Editing Larnax (section)

{{Short description|Minoan small closed burial-chest}}
[[File:Minoan larnax, brids, carriage, seascape, Crete, AMH, 145315.jpg|alt=|thumb|Late Minoan III larnax from Kavrochori, Archaeological Museum of Heraklion]]

[[File:Philip II larnax vergina greece.jpg|upright|thumb|The [[golden larnax]] and the golden crown of [[Philip II of Macedon]], [[Vergina]] Museum.]]

A '''larnax''' (plural: '''larnakes'''; {{langx|grc|λάρναξ|lárnax}}, plural: λάρνακες, ''lárnakes'') is a type of small closed coffin, box or "ash-chest" often used in the [[Minoan civilization]] and in [[Ancient Greece]] as a container for human remains—either a corpse (bent back on itself) or [[Cremation|cremated ashes]].

The first larnakes appeared in the Minoan period of the [[Aegean civilization]], when they took the form of ceramic coffers designed to imitate wooden chests, perhaps on the pattern of Egyptian linen chests. They were richly decorated with abstract patterns, [[Octopus|octopuses]] and scenes of hunting and cult rituals.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-06-21 |title=Met Timeline {{!}} Larnax (chest-shaped coffin) |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/eus/ho_1996.521a,b.htm |access-date=2024-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030621115605/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/03/eus/ho_1996.521a,b.htm |archive-date=2003-06-21 }}</ref>

During the later [[Hellenistic period]], larnakes, in the form of small terracotta sarcophagi, became popular, some of which were painted in similar styles to contemporary [[Greek vase|Greek vases]].

In a few special cases, larnakes appear to have been made out of precious materials, as in [[Golden Larnax|the 4th century BC example]] found at [[Vergina]] in [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], of gold, with a sun motif (hence known as the "[[Vergina Sun]]" motif) on the lid. [[Manolis Andronikos]], the leader of the archaeological excavation, posited that the larnax most likely contained the remains of King [[Philip II of Macedon]], father of [[Alexander the Great]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andronikos |first=Manolēs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEnpPwAACAAJ |title=The Finds from the Royal Tombs at Vergina |date=1981 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-85672-204-2 |language=en}}</ref>