BURIAL. 



Buril. thing else that was offensive. This coffin was kept 



by the nearest relations of the deceased for a t 



h in t licit houses, during which period t 1 

 ed before it different kinds of victims, ami the firbt 

 fruit* ot" their lands. These wen .siu-r \\.n<! . n-mo- 

 ved, anil set up round the city. Jhrot/ol. Tnul. '1\. 

 The ceremonies observed at the funcraU of the 

 .ian kings wi re i Mremcly singular. A soon as 

 the king died, a large quadrangular trench was sunk 

 the spot where the Boiysthenes begins to be 

 navigable. The body was then thoroughly cleansed, 

 mhalmed with various aromatic herbs, and in- 

 1 in wax. After being transported through the 

 diflcrem provinces of the kingdom, the dead body 

 was at last brought to the Gerrhi, who lived in the 

 remotest parts of Scythia, and amongst whom the 

 sepulchres were. Here the corpse was placed upon 

 a couch, round which daggers were fixed at different 

 distances ; and upon the whole were disposed pieces 

 of wood, covered with branches of willow. In some 

 other part of the trench they buried one of the con- 

 cubines of the deceased, whom they had previously 

 strangled, together with the baker, the cook, the 

 groom, his most coniidential servant, his horses, the 

 choicest of his effects, and some golden goblets. 

 The trench was then filled up with earth, and a 

 mound as high as possible raised above the whole. 

 Such was the mode of burial adopted at the inter- 

 ment of their kings ; but among the people, in gene- 

 ral, the ceremony was somewhat different. When 

 any one died, the neighbours placed the body in a 

 carriage, and carried it about to the different acquain- 

 tance of the deceased. These prepared some enter- 

 tainment for the persons who accompanied the corpse, 

 placing before the b..dy the same as before the rest. 

 After being carried about, in this manner, for the 

 space of forty days, the corpse was at length buried. 

 The Scythians, however, do not seem to have all ob- 

 served the same customs with regard to their fune- 

 rals ; for it would appear, that there were some who 

 suspended the dead body from a tree, and left it there 

 to putrefy. " Of what consequence," says Plutarch, 

 " is it to Theodorus, whether he rots in the earth or 

 upon it ? Such, among the Scythians, is the most 

 honourable funeral." This strange custom is also 

 mentioned by Siliu* Italicus : 



At gente in Scytfiid svffisca caduvcra truncia 

 Lenta dies scpelit, pvtri Unyuentia tabo. 



A similar practice, Captain Cock observes, prevails 

 among the inhabitants of Otaheite, who leave dead 

 bodies to putrefy on the surface of the ground, and 

 then bury the bones. See Herodot. Melpomene, 1 1 

 73. Beloe'b Transl. vol. ii. p. 24-3247. Hawks- 

 worth's Voyages. 



The African Nomades observed, in general, the 

 same ceremonies with the Greeks in the interment of 

 the dead, excepting the Nasamones, who buried the 

 corpse in a sitting attitude; and were particularly 

 careful, when any one approached his end, to prevent 

 his expiring in a reclined posture. Herodot. Melp. 

 190. 



The ancient Persians first inclosed their dead bo- 

 dies in wax, and afterwards placed them in the 

 ground. For a long time, the Magi seem to have 

 retained the exclusive privilege of having their bodies 



left ai prty to carnivorous aninmli. But in sue- 

 cetdjng times, the Persians abandoned all corpjr 



to bird* and beasts of prey i and thi 

 custom still in pait '.-place of 



the (iivbrcs, about half a league fr-m linahan, it a 

 round towr made ot frv.:otji,-, thirty nte feet in 



it, and ninety i i gate 01 



trance of any kind, and . by a ladder. In 



the middle of the tower is a sort of trench, into 

 which the bones are thrown. The bodies arc rangrd 

 along the wall in their prop*. : :i a mll 



ii, with battles of win--, ,xc. The ravens v. ' 

 till t! iy devour them. (Chardin'i 7'ravfli. 



Beloe's Herodottu, vol. i p. 144, N.) An c 

 model of this curious tower is preserved in the lii 

 tish Museum. 



The funerals of the chief men among the ancient 

 Thracians were pe-formed in the following tnn 

 For the space of three days the body of the decrued 

 was publicly exposed ; then, after sacrificing animals 

 of every description, and uttering many and loud la- 

 mentations, they celebrated a feast, and the body was 

 finally either buried or burned. A mound of earth 

 was afterwards raised upon the spot, and games of 

 various kinds were celebrated, in which each particu- 

 lar contest had a suitable reward assigned h. Hcro- 

 dot. Terps. 8. 



Among the Romans, the dead body was bathed 

 with warm water, anointed with perfumes, and then 

 dressed in the best rube which the deceased had 

 worn when alive ; ordinary citizens in a white toga, 

 and magistrates in their pra-lexta, &c. In this state 

 the corpse was placed on a couch in the vestibule, 

 with the feet outwards, as if about to take its last de- 

 parture. A lamentation was then made over the body, 

 and the couch was sometimes decked with leaves and 

 flowers, as in the case of Pallas, meiuioned by Virgil, 

 JEncid, 64. 66. If the deceased had obtained a 

 crown for his bravery, it was now put upon his head. 

 A small coin (triens vd oLolus) was put in his mouth, 

 which he might give to Charon for his freight ; for, 

 without this, it was thought that souls could not 

 purchase a lodging, or place of rest. The body was 

 afterwards either buried or burnt. 



The Roman funerals were either public or private; 

 and these, again, consisted of several different kmdb. 

 When a public funeral was intended, the corpse was 

 usually preserved for seven or eight days, with a 

 keeper to watch it. In the case of a private fune- 

 ral, the body was not kept so long. On the day of 

 the funeral, when the people were assembled, the 

 dead body was carried out, with the feet foremost, 

 on a couch, which was covered with rich cloth, de- 

 corated with gold and purple, and generally support- 

 ed on the shoulders of the nearest relations of the de- 

 ceased, of his heirs, or his freedmen, and sometimes 

 of persons of rank. Anciently, all funerals were 

 celebrated at night, with torches ; but, afterwards, 

 public funerals were solemnized at an early hour of 

 the day. Private funerals, however, always took 

 place at night. The order of the funeral procession 

 was regulated by a person called designator, attend- 

 ed by lictors, dressed in black. First went musicians 

 of various kinds ; then mourning women, hired to 

 lament and to sing the funeral song, or the praises of 

 the deceased, to the sound of the flute. The num- 



L . 



