Isola Sacra - Central north part - Tombs [8]

Tombs have been found on quite a few places on the Isola Sacra, not just as part of what is now called the Isola Sacra necropolis. Further to the north, to the south-west of the Basilica of Saint Hippolytus, a cluster of tombs was unearthed in 1923. These tombs are described in more detail in a special section of the description of the Isola Sacra necropolis.

View of the tombs. Photos: Jan Theo Bakker.

In the same area, a bit to the north-west, a small cluster of tombs was excavated in 1958. In a courtyard a black-and-white mosaic was found with a depiction of a dolphin, the letters VMV and the text FELIX (a)ETERN(a) DOMVS: "a happy house for eternity".

Museum Ostia, inv. nr. 10894. Meas. 2.30 x 1.75 m.
EDCS-62101286. Photo: SO IV, tav. 170, nr. 445.

Still in the same area, a bit to the south, part of a tomb was found 1990. In a wall of opus reticulatum was a door with travertine doorjambs. Above the door was a marble relief with a ship, the lighthouse of Portus, and the Genius of Portus with a bull.

Marble relief. Museum Ostia, inv. nr. 49132. W. 0.78, h. 0.33.
Date: second or early third century AD. Photo: Karivieri 2020, 61 fig. 2.

Still a bit further to the south, in 2008, the famous "sarcophagus of the Muses" was found, which is discussed on a separate page.