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It is no surprise, therefore, that the Roman obsession with personal immortality acquired its physical form in stone." [30] Sarcophagi were used in Roman funerary art beginning in the second century AD, and continuing until the fourth century. A sarcophagus, which means "flesh-eater" in Greek, is a stone coffin used for inhumation burials. [31]
John Bodel calculates an annual death rate of 30,000 among a population of about 750,000 in the city of Rome, not counting victims of plague and pandemic. [10] At birth, Romans of all classes had an approximate life expectancy of 20–30 years: men and women of citizen class who reached maturity could expect to live until their late 50's or much longer, barring illness, disease and accident. [11]
A sarcophagus, which means "flesh-eater" in Greek, is a stone coffin used for inhumation burials. [9] Sarcophagi were commissioned not only for the elite of Roman society (mature male citizens), [ 10 ] but also for children, entire families, and beloved wives and mothers.
Roman sarcophagus with the myth of Medea, c. 140–150 AD, from Rome, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Berlin) Roman sarcophagus with Apollo, Minerva and the Muses, c. 200 AD, from Via Appia, exhibited in the Antikensammlung Berlin The Gothic sarcophagi of Don Àlvar Rodrigo de Cabrera, count of Urgell and his wife Cecília of Foix, c. 1300–1350, made of limestone, traces of paint ...
Sarcophagus of Helena. The Sarcophagus of Helena is the red porphyry coffin in which Saint Helena, the mother of emperor Constantine the Great, was buried (died 329).The coffin, deprived of its contents for centuries, was removed from the Mausoleum of Helena at Tor Pignatarra, just outside the walled city of Rome.
The Romans adopted the Etruscan tomb formats, maintaining the practice of showing the deceased as they were while alive. Roman sarcophagi were built from marble, and over time took on a more a contemplative, spiritual and redemptive iconographical tone, emphasising the deceased's former hierarchical role in society. [11]
The economy coffin, hinged coffin or Josephinian coffin (German: Sparsarg, Klappsärge, or Josephinischer Sarg) [1] [2] was a type of reusable coffin introduced by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in the late 18th century. The body was carried in the coffin to the gravesite where it would be dropped into the grave through folding doors on the base.
Coffins became increasingly unpopular and went entirely out of use by the 2nd century. In contrast, mummification appears to have been practised by large parts of the population. The mummy mask, originally an Egyptian concept, grew more and more Graeco-Roman in style, Egyptian motifs became ever rarer.