ID
4278
Permalink
Hoard name
RHEINZABERN SARKOPHAGFUND
Alternative names
RHEINZABERN II
Data type
Hoard
Date of discovery (from)
1852
Total number of coins
650
Summary
A hoard of 650 coins: 1 antoninianus (radiate), 649 nummi: Claudius II - Constantius II-Magnentius (AD 350-353).
This hoard, like the other finds from Rheinzabern, presents certain problems of interpretation. In the General Report of 1858, von Bayer, director of the Baden Antiquities Society, wrote the following (pp. 65–68): "In the year 1852, we acquired at Rheinzabern three coffins from two burial grounds, one of Roman and the other of post-Roman date. Two of these coffins were not portable coffins but had been constructed and covered with unusually large brick slabs. The stamp of the First Legion (LEG I ADI), found on the brick slabs of one of the coffins, proves that these coffins are of Roman origin. The second coffin opened was composed of even larger brick slabs bearing the military stamp described above. This coffin was not surrounded by grave goods (urns and lamps), but, besides the body of a warrior, it contained on the right side a short bronze sword with a bronze hilt and on the left side a large bronze object.
This object was nothing less than a military standard of the Twenty-second Legion. Von Bayer continues, "The coffin from the post-Roman burial row is a portable coffin made from a single block of stone with a separate lid.... On the lid one sees a Latin cross carved in a rather crude manner. This coffin was recovered from a depth of nine feet, where it had been deposited beneath a row of similar coffins, and contained the skeleton of a young person, as all of the teeth were still intact, and specifically that of a female, since the back of the head was covered with a braided hairstyle. As the only ornament accompanying the deceased, we found a small silver pin set with several garnets in its head.
In addition, there was a medium-sized clay pot with handles, inside which was a leather pouch fastened with a bronze buckle containing approximately 700 small bronze coins dating to the emperors of the Constantinian dynasty. Inserted into the neck of the pot was a fine drinking glass with a convex base. Even without the cross carved on the coffin lid, it was clear that the burial was not pagan but early Christian, for the deceased's hands were folded on the chest.
These finds were subsequently transferred to the collection at Karlsruhe.
According to Mone (Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 10, 1859, p. 212), however, the brick-built grave was found in 1853. He further states: "In the year 1854, nine large stone sarcophagi were excavated on the south-west side of Rheinzabern, one of which was transferred to the Karlsruhe collection, whose curator, Mr von Bayer, was present during the excavation."
The dimensions of the sarcophagus were:
Length: 2.05 m; Width: 63 cm at the top, 60 cm at the bottom; Height: 43 cm
Mone adds details not included in von Bayer's report, namely that the sarcophagus contained beads made of glass and clay, together with a few of amber; and two small knives.
Regarding the coins, he writes (p. 213):
"Remains of a leather pouch with a brass buckle in an urn, together with 650 small copper coins."
He further remarks: "Neither in these stone sarcophagi nor elsewhere were any traces of Christianity discovered."
Thus, Mone expressly questioned the Christian interpretation of the burial proposed by von Bayer, despite the purported Latin cross on the sarcophagus lid and the position of the deceased's hands.
