sarcophagus

sar·coph·a·gus

S0089800 (sär-kŏf′ə-gəs)n. pl. sar·coph·a·gi (-jī′) or sar·coph·a·gus·es A stone coffin, often inscribed or decorated with sculpture.

[Latin, from Greek sarkophagos, coffin, from (lithos) sarkophagos, limestone that consumed the flesh of corpses laid in it : sarx, sark-, flesh + -phagos, -phagous.]Word History: Sarcophagus, our term for a stone coffin located above ground, has a macabre origin befitting a macabre thing. Its ultimate source is the Greek word sarkophagos, "eating flesh, carnivorous," a compound derived from sarx, "flesh," and phagein, "to eat." Sarkophagos was also used in the phrase lithos ("stone") sarkophagos to denote a kind of limestone with caustic properties from which coffins were made in the ancient world. The Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder says that this stone was quarried near the town of Assos in the Troad and describes its remarkable properties as follows: "It is well known that the bodies of the dead placed in it will be completely consumed after forty days, except for the teeth." The Greek term sarkophagos could also be used by itself as a noun to mean simply "coffin." Greek sarkophagos was borrowed into Latin as sarcophagus and used in the phrase lapis ("stone") sarcophagus to refer to the same stone as in Greek. In Latin, too, sarcophagus came to be used as a noun meaning "coffin made of any material." The first known attestation of the word sarcophagus in English dates from 1601 and occurs in a translation of Pliny's description of the stone. Later, sarcophagus begins to be used in English with the meaning "stone coffin," especially in descriptions of sarcophagi from antiquity.

sarcophagus

(sɑːˈkɒfəɡəs) n, pl -gi (-ˌɡaɪ) or -gusesa stone or marble coffin or tomb, esp one bearing sculpture or inscriptions[C17: via Latin from Greek sarkophagos flesh-devouring; from the type of stone used, which was believed to destroy the flesh of corpses]

sar•coph•a•gus

(sɑrˈkɒf ə gəs)

n., pl. -gi (-ˌdʒaɪ, -ˌgaɪ) -gus•es. a stone coffin, esp. one bearing sculpture, inscriptions, etc., often displayed as a monument. [1595–1605; < Latin < Greek sarkophágos coffin]

Thesaurus

Noun

sarcophagus - a stone coffin (usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions)casket, coffin - box in which a corpse is buried or cremated

Translations

sarcophagus

(särkŏf`əgəs) [Gr.,=flesh-eater], name given by the Greeks to a special marble found in Asia Minor, near the territory of ancient Troy, and used in caskets. It was believed to have the property of destroying the entire body, except for the teeth, within a few weeks. The term later generally designated any elaborate burial casket not sunk underground. The oldest known examples are from Egypt; they are box-shaped with a separate lid, which sometimes has sculptured effigies of the corpses. The sarcophagus of Tutankhamen (14th cent. B.C.), which was rediscovered in 1922, is of red granite and ornamented with reliefs of spirits with outspread wings. Later Egyptian sarcophagi were sometimes shaped to the body they contained. Sarcophagi were not in common use in Greece earlier than the 6th cent. B.C. because of the previous custom of cremation. After that time they became numerous. Records reveal that the majority of sarcophagi were made of wood, but those that remain are of stone and terra-cotta, as evidenced in the early 6th-century examples (British Mus.) from Clazomenae. Many Greek and Etruscan sarcophagi are in the shape of a couch; others, such as the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, are carved and painted in imitation of temple architecture. The marble sarcophagi (excavated in 1877) from Sidon, a chief city of ancient Phoenicia, are among the finest examples of Greek art. In Rome sarcophagi became popular before the Punic Wars. The earliest known example is that of the consul Cneius Cornelius Scipio of the 3d cent. B.C., now in the Vatican. Under the rule of the emperors Roman sarcophagi became elaborate, with mythological scenes carved on the sides and statues of the deceased on the lid. The early Christians also used sarcophagi for their distinguished dead. The carvings, usually representing Bible stories, are the chief source of early Christian sculpture. In the Middle Ages sarcophagi proper were used only in rare instances for especially elaborate entombments. Although memorials in the shape and decoration of sarcophagi were erected during the Renaissance and later, the body itself was almost always buried underground.

Bibliography

See E. Panofsky, Tomb Sculpture (1964).

Sarcophagus

An elaborate coffin for an important person, of terra-cotta, wood, stone, metal, or other material, decorated with painting and carving and large enough to contain only the body. If larger, it becomes a tomb.

Sarcophagus

in ancient times, a coffin or tomb; generally, any coffin whose design is based on architectural and artistic principles. The sarcophagi of ancient Egypt consisted of many parts. Originally resembling dwellings, they became mummylike in appearance after the third millennium B.C. Etruscan sarcophagi had a figure of the deceased on the lid, and Hellenic, ancient Roman, and early medieval sarcophagi were decorated with reliefs and architectural details. A type of classical sarcophagus developed during the Renaissance and the baroque period.

REFERENCES

Panofsky, E. Tomb Sculpture. New York [1964].
Danadoni Roveri, A. M. I sarkofagi egizi … Rome, 1969.

sarcophagus

sarcophagus of Roman Imperial time An elaborate coffin for an important personage, of terra-cotta, wood, stone, metal, or other material, decorated with painting, carving, etc., and large enough to contain only the body. If larger, it becomes a tomb.

sarcophagus

sar·coph·a·gus

sarcophagus

sar•coph•a•gus

sarcophagus

sarcophagus

Bibliography

Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

REFERENCES

sarcophagus

sarcophagus

Words related to sarcophagus

noun a stone coffin (usually bearing sculpture or inscriptions)

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