tomb

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Object Type
Museum number: 1848,1020.142
Title: Object: The Payava Tomb
Description: The Payava Tomb - limestone tomb with relief sculptures, Lycian inscriptions and a gabled roof. North side: a man placing a wreath on the head of a young athlete. West side: a seated Persian, apparently a satrap or governor, with attendant figures and an inscription which probably mentions the name of the satrap Autophradates. South side: two armed figures and an inscription which begins "Payava son of Ad..., secretary of A...rah, by race a Lycian..". East side: battle of cavalry and foot soldiers, and an inscription recording that the tomb was built by Payava. The heads and foreparts of lions project from the curved roof. The roof is decorated with a chariot. The gable ends are decorated with a seated Persian couple. In the pediments above these seated figures are pairs of sphinxes. On the uppermost level are two friezes showing on one side a wild animal hunt, including a bear raised up on its hind legs, and on the other a battle between cavalry and foot-soldiers.
Cultures/periods
Production date: 375BC-362BC
Production place: Made in: Lycia
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Xanthus, 1838
Materials
Dimensions: Height: 1.21 metres; Length: 3.04 metres; Width: 1.83 metres
$Inscriptions
Curator's comments: A new fragment of the tomb has recently been identified at Xanthos, and has been published as: Francis Prost, Un Nouveau Fragment du Sarcophage de Payava, in: K. Konuk (ed.) Stephanèphoros. De l’économie antique à l’Asie Mineure. Homages a Raymond Descat (Bordeaux, 2012), 369-376.
Bibliographic references: Sculpture / Catalogue of Greek Sculpture in the British Museum (950); Allen 2005a / The Persian Empire: A History (p.96) (illustration detail, object wrongly cited as ANE)
Location: On display (G20)
Subjects: battle; athletics/running; attendant; ruler; charioteer/chariot; mammal; hunting/shooting; sphinx; classical sport
Associated names: Named in inscription & portrayed: Autophradates (probably); Named in inscription: Payava
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1848
Department: Greek and Roman
Registration number: 1848,1020.142
Joined objects: Associated Group: G16492 (3 objects); Joined Tablet Group: G16488 (3 objects); Associated Group: G16385 (2 objects); Associated Group: G16383 (2 objects); Associated Group: G16382 (2 objects); Joined Tablet Group: G16489 (3 objects); Associated Group: G16381 (2 objects); Associated Group: G16379 (2 objects); Associated Group: G16138 (3 objects); Associated Group: G16493 (3 objects); Associated Group: G16491 (3 objects); Joined Tablet Group: G16490 (3 objects); Associated Group: G16384 (2 objects); Joined Tablet Group: G16380 (2 objects); Associated Group: G16378 (2 objects)
Conservation

Free entry

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