The life of the Dead is placed in the memory of the Living —Cicero.

            NEREID MONUMENT inside the British Museum, London, With a Reflection

It is the largest and finest of tombs found at Xanthos or Xanthus, a Lykian / Lycian city (in Greek: ἡ Ξάνθος τῆς Λυκίας). The city was a Minoan Cretans’ colony founded by king Minos’s brother, Sarpēdón (Σαρπηδών).

The Monument is named after the life-size female figures in wind-blown drapery, called Nereids (Νηρηΐδες), sea-nymphs and daughters of the sea-god Nereus (Νηρεύς), placed between the columns. The temple tomb was built for Erbinna (in Greek: Ἀρβίνας), a Xanthian dynast who ruled Western Lycia.

The Monument reflects Greek (Ionic) and Persian influences on Lykian culture. Lykian nobles were buried in tombs raised on a high podium; here the form is that of a Greek temple. The Nereid Monument was built circa 390-380 BC. It is the first known example of a temple tomb, the greatest of which was the Mauseoleum of Halikarnassos.

The tomb is thought to have fallen into ruin during Byzantine era. The ruins were rediscovered by British traveler and archaeologist Sir Charles Fellows in 1840s. Fellows had the ruins shipped to the British Museum. The reconstruction of the East façade in the Museum dates from 1967-69.

It has been some challenge to capture the indoor Monument during twilight, with minimal artificial lighting, by using neither flash nor tripod; probably a camera hand-held by a surgeon managed to get just one steady shot at a slow shutter speed.

A rather dark and shadowy Reflection seemed somehow appropriate — implied as a reminder of the underworld or the afterlife by the photographer.

The British Museum, Room 17
Great Russel Str., London WC1B 3DG

❝Vita enim mortuorum in memoria vivorum est posita.❞

—Marcus Tullius CICERO. Philippica IX, 5

(The English translation of Cicero’s dictum serves as this photograph’s title).

Taken on: January 24, 2019

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Camera: Canon EOS M50, f/5.6, 1/20 sec, 15mm, ISO 3200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS M50
Lens:	EF-M15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.05 sec (1/20)
Focal Length:	15mm
ISO:	3200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 Editor 16.0 (Macintosh)
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