The Pella sarcophagusduring excavations.The staff
watchestensely as a large stone is lifted from the north
apse of the West Church. Beneath the debris near the
bottom is one end of the cist. There is a hole in one of
the coveringslabs.
North apse of the West Church during excavation.
One of the covering slabs of the cist has been broken,
revealing the lid of the sarcophagus inside.
{Left)Plan of the north apse of the West Church, showing the sarcophagus and the outline of the cist. Remnants
of the paving of the church floor are not shown. (Right)Section of the north apse, showing the location of the
sarcophagusand its cist in relation to the floor of the church. Drawing by Robert H. Smith.
The hewn-stone cist was discovered immediately below the floor of the apse. In it the sarcophagus lay carefully packed in soft cement and
covered with six large slabs of stone. Though both
sarcophagus and cist lay roughly east to west with
the head end toward the west, they were not
oriented parallel to the church's main walls
which were carefully situated so that the eastwest axis of the church lay at a right angle to
true north. We wondered if the sarcophagus was
positioned at an angle so that the space beside it
in the apse might be used for other burials, but
we found no other interments to justify this explanation.
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