Sepulcher near Tortosa, Tower Tombs in Syria, Antique Engraving, 1797

An original antique copper engraving, uncolored, published in 1797. The caption engraved below the image reads "Sepulchre near Tortosa."

Two ancient tower tombs stand on a low rise above the sea. On the right, in the foreground, a tall cylindrical tower with a domed top rises from a square base, split by long cracks, with carved lions crouching at the corners of the base. In the middle distance on the left stands a second tomb, a tall shaft with a pyramidal cap on a square plinth, with small figures beside it. In front of the larger tomb an open rectangular pit is cut into the rock. Men stand in it looking up and gesturing, while a man with a staff steps down toward it at the right and two figures sit on the steps above, one drawing in a sketchbook. A paved way and scattered blocks run to the left, where a town lies along the shore of the sea in the far distance.

The lower left is lettered "Mÿers delint." and the lower right "Byrne sculpt.", naming the engraver William Byrne. The plate number "PL. IV." is engraved at the upper right.

This plate was issued in Antiquities of Ionia, Part the Second, published by the Society of Dilettanti in London in 1797. It is one of a separate series of four plates numbered I to IV, two of them views at Tortosa, which follow the main sequence of plates in the copy of this part held by Heidelberg University Library. Tortosa is the crusader name of Tartus, on the coast of Syria.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. All four corners complete. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the left and top.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.