DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26282#0157
Pachoras: The Cathedrals of Aetios, Paulos and Petros
9.2.3. Tomb of an unknown bishop
This baked brick sepulcher to the left of the tomb
of Ignatios [cf. Fig. 139]. appeared to be the latest
in the complex. It was trapezoid in shape,
measuring 2.90 m in length, 1.25-1.55 m in
width, c. 0.90 m in height. The square shaft
(0.70 by 0.70 m) was 1.35 m deep. The entrance
in the east wall, 0.45 by 0.55 m, was arched; it
led to a rectangular barrel-vaulted burial chamber
that measured 2.00 m in length, 0.61 m in width,
0.75 m in height.
The skeleton was found with arms crossed on
the chest, in extended position with head to the
west (Dzierzykraj-Rogalski 1985: 78-98). No
equipment was found except for traces of what
could have been a wooden staff or cross.
At some point in time, after the third tomb
had been constructed, the complex was given an
architecturally uniform appearance that presum-
ably included the fronts of the three sepulchers
and their top surface. The resulting shape was
a trapezoid adapted to the entrance leading to the
Building of Paulos and set at an oblique angle
toward the southern church facade. This structure
now measured 3.80 m in length on the south and
3.60 m on the north. The eastern side reached the
bench by the Building of Paulos wall and was
5.00 m wide, while the southern front with two
projections at the corners and uniform platform
in front of the tombs was narrower, measuring
just 4.50 m. The antae in the facade were made of
baked brick and plastered, presumably like the
whole monument. Its top, largely destroyed, was
most probably flat. In the southeastern corner,
a cylindrical depression was preserved, measuring
0.15 m across and 0.35 m in depth.
In the central part of the facade of this
monument, a special niche had been made for the
funerary stele of Bishop Ignatios. There is no
trace of similar settings for steles in the neighbor-
ing sepulchers and the damage to the upper edge
of the northern tomb was probably not inten-
tional. Hence, nothing testifies to the presence of
other steles in this facade. A brick retaining wall
in front of the stele of Ignatios, protecting it from
being engulfed by sand, is also good evidence.
Had there been other steles in this facade, they
would also have had such brick screens built
before them. Consequently, it is quite impossible
for the stele of Bishop Maththaios, which was
found nearby, to have been connected with this
complex of tombs. His tomb must have been
located still elsewhere, similarly as the tombs of
the earlier bishops, and his stele was found near
the southern tombs only by chance.
The southern monument with its three sepul-
chers was thus intended for Bishop Ignatios (766-
802) and most probably for two of his successors,
not necessarily succeeding him directly, but most
surely before the complex of western tombs was
erected in the end of the 9th century.
9.3. The western tombs
The tombs were uncovered in 1962 in front of the
western cathedral facade (Michalowski 1965: 73-
76; Michalowski 1967: 79-80; Michalowski,
Mss.: 49-51; Dzierzykraj-Rogalski 1985: 25-31)
where they were erected immediately after the
western church entrance had been blocked (see
above, p. 83) [Fig. 140, cf. Fig. 65], The first to
be erected was the sepulcher situated on the
church axis, in front of the blocked entrance. It
was constructed for Bishop Kolluthos who died in
923 and whose funerary stele was mounted in the
blocked western entrance. The second tomb was
built north of the first and belonged to Bishop
Stephanos, who died in 926, as his funerary stele,
incorporated in the church wall north of the
blocked western entrance, informs.
9.3.1. Tomb of the bishops Kolluthos
and Aaron
A rectangular sepulcher was attached to the face of
the church wall in place of the earlier steps that had
led to the western cathedral entrance, of which only
the first three steps had survived. The sepulcher was
a simple box-like form, 2.30 m long, 1.80 m wide,
0.58 m high, with a flat top and a sort of cornice in
the western facade. It was made of baked brick
encasing a core of pottery-sprinkled mud. The
outer surface was plastered and whitewashed. On
the inside of the cornice, there was a hole in the
structure, 0.15 m across and 0.25 m deep. Inside it,
traces of wood were observed, leading to the inter-
pretation of the remains as a setting for a wooden
cross (Michalowski, Mss.: 50).
The sepulcher covered only the burial
chamber, the shaft entrance being left outside
the tomb structure, to the west of it.
The burial crypt had been built into the
platform in front of the western cathedral facade
(see above, p. 51). It was raised of mud brick and
given a barrel-vault using the church wall on one
side to spring it. The inside measurements were:
2.00 m long, 0.85 m wide, and 1.00 m high. The
walls were all plastered with a coating of mud
mortar. The shaft made of limestone blocks and
brick, situated already outside the platform and
rectangular in section (0.85 by 0.45 m) had an
opening, 0.50 by 0.40 m, framed with stone
blocks, in the eastern side; it led to the burial
chamber and was blocked with a slightly bigger
mud-sealed stone slab. The shaft itself had its top
paved with baked brick.
Inside the burial chamber two skeletons were
discovered, lying extended on their backs with
146
PAM Supplement Series 1
9.2.3. Tomb of an unknown bishop
This baked brick sepulcher to the left of the tomb
of Ignatios [cf. Fig. 139]. appeared to be the latest
in the complex. It was trapezoid in shape,
measuring 2.90 m in length, 1.25-1.55 m in
width, c. 0.90 m in height. The square shaft
(0.70 by 0.70 m) was 1.35 m deep. The entrance
in the east wall, 0.45 by 0.55 m, was arched; it
led to a rectangular barrel-vaulted burial chamber
that measured 2.00 m in length, 0.61 m in width,
0.75 m in height.
The skeleton was found with arms crossed on
the chest, in extended position with head to the
west (Dzierzykraj-Rogalski 1985: 78-98). No
equipment was found except for traces of what
could have been a wooden staff or cross.
At some point in time, after the third tomb
had been constructed, the complex was given an
architecturally uniform appearance that presum-
ably included the fronts of the three sepulchers
and their top surface. The resulting shape was
a trapezoid adapted to the entrance leading to the
Building of Paulos and set at an oblique angle
toward the southern church facade. This structure
now measured 3.80 m in length on the south and
3.60 m on the north. The eastern side reached the
bench by the Building of Paulos wall and was
5.00 m wide, while the southern front with two
projections at the corners and uniform platform
in front of the tombs was narrower, measuring
just 4.50 m. The antae in the facade were made of
baked brick and plastered, presumably like the
whole monument. Its top, largely destroyed, was
most probably flat. In the southeastern corner,
a cylindrical depression was preserved, measuring
0.15 m across and 0.35 m in depth.
In the central part of the facade of this
monument, a special niche had been made for the
funerary stele of Bishop Ignatios. There is no
trace of similar settings for steles in the neighbor-
ing sepulchers and the damage to the upper edge
of the northern tomb was probably not inten-
tional. Hence, nothing testifies to the presence of
other steles in this facade. A brick retaining wall
in front of the stele of Ignatios, protecting it from
being engulfed by sand, is also good evidence.
Had there been other steles in this facade, they
would also have had such brick screens built
before them. Consequently, it is quite impossible
for the stele of Bishop Maththaios, which was
found nearby, to have been connected with this
complex of tombs. His tomb must have been
located still elsewhere, similarly as the tombs of
the earlier bishops, and his stele was found near
the southern tombs only by chance.
The southern monument with its three sepul-
chers was thus intended for Bishop Ignatios (766-
802) and most probably for two of his successors,
not necessarily succeeding him directly, but most
surely before the complex of western tombs was
erected in the end of the 9th century.
9.3. The western tombs
The tombs were uncovered in 1962 in front of the
western cathedral facade (Michalowski 1965: 73-
76; Michalowski 1967: 79-80; Michalowski,
Mss.: 49-51; Dzierzykraj-Rogalski 1985: 25-31)
where they were erected immediately after the
western church entrance had been blocked (see
above, p. 83) [Fig. 140, cf. Fig. 65], The first to
be erected was the sepulcher situated on the
church axis, in front of the blocked entrance. It
was constructed for Bishop Kolluthos who died in
923 and whose funerary stele was mounted in the
blocked western entrance. The second tomb was
built north of the first and belonged to Bishop
Stephanos, who died in 926, as his funerary stele,
incorporated in the church wall north of the
blocked western entrance, informs.
9.3.1. Tomb of the bishops Kolluthos
and Aaron
A rectangular sepulcher was attached to the face of
the church wall in place of the earlier steps that had
led to the western cathedral entrance, of which only
the first three steps had survived. The sepulcher was
a simple box-like form, 2.30 m long, 1.80 m wide,
0.58 m high, with a flat top and a sort of cornice in
the western facade. It was made of baked brick
encasing a core of pottery-sprinkled mud. The
outer surface was plastered and whitewashed. On
the inside of the cornice, there was a hole in the
structure, 0.15 m across and 0.25 m deep. Inside it,
traces of wood were observed, leading to the inter-
pretation of the remains as a setting for a wooden
cross (Michalowski, Mss.: 50).
The sepulcher covered only the burial
chamber, the shaft entrance being left outside
the tomb structure, to the west of it.
The burial crypt had been built into the
platform in front of the western cathedral facade
(see above, p. 51). It was raised of mud brick and
given a barrel-vault using the church wall on one
side to spring it. The inside measurements were:
2.00 m long, 0.85 m wide, and 1.00 m high. The
walls were all plastered with a coating of mud
mortar. The shaft made of limestone blocks and
brick, situated already outside the platform and
rectangular in section (0.85 by 0.45 m) had an
opening, 0.50 by 0.40 m, framed with stone
blocks, in the eastern side; it led to the burial
chamber and was blocked with a slightly bigger
mud-sealed stone slab. The shaft itself had its top
paved with baked brick.
Inside the burial chamber two skeletons were
discovered, lying extended on their backs with
146
PAM Supplement Series 1