To My Family and Uğraş Uzun - Bilkent University

“Gates of Hades” through which the dead soul must pass (Ferguson, 1982: 134;
Lawrence, 1958: 276; Morey, 1924: 67).
For the origins of the tomb portal on the Docimeum sarcophagi, it has
been suggested that the motif could have been ultimately derived from Egypt,
where the tomb chamber in the Old Kingdom Mastabas have a painted door
before which people could stand and place their offerings (Lawrence, 1958: 276).
In addition, Etruscan ossuaries and sarcophagi, as well as Roman cinerary urns
and sepulchral altars commonly have tomb portals (Lawrence, 1958: 277). It is,
however, tempting to look for the immediate predecessors of the motif on the
Docimeum sarcophagi in Phrygia itself, as numerous Phrygian grave-stones are
decorated with a door motif (Ferrari, 1966: 76- 95; Waelkens 1982: 105, 106;
Koch and Sichtermann, 1982: 498; Walker, 1985: 33-34; Waelkens, 1986).
5.4 Seated and Standing Figures
There have been many suggestions about the origins and identification of
the seated and standing figures on the Docimeum columnar sarcophagi. The first
suggestion is related to the identification of the seated figures, and argues that
they are the representations of the people buried in the tomb (Akurgal, 1987: 148;
Kılınç, 2000: 103). The second suggestion is about the origins of the seated
figures, and argues that they derive from the Lycian prototypes as with those on
the “Sarcophagus of Dereimis and Aischylos” (Fig. 97) (Rodenwaldt, 1940: 45).
On that specific example, it is assumed that the male and female seated face to
face on both pediments of the gabled lid represent the deceased couple (İdil,
1985: 79-80). Another Lycian prototype for the seated deceased people is on the
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