A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carve or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek sarx meaning "flesh", and phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos the word came to refer to the limestone that was thought to decompose the flesh of corpses interred within it.