was half full of water. At the
expense of wet feet, we contrived to examine them all; but
after heavy rains, a visit to Caere would, to many, prove
fruitless. One tomb was completely reclosed with earth
washed down from above, so that we were obliged to have
it re-excavated for our especial inspection.
GrROTTA REGULINI-GALASSI.
The sepulchre at Cervetri which has most renown, and the
greatest interest from its high antiquity, the peculiarity of
its structure, and the extraordinary nature and value of its
contents, is that called after its discoverers—the archpriest
Regulini, and General Galassi. This is one of the very few
virgin-tombs, found in Etruscan cemeteries. It was opened
in April 1836. It lies about three furlongs from Cervetri,
to the south-west of the ancient city, and not far from the
3 See the woodcut at the head of this late the sepulchre, in preparation for the
chapter. The shaft was either used as an annual parentalia. Such shafts are most
entrance after the doorway had been common in the tombs of Falerii; but
closed, by means of niches cut for the feet there open generally in the anti-chamber,
and hands ; or may have served, by the rarely in the tomb itself,
removal of the covering above, to venti-
Most of the niches are double, or for two bodies. Some,
beside inscriptions, have painted decorations—a wreath, for
instance, on one side, and some crotala, or castanets, on the
other, or a wreath, and a small pot or alabastron, repre-
sented as if suspended above the corpse. Between the
niches are elegant pilasters, and in front are the legs of
couches, and the usual long, paw-footed stools, all painted
on the stucco, to make each mortuary bed resemble a
festive-couch. On one of the square pillars which support
the beamed roof, is painted a large round shield. In the
ceiling between the pillars is a shaft cut through the rock,
from the plain above.3
Like most of the tombs of the Banditaccia, which are
below the surface, this was half full of water. At the
expense of wet feet, we contrived to examine them all; but
after heavy rains, a visit to Caere would, to many, prove
fruitless. One tomb was completely reclosed with earth
washed down from above, so that we were obliged to have
it re-excavated for our especial inspection.
GrROTTA REGULINI-GALASSI.
The sepulchre at Cervetri which has most renown, and the
greatest interest from its high antiquity, the peculiarity of
its structure, and the extraordinary nature and value of its
contents, is that called after its discoverers—the archpriest
Regulini, and General Galassi. This is one of the very few
virgin-tombs, found in Etruscan cemeteries. It was opened
in April 1836. It lies about three furlongs from Cervetri,
to the south-west of the ancient city, and not far from the
3 See the woodcut at the head of this late the sepulchre, in preparation for the
chapter. The shaft was either used as an annual parentalia. Such shafts are most
entrance after the doorway had been common in the tombs of Falerii; but
closed, by means of niches cut for the feet there open generally in the anti-chamber,
and hands ; or may have served, by the rarely in the tomb itself,
removal of the covering above, to venti-