Sarcophagus

One might notice some discrepancies between what a sarcophagus actually is, and what the term for the thing means. Sarcophagus, like so many other great words in the English language, comes from Greek root words, basically translating to “flesh-eating”. A bit on the morbid side, really, that so many notable historical figures would want to be placed inside a flesh eating box. However, the term was actually derived from a common misconception about the process of decay in relation to the type of mineral that sarcophagi were made from. Which was limestone, actually, and it was believed that it was the limestone which caused the flesh to rot off the bones, –so many an ancient civilisation believed that it was the rock which ate the dead flesh.

Traditionally,  a sarcophagus was design to hold a corpse, yes, but also to remain above ground, so it couldn’t be just a plain box. The had to resemble monuments, and so they were often carved out of limestone, the flesh-eating rock, and set up in a tomb, or even in a nice churchyard, or inside the church, et cetera. Not all sarcophagi were specifically Egyptian, many were used in Christian burial traditions as well. The Christian traditional sarcophagus could often be viewed by others as well, so they had to be extra pretty.

Though on the other hand, the Egyptians were a culture that was fascinated with death, and all the details associated with it. The dead received much respect, and because the sarcophagi they carved would be viewed not by people, but by the gods themselves, they took extra care. The sarcophagus of the Egyptian dead were carved to resemble either the one being interred, or a traditional funeral deity. The Egyptian poor were not afforded the same luxuries, –they were buried outside the city limits, where eventually, dogs, i.e., jackals dug them up and ate them, which led to the dog headed funeral gods.