A L T 



it ; and upon it were placet! two rows tir p-ies of loaves, or 

 cakes of bread, fix in a row or pile, whitli wcrt chaiigtd for 

 ne-.v ones every Sabbath. This table was ulfo funiifhed with 

 golden dirties, fpooiis, ar.d howls. 



Tile Jews alfo g.ivc the name " altars" to a kind of tables 

 occalionaUv raited in ti-.e coiinlry or field, on which fycri- 

 iices were offered to God. Thus we often read, that in fuch 

 and fucli a place an altar was built to the l^ord. 



The altars of the Heatliens were at lirll made of turf ; 

 they wereafierwardi made of llone, marble, wood, and even 

 of horn, as tlu;i of Apollo in Delos. Before temples were in 

 ufe altars were erected in groves, in the high.ways, and on 

 the tops of ;r.ountains ; and it was cullomar)' to engrave upon 

 them the name or attribute of the deity to whom they were 

 confecrated. Altars v.ere aU'o of different kinds with regard 

 to their qualities, the ufes to which they were applied, and 

 the objecls to which they were appropriated. Accordingly 

 we read of altars iacrcd to gods, heroes, virtues, vices, difeafcs, 

 &c. and of inner and outer, ilationary and portable, public 

 and private altars. They diiTercd alio in their figure, which 

 was round, fqiiarc, or triangular. All of them were turned 

 towards the eaft, and generally adofned with fculpture, 

 baffo-relievos, and inlcriptions, expreffing tlie gedsto whom 

 they were appropriated, or reprefenting their diiliiiguiiliing 

 fymbols. For a fpecimen of Pagan altars, fecMisCELLAN Y. 

 Fldle I. N"^ I, rcprefcnts an altar dedicated to Neptune, a 

 trident, and two dolphins, the attributes of this deity being 

 exhibited on its fides. N'' 2, is a four-fquare altar„dedicatcd 

 to the nymphs, as the infcription informs us. N"' 3, exhibits 

 a Bacchanal with a thvrlus in his hand, which (hews that tin: 

 altar was eiecled to Bacclius ; with two other fides it ap- 

 peared triangular. Each fide of N' 4, which was triangu- 

 lar, exhibited a genins, one of whom is feen carrying an oar 

 upon his neck, which feems to indicate that it belonged to 

 Neptune. N'^ 5, with the infcription " Ara Neptuni," is 

 of a round figure ; the god is reprefented wholly naked, pre- 

 ferving the pallium on hii fhouider, and holding in his left 

 hand a trident, and in his right a dolphin. 



Altars differed alfo in tlieir height as well as in their figure 

 and the materials of which they were formed. 



According to Servius, (in Virg. Eel. v. 66. JE.n. ii.515.) 

 thofe altars fet apart for the honour of the celeilial gods, and 

 gods of the higher clafs, were placed on fume pretty tall pile 

 of building, as the altar of Olympian Jupiter, which was 

 nearly 22 feet high ; and for that rcafon were called altann, 

 firbm the word alta and am, a high elevated altar. Thofe 

 appointed for the terreilrial gods were laid on the furface of 

 the earth, and called «;-,? — and, on the contrary, they dug 

 into the earth, and opened a pit for thofe of the infernal 

 gods, which they called poGpi and Xar.yM, fcrobkuli. But this 

 dillinftion is not every v.hereobferved : the bell authors fre- 

 quently ufe ara as a gcaeral word, under wliich are included 

 the altars of the celeilial and infernal, as well as thofe of the 

 terreflrial gods. Witnefs Virgil, Eel. v. 



" En quatuor aras." 



Where arts plainly includes altana ; for whatever we make 

 of Daphnis, Phcebus was certainly a celeilial god. So Cicero, 

 pro Quint. " Aras dclubiaque Kecates in Graecia vidimus." 

 In the great temples of ancient Rome there were commonly 

 three altai-s. The firft was placed in the fanfluary at the 

 foot of the flatue of the divinity, upon which incenfe v/as 

 burned, and libations ofl'ered ; the fecond was before the 

 gate of the temple, and upon it they facrificed the viftims ; 

 and the third was a portable altar, upon which were placed 

 the offering and the facred veffcls. 



The Greeks alfo diilinguifli two forts of altars; that 



ALT 



whereon they f;;crifict.d to the gods, veas called iSi7*'.«, a»d 

 was a real altar, different from the otV.cr, whereon thiy fa- 

 crifced to the heroes, which was fnialler, and called scr/ajo, 

 ]\'llux makes this dillinelion ot allars in his Onomallicon ; 

 ht adds, however, that fonie poets ufcd the word ii7x'''i'^y 

 for the altar whereon facrilice was offered to the gods. The 

 Stpluigint verfion docs fometimes alfo ufe the word (t^v-jk, 

 for a fort of little low a/tar, which may be exprefted in 1 .atin 

 by cmiiaiia ; being a liearth rather than an iiltar. The 

 nymphs, inllead ot altars, had aiTja, caves, in wliieh adora- 

 tion was paid to thein. 



Altars and temples aff<irdcd an afylum or place of refuge 

 for malefactors, and criminals of all defcriptioi.s among the 

 Jews, Greeks, and Romans ; chiefly to flaves, from tlie cru- 

 elty of their mailers, to infolvent debtors and criminals, 

 where it was reckoned impious to touch tliem, and v.henee 

 it was unlawful to drag them ; but they fometiines kindled 

 fire round the place, or fhut up the temple and unroofed it. 

 Hence " ara" is put for " refugium." Ovid, Triil. iv. j. 2. 

 The altars of the ancient Heathens, as well as thofe of the 

 Jews, were adorned with horns, to which the viftims were 

 fallencd, and criminals v. ho fled for refuge to the altar laid 

 hold of the horns. The ancients alfo, on foleran occafions, 

 as in making alliances, and confirming treaties of peace, 

 fwore upon and by them. For claffical authorities to thefc 

 feveral facls, fee Adam's Rom. Ant. p. 327. Harwood's 

 Grecian Ant. p. 140, &c. 



The altar, bearing an infcription, " To the unknown 

 God," found, by the Apolhle Paul, at Atliens, aiid men- 

 tioned, Acls xvii. 23, has occafioned fome difficulty to bib- 

 lical critics. Jeroni iuppoles, that the infcription on thi.; 

 altar was not,as St.Paul q'lotes it, "To the unknown God," 

 but, " To tiie gods of Alia, and Europe and Africa, un- 

 known and ilrange gods ;" and that the apoflle has not 

 quoted the infc;iption exaftly, but dexterouOy applied it to 

 his own puipofe. Theophylacl and Oecumenius are alio 

 of opinion that the infcription was " to gods," &c. in the 

 plural number. On the other hand, Chryfollom and 111- 

 dore of Pelulium affert, that the infcription was in the 

 fingular number, as St. Paul quotes it. Learned moderns, 

 as well as ancient C'hriilian writers, have entertained differ- 

 ent opinions on this fubjeft. Le Clerc fays, that though 

 the infcription was in the plural number, St. Paul was in tlie 

 right to allcdge it in the fmgular number. The occallon 

 on which this altar was eretted, is thus related by Dioge- 

 nes Laertius (in Epimen. lib. i. fegm. 110. p. 70, 71.) 

 About 600 years before Chriil, " the fame of Epinienides 

 was very great among all the Greeks, and he was fuppoled 

 to be in great favour Viith the gods. The Athenians be- 

 ing afflidled with a pellilence, they were direfted by the 

 Pythian oracle to get their city purified by expiation. Thev 

 therefore ftnt Nicias, fon of Niceratus, in a Ihip to Crete, 

 inviting Epimenides to come to them. He came accord- 

 ingly in the 46th Olympiad, purified their city, and de- 

 livered them from the peltilence in this manner. Taking 

 feveral fheep, fome black, others white, he had them up to 

 the areopagus, and tlien let them go where they would ; 

 and gave orders to thofe who followed them, wherever 

 any one of them fhould lie down, to facrifice it to the god 

 to whom it belonged, and fo the plague ceafed. Hence 

 it comes to pafs, that to this prefeut time may be found in 

 the boroughs of the Athenians anonymous altars, a memo- 

 rial of the expiation then made." By the God to whom 

 it belonged fome have underftood, " the god next the place ; 

 others have tranflated the patfage, " to the proper god to 

 whom that office belonged ; to liim, wlioever he was, who 

 IhciJd remove the infhftcd pellUcuce." Dr. Doddridge, 



(in loc.) 



