Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (499 page)
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Authors: Timothy Darvill
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Osiris
[Di].
[Di].
Egyptian god, one of the great gods of Egypt, a member of the Heliopolitan Ennead. Judge of the dead and king of the underworld. God of resurrection. His main place of worship was at Abydos, but he was universally revered. He may have had his origins in a king of Egypt who was later deified. The murder of Osiris by his brother Seth, Isis's quest for the body, the struggle of his son Borus to avenge his father's death on Seth, and the eventual resurrection of Osiris, has become one of the greatest legends of Egypt. Osiris was called Unnefer (Greek: Onnophris), the permanently happy one. He had festivals at Abydos, and an annual miracle play. Episodes from his mysteries were re-enacted at many Egyptian temples, and the late period temples of Dendera, Edfu, and Philae all have chapels dedicated to Osiris.
OSL
[Ab].
[Ab].
ossuary
[Ar].
[Ar].
A receptacle for storing the bones of the dead, usually in an unburnt state.
ossuary cave
[MC].
[MC].
A natural cave used as a charnel house for the multiple deposition and storage of human bones.
osteoarchaeology
[Ge].
[Ge].
A branch of archaeology that deals with the study and analysis of human and animal anatomy, especially skeletal remains, in the context of archaeological deposits.
Ostia, Italy
[Si].
[Si].
The main port of Rome situated west of the city at the mouth of the River Tiber. Extensive excavations have taken place in recent times and show that the port was established in the 4th century
bc
with a fort and stone defences. The demands of Rome's growing population, especially for corn imports, soon forced the port to grow and in the early 1st century
bc
it covered at least 64ha and was defended by substantial walls.
Silting and changes to the coastline were always a problem, however, and in ad 42 additional breakwaters and new docks were built under the Emperor Claudius a short distance back from the mouth of the Tiber itself. Later, Trajan constructed a hexagonal inner harbour capable of taking 100 ships at a time, connected to the Tiber by a canal, and surrounded by warehouses and port facilities. The Square of Corporations contained offices for merchants and traders from all over the Mediterranean world, and the port also contained tenement houses, baths, temples, and a synagogue. The site was largely abandoned as a major port in the 5th century
ad
.
[Sum.: A. Gallina Zevi and A. Claridge (eds.), 1996,
Roman Ostia
. London: British School at Rome]
bc
with a fort and stone defences. The demands of Rome's growing population, especially for corn imports, soon forced the port to grow and in the early 1st century
bc
it covered at least 64ha and was defended by substantial walls.
Silting and changes to the coastline were always a problem, however, and in ad 42 additional breakwaters and new docks were built under the Emperor Claudius a short distance back from the mouth of the Tiber itself. Later, Trajan constructed a hexagonal inner harbour capable of taking 100 ships at a time, connected to the Tiber by a canal, and surrounded by warehouses and port facilities. The Square of Corporations contained offices for merchants and traders from all over the Mediterranean world, and the port also contained tenement houses, baths, temples, and a synagogue. The site was largely abandoned as a major port in the 5th century
ad
.
[Sum.: A. Gallina Zevi and A. Claridge (eds.), 1996,
Roman Ostia
. London: British School at Rome]
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