Detail of a Marble Anthropoid Sarcophagus in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, August 2007

Marble anthropoid sarcophagus
Graeco-Phoenician, Classical
last quarter of the 5th century BC
Said to have been found in the necropolis of Kition

Accession # 74.51.2454

The sarcophagus consists of a hollowed lower box covered by a lid that slightly conveys the contours of the upper body and the legs. Earlier anthropoid sarcophagi represent the volumes of a body wrapped in a shroud. The only explicit human features here are the head of a woman, framed with curls, and the long locks disposed on her chest. This sarcophagus and the one nearby are among only four of this type found in Cyprus. It was introduced to the island by Phoenicians, who favored it between the fifth and third centuries BC in Phoenicia and the many regions that they colonized. Over two hundred are known today, most of them from Sidon.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.