BAR 



BAR 



ciently raifed over Uie bodies nf deceafcd licroes and pcrfons 

 of diilinguidifd charafter. This niode of interment may 

 be traced to the remoteft antiquity, ard inftances of it occur 

 in all quarters of the world. A learned antiquarian, well 

 known for his indullrious and indefatigable refearch (fee 

 Gough's Sepulchral Monuments of Great Biitain), confi- 

 dfcrs barrows as the moll ancient fepulchral monuments in 

 the world. Homer is one of the earlielt authors who men- 

 tions the conftruflion of barrows, in defcribing the funeral 

 rites attending tlie interment of Patroclus and Achilles. 

 The body of Patroclus w?.s firft laid on the top of a great 

 pile of wood about one hundred feet fquare, and covered 

 with the fat of animals offered in facrifice : the carcafes of 

 the beads, and the bodies of the Trojan captives cruelly 

 flain in cold blood on the occafion, were then throv/n on the 

 pile round its edges, and the whole reduced to aflies. The 

 remains of the fire were next day cxtinguifhed by pouring 

 wine on the eniberj ; and as many fragments of the bones of 

 the deceafed as could be collefted, were wrapped up in fat, 

 and put into a rich urn, having a linen veil flung over it. 

 The whole army then threw earth upon the fpot where the 

 pile had been confumcd, fo as to cover the bones of the 

 Trojans, of the beafts, and all the afhes that remain- 

 ed, and thus reared a high rude hill, under which, nearly 

 in the centre, the urn was placed. After this ceremony, 

 folemn games were performed, and chariot races were ex- 

 hibited round the barrow, in honour of the deceafed. To 

 this purpofe, the elegant tranfiator of Homer, in his account 

 of the funeral of Patroclus, expreffes part of the funeral ce- 

 remony : 



" High in the midft they heap the fvvelling bed 

 Of rifing earth, memorial of the dead." 



Iliad, :;xili. 319. 



In Plutarch's Life of Alexander, we find that when that 

 great conqueror arrived at the ruins of Troy, he anointed 

 with much ceremony the Hone plnced on the barrow of 

 Achilles, poured out libations, and, as the- cuftom was, 

 ran naked round the fepulchre, and crowned the ftone witli 

 garlands. 



Herodotus, the father of hitlory, mentions the barrow of 

 Alyattes, the fccond of that name, king of Lydia, and fa- 

 ther of Crocfus, raifed 2365 years ago, and feen by 

 Dr. Chandler in A. D. 1764, five miles from Sart, the an- 

 cient Sardis. This tumulus or barrow, formed by the joir.t 

 exertions of the merchants, the labourers, and the proili- 

 tutes, was about a mile in circumference, 1300 feet broad, 

 and terminated by a piece of water called the Gygxan lake, 

 ftill remaining. Dr. Chandler, in his " Travels through Afia 

 Minor," vol. i. p. 42. defcribes this and other barrows in 

 their prefent ftate ; and Herodotus flatcs, that the lower 

 part of it was a mafs of large ftoncs, but that the rell of the 

 fepulchre was a '■ umnlus ol earth. 



It was cuftomary among the Greeks to place on barrows, 

 cither the image ot lome animal, or ftclu;, termini, or round 

 pillars with inlcriptions. Paufanias defcribes the famous 

 harrow of the Athenians in the plain of Marathon, on wh.ich 

 were pillars of this kind : and on that of Alyattes were five 

 ftones, on which were engraved letters, denoting how much 

 each clafs of the perfons concerned had performed towards 

 it, and it appeared that the greater portion was done by the 

 young v.'omen. An ancient monument in Italy, near the 

 Appian way, called without reafon the fepulchre of the Cu- 

 riatii, has the fame number of termini with that of Alyattes, 

 the bafement, which is fquare, fupporting five round pyra- 

 mids. We are informed in the Icriptures, that when the 

 king of Ai was flain by Jofliua, his carcafe was placed at the 

 entrance of the city, and -upon it was raifed a great heap of 



ftones. Several other pafTages of the facred waitings lead 

 us to conchidc, that though the Jews were prohibited from 

 adopting the fuperftitious culloms of the gentile nations, 

 they did not think themfeKes reflrained from conftru£ling 

 thtfe memorials to their deceafed relatives. Diodoms Si- 

 cuhis, fpeaking of the Bullizfc-i, fays, that after prcfiing to- 

 gether the limbs of a dead body with boards, they caft 

 It into a hollow receptacle, and placed over it a large heap 

 of ftones. Virgil alludes to tiiis mode of interment as ufed 

 in Italy in the times to which the iEneid refers. Xenophon 

 relates that it obtained among the Perfians ; the Roman hif- 

 tonans record it as taking place among their countrymen ; 

 and it ;)rcvaik-d no lefa among the ancient Germans, Britons, 

 and other nations. 



According to Herodotus, the Gerrhi, a people of 

 Scythia, raifed barrows; and the cnftom of ereAing them in 

 various parts of the world continued through a long fcries 

 of ages. Gough fays, that they continued in ufe till the 

 1 2th century. 



The ancient barrows are of various fizes, fome of them 

 being fmall, and perhaps d^figned fi^r children, or the 

 younger branches of the royal family, or for perfons of 

 meaner rank ; others difliiiguilhed by their height and bulk, 

 and vilible like hills at a great diftance, which might pro- 

 bably have been the fepulchre of fome renowned monarch 

 or warrior, or general burying-places. 



Stahlenbcrg, in his defcription of the northern and weft- 

 ern parts of Europe and Afla, informs us, that great num^ 

 bers of tumuli, called by the Riiffians " bogri," are found 

 in Siberia, and in the deferts which border on that country 

 fouthward ; and that in thefe tombs are found many plates, 

 ornaments, and trinkets of gold. Some of thera are raifed 

 by earth as b.igh as houfes, and appear in the diftant plains 

 like a ridge of hills ; whilft: others are fct round with 

 rough-hewn ftones. Archsologia, vol. ii. p. 236. 



The cuftoni of intening with the dead their arms, their 

 jewels, and fometimes their horfcs and fervants, is traced by 

 M. Legrand D'Aufl"y (Mem. de I'Inftitut National dc» 

 Sciences, &c. Patis, vol. ii.) to the mythology of the north- 

 ern Afiatic nations, which taught them to believe that they 

 fho'.ild make an appearance in another world, correfponding 

 to the ornaments and attendants depofited in their tombs ; 

 and the remains of this fuperftition have defcended through 

 many ages. According to this writer, a great part of the 

 riches acquired by the northern nations in their irruptions, 

 has been interred in the tomb? of the conquerors. Trcafurts 

 have been frequently found in the barrowi fo common in 

 Tartary ; and, in attempting to ranfack thefe monuments, 

 the Siberians have had lo many conflicts with the Tartars, 

 that the Ruffian government has been obliged to put a flop 

 to their rcfearches. 



Denmark, Sweden, Lower Saxony, and many other 

 countries on the continent, abound with fepulchral nionu- 

 ment.s of this kind. Mr. Coxe, in his " Travels in Poland," 

 (vol. i. p. 130.) mentions two large barrows in the vicinity 

 of Cracow ; one by tradition called the burial-place of Cra- 

 cus, dnke of Poland, who is fuppofed to have built the town 

 in the year 700 ; and the other called the fepulchre of his 

 daughter Venda, who is reported to have drowned herfelf 

 in the Viftula to avoid a marriage with a perfon whom (he 

 deteftcd. As popular tradition records thefe as favourite 

 charafters in their country, it has honoured them with in- 

 terment under the moft confpicuous of thofe monuments 

 called barrows. 



The barrows of England arc very numeroufly fcattercd 



over the plains of \Viltrtiirc, the downs of Dorfetfliire, 



Kent, andSiiny. Monuments of the fame appropriation 



4X2 arc 



