ON SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 31 
profusion over the plain;—camels and goats 
were feeding tranquilly around them;—and the 
wild figures and uncouth dresses of the Shep- 
herds might be seen hurrying to and fro, to call 
the cattle to their nightly quarters. 
The Gygian Lake is a wide piece of water, by 
the banks of which, on the side nearest to the 
town, are great numbers of barrows or mounds 
of earth, and among them the Sepulchre of 
Alyattes stands pre-eminent. Herodotus, I. xciii, 
who probably lived about 450 B.C., speaks of 
it as being, next to the works of the Egyptians 
and Babylonians, the most stupendous monu- 
ment existing.—It was constructed, he says, 
upon a foundation of stone, and afterwards 
completed with earth. It was erected by three 
classes of the inhabitants of Sardis, viz., the 
merchants, the artisans, and the public wo- 
men. At the summit of it were fixed five ter- 
mini, or smnall pillars with inscriptions, declaring 
the proportion of work executed by each class 
of the artificers. Of these there is now no ves- 
tage.—In the time of Herodotus this monument 
was somewhat more than three quarters of a 
mile in circumference at the base, but at present 
it is considerably less. Unfortunately he does 
not mention its height, nor had I, when there, 
