Excavations at the ancient city of Stratonikeia in southwestern Turkey have uncovered an ornate sarcophagus carved with garlands in high relief. In a city rich with Roman sarcophagi, this is the finest example of garland decoration and one of the best-preserved ever sarcophagi found there.
[Professor Bilal Sogut, head of the Stratonikeia and Lagina Excavation Team,] emphasized the liveliness of the figures surrounding the sarcophagus, explaining, “The richness, grandeur and opulence of the era from nearly 2,000 years ago can still be seen here. The plants, particularly the garlands, are beautifully and intricately crafted. The ram heads at the corners, along with the pine cones, vine, olive leaves, grapes, pomegranates and poppies depicted around them, all reflect the wealth and magnificence of the period. Even when you look at the ram heads, you can understand the wealth and splendor of that era. The bull heads on the narrow edges and in the central parts are some of the details that complete the figures.”
The sarcophagus was discovered in the Agora, the political and religious center of the ancient city, but that was not its original location. It was taken from the city’s necropolis and moved to the agora in late antiquity. The necropolis has been damaged by a lignite pit mine, so the ancient move may have saved the sarcophagus from harm or even destruction.
Evidence of human settlement in the area goes back to the Late Bronze Age (1500 B.C.), but the remains of the city as we see them today primarily date to the Hellenistic and Roman city. Stratonikeia was named after Stratonice (281–261 B.C.), the wife of its founder Antiochus I Soter. It was a member of the Chrysaorian League of important cities in the Anatolian province of Caria, and continued to flourish under the Roman Empire. Public buildings like baths, the theater, the bouleuterion (council house) and largest gymnasium in the ancient world were built in the 1st and 2nd centuries. The gymnasium was home to the top gladiator training school in the region.
Archaeologists believe there was a marble carving workshop or workshops there in the imperial era. It provided sarcophagi for local burials, and the coffins were so highly prized they were exported to clients outside of Anatolia as well. The newly-discovered sarcophagus will go on display with other sarcophagi unearthed in the ancient city.
Remember, this was produced by taking a large block of marble and carving away everything that didn’t look like a garland or other decoration as well as excavating out the interior space. That is a LOT of stone to remove by hand but probably a lot of the grunt work was done by slaves and maybe some of the finish work.
Also, it is likely that when it was new all the decoration would have been painted in vivid colors. It would have been even more impressive then.
…But “It is all in that stone , already!” 😉
Indeed, temples and statues were often painted back then. However, I simply do not have that information on sarcophagi.
At Carrara, I witnesses how gargantuan blocks of white marble are prepared in those -uphill!- quarries, and how they are then brought down to the valley.
Once the block(s) get in unscheduled motion, they take down with them everything that there is, including the entire truck with its driver.
In the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul (an under appreciated gem) is a Greek sarcophagus showing combat between Greeks and Persians (so, maybe 4th or 5th century BC) which retains a portion of its original paint. There is also a reproduction of one panel which is painted to represent the original color, very impressive.