A Dog’s Life (and Death) at the Museum

Following up on my previous musings on a less than aesthetically pleasing statuette in a Turkish museum, here’s another canine-themed post. Seen in the photo below is a sarcophagus made especially for a dog and exhibited today in the Antalya Archaeological Museum. It was found in Termessos in 1998.


A dog’s sarcophagus in the Antalya Archaeological Museum. Photo: TMK, May 2006.

We know that it was made for a dog because of the barely readable inscription (here slightly adapted from the translation offered by the museum):

(This grave) keeps inside the one that death took suddenly.
This is the grave of Dog Stephanos that went away and vanished.
Rhodope cried for it and buried it like a human.
I, (the) Dog Stephanos: Rhodope set up my grave.

Join the conversation

1 Comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *