Roughed-out sarcophagus lid shaped as couch (klinē) with reclining figures on, from the Bacakale Quarry, Iscehisar.
This roughed-out lid (lying upside down so that the inside is visible) was found during the removal of ancient spoil as part of modern quarrying activity on the site. The Bacakale Quarry is the largest quarry at Iscehisar (ancient Dokimeion) and the focus of modern activity. Both white and coloured marble are extracted here, the latter a white-cream breccia with purple veins (pavonazzetto). The elaborate colonnaded sarcophagi known as 'Asiatic' sarcophagi were usually carved in Dokimeian white marble and often fitted with klinē lids of which this is a very roughly worked form. The couch and the figures on it, which are not visible in this image, still required elaboration, including the addition of portraits.
