By Bashar Mustafa, Francisco J. Esquivel and José A. Esquivel
ABSTRACT
This study focuses on analyzing and statistically interpreting, from the perspective of archaeological
material culture, the anthropoid Phoenician sarcophagi found in Sidon and Amrit and dated to the second
half of the first millennium BC. We will highlight how these funeral artifacts have focused almost
exclusively on sarcophagi as artworks. The main goal of this research was to study the sarcophagi from an
archaeological perspective with reference to the quantitative and qualitative data taken from each piece, in
order to establish the source of materials used in them. We prioritize the most numerous groups from both
areas, to formulate a hypothesis concerning the supply patterns of raw materials and the processing of each
piece leading to finishing it with specific morphological features and its final delivery for funerary use.
