Courtesy Gideon Avni

Other options for storing bodies were shallow, shelf-like niches with arched tops called arcosolia, or rectangular, straight-ceilinged niches called quadrosolia (not shown). Arcosolia generally appear in Jerusalem’s richest tombs: The decorated walls of this burial chamber, carved and painted to replicate marble paneling and (in the corners of the chamber) Doric columns, attest to the prosperity of its owners.