The Sarcophagus of Adelphia: Detail, The Sacrifice of Isaac

Abraham's hand is stayed by God's, which reaches down from the top of the clipeus, while a diminutive Isaac kneels before a flaming altar. That much is like the other examples of this scene on sarcophagi. Unlike most of them, this image does not include a ram or anything like a mountain or hill. Some other early images are like this one in putting Abraham in an "exomis," a short tunic with one exposed shoulder worn by workmen and light infantry that facilitates heavy work with the right hand. The shepherd on the lid of this sarcophagus also wears an exomis.

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Photographed at the Syracuse Archeological Museum, Sicily, by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.