New Insights on the Phoenician Anthropoid Sarcophagi

Abstract

The discovery of anthropoid sarcophagi in the Near Eastern area has revealed different phenomena of emulation of a funerary tradition interested in preserving the bodily integrity of the deceased. The burial in monumental stone sarcophagi according to the Egyptian custom is not alien to the practices documented in the coastal region of the Levant as evidenced by the case of Ahiram of Byblos, attributable to the 10th century, but is part of a local tradition that dates to the Middle Bronze Age and seems to continue up to the Late Bronze Age. A similar funeral practice is documented in Phoenicia even later, as Egyptian anthropoid sarcophagi were re-used for burial by the kings of Sidon in the last quarter of the 6th century BCE. This example led to the spread throughout the region of the funeral practice of deposition in dorsal decubitus (i.e. with the body lying in a supine position) within a sarcophagus. This custom persevered among aristocratic and merchant classes for about two centuries, until the last quarter of the 4th century BCE. In this case, the emulation of Egyptian funeral practice was achieved through a ‘formal translation’ into a local taste, which evokes Hellenic art. The analysis illustrates how the progressive diffusion of the anthropoid sarcophagi and the adoption of theca-type sarcophagi in the local necropolises of Phoenicia were contemporary phenomena. The archaeological traces of the conservation treatment of the deceased, crossed with the inscriptions mentioning the use of aromatic gum-resins, have provided plausible documentary support to the thesis of a Phoenician practice of the embalming/mummification of the body of the dead, and in particular of that of sovereigns. This examination of the documentation has highlighted different historical modes and dynamics that testify the presence in the social upper classes (holding authority and wealth) of a strong cultural and ideological attraction (and openness) towards Egyptian culture in the Levant, traceable over a very long period.