DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4377#0162
492 LION TOMB.
range of time within which such a date would
fall.
The architecture seems to present nothing in-
consistent with, such a date.
During the period to which I would thus assign
this monument, Cnidus was certainly a republic,
and the erection of so sumptuous and conspicuous
a tomb to the memory of a private individual seems
inconsistent with the jealous spirit which prevailed
in the ancient commonwealths before the age of
Alexander the Great.
It is, therefore, more likely that the tomb is a
JPolifdndrion, or public monument, erected to com-
memorate a number of citizens slain in battle.
Such an edifice may not have been originally
designed for the reception of bodies, hut as a ceno-
taph; indeed, the paucity of sepulchral remains,
and the unfinished state of the architecture, lead
me to doubt whether any interment ever took place
in this tomb at the period of its erection.
The lekythos and fragments of pottery seem of a
much later period than the building, and, from the
place in which they were found at the side of the
door, there can be hardly a doubt that they were
laid there as an offering on the celebration of
periodical rites. The few bones found in one of
the cells may have been deposited there at a date
long subsequent to that of the tomb.
Among the ruins on the western side was dis-
covered part of a large slab, on which was sculptured
in relief a circular shield. Tins slab was broken
on two sides, so that its original dimensions could
range of time within which such a date would
fall.
The architecture seems to present nothing in-
consistent with, such a date.
During the period to which I would thus assign
this monument, Cnidus was certainly a republic,
and the erection of so sumptuous and conspicuous
a tomb to the memory of a private individual seems
inconsistent with the jealous spirit which prevailed
in the ancient commonwealths before the age of
Alexander the Great.
It is, therefore, more likely that the tomb is a
JPolifdndrion, or public monument, erected to com-
memorate a number of citizens slain in battle.
Such an edifice may not have been originally
designed for the reception of bodies, hut as a ceno-
taph; indeed, the paucity of sepulchral remains,
and the unfinished state of the architecture, lead
me to doubt whether any interment ever took place
in this tomb at the period of its erection.
The lekythos and fragments of pottery seem of a
much later period than the building, and, from the
place in which they were found at the side of the
door, there can be hardly a doubt that they were
laid there as an offering on the celebration of
periodical rites. The few bones found in one of
the cells may have been deposited there at a date
long subsequent to that of the tomb.
Among the ruins on the western side was dis-
covered part of a large slab, on which was sculptured
in relief a circular shield. Tins slab was broken
on two sides, so that its original dimensions could