Sarcophagus
A
sarcophagus is a stone container for a
coffin or body. The word comes from
Greek sarkophagos (
σαρκοφαγος), which means "eater of flesh."
Herodotus believed, erroneously, that
sarcophagi (the
Latin plural) were carved from a special kind of rock that consumed the flesh of the corpse inside.
Sarcophagi were usually carved, decorated or built ornately. Some were built to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate
tomb. Others were made for
burial, or were placed in crypts. A sarcophagus was usually the external layer of protection for a royal
Egyptianian mummy, with several layers of coffins nested within.
The word sarcophagus is often used in context of the
Chernobyl_accident nuclear disaster, to describe a concrete tomb structure that has been erected to isolate the remains of the collapsed
atomic reactor from the environment.
See also
