sarcophagus
Sign in to saveAncient Egyptian sarcophagus lid.|right|thumb right|thumb|upright=1.3|Roman Empire|Roman sarcophagus with the myth of [[Medea, , from Rome, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin)]] right|thumb|upright=1.3|Roman sarcophagus with Apollo, [[Minerva and the Muses, , from Via Appia, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin]] thumb|upright=1.3|The Gothic art|Gothic sarcophagi of Don Àlvar Rodrigo de Cabrera, count of [[Urgell and his wife Cecília of Foix, , made of limestone, traces of paint, exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)]]
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A sarcophagus is a large stone coffin or burial container used in ancient and medieval times to hold the deceased. These elaborate stone boxes, often decorated with mythological scenes, religious imagery, or portraits, served as permanent monuments to the dead and have survived as important artifacts that reveal information about past civilizations and their beliefs.
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Article
9 sectionsContents
- History of the sarcophagus
- Asia
- India
- Spain
- United States
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus lid.|right|thumb right|thumb|upright=1.3|Roman Empire|Roman sarcophagus with the myth of [[Medea, , from Rome, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin)]] right|thumb|upright=1.3|Roman sarcophagus with Apollo, [[Minerva and the Muses, , from Via Appia, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin]] thumb|upright=1.3|The Gothic art|Gothic sarcophagi of Don Àlvar Rodrigo de Cabrera, count of [[Urgell and his wife Cecília of Foix, , made of limestone, traces of paint, exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)]]
A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φαγεῖν ' meaning "to eat"; hence sarcophagus means "flesh-eating", from the phrase lithos sarkophagos (λίθος σαρκοφάγος), "flesh-eating stone". The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to rapidly facilitate the decomposition of the flesh of corpses contained within it due to the chemical properties of the limestone itself.