The Tomb of Menecrates or Monument of Menecrates is an Archaic-periodcenotaph in Corfu, Greece, built around 600 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra. The tomb and the funerary sculpture of a lion were discovered in 1843 during demolition works by the British army who were demolishing a Venetian-era fortress in the site of Garitsa hill in Corfu. The tomb is dated to the sixth century BC. The sculpture is dated to the end of the seventh century BC and is one of the earliest funerary lions ever found. The tomb and the sculpture were found in an area that was part of the necropolis of ancient Korkyra, which was discovered by the British army at the time. According to an Ancient Greek inscription found on the grave, the tomb was a monument built by the ancient Korkyreans in honour of their proxenos Menecrates, son of Tlasias, from Oiantheia. Menecrates was the ambassador of ancient Korkyra to Oiantheia or Ozolian Locris, and he was lost at sea, perhaps in a sea battle. The inscription also mentions that Praximenes, the brother of Menecrates, had arrived from Oiantheia to assist the people of Korkyra in building the monument to his brother.
Dating and construction
Both the tomb and the sculpture are made of local limestone. The tomb is cylindrical with a conical roof. The cylindrical part consists of five circular rings made of stones of equal thickness featuring isodomic construction. The conical cover of the tomb is similar to the original one, and it features stones radiating from a central rectangular capstone at the top. The monument is in height and in diameter. The tomb represents a significantly better example of funerary architecture than the primitive tomb forms available at that time. Due to the softness of the stones, the monument shows signs of significant weathering and erosion. The tomb is more precisely dated to 570–540 BC. There are only two monuments of this kind in Greece, the other being the undated monument to Kleoboulos in Rhodes.
Inscription
There is an ancient inscription on the tomb. It is expressed in dactylic hexameter, and is written in the Corinthian alphabet from right to left. It starts with a mark of a rhombus, and there are traces of punctuation marks. Its style is very early, as indicated by the use of the digamma Ϝ. The inscription is one of the oldest extant in Greece. There is a peculiarity in the inscription, in that although it is in Doric Greek, the verb "πονηθη" is in Ionian Greek; the proper Doric form should have been "ποναθη". It is theorised that while the authors of the inscription were Dorians, the inscription on the tomb must have been engraved by an Ionian. The inscription reads as follows: The ancient inscription translates as:
Lion of Menecrates
The sculpture of the Lion of Menecrates was found near the tomb and was thought to belong to the cenotaph of Menecrates, from whom it got its name. The sculpture is of Assyrian sculptural style, and it is considered to be an excellent example of Archaic-period sculpture. The sculpture is dated to the end of the seventh century BC and it is one of the earliest funerary lions ever found. The sculpture is exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Corfu. There also is speculation, however, that the sculpture might belong to the tomb of Arniadas.
