Structural Characteristics of Carian Rock-Cut Tombs: The Effect of Discrepancy Between the Connecting Part and the Back Passage

Studies of the history of ancient Greek architecture have primarily covered public architecture such as temples and stoa, which had similar architectural forms and structures. Consequently, many studies have been conducted from a formalistic perspective or have focused on design related aspects, and ancient Greek architects’ conception of the structure have hardly been elucidated. Analyzing tombs of the Hellenistic age which have diverse architectural forms and structures is considered to shed light on how ancient Greek architects conceived the relation between structure and design. Against the backdrop described above, with the elucidation of ancient architectural engineers’ conception of structure and design as the ultimate goal, this paper analyzes the impact on the structural characteristics of rock-cut tombs by the ‘position of the connecting part’ and the ‘height of the back passage of a rock-cut tomb’ by performing structural analysis using a three-dimensional FEM analysis program. As a result, above all, it was revealed that the maximum principal stress could be minimized by balancing the position of the connecting part and the height of the back passage of a rock-cut tomb.