Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon

The Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon is a sarcophagus discovered in the Sidon necropolis in Lebanon. It is made of Parian marble, and resembles the shapes of ogival Lycian tombs, hence its name. It is now located in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. It is dated to circa 430-420 BCE.[1][2][3][4] This sarcophagus, as well as others in the Sidon necropolis, belonged to a succession of kings who ruled in the area of Phoenicia between the mid-5th century BCE to the end of the 4th century BCE.[5]

Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon
Lycian sarcophagus in Parian marble from the Sidon necropolis.
MaterialParian marble
Created430-420 BCE
Discovered1887
Present locationIstanbul Archaeological Museums

The sarcophagus was decorated in Greek sculptural style by Greek artists from Ionia, but incorporating the general shape of the ogival tombs from Lycia, such as the Tomb of Payava.[6] This is sometimes presented as an example of Greco-Persian art, although this should be qualified more precisely as Greco-Anatolian art, since such examples are unknown in the wider Achaemenid Empire.

The sarcophagus is decorated with reliefs, the side reliefs illustrating a lion-hunt and a boar-hunt, while the reliefs at the end show fighting centaurs and sphinxes.[5]

The Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon, is, together with the famous Alexander Sarcophagus, one of four massive carved sarcophagi, forming two pairs, that were discovered during the excavations of the Ayaa Necropolis conducted by Osman Hamdi Bey, an Ottoman of Greek descent and Yervant Voskan, an Ottoman of Armenian descent, at the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon in 1887.

  • The Lycian sarcophagus was the lowest tomb in the Sidon necropolis.

See also

References
  1. Freely, John; Glyn, Anthony (2000). The Companion Guide to Istanbul and Around the Marmara. Companion Guides. p. 71. ISBN 9781900639316.
  2. Dinsmoor, William Bell; Anderson, William James (1973). The Architecture of Ancient Greece: An Account of Its Historic Development. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 68. ISBN 9780819602831.
  3. Franks, Hallie M. (2013). Hunters, Heroes, Kings: The Frieze of Tomb II at Vergina. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. p. 130. ISBN 9781621390107.
  4. Rose, Charles Brian (2014). The Archaeology of Greek and Roman Troy. Cambridge University Press. p. 312. ISBN 9780521762076.
  5. Freely, John; Glyn, Anthony (2000). The Companion Guide to Istanbul and Around the Marmara. Companion Guides. p. 71. ISBN 9781900639316.
  6. Palagia, Olga (2017). Regional Schools in Hellenistic Sculpture. Oxbow Books. p. 285. ISBN 9781785705489.
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