Where Are the Dead of Pergamon? Remarks on the Funerary Inscriptions from Pergamon

Taking the surprisingly small number of funerary inscriptions from Pergamon as our starting point, we discuss the socio-cultural design of the funerary landscape of this polis from an epigraphical point of view: Where were the funerary inscriptions located in the known necropoleis, and what is their relation to the suburban infrastructure? What information do they provide, and what do they tell us about burial practices within the limits of the inhabited space? What is their relevance in the study of the social networks of the deceased?

The study establishes the inconspicuousness of the grave inscriptions as the most striking feature of the funerary epigraphy of Pergamon: Not only is the number of funerary inscriptions very small in relation to the large total number of epigraphic finds, but they also do not reflect the importance of the city as a royal residence, where numerous members of the royal court lived and died, or as one of the most important poleis in the province of Asia after the end of the monarchy. 

Keywords:

Pergamon, funerary epigraphy, funerary landscape, burial practices, onomastics