The proportions of this sculpture and the treatment of the eyes suggests this is from the lid of a large anthropoid sarcophagus. During the late 6th or early 5th century B.C., several Sidonian kings were burried in imported Egyptian basalt sarcophagai. These early imports inspired a local tradition during the 5th and 4th centuries of anthropoid sarcophagai in white marble. The heads of many of these sarcophagai, including the present example, are clearly the work of Greek craftsmen. The type came to be adopted throughout the Phoenician world. See Moscati, "Sarcophagi," in The Phoenicians, pp. 292-299.