Cremation was the preferred burial practice in Rome from about 400 B.C., until the second century A.D. After the ashes were collected from the funeral pyre, they were placed in a container, that is, a cinerary urn like the ones before you. These cinerary urns were often placed in niches within communal tombs, known as columbaria.

Before you are a variety of cinerary urns in marble, and in glass. Notice the marble receptacles in the form of elegant lidded vases, and funerary altars. In the lower right corner of this case is one carved in the form of a small building with a funerary banquet scene. The inscription below even gives us the name of the deceased. He’s the one reclining on the elaborately carved couch. Notice the wreath that he wears on his head, and the honey cakes on the table before him. In the pediment above, is a nest of naturally rendered birds feeding their young.

During the first century A.D., Roman glassware—far less expensive than stone—became a popular alternative for cinerary urns. They were often enclosed in a stone vessel or lead canister for safekeeping in the tomb. The glass urns in this case come from Roman cemeteries in Italy or the northwest provinces of the Roman Empire.

On the middle shelf is a small, greenish vessel with two vertical handles. Notice its very simple shape, and the way its lid is fashioned. Liquid offerings could be poured inside over the ashes of the deceased. In fact, this glass urn still contains cremated remains, just as when it was found.

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