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Abstract

Excavations in a rock-cut burial cave at Qiryat Ata yielded numerous finds, including pottery coffins, lamps, pottery and glass vessels, jewelry and coins, dating to the Late Roman period. This type of cave, containing six loculi (kokhim) and an arcosolium, does not appear in the Galilee before the late second–third centuries CE. The discovery of jewelry items and coins in the cave probably point to the Pagan identity of the interred. The coins discovered in the cave seem to indicate the pagan belief of paying the ferryman Charon an obol for crossing to the netherworld. Several other Late Roman-period caves have been found in the area of present-day Qiryat Ata; however, the Late Roman settlement, to which the burial caves belong to, is yet to be found.

Keywords

Galilee, cemetery, burial customs, population

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