The Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon is a sarcophagus discovered in the Ayaa necropolis, in

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. It is made of

Parian marble Parian marble is a fine-grained semi translucent pure-white and entirely flawless marble quarried during the classical era on the Greek island of Paros in the Aegean Sea. It was highly prized by ancient Greeks for making sculptures. Some of the ...

, and resembles the shapes of ogival Lycian tombs, hence its name. It is now located in the

Istanbul Archaeological Museum The Istanbul Archaeology Museums ( tr, ) are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, near Gülhane Park and Topkapı Palace. The Istanbul Archaeology Museums consists of three museums: #Arch ...

. It is dated to circa 430-420 BC. This sarcophagus, as well as others in the Sidon necropolis, belonged to a succession of kings who ruled in the area of

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

between the mid-5th century BC to the end of the 4th century BC. The sarcophagus was decorated in Greek sculptural style by Greek artists from Ionia, but incorporating the general shape of the ogival tombs from

Lycia Lycia ( Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is ...

, such as the

Tomb of Payava The Tomb of Payava is a Lycian tall rectangular free-standing barrel-vaulted stone sarcophagus, and one of the most famous tombs of Xanthos. It was built in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, for Payava, who was probably the ruler of Xanthos, Lycia a ...

. This is sometimes presented as an example of

Greco-Persian art Greco-Persian art, also Graeco-Persian art or Anatolian-Persian is an artistic synthesis between Ancient Greek art and Achaemenid Persian art, which can mainly be seen in the archaeological finds of ancient Anatolia in present-day Turkey. It is pa ...

, 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. The Lycian sarcophagus of Sidon, is, together with the famous

Alexander Sarcophagus The Alexander Sarcophagus is a late 4th century BC Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the necropolis near Sidon, Lebanon. It is adorned with bas-relief carvings of Alexander the Great and scrolling historical and mythological narratives. The ...

, one of four massive carved sarcophagi, forming two pairs, that were discovered during the excavations of the

Ayaa Necropolis The royal necropolis of Ayaa (;., name=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Qiyaa,+Lebanon/@33.5673528,35.3874502,806m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x151eefff92aba839:0x484e2a688908252e!2sBramiyeh,+Lebanon!3b1!8m2!3d33.575125!4d35.3918864!3m4!1s0x151 ...

conducted by

Osman Hamdi Bey Osman Hamdi Bey (30 December 1842, in Istanbul 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was also an accomplished archaeologist, and is regarded as th ...

, an Ottoman of Greek descent and

Yervant Voskan Yervant Voskan (1855, Istanbul – Istanbul 1914) was an Armenian painter, sculptor, instructor, and administrator. He is the first known sculptor in modern Turkish sculpture history and as the first sculpture teacher at the Sanay-i Nefise he ...

, an Ottoman of Armenian descent, at the necropolis near

in 1887. File:Ayaa Necropolis, Sidon.png, The Lycian sarcophagus was the lowest tomb in the Sidon necropolis. 20131205 Istanbul 096.jpg Carved tomb in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum - panoramio.jpg 20131205 Istanbul 106.jpg File:Turkey, Istanbul, Museum of Archeology (3945725935).jpg 20131205 Istanbul 094.jpg File:Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Sarcofago regio di Sidone, sec. V aC - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006 03.jpg Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Sarcofago regio di Sidone, sec. V aC - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006 02.jpg

References

{{Istanbul Archaeology Museums Phoenician sarcophagi Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire Sidon District 1887 in the Ottoman Empire 1887 archaeological discoveries

See also

References