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To My Family and Uğraş Uzun - Bilkent University

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position. He is wearing a chiton <strong>and</strong> a himation. The right h<strong>and</strong> is on his wife’s<br />

(?) right shoulder. The left h<strong>and</strong> is on the scroll on the mattress lying open before<br />

him. The head is broken off (ancient damage), <strong>and</strong> there is some modern damage<br />

on the shoulder. There is no indication that it was ever carved. There are<br />

encrustations within the folds of his clothes.<br />

4.6 Composition<br />

One of the most striking features of the Antakya Sarcophagus is the<br />

discrepancy of composition between the rear <strong>and</strong> the other three sides. On the<br />

front side <strong>and</strong> the short sides of the Antakya Sarcophagus, there are motionless<br />

seated <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ing males <strong>and</strong> females. It is quite common to come across<br />

st<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>and</strong> seated males <strong>and</strong> females, <strong>and</strong> sometimes even st<strong>and</strong>ing children on<br />

“st<strong>and</strong>ard type” sarcophagi (Morey, 1924: 64-70; Wiegartz, 1965: 59-65; Koch,<br />

2001: 171). These figures usually do not appear to reflect any symbolism or tell a<br />

story, unless they are mythological figures such as Hercules, Meleager, Daidalus<br />

<strong>and</strong> Icarus, <strong>and</strong> the Dioscuri, which is not the case with the Antakya Sarcophagus.<br />

As such, the front <strong>and</strong> the short sides of the Antakya Sarcophagus conform to the<br />

usual pattern of composition found on “st<strong>and</strong>ard type” sarcophagi.<br />

On the rear side of the sarcophagus, however, a single hunting scene<br />

occupies all the available aediculae <strong>and</strong> bays, an exceptional composition among<br />

recorded Docimeum columnar sarcophagi (Koch, 2001: 171). There are a few<br />

examples which incorporate a continuous scene of hunting on one or two sides,<br />

<strong>and</strong> seated or st<strong>and</strong>ing figures on the other sides as with the; Athens A1 (A<br />

fragment incorrectly reconstructed by H. Wiegartz as part of a single<br />

sarcophagus- The Athens-London Sarcophagus- with other fragments from<br />

57

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