|
A sarcophagus (plural, sarcophagi; sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σάρξ ''sarx'' meaning "flesh", and φαγεῖν ''phagein'' meaning "to eat", hence ''sarcophagus'' means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase ''lithos sarkophagos'' (λίθος σαρκοφάγος). Since ''lithos'' is Greek for "stone", ''lithos sarcophagos'' means "flesh-eating stone". The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses interred within it.〔(WordInfo etymology. ) As a noun the Greek term was further adopted to mean "coffin" and was carried over into LATIN, where it was used in the phrase ''lapis sarcophagus'', "flesh-eating stone", referring to those same properties of limestone.〕〔(Columbia University Department of Archaeology )〕 == History == Sarcophagi were most often designed to remain above ground. In Ancient Egypt, a sarcophagus formed the outer layer of protection for a royal mummy, with several layers of coffins nested within, and was often carved out of alabaster. All were usually decorated with painted or carved representations of the deceased. The Hagia Triada sarcophagus is a stone sarcophagus elaborately painted in fresco; one style of later Ancient Greek sarcophagus in painted pottery is seen in Klazomenian sarcophagi, produced around the Ionian Greek city of Klazomenai, where most examples were found, between 550 BC (Late Archaic) and 470 BC. They are made of coarse clay in shades of brown to pink. Added to the basin-like main sarcophagus is a broad, rectangular frame, often covered with a white slip and then painted. The huge Lycian Tomb of Payava, now in the British Museum, is a royal tomb monument of about 360 BC designed for an open-air placing, a grand example of a common Lycian style. Ancient Roman sarcophagi—sometimes metal or plaster as well as limestone—were popular from about the reign of Trajan,〔Presbrey - Leland, ‘’Commemoration: The Book of Presbrey - Leland Memorials’’, Presbrey-Leland Incorporated, 1952 p. 79〕 and often elaborately carved, until the early Christian burial preference for interment underground, often in a limestone sepulchre, led to their falling out of favor.〔 However, there are many important Early Christian sarcophagi from the 3rd to 4th centuries. Most Roman examples were designed to be placed against a wall and are decorated on three of the sides only. Sarcophagi continued to be used in Christian Europe for important figures, especially rulers and leading church figures, and by the High Middle Ages often had a recumbent tomb effigy lying on the lid. More plain sarcophagi were placed in crypts, of which the most famous examples include the Habsburg Imperial Crypt in Vienna, Austria. The term tends to be less often used to describe Medieval, Renaissance, and later examples. In the early modern period, lack of space tended to make sarcophagi impractical in churches, but chest tombs or false sarcophagi, empty and usually bottomless cases placed over an underground burial, became popular in outside locations such as cemeteries and churchyards, especially in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, where memorials were mostly not highly decorated and the extra cost of a false sarcophagus over a headstone acted as an indication of social status. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sarcophagus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|