|
 Early
sarcophagi were made of limestone, a flesh eating stone which when
carved in the shape of a coffin quickly disposed of the corpse so
that the monument could be used for another family member.
Modern sarcophagi are made of granite or other fasting stone
A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. The word
comes from Greek "sarx" meaning flesh, and "Phagos" meaning to eat,
so sarcophagus, which means "eater of flesh".
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.
Graves Grave
Digger Charcoal Burial
Dolmen Lich
Sarcophagus
Christianity
Fear Funeral Custom
Twentieth Century |
