To My Family and Uğraş Uzun - Bilkent University

inging offerings to stelae, with or without covered heads. On a white lekythos, a
woman offers an alabastron and a wreath to the grave stele (Fig. 92). On another,
a woman with a covered head mourns before the grave stele (Fig. 93). On the
other hand, there are many Roman examples that show women participating in
religious ceremonies with covered heads, such as the Antakya Sarcophagus
Figure F. This is probably to signify the sacredness of the event, that it is a
sacrifice, or to emphasize the respectfulness of the women and their matronal
status (Kleiner and Matheson, 1996: 99). One example of veiled females
participating in a public sacrificial procession is on the south frieze of the “Ara
Pacis Augustae” (Fig. 94), where the participants show their piety by covering
their heads (Kleiner, 1992: 94; Kleiner and Matheson, 1996: 99). There are also
depictions of women with offerings in their hands, such as on the “Arch of
Marcus Aurelius” quoted above, and the “Arch of Septimius Severus” at Lepcis
Magna (Fig. 95) which shows Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, with an
incense box in her hand on (Beard et. al, 1998: 150).
It might be concluded, therefore, that the female Figure F and the male
Figure I on the Antakya Sarcophagus were most probably intended to represent
relatives of the deceased.
5.3 Tomb Portal
A common (or essential (Rodenwaldt, 1933: 194)) feature of the Asiatic
sarcophagi is the tomb portal placed on one of the short sides (Kleiner 1992: 306;
Ferguson 1982: 134; Toynbee 1971: 272). In some sources, it has been suggested
that the “left” short side is always the one at the feet of the reclining couple and
that the front of the sarcophagus can be determined accordingly (Morey 1924: 34;
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