232 



MOUNT ATHOS. 



Cappadocia; others are pointed out by Le Brim, Choiseul, and 

 Dr. Clarke. We may suppose that Gregory, who was born in Cap- 

 padocia, and had in his journies through Asia remarked these and 

 similar monuments, alludes to them when he speaks of the " stone 

 tombs in the mountains, the work of giants." * 



That many of these great excavations in the rock were executed 

 by the later inhabitants of Asia Minor, is evident from the in- 

 scriptions which have been discovered. Some of these in Greek 

 were copied by Dr. Clarke, and the travellers who were sent out by 

 the Dilettanti Society with Sir William Gell. Others are composed of 

 characters, the meaning of which has not yet been explained. These 

 tombs in the rocks frequently present, as we learn from the plates, in 

 the " Voyage Pittoresque" of Choiseul, in their outward forms, pedi- 

 ments, Ionic pillars, and architectural ornaments resembling those 

 used in Greek buildings. In Greece, the excavations in the rock 

 for sepulchral purposes were generally simple ; and those at Athens, 

 and even at Delphi, are inferior in extent and grandeur to the 

 tombs in Asia. The inhabitants of this country, from greater wealth 

 and pride, and a love of magnificence which particularly distinguished 

 them, were induced to form and raise monuments of a more sump- 

 tuous and laborious execution. The sarcophagi seen in Asia Minor 

 are more numerous and of larger dimensions than those in Greece j 

 Dr. Hunt has particularly remarked the appearance of the granite 

 Soroi of Assos. Perhaps the most costly tomb ever raised in 

 Greece f was that made by order of Harpalus for Pythionice ; thirty 

 talents were expended on it. Dio. Sic. xvii. 245. 



* SrijXat, xa» -rrkuxoevTe; ev oopeciv, spy a. yiyavrwv, Tvpfioi. — Anec. Graeca. Muratori. 

 f Mr. Fiott examined the Macedonian sepulchres at Vodena ; but they do not appear 

 to be distinguished by any remarkable size or form. Clarke's Travels, vol. iii. 341. 



