The Western Roman Cemetery

Site description: The cemetery is near the walls of the Roman city of Nablus from the northwestern side, about 100 meters from the end of the Roman Hippodrome. It is an extension of the Blebos area, the same area in which the ancient tombs from the Roman era were concentrated. It was discovered in two phases. The first one was in 1965 by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, where the most significant part of this cemetery was uncovered from its western side. Then, in 1982, the eastern region was discovered during the construction of the Al-Kandi School.This cemetery represents a unique burial and funerary ritual prevalent in the Roman period. It was intended for the tomb of the dead of the upper class in Roman society in what is known as the mausoleums. The methods of burying the dead in that era differed according to the social, economic, and political rank of the deceased, and it is one of two cemeteries of this type that were discovered in the city. The other cemetery, called the Eastern Roman Cemetery, was found in the far east of the city near the Askar village.The Roman cemetery consists of three parallel burial chambers facing east-west, preceded by a paved yard with limestone slabs on the western side. It is a regular-shaped tile with intricate engravings that retain its original appearance. The yard is 25.5m x 23.5m, and the eastern and western ends include two wells to collect rainwater. It is a tradition followed in this type of Roman cemetery, to complete the funerary rituals related to the purification of the dead bodies before completing the burial process.According to the Roman construction style, the three burial chambers were cut out of natural rock, all of which shared a straight facade, built of crushed limestone, and its frontispiece is still standing with a height of 120 cm. From some of the stone decorations found at the site, it was concluded that a beautiful stone frieze surmounted it.The excavations found that the area and height of each burial chamber vary. The middle room has an area of 520 cm x 470 cm, with a ceiling height of 250cm, while the eastern room has a size of 325 cm x 310 cm and a ceiling height of 190cm. As for the western room, it has an area of 325 cm x 300cm, and the ceiling rises 180 cm above the floor.Each of the three burial chambers has a thick stone door in the outer facade overlooking the yard, all decorated with geometric motifs. It was equipped with slides to close it, made of black basalt stone, and fixed to the doors with lead. The floor of the eastern and central rooms was paved with white mosaics. However, the western room did not include such a floor. The facades of the burial chambers were covered with plaster to fix the rock fissures.Twenty-four coffins were distributed between the central and eastern rooms, while the western room was devoid of coffins; the coffins were cut from the local limestone and had stone and gabled covers. They were decorated with geometric, plant, and animal motifs of different styles. The cemetery and the tombs were subjected to tampering and neglect, which caused some of them to be distorted, and other parts of these coffins were lost.