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The ancient Greeks used, for the making of coffins, a limestone which disintegrated in a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. Such a coffin was called sarkophagos, literally, "eating flesh", a word formed from sarx, "flesh", and phagein, "to eat".
From this origin comes our word sarcophagus, which has lost its literal significance and denotes merely any stone coffin or large coffin placed where it may be seen.
If you have ever read anything about the finding of the tomb of Tutankhamen, one of the pharaohs of Egypt, you have, no doubt, seen references to his sarcophagus, which is, of course, his coffin.
It is very likely that no one has told you what a curious meaning this word has. It is made from two Greek words: sarx, "flesh"; and phagein, "to eat" and so a sarcophagus is really a "flesh eater".
The word was first applied to a kind of limestone used by the Greeks to make coffins, which quickly decomposed the flesh of bodies placed in them. Afterward, any large coffin was called a sarcophagus.
Luxor, Egypt: The face of King Tutankhamen was unshrouded in public for the first time on Sunday (November 4, 2007), 85 years after his golden enshrined tomb and mummy were discovered in the Valley of the Kings.
Archaeologists removed the mummy from his stone sarcophagus in his underground bomb, momentarily pulling aside a white linen covering to reveal a shriveled leathery black face and body.
The mummy was placed in a climate-controlled glass box in the tomb, with only his face and feet showing under the linen covering.
Hoping to solve the mysteries surrounding King Tut, scientists removed his mummy from the tomb and placed it into a portable CT scanner for 15 minutes in 2005 to obtain a three-dimensional image. The scans were the first done on an Egyptian mummy.
The CT scan provided the most revealing insight yet into King Tut's life. He was well-fed, healthy, slightly built, with a height of 1.7 meters (5 feet 6 inches), at the time of his death.
The scan also showed that he had the typical overbite characteristic of other kings from his family; that is, large incisor teeth and his lower teeth were slightly misaligned.
The word sarx presents a number of words in English, but most of them are medical terms without special interest except to those who are involved in the profession of medicine.
There is one, however, that is worth special attention. What connection has sarcasm with "flesh"? Keep reading and you will soon find out.
Sarkazein means "to tear flesh like dogs"; also "to bite the lips in rage". From this it is not difficult to trace its next meaning: "to speak bitterly, to sneer".
Thus, "sarcasm" and "sarcastic" cannot be said to have a pleasing ancestry, or a pleasant modern application either.
This Word Info site includes many words that are used in our modern age, especially those from "Latin and Greek sources".
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