What is Sarcophagus?

Information about Sarcophagus

The Etruscan "Sarcophagus of the Spouses", at the National Etruscan Museum.

Stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Merenptah.

Roman-era sarcophagi at Worms, Germany.

Detail of a stone sarcophagus in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum showing a hunting scene.

A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. The word comes from Greek "sarx" meaning "flesh", and "phagein" meaning "to eat", so sarcophagus means "eater of flesh".

The 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus noted that early sarcophagi (the plural) were carved from a special kind of rock that consumed the flesh of the corpse inside. In particular, coffins made of a limestone from Assus in the Troad known as lapis Assius had the property of consuming the bodies placed within them, and therefore was also called sarkophagos lithos (flesh-eating stone). All coffins made of limestone have this property to a greater or lesser degree, and the name eventually came to be applied to stone coffins in general.

Sarcophagi were usually made by being carved, decorated or built ornately. Some were built to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate tomb or tombs. Others were made for burial, or were placed in crypts. In Ancient Egypt, a sarcophagus was usually the external layer of protection for a royal mummy, with several layers of coffins nested within.

The word sarcophagus is also commonly used to describe the large concrete structure erected around the remains of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to isolate it from the environment, following the Chernobyl disaster.

The fly family Sarcophagidae (the "goo-goo") derives its name similarly, and the roots of the word similarly translate to "flesh eater", though the meaning is different.

External links

Chernobyl. Dark side of sarcophagus. - video (233 MB)

coffin (in North American English, also known as a casket) is a funerary box used in the display and containment of deceased remains — either for burial or cremation.

The word comes ultimately from Greek kophinos, a basket.
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Greek
Writing system: Greek alphabet
Official status
Official language of: Greece
Cyprus
European Union
recognised as minority language in parts of:
European Union
Italy
Turkey
Regulated by:
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The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC.

Overview

This century sees the beginning of a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations, particularly the Greeks which would continue all the way through the
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The term ancient Greece refers to the periods of Greek history in Classical Antiquity, lasting ca. 750 BC^[1] (the archaic period) to 146 BC (the Roman conquest). It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western Civilization.
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Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: Ἡρόδοτος Ἁλικαρνᾱσσεύς Hērodotos Halikarnāsseus
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body is the integral physical material of an individual. "Body" often is used in connection with appearance, health issues and death. The study of the workings of the body is physiology.
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO₃). Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or flint, as well as varying amounts of clay, silt and sand as disseminations, nodules, or layers
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Assus or Assos [mod. Behram] was an ancient Greek city of the Troad, on the Adramyttian Gulf. The situation is one of the most magnificent in all the Greek lands. The natural cleavage of the trachyte into joint planes had already scraped out shelves which it was
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Troas or The Troad is the historical name of the Biga peninsula (modern Turkish: Biga Yarımadası) in the northwestern part of Anatolia,Turkey. This region now is part of the Çanakkale province of Turkey.
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crypt (from the Latin crypta and the Greek kryptē) is a stone chamber or vault, usually beneath the floor of a church or castle, usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics of important persons such as saints or
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royal family is the extended family of a monarch. Generally, the head of a royal family is a king or queen regnant. The term "imperial family" more appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress regnant, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or
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V.I. Lenin Memorial Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (Russian: Чернобыльская АЭС им. В.И.
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reactor accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the worst in history, resulting in a severe nuclear meltdown. On 26 April 1986 at 01:23:40 a.m. reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant located in the former Soviet Union near Pripyat in Ukraine exploded.
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Sarcophagidae

Subfamilies

Miltogramminae
Paramacronychiinae
Sarcophaginae

Flies of the Diptera family Sarcophagidae (from the Greek sarco- = corpse, phage
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This page aims to list articles on Wikipedia that are related to Egypt. This is so that those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar.
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The following is a list of burials in the Valley of the Kings, in Thebes (modern Luxor in Egypt) and nearby areas.

Egyptologists use the acronym KV (from the words "King's Valley") to designate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings.
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ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains.

Persian

In Persia, the Zoroastrians used a deep well for this function from the earliest times (c.
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Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. The term generally refers to any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. The word is used in a broad sense to encompass a number of such types of places of interment or, occasionally, burial,
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Burial, also called interment and (when applied to human burial) inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by digging a pit or trench, placing the person or object in it, and replacing the soil.
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A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death.
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canopic jars were covered funerary vases, intended to keep the viscera of mummified corpses. Jars were made from various materials, including alabaster, limestone, pottery, wood, and bronze. All the viscera were not kept in a single canopic jar, but rather each organ in its own.
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mummy is a corpse whose skin and dried flesh have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs.
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Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World.
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State Party
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Catacombs of Rome are ancient Jewish and Christian underground burial places near Rome, Italy.

Etruscans used to bury their dead in underground chambers. Christians revived the practice because they did not want to cremate their dead due to their belief in bodily
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Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Its 606 ft. (185 m) long East Front is the longest façade in Europe.^[1] The house includes 240 rooms and covers an area of over 2.
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Clazomenae (Greek: Κλαζομεναί/ Klazomenai, modern-day Kilizman near İzmir in Turkey) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia and a member of the Ionian Dodecapolis (Confederation of Twelve Cities), it was one of the
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