Stela

Babylonian king Elam's stela

Stela - grave monument; stone, vertically placed plate with inscription or bas-relief decoration of height from a few centimeters to several meters.

Particularly popular in ancient Egypt and Greece, where he was present in the archaic period. Stele was made mostly of marble or soft stone, and evolved into a shape (from a rectangular plate topped with a palette for the temple's front-panel imitation) and molds (from a flat contour through a relief to a full sculpture, sometimes polychromed).

In the civilizations of the ancient Middle East the stele commemorated the achievements of the rulers, their wars, construction activities and religious events.

A separate group of stellas are the so-called. Tombstones set in place of the burial. The main theme of the performances was the dead, alone or surrounded by families in the farewell scene, sometimes a feast. Their name was sometimes nicknamed, sometimes only an image, a biography, or an epitaph. Tile graves are found in almost all Mediterranean cultures. In the Jewish culture the tombstone is called the matzevot. Bibliography

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