Sarcophagus: translation
The term used by Egyptologists to denote the stone coffins used in the burials of members of the royal family and high officials that contained the wooden coffin or coffins in which the mummy of the deceased rested. These first appeared during the Old Kingdomand were rectangular in shape, being plain or decorated on the outside with a palace facade or serekh motif. In some cases, the name and titles of the deceased were inscribed on the inside or outside. More lengthy inscribed prayers and decorations were in evidence from the Middle Kingdom. During the New Kingdom, anthropoid sarcophagi came into use with texts on the inside and outside. The sky goddess Nutwas often depicted on the inside, especially in sarcophagi from the Late Period and Graeco-Roman Period. The term sarcophagus has also been loosely used to refer to wooden or cartonnage coffins, but it is now generally restricted to those made of stone.
See also Rishi Coffin; Tomb.
Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier