Humanities

What is a necropolis? »Its definition and meaning

Anonim

This is the name given to the ancient places of cemeteries, places that are the last dwelling place for human burials, giving way to a city of the dead or corpses. Its etymology from Greek comes from the combination of two words, Necro which means dead or corpse and Polis which means city, hence its etymology of city of the dead which normally refers to places in large cities of old date, which are an important part of the history of the city, as well as the ancient civilizations that were forgotten over time.

They are characterized by being large tracts of land with monuments to remind us of a past time, of people of the society of importance or of a specific community, with characteristic monuments composed of funeral chambers where entire families of past generations housed, which in their most are still buried there, or with bodies mummified by the passage of time. They are scattered all over the world from ancient medieval churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, their presence guards humanity's secrets from the Romans and the Egyptians; its birth as such of existence varies, but the main and common reason is the religiosity of the time since the kings and pharaohs of ancient Egypt were buried in luxurious chamberswith their personal belongings, with care so that the passage to the new life is not unpleasant and in a suitable way, taking with them the hierarchy that they possessed in life, and they avoided looting by being in depths and very hidden. In ancient Rome, the Romans were forbidden to bury their loved ones within the city, so they created a separate city with ornate monuments for sacred purposes, that is, to be a sacred and holy land for the last eternal rest.

With the passing of time these cities have taken on a growing renaissance due to their history, the beauty of their sculptures and they have become places and tourist sites; one of them is the one found in the Vatican, the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis, which is located in the hills of the Vatican, telling a story full of statues, bas-reliefs, mosaics and frescoes and some impressive and exquisite sculpted sarcophagi that are a passage to the past. These tombs have been places of worship and reminders of a story told in their mausoleums, a silent narrative that does not forget the lives of beings who have walked before us and who with their help have written much of life and history. of humanity.