ALT 



iS,793 P""'J of copp.-r. We have before mentioned the 

 iron fmcltmg-lioufe oFttiis mountain. In the j\ltay there are 

 neither markets for provifions, nor any tnnltfnieti and mceha- 

 nics; and therefore the miner mull provide liimfelf with all 

 necelfaries, wliieh he is enabled to do by means of the nu. 

 inerous court and church holidays, on which he is releafed 

 from public labour. With this view the firil objeft of his 

 attention is to have a fmall houfe, witli a garden and a cow- 

 yard. When new (hafts are opened, he makes a fliift at full 

 with a hovel conlhufted with a few flakes, and covered witli 

 fods, or he digs an habitation and a baking oven in the earth ; 

 when he has the profpett of being llationary, he ei .'fts a re- 

 gular houfe to which he brings his cattle and his little pro- 

 perty. Hence it often happens, that within foreih appa- 

 rently the mod inacceffible, or in wild and dreary lleppes, 

 whole flrcets and villages fpring up in a few years. The 

 miners of the Altay are generally veiy ingenious and indullri- 

 ous ; and they arc excellent hunters, expert horfc men, and 

 in cafe of necenhy, the bell foldiers. Tooke's View of Ruf- 

 fia, vol. i. p. ii8, &c. Vol. iii. § lo. 



ALTALA, a fraall dillrict in the fouth-wefl part of 

 Corfica. 



ALTAMIRA, a village of Spain in Gallicia, on the 

 river Tamara, which gives title to an earl and grandee of 

 Spain, five leagues well of St. Jago de Compollella. 



ALTAMONT, or Altomonte, a town of Italy, in 

 the kingdom of Naples, and province of Calabria Citra, 

 near which are gold and filver mines, lo miles fouth-weil 

 from Caffano. 



ALTAMURA, a town of Naples, in the province of 

 Ban, at the foot of the Apennines, fi.x miles north-eait frum 

 Gravina. 



ALTANUM, in yliu-'ient Geo^^rnphy, a town of Italy, 

 in the part of Magna Gra:cia, called Brutium, litunle on 

 the eailern fide, fouth of the gulf of Scylaceum, and north 

 of Locri. 



ALTAO, a town of Africa in Mauritania Caefarienfis, 

 according to Ptolemy. 



ALTAR, Altare, Ara, a place or pile whereon to 

 ofTer facrifice to fome deity. 



Altars are, without doubt, as ancient as facrifices ; and 

 confequently their origin is not much later than that of the 

 world. Gen. c. iv. Some attribute their origin to the Egyp- 

 tians ; others to the Jews ; others to the patriarchs before 

 the flood. Some remove them as far back as Adam, whofe 

 altar is much fpoken of by Jewifhand even Chriftian writers. 

 Others are contented to make the patriarch Enoch the firft 

 who confecrated a public altar. Be this as it will, the ear- 

 lieft altars, of which we find any exprefs teftimony, are thofe 

 of Noah, (Gen. viii. 2C.) and of Abraham, (Gen. xii. 7.) 

 In the patriarchal times altars were formed of rude mate- 

 rials, and they were of almoft inftantaneous conftruftion, 

 and temporary, appropriated to the purpofe for whicii they 

 were deligned. The altar which Jacob let up at Bethel was 

 merely thettone on which he relied. Gen. xx. 8. Such was 

 alfo the altar of Gideon, Judges vi. ; and the firll altar 

 which Mofes ereited by the command of God was made of 

 earth. Exod. xx. 24. 



The principal altars of the Jews were the altar of in- 

 cenfe, the altar of burut-ofi'erings, and the alti'r or table of 

 fhew-bread. 



The altar of incenfe defcrlbcd, Exodus xxx. i — 10. was 

 made of fliittim wood, and overlaid with gold. It was one 

 cubit fquare, and two cubits high, with an ornament of 

 gold I'ke a carved moulding round tlietop of it. It was car- 

 ried about by two bars of the fame wood, covered with gold, 

 and palling thro-;>ih four golden rings. Its ufe was for 



ALT 



burning incenfe every mominp and eveninjf ; and it wa» alfo 

 to be Iprinkled with tlic blood of the facrilices that were of- 

 fered for the fins ot ignomnce, committed eitlicr by panicu- 

 lar pcrfons, or by the ptoplc in gcncnl. See MiiCELLAHV, 

 I'liite 1. 



The altar of burnt-offering, defcribcd Exodus xxvii. and 

 xxviii. was placed towards the call end of tlie court, front- 

 ing the entrance of the tabernacle, and at fuch a convenient 

 dillanec from it, that tiic fnioLe of the fire which wan con- 

 llantly burning on the altar might not fully the furniture 

 within the tabernacle. Its dimenfioiis were five cubits, or 

 about 19 feet fquaie, and three cubits, or about five and a 

 half feet liigh. It was m.idc of fliittim wood plated over 

 with brafs, and it had four brafs rings, through whicii were 

 put two bars, by which it was carried on the lliooldcrs of the 

 priclls. It had four horns at the four cornern ; but critic* 

 have been divided as to the form and ufc of tlicfc appen- 

 dages to this altar as well as to tlic former. Some have 

 fuppofed that they were mere ornaments lefcmbling the ray» 

 of the fun ; the term tranflated horn fignifying alfo a ray of 

 light. Others imagine that the corners of the altars were in 

 fliapc like the horns of an ox or iT.m, &:c. that they ferved 

 for the altar of incenfe to move and cari^ it about with the 

 greater cafe and lleadinefs ; and with relpett to this larger 

 altar, for tying the virtims to them, according to the allulion 

 of the Pialinill, I'falm cxviii. 27. Michaelis undcrftood by 

 the horns merely the corners, but this interpretation is incom- 

 patible with the context. They v ere evidently pnijcftioni 

 from the corners ; the text, however, does not intorm Ul 

 whether thty were upright, oblique or cuiTcd. Spencer, 

 Le Clerc, AViillus, and others, think that they were really 

 horn-fliaped, like thofe of the ara pacts oi the Romans. Jo- 

 fcphus fays fo exprcfsly of the altars in his time : zf:^yu.ni 

 i'iSj)i;'o, xffXTonJii; •TTfjx-iixj'i yina;. De Bell. Jud. lib. it. 

 c. 5. n" 6. p. ^24. ed. Haverc. The fire of this altar wa« 

 kept upon a fquare grate, fufponded by rings at the corners, 

 and poflibly by chains in the cavity of the altar. The di- 

 menfions of this grate might be about five feet fquare; and 

 fix inches being allowed for the thicknefs of the fides, there 

 would be a fpace of about i ! foot betwixt the grate and the 

 altar on every fide, which would be fufficient to prevent the 

 wooden fides from being damaged by the fire. The fire on 

 this altar was confidered as facred, having firft defccndcd 

 upon it from heaven. Lev. ix. 44. It was therefore to be 

 kept conftantly burning, and never to go out. Lev. vi. 13, 

 From hence probably the Chaldxans and Perfians borrowed 

 their notion of their facred fire, which they prcferved with 

 religious care and attention ; a cuftom which afterwards 

 pafTed from them to the Greeks and Romans. This altar wai 

 beaten down and dtftroycd by the Babylonians at the burn- 

 ing of tlic temple, but it was replaced on the return of the 

 Jews from captivity. Ezra iii. 3. It was now a large pile 

 built of unhewn fto'ne, 32 cubits (;. c. 48 feet) fquare at the 

 bottom, and gradually decreafing to the top or hearth, 

 which was a ftjuare of 24 cubits, and one cubit high, made 

 of folid brafs, and hence called the brazen altar ; for it u not 

 to be imagined that it was all made of fcilid bitifs. The 

 afceat up to the altar was by a gentle rifing on the fouth fide, 

 called the Kibbcfli, 32 cubits in length, and 1 6 in breadth, 

 and lauded upon the upper benching-in next the iicaith or 

 the top of the altar. Prideaux's Conn. vol. i. p. 199. See 

 Miscellany. Plnle I. 



The altar or table of fliew-bread, defcribcd, Exod. xxv. 



23 30. was made of the fame fort of wood with the altar 



of incenfe, and, like that, overlaid and ornamented with gold. 

 Its dimenfions were two cubits long, one broad, and one and 

 a half high, ll had a golden border, crown, or rim round 



it J 



