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THARROS

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 727 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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THARROS , an See also:

ancient See also:town of See also:Sardinia, situated on the See also:west See also:coast, on the narrow sandy See also:isthmus of a See also:peninsula at the See also:north extremity of the Gulf of See also:Oristano, now marked by the See also:tower of S. Giovanni di Sinis. It was 12 M. W. of Othoca (Oristano) by the coast road, which went on northward to See also:Cornus (a milestone of it is given in Corp. Incr. See also:Lat. x. 8009), and thence to Turris Libisonis. It was of Phoenician origin, but continued to exist in See also:Roman times, as the See also:inscriptions show, though they give but little See also:information (See also:Mommsen in Corp. Inscr. Lat. x. 822). It was destroyed by the See also:Saracens in the 11th See also:century.

Scanty traces of Roman buildings may be seen, and an ancient road paved with large blocks of See also:

stone. A See also:part of the site of the town is now invaded by the See also:sea. The See also:church of S. Giovanni di Sinis is a heavy See also:building of the 8th (?) century A.D. originally cruciform, with a See also:dome over the See also:crossing; the transepts and dome are still preserved, but the See also:nave with its two aisles is later. It is naturally built of materials from the old town. See also:Close to it is a See also:watch-tower and a See also:spring of fresh See also:water. The importance of Tharros may be inferred from the extent of its See also:necropolis, which lies on the basaltic peninsula of S. Marco to the S.; on the See also:summit of it are the remains of a nuraghe. Casual excavations are mentioned under the See also:Spanish viceroys, but See also:regular exploration only began in 1838, when the Roman tombs were examined. In 185o Spano excavated many Phoenician tombs; they are rectangular or square See also:chambers cut in the See also:rock, measuring from 6 to 9 ft. each way, in which inhumation was the See also:rule. The See also:objects found—pottery, scarabs, See also:jewelry, amulets, &c.—were of considerable See also:interest. In 1851 See also:Lord See also:Vernon opened fourteen tombs, and after that the whole countryside ransacked the necropolis, without any proper records or notes being taken, and with See also:great damage to the objects found.

Some of these objects are in the museum at Cagliari, others in private collections, and many scarabs are in the See also:

British Museum, all of which by the coins found with them are dated later than the Roman occupation (See also:Catalogue of Gems, See also:London, 1888, pp. 13 sqq.). In 1885-86 regular excavations were made, the results of whichmay be seen in the museum at Cagliari. One See also:tomb contained some See also:fine See also:gold ornaments, with Roman coins of the 1st to 3rd century A.D. (F. Vivanet in Notizze degli Scavi, 1886, 27; 1887, 46, 124). The objects, like those found at Sulcis, show considerable traces of See also:Egyptian See also:influence, but are probably all of Phoenician importation—the theory of the existence of Egyptian colonies in Sardinia being quite inadmissible. Some 3 M. to the N. is the church of S. Salvatore, with underground rock-cut chambers below it, used as a See also:baptistery (?) by the See also:early Christians, though the walls are decorated with paintings of a decidedly See also:pagan nature. (T.

End of Article: THARROS

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