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Concept
Tomb of Payava
Summary
The Tomb of Payava is a Lycian tall rectangular free-standing barrel-vaulted stone sarcophagus, and one of the most famous tombs of Xanthos. It was built in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, for Payava, who was probably the ruler of Xanthos, Lycia at the time, in around 360 BC. The tomb was discovered in 1838 and brought to England in 1844 by the explorer Sir Charles Fellows. He described it as a 'Gothic-formed Horse Tomb'. According to Melanie Michailidis, though bearing a "Greek appearance", the Tomb of Payava, the Harpy Tomb and the Nereid Monument were built according to the main Zoroastrian criteria "by being composed of thick stone, raised on plinths off the ground, and having single windowless chambers".
Payava, who is named in the inscriptions, is only known from this tomb. The tomb is a particularly fine example of a common Lycian style, carved from stone but accurately depicting a wooden structure.
Three of the four tiers of the tomb are currently housed in the British Museum where they dominate the centre of room 20, the lowest tier was left in Turkey and is in a poor state. Displayed with the tomb are other Greek and Lycian objects from 400 to 325 BC.
File:Sarcophagus of Payava from Xanthos from the Entretiens sur l'Architecture, Atlas by Viollet-le-Duc 1863.jpg|{{center|Reconstruction drawing of the Payava tomb by [[Viollet-le-Duc]].}}
File:Lycian rock-cut tombs.jpg|A rock-cut equivalent from Lycia.
File:Payava's tomb xanthos british museum.JPG|Side view of the tomb.
File:Lycian tomb Kas IMGP8941.jpg|Similar Lycian tomb in [[Kaş]].
The reliefs contain illustrations of various events of the life of Payava. The carved friezes on the tomb and its roof contain Greek and Persian features, showing the mix of influences in Xanthos at that time and show:
Two long-haired and bearded men clothed in cuirasses and cloaks, one of whom may be Payava (South side). — The Lycian inscription runs: “Payava, son of Ed[...], acquired [this grave] in the sacred [burial] area of the acropolis(?) of A[rttumba]ra (a Lycian ruler), when Lycia saw(?) Salas [as governor(?)].
Official source
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