Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/200

i So lIisTukv OK ART IN I'I^KNICIA AND ITS DEPENDENCIES. forms of these sarcophagi became; more complex. At Oum-el- Awamid one lias been found with acroteria at each of its four angles and at the summit of the small pediment formed by the ends of its triangular lid (Fig. 120).' The interest of this monu- ment is enhanced by the small altar which appears in the centre of one end ; it is designed on the same lines as the sarcophagus itself. Altars like these are not rare in the Tyrian country. They were, no doubt, both emblems of the worship paid by a family to its dead, and instruments by which the rites were performed. In all probability, the little cippi with egg-shaped &lfti,-.. : ; -.:, FIG. 118. (iravcs dug in the rock at Gel>n]. From Rcnnn. summits which have been found in the necropolis of Sidon served a purpose of the same kind ; they were most likely erected either on the top of sepulchres or in front of their entrances (Fig. 121). The ornamentation of the trough-like sandstone coffins, which are found in considerable quantities in the necropolis of Sidon, is also of the most rudimentary kind (Fig. 122), but, nevertheless, a few of them have been found marked with Greek letters, which, unless they have been added afterwards, point to a late period of the decadence. 2 This seems to show that these patterns escaped from the influence of fashion by their very simplicity ; invented 1 RENAN, Mission, pp. 706, 707. - Ibid. 504.