V BCE - 449 BCE - 400 BCE

Unità di misura: UNR (; Misure mancanti: MNR

ambra; argilla; bronzo; oro

I Liguri. Un antico popolo europeo tra Alpi e Mediterraneo. - Genova, Commenda di Pre - 2004

The tombs of the necropolis were found in the stretch of Via XX Settembre between Piazza De Ferrari and the Ponte Monumentale, namely under Via S. Defendente and under the foundations of the houses of the then Via Giulia and the church of Nostra Signora del Rimedio. They were not lined up but rather scattered without apparent order. The tombs consisted of circular shafts, about 2 metres deep and closed at about 2/3 of the height by a roughly hewn stone slab. In the lower space, the cinerary vessel and other grave goods were deposited; other objects were also found on some occasions above the closing stone, raising the question of the contemporaneity of their deposition. In the case of t. 30, the grave goods testify to the breadth of contacts in Genoa, the crossroads of Tyrrhenian trade and the overland routes to the Po Valley: the precious clothing complements of the deceased, which are not found in the funerary customs of Genoa, denote their origin from a Golasecchian environment, perhaps even from the Como area. This trousseau appears to be an effective example of the policy of matrimonial strategies deployed by the centres of the Golasecca culture as part of a system of alliances aimed at reinforcing agreements for the activation of trade routes that connected, in this case, the Tyrrhenian coast with the territories of the Po Valley and, through these, with the rich transalpine markets. The deceased, of high social rank, had integrated into the host community, while retaining elements of the costume typical of her area of origin, and was buried following the ritual in use in Genoa. Overall, the grave goods seem datable to the second half/last quarter of the 5th century BC. Tomb 30 was closed by two covering stones, each 1 metre long and 80 and 20 cm thick respectively. According to initial records, the grave goods, which appear to be essentially homogeneous, consisted of an Attic Kelebe, now lost, a bronze tray with animal bones and one or more cups that have been lost; in addition to ashes, the crater contained a rich set of jewellery, damaged by exposure to the fire of the funeral pyre.

Chalcolithic - 3rd millennium BCE - 3000 BCE - 2001 BCE

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 108; Larghezza: 37; Spessore: 24

arenaria- scalpellatura

Mostra di Arte Antica - Genova, Palazzo Bianco - 1892<br>I Liguri. Un antico popolo europeo tra Alpi e Mediterraneo. - Genova, Commenda di Pre - 2004

Although there are no depictions of dating elements, the stele typologically belongs to those attributed to the Copper Age, perhaps type B in Ambrosi's classification. These are perhaps figures of ancestral heroes placed to mark pastures, deposits of raw materials or important routes during the Metal Age. This era was characterised by profound technological, social and economic changes: the discovery and use of metal objects; the spread of intensive sheep farming with the practice of burning forests to create pastures; the emergence of clans and other groups formed by blood relatives, whose burials are found in caves or monumental tombs. Recent studies link the phenomenon of stele statues to the development of new economic forms such as high-altitude pastoralism and the spread of human groups for whom it may have been important to mark certain elements of the territory that were of significant value within the society of the time. During the Iron Age, the stele received an inscription which in the past was read as an Etruscan onomastic formula (“Mezio dei Nemùsii”) or a Celtic place name (“middle sanctuary”). Recently, preference has been given to emphasising the type of alphabet within a Lepontic-Ligurian linguistic area with an interpretation that, although controversial, seems to recognise it as an onomastic formula. The body consists of an almost rectangular slab; the head is separated from the torso by a low, wide throat; the face is formed by lowering the surface into a circular shape from which emerge the triangular nose and the two pads that constitute the eyes. Anthropomorphic features are thus reduced to a minimum and sexual symbols and weapons are also missing.

Late Period of ancient Egypt - 664 BCE - 525 BCE

Unità di misura: cm; Larghezza: 52; Lunghezza: 175,5; Spessore: 45,5

Legno- stuccatura; pittura; verniciatura

The sarcophagus is anthropoid, or mummiform (i.e. ideally reproducing the body inside), made of sycamore wood and contains the mummy of the priest Pasherienaset. It was probably found in Edfu, in the area of the Nag el-Hassaia necropolis. The preparatory layer does not contain canvas to cover the joints of the wood as was typical in sarcophagi of the time (for chemical and structural analyses see also: E. Franceschi, M. Nicola, G. L. Nicola, A. Chimienti, S. Coluccia, ""Indagini non-invasive XRF, rilievi tridimensionali colorimetric e restauro di sarcofagi egizi della XXVI dinastia: due casi a confronto"", in ""VI Congresso Nazionale IGIIC - Lo Stato dell'Arte - "" Spoleto, 2 - 4 October 2008). The artefact consists of 31 wooden elements held together by wooden pegs and stucco. The colours on the outer surface have changed due to oxidation. The surface of the sarcophagus, both inside and outside, is decorated with figures from religious funerary iconography taken from the Book of the Dead. On his head he wears a tripartite wig and his green face connects the deceased to Osiris, god of vegetation and the afterlife. The false beard also alludes to the divine nature of the deceased. The chest is adorned with a usekh collar, a necklace consisting of several pendants inspired by the plant world and ending in a red-painted falcon's head on each of the two shoulders. On either side of the necklace, on the upper part of the arms, scenes of devotion to Osiris are depicted; from these scenes, columns develop towards the shoulders, on which funeral offering formulas are written. Below the collar is the goddess Nut, personification of the sky (who also appears under the lid), welcoming her son, “Osiris” Pasherienaset, into her arms. The surface of the legs is divided into three sections, the central one bearing texts from chapter 89 of the Book of the Dead, written in four columns extending down to the feet. The text calls for the reunion of the ba, one of the souls of man according to Egyptian belief, with the body; this belief is echoed in the scene depicting the ba in the form of a bird with a human head offering a shen ring, symbol of eternity, to the reclining, embalmed body of the deceased. Under the bed are the four canopic jars used to contain the deceased's entrails and linked to the four “Sons of Horus” depicted on the lids. On each of the side sections, under a representation of the sky with five-pointed stars, are eleven figures facing the head of the sarcophagus. Other funeral offering formulas are shown on the feet. Under the divine theories, the snake “Tail in Mouth”, renamed Ouroboros in Roman times and symbolising the eternal cycle of life, wraps around the entire sarcophagus, with the two ends joining at the feet. The end of the sarcophagus corresponding to the head is surrounded by a floral garland, inside which is the lower part of the goddess Nephthys with outstretched wings, kneeling on the gold nebu, guarantor of eternity. At the opposite end is the goddess Isis in the same position, holding a Maat feather. On the outside of the coffin, at the spine of the deceased, there is a djed pillar, another emblem of the god Osiris, of which only part of the base and upper end remain. On either side of the pillar are a series of panels in which, at the left shoulder, there is another figure of Isis with an ankh in her right hand. The other panels feature a series of other deities. The goddess Nut is depicted on the inside bottom of the lid, while the goddess Imentet, personification of the West, the land of the dead according to Egyptian funerary culture, is depicted on the inside bottom of the coffin.