CATACOMB S. 



62,5 



mlii. extremity of this gallery is a pit from 40 to (X) feet 

 * -- , -^ deep, communicating with long subterraneous pasta- 



iii tin- 10. -k, which terminate in a 

 chamber about :i() feet tqnaic. 



The catacomb* of the more opulent ranks of the 

 ancient Tiiebans, or their immediate successors, 

 were lower on the mountain. In proportion as the 

 height of the excavation increaseB, they arc more 

 richly decorated : the colours of the paintings arc 

 brilliant, and the sculptures elegant and well defined. 

 Among the innumerable subjects displayed through- 

 out the catacombs, one chamber is devoted to war- 

 like weapons, another to the implements of husband- 

 j y, or a representation of agricultural operations All 

 ordinary occupations or amusements are exhibited ; 

 hunting, fishing, trafficking, and the like. Yellow fi- 

 gures are executed on a blue ground in the royal cata- 

 combs, with as much taste as modern edifices would re- 

 quire. Headless trunks are seen ; black men who had 

 suffered decollation, and also their executioners hold- 

 ing a sword coloured red. Sometimes religious or fu- 

 nereal processions are exhibited, sometimes games or 

 imaginary subjects. The most singular and appa- 

 rently absurd figures are displayed. Those of men 

 larger than life, or dwindling to a pigmy size, men 

 with the heads of birds or beasts, or asses raised 

 on their hind legs. It has been conjectured, that 

 the history of each of the ancient Egyptians depo- 

 sited in the catacombs may be traced on the walls, 

 and that the paintings represent their occupations 

 in life. 



Mummies are still found in the Theban catacombs, 

 not in niches, but resting on beds formed entirely of 

 small images of baked earth. They are swathed up, 

 and lie in regular order on the ground. Almost the 

 whole of these cemeteries have been rifled of their 

 contents, either in search of treasure, or for the sake 

 of obtaining the resin with which the head and belly 

 of the mummies are filled. Hence the passages are 

 obstructed by heaps of bones and decaying fragments 

 of mortality, and it is rarely that an entire mummy is 

 discovered. Nevertheless there are still some, such 

 as those just mentioned, which until lately were un- 

 disturbed ; and on removing the bands in which they 

 were swathed, some rolls or the ancient papyrus, in 

 good preservation, were found. The nails both of 

 the hands and feet are gilt in many mummies, and 

 sometimes two rolls are seen, which are supposed to 

 contain a certain form or order of prayers for the de- 

 ceased. 



A mountain in the neighbourhood of the ancient 

 Eilethia, is also penetrated by numerous catacombs, 

 the entrance to each of which is guarded by two fi- 

 gures armed with clubs, in the sides of an arch which 

 forms the gateway. In one of these recesses are sta- 

 tues of men and women as large as life. But it is 

 chiefly by paintings, as before, that the walls are or- 

 namented ; and while the different operations of lifc 

 are performed, persons are always present, apparently 

 recording them in writing. Here are seen men har- 

 nessed to draw the plough, bird-catching, vessels un- 

 der sail, and the performance of music. The larger 

 human figures are about eighteen inches high, the 

 smaller only eight. The men are painted red, and 

 their clothing is a girdle encircling the waist, which 

 falls to the knees : the women are painted yellow, 



and are attired in a tunic reaching from the boiom to Catacomb*. 



the am It -. The children are naked. * 



From the anxiety with which mummies were sought 

 ;ropean nations, the Arabs have made a kind of 

 properly of catacombs, and frequently prevent the 

 access of the cunoui ; or practising an imposture on 

 them, a mummy is secretly conveyed to a wtil known 

 catacomb, and the deluded traveller taught to believe- 

 that he is its original discoverer. 



Next to the Egyptian catacombs, the most ex- 

 tensive with which the moderns arc acquainted arc 

 those of ancient Rome. Though their antiquity per- 

 haps is not equal to that of some others dispersed 

 throughout the world, an unusual interest is excited 

 by their containing the remains of a people, who had 

 rendered themselves so illustrious, and whose history 

 is so familiar to our knowledge. 



The Roman catacombs are of great extent. Some 

 maintain, that, entering close to the city, they stretch 

 several leagues beyond it ; but the precise destination 

 and limits of these, if they actually do exist, are not 

 ascertained. Some others have for centuries been fre- 

 quently explored : in the course of which a zealous 

 antiquarian, Anthony Bosio, who has amply elucida- 

 ted this subject, ventured to pass entire days within 

 them, had provisions carried there, and, notwith- 

 standing the danger of the enterprise, traversed their 

 utmost extremities. Yet the hazard of this is great: 

 persons have been known to lose their way ; and the 

 passages are of such intricacy, that it is unsafe to 

 penetrate their recesses without a clue. 



The catacombs of Rome, like those of most other 

 places, are long, narrow, subterraneous galleries, cros- 

 sing each other at right angles, or passing off oblique- 

 ly. Chambers at each side occasionally appear, 

 and a glimmering of light is admitted by openings 

 above, distant by intervals of 300 yards or more. 

 But in the interior it is dark as night. The excava- 

 tions are invariably under the earth, in the puzzolana 

 whereon the city is built : they are necessarily nar- 

 row to preserve the roof, and, in some parts, are 

 vaulted. Nevertheless the earth frequently detaches 

 itself from above, and obstructs the passages, or to- 

 tally blocks them up. There are cavities along each 

 side, which have formerly been appropriated for the 

 reception of lamps ; and deep niches penetrate into 

 the walls, wherein the bodies of the deceased were 

 deposited. These niches are invariably in proportion 

 to the size of the individual ; those of women and chil- 

 dren being smaller than the rest. 



The bodies are regularly arranged in one tier of 

 niches above another, along the sides of the galleries, 

 each nich of sufficient capacity according to the num- 

 ber it waa required to contain, and closed at the foot 

 by a single brick. In general, the galleries can ad- 

 mit of a man traversing them with facility, and there 

 two or three rows of niches are seen : in some places* 

 they are more lofty ; and Bosio relates, that one 

 which he discovered was so high, as to receive 

 eight or ten bodies above each other in the sides. 

 Parts of the same gallery, however, were so low, that 

 he had to advance bending downwards, or crawbng 

 on his breast, to the different streets and passages ; 

 probably the consequence of the superincumbent 

 earth having given way. 



The cement by which the tombs are closed, unlew 



