Greek Mummy Found in Lead Coffin

[DDickey]

"A mummy of a middle-aged woman dating to Ancient Greek times has been discovered in a lead coffin inside a marble sarcophagus, the first clear indication of embalming in Greece from the era when the Romans ruled there."

 

Read the full story here.

[docoflove1974]

So why was a lead coffin used? Was this common practice? Does it provide embalming or preserving elements beyond what other materials do? Also, I thought it was common for there to be cremations in the Hellenic cultures...or am I mistaken?

[Nephele]

So why was a lead coffin used? Was this common practice? Does it provide embalming or preserving elements beyond what other materials do? Also, I thought it was common for there to be cremations in the Hellenic cultures...or am I mistaken?

 

Yes, I think that would have been the reason for the lead coffin -- to better preserve the body from decay. I know that many Jews of antiquity used lead coffins, as great care was taken in regard to corpses and "pollution". Cremation was not sanctioned in the Jewish community. So, if cremation was common in the Hellenic cultures, I wonder whether the woman entombed in this lead coffin might have been a Hellenic Jew?

 

-- Nephele