‘And when you are filled with sleep, you never were.’
William Faulkner
The Istanbul Archaeological Museum hosts one of the most fascinating sarcophagi in the world, known as the Alexander Sarcophagus. It is a Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the 4th century BC, discovered in the royal necropolis of Ayaa near Sidon in present-day Lebanon, which was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1916.
Scholars believe it belonged to King Abdalonymus of Sidon. It is named after Alexander because it is decorated with reliefs depicting Alexander the Great. The reliefs on one side of the sarcophagus show Macedonian soldiers, portrayed as nude warriors, fighting Persian soldiers, while the other side depicts Macedonian and Persian soldiers collaborating in a hunt.
I would highly recommend seeing this 2,400-year-old sarcophagus, carved with remarkable realism and precision. A closer look reveals that it was originally painted in vivid colours, of which only traces remain today.
For the modern viewer, it is difficult to imagine the time and effort invested in creating this eternal masterpiece as the final resting place of the King of Sidon in the 4th century BC. Unlike the “sleep” that erases all mortals, the name of King Abdalonymus was meant to live forever!
If you are interested in the journey of the sarcophagus from Sidon to İstanbul, visit my article titled Osman Hamdi Bey’s İstanbul!
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