A Christian gnostic from the first phase of the La Molineta cemetery (beginning of 5th century).
A grave which speaks eloquently and through certain symbols of complex afterlife beliefs: three oil lamps, one of them decorated with a port and a Greek cross, a coin and two buffalo horns.
From the point of view of religion, afterlife beliefs and the ritual, the discovery of most interest among the tombs attributed to the oldest phase of the La Molineta cemetery is found in tomb 16006. This tomb presents a deposit of very mixed up bones, with seven adult cranium, a child and at least three new-borns. Directly above the floor of the tomb, and therefore, in origin, below what has to be the first grave, appear three oil lamps, placed next to the head and feet of the tomb, and the third, a varnished African production, datable to the end of the 4th century with an extremely interesting decoration, in the centre of the grave. In the disc are represented stamped in relief a door formed by two columns with capital and base which support a semi-circular arch, the tympanum of which is occupied by a Greek cross.
At the foot of the grave, and next to the oil lamps, also on the floor, a small, very badly preserved bronze coin was found. In addition, and among the packet of bones right at the bottom, two buffalo horns belonging to different animals given their different sizes were found.
It is obvious that the elements described above put us before an iconic reality and complex ritual. A first idea comes from the natural function of the oil lamps themselves as means of illumination: oil and sacred fire-light. This light is linked to the iconography of an arch as a door, as a crossing between the world of the living and world of the dead. In this case, the crossing between life and death through the light is presided over by the cross, and therefore by the figure of Jesus, who becomes the light which illuminates the path to the afterlife. We find ourselves before the form of a rite and of a number of beliefs marked by an individual character, removed from the ideas of the community as an intermediary in salvation and with a strong burden of mystery religion. In this respect, the idea of illumination as a vehicle of salvation for those who knew the secrets of a jealously guarded ritual brings us closer to the gnosis and the Christianity gnostic, within the ideological sphere of which is the discovery of this grave.