necropolis
noun
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With its -polis ending, meaning "city", a necropolis is a "city of the dead". Most of the famous necropolises of Egypt line the Nile River across from their cities. In ancient Greece and Rome, a necropolis would often line the road leading out of a city; in the 1940s a great Roman necropolis was discovered under the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. Some more recent cemeteries especially deserve the name necropolis because they resemble cities of aboveground tombs, a necessity in low-lying areas such as New Orleans where a high water table prevents underground burial.
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Examples of necropolis in a Sentence
Tithi Bhattacharya / Made By History, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
The sculptures part of this collection include ones that have come from sanctuaries, necropolises as well as public buildings in Attica, Eastern Sterea Ellada, the Peloponnese and the Aegean Islands, according to the source.
—Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 15 Oct. 2024
Researchers analyzed the remains of 69 men buried at a necropolis in Abusir, Egypt, between 2700 BC and 2180 BC.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 28 June 2024
Dahshur is the southernmost of the great pyramid necropolises of the Old Kingdom in the vicinity of the ancient capital of Memphis.
—Lianne Kolirin, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024
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“Necropolis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/necropolis. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
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