The block of tombs is divided in two parts by a street
running north-south.
The roofs of the tombs rise a couple of centimetres (!) above the modern
ground level.
Some of the tombs have their entrances on the side of the street, others
can only be reached
via neighbouring tombs. There is no evidence that the latter
tombs originally
were part of the neighbouring tombs.
Many sarcophagi, paintings and inscriptions have been
found. They are all stored
in the depots. When the necropolis wasn't used anymore, the tombs
changed into a place for garbage. Many fragments of pottery did
not belong to the inventory of the tombs, but
were broken tableware and refuse from
the nearby harbour.
In 2008, when this was written, the canal tombs could not be visited. The
vegetation covered the site again and
the tombs seemed to wait for better times.
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