A
sarcophagus is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word
sarcophagus comes from the Greek
σάρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and
φαγεῖν phagein meaning "to eat"; hence
sarcophagus means "flesh-eating", from the phrase
lithos sarkophagos, "flesh-eating stone". The word also came to refer to a particular kind of limestone that was thought to rapidly facilitate the decomposition of the flesh of corpses contained within it due to the chemical properties of the limestone itself.