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Sarcophagus
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A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. The word comes from Greek "sarx" meaning "flesh", and "phagien" 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 "eater of flesh", though the meaning is different.
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