Limestone sarcophagus: the Amathus sarcophagus

Period:: Archaic

Date:: 2nd quarter of the 5th century B.C.

Culture:: Cypriot

Medium:: Hard limestone

Dimensions:: Overall: 62 x 93 1/8 x 38 1/2in. (157.5 x 236.6 x 97.8cm)

Classification:: Stone Sculpture

Credit Line:: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76

Accession Number:: 74.51.2453

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 174

The Amathus sarcophagus is arguably the single most important object in the Cesnola Collection and unique among ancient Cypriot sculptures in its monumentality and in the preservation of its polychromy. The primary scenes on the long sides show a procession of chariots escorted by attendants on horseback and followed by foot soldiers. The main personage is probably the driver, who is standing under a parasol in the first chariot. His horses, as the others, are richly caparisoned; his chariot resembles the others also, except that the wheel has fewer spokes. The decoration of the short ends consists of a row of Astarte figures, nude except for their double necklaces and ear caps, and a row of Bes figures. The choice of these two deities, one Near Eastern, the other Egyptian, suggests the importance of procreation to the deceased. The figural panels are framed by a variety of vegetal ornaments, while the gabled lid once featured a pair of sphinxes and a palmette at each end.
The sarcophagus probably belonged to one of the kings of Amathus. The procession scenes provide a glimpse into his world. The iconography as a whole, moreover, documents the thorough integration of Greek, Cypriot, and Oriental features in works of high quality at the middle fifth century B.C.

#1105. Limestone sarcophagus: the Amathus sarcophagus, Part 1

#1195. Limestone sarcophagus: the Amathus sarcophagus, Part 2

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From the north necropolis of Amathus

Until 1874, Cesnola Collection, excavated by General Cesnola in Amathus, Cyprus; acquired 1874, purchased from General Luigi Palma di Cesnola.

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. pp. 249ff., pls. 14, 15, London: John Murray.

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXLIX.1184, .1185, pl. CL.1186, .1187, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.

Myres, John L. 1912. "Sarcophagus from Amathus." Antike Denkmäler, III(1). pls. 1-4.

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Bandinelli, Ranuccio Bianchi. 1958. Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica, Classica e Orientale, Vol. 1. pp. 300-2, 748-50, figs. 434, 945, Rome: Instituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

Bandinelli, Ranuccio Bianchi. 1958. Enciclopedia dell'Arte Antica, Classica e Orientale, Vol. 2. pp. 66, 636, figs. 112, 865, Rome: Instituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

McCann, Anna Marguerite. 1978. Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 16-7, fig. 2, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 3, pp. 169–70. Paul Aströms Förlag.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1986. Vol. 3: Atherion-Eros. "Bes," p. 105, no. 96; "Bes (Cypri et in Phoenicia)," p. 110, no. 25, Zürich: Artemis Verlag.

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Hermary, Antoine. 1995. "Une tête de Bès chypriote au musée de Cannes." Cahier du Centre d' Etudes Chypriotes, 23. p. 6, fig. 6.

Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 330, pp. 201-4, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lightfoot, Christopher S. 2000. "The New Cypriot Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Minerva, 11(3): no. 3: 20, fig. 9.

Tatton-Brown, Veronica. 2000. "The New Galleries of Cypriot Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Apollo, 152:

Hendrix, Elizabeth. 2001. "Polychromy on the Amathus Sarcophagus: A "Rare Gem of Art." Metropolitan Museum Journal, 36. pp. 43–58, figs. 3–8.

Crouwel, Joost H. 2002. "Chariots in Iron Age Cyprus." Selected Writings on Chariots, Other Early Vehicles, Riding and Harness, Peter Raulwing, ed. pp. 149, 155, 157, 158, pl. 21, Leiden: Brill.

Petit, Thierry. 2004. "Images de la royauté amathousienne: Le sarcophage d'Amathonte." Iconographie impériale, iconographie royale, iconographie des élites dans le monde gréco-romain, Yves Perrin and Professor Thierry Petit, eds. pp. 49-96, figs. 1-4, Saint-Étienne: Université de Saint-Etienne.

Karageorghis, Jacqueline. 2005. Kypris: the Aphrodite of Cyprus: Ancient Sources and Archaeological Evidence. pp. 98–9, fig. 94, Nicosia, Cyprus: Foundation Anasatasios G. Leventis.

Petit, Thierry. 2006. "“Oedip et le Chéubin”." Kernos: Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique, 19: p. 326 n 47.

Petit, Thierry. 2006. "Malika: L'identité composite du Dieu-Roi d'Amathonte sur le sarcophage de New York." Identités croisées en un milieu méditerranéen, le cas de Chypre : Antiquité-Moyen âge pp. 63-99, figs. 1-4.

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Stylianou, Andreas and Patrick Schollmeyer. 2007. "Der Sarkophag aus Golgoi." Dynastensarkophage mit szenischen Reliefs aus Byblos und Zypern: Der Sarkophag aus Amathous als Beispiel kontaktinduzierten Wandels, 2. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern.

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Hermary, Antoine and Joan R. Mertens. 2013. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Stone Sculpture. no. 490, p. 353–63, Online Publication, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Satraki, Anna. 2013. "The Iconography of Basileis in Archaic and Classical Cyprus: Manifestations of Royal Power in the Visual Record." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 370: pp. 132, 136, fig. 7.

Papantoniou, Giorgos. 2013. "Cypriot Autonomous Polities at the Crossroads of Empire: The Imprint of a Transformed Islandscape in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 370: pp. 173-74, 176, n. 13.

Tassignon, Isabelle. 2013. "Le "Seigneur aux lions" d'Amathonte : étude d'iconographie et d'histoire des religions des statues trouvées sur l'agora." Études Chypriotes, 18: p. 21, fig. 9.

Karageorghis, Jacqueline. 2014. "À Propos Du Sarcophage D'Amathonte." Cahier du Centre d' Études Chypriotes , 44. pp. 385–98, figs. a–c, n. 1.

Essays
The Cesnola Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Timelines
The Eastern Mediterranean, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.