April, 23rd Villa Adriana - an archaeological and historic site at Tivoli, near Rome, opened an exhibition "Between Light and Darkness" which is available until November 2. The subject of the exhibition is ancient Roman funerary beds, which were used to convey the bodies of the deceased from their houses to their burial places. According to Lazio archaeology superintendent Marina Sapelli Ragni, those were elaborately-made beds of precious materials. The one that stands out among the exhibits is the bed discovered in 2005 during a dig at the ancient town of Aquinum (nowadays Aquino), richly decorated in bone and primordially covered with a thin sheet of gold, as stated by the experts. Other objects worth mentioning are the beds from Abruzzo and Lazio.

An archaeologist Giovanna Rita, who presented the exhibition, said that there will also be a small museum space created in the Casilina Est service station (Rome-Naples motorway) in autumn. Thanks to the museum motorists will have a chance to observe some artifacts found in the ancient necropolis of the town.
2008.04.24