Opening hours:
Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00-18:00
Opening hours:
Tuesday - Sunday: 10:00-18:00
The living bury the dead with the belief that death is not the end but the beginning of life in another unknown, but promised world. What the deceased, their body or soul needed after death in the first four centuries is clearly visible through the items put inside the graves. Some 2,400 burial places have been found in the Zadar necropolis. Thousands of coins, candlesticks, glass and ceramic utensils, jewellery, toiletries and medical equipment placed in the graves offers a glimpse into the secret world of folk beliefs. Only the bones and the grave goods remain, but the soul has found its peace in a world as immaterial as the soul itself.
Not knowing what the deceased will need in the other world and how long the journey will take, people placed containers with food in the graves. Today, these objects complete our knowledge about the economic power of the inhabitants of ancient Zadar, in especially about commerce and the production of certain items from the 1st to the 3rd century.
Ceramic bowl found in cremation grave 39 at the Polačišće Street location, in 2008. First half of the 2nd century. Inv. no. A20051.
Ceramic bowl found in cremation grave 304 at the Relja site, in1989. First quarter of the 2nd century. Inv. br. A31437.
Glass bowl found in cremation grave 191 at the Relja site, in 1989. First quarter of the 2nd century. Inv. no. A7937.
