Anthropoid ‘Philistine’ sarcophagi: concluding remarks?

Abstract

The care taken to preserve the bodily integrity of the deceased within an anthropoid sarcophagus is a particular funerary tradition, characteristic of ancient Egypt, but also documented by a number of findings in the Near Eastern area that testify to episodes of a phenomenon of emulation. In the area of Palestine and Transjordan, the discovery of so-called ‘Philistine’ anthropoid sarcophagi dated to a period between the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age II (13^th-8^th centuries BC) has been documented; the presence of these terracotta specimens can be interpreted as the adoption of a foreign tradition by a group of individuals characterized by authority and economic availability and testifies to a receptive (i.e., passive) emulation relationship. This examination of the documentation has revealed historical patterns and dynamics that testify to the prolonged presence in an upper class (by authority and/or economic availability) of a strong cultural and ideological attraction (and openness) of the Levant to Egyptian culture, traceable over a long period of time.