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A sarcophagus is a stone container for a coffin or body. The word comes from Greek sarkophagos (σαρκοφαγος), which means "eater of flesh". Herodotus believed, erroneously, that sarcophagi (the Latin plural) were carved from a special kind of rock that consumed the flesh of the corpse inside.
Sarcophagi were usually carved, decorated or built ornately. Some were built to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate tomb. Others were made for burial, or were placed in crypts. A sarcophagus was usually the external layer of protection for a royal Egyptian mummy, with several layers of coffins nested within.
The word sarcophagus is often used in context of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, to describe a concrete tomb structure that has been erected to isolate the remains of the collapsed atomic reactor from the environment.
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de:Sarkophag fr:Sarcophage sv:Sarkofag
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