Interior of an Egyptian Mummy-pit
citing for Orna
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for a long delay in the removal of a corpse would have been attended with much inconvenience, from the heat of the climate generally, and, among the .lews in par- ticular, from the circumstance that every one thai came near the chamber was andean for a week. In- terment, therefore, where there was no embalming, was never postponed beyond twenty-four hours after death, and generally it took place much earlier. It is still the practice in the East to have burials soon over; and there are two instances in sacred history where consignment to the grave followed immediately after decease (Acts v, G, 10).
Persons of distinction were deposited in cof- fins. Among the Egyptians, who were the in- ventors of them, these chests were formed most commonly of several layers of paste- board glued together, sometimes of stone, more rarely of sycamore wood, which was re- served for the great, and furnished, it is prob- able, the materials of the coffin which received the honored remains of the vizier of Egypt. There is good reason to believe also that the kings and other exalted personages in ancient Palestine were buried in coffins of wood or stone, on which, as additional marks of hon- or, were placed their insignia when they were carried to their tombs: if a prince, his crown and sceptre ; if a warrior, his armor ; and if a rabbi his books. See Coffin.
ants (Ilackett's TUustr. of Script, p. 112), On such an humble vehicle was the widow's son of Nain carried (Luke vii, 10, and "this mode of performing funeral obsequies," says an intelligent traveller, "obtains equally in the present day among the .lews, Moham- medans, and Christians of the Last." The nearest relatives kept dose ly the bier, and performed the of- fice of bearers, in which, however, they were assisted by the company in succession. For if the deceased was a public character, or. though in humble life, had been much esteemed, the friends and neighbors show-
Ancient Sarcophagi in Palestine.
But the most common mode of carrying a corpse to the grave was on a bier or bed ("2 Sam. iii, 31), which in some cases must have been furnished in a costly and elegant style, if, as many learned men conclude from the history of Asa (2 Chron. xvi.l -l") and ofHerod (Josephus, Ant. xvii,8, 8), these royal personages were conveyed to their tombs on their own beds. The bier, however, in use among the common and meaner sort of people was nothing but a plain wooden board, on which, supported by two poles, the body lay concealed only by a slight coverlet from the view of the attend-
ed their respect by volunteering attendance in great numbers"; and hence, in the story of the affecting in- cident at Nain, it is related that ''much people of the city were with the widow." In cases where the ex- pense could be afforded, hired mourners accompanied the procession, and by every now and then lifting the covering and exposing the corpse, gave the signal to the company to renew their shouts of lamentation. A remarkable instance occurs in the splendid funeral cavalcade of Jacob. Those mercenaries broke out at intervals into the most passionate expressions of grief, but especially on approach::; the boundaries of Canaan
Ancienl Egyptian Bier.
Modern < Irii ntal \\ omen at :i Tomb. and the site of the sepulchre ; the iiinm n 16 com- pany halted for seven days, and, under the guid- ance of the mourning attendants, indulged in the most violent paroxysms of sorrow. See ( ,i.n i .
Sepulchres were, as they still are in the East— y a prudential arrangement sadly neglected in
oiir country- situated without the precincts of cit- ies. Among the .lews, in the case of l.evitieal
cities, the distance required was 2000 cubits, and
in all it was considerable. Nobody was allowed to be buried within the walls, Jerusalem forming the only exception, and even there the privilege was reserved for the royal family of David and a few persons of exalted character ( 1 Kings ii. 1": - Kings xiv, I'll). In the vicinity of tin- capital were public cemeteries for the general accommo- dation of the inhabitants, besides a field appropri- ated to the burial of stranger s. See Aceldama.
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It remains only to notice that, daring the first few weeks after a burial, members of a family, especially the females, paid frequent visits to the tomb. This affecting custom still continues in the East, as groups of women may be seen daily at the graves of their de- ceased relatives, strewing them with flowers, or pour- ing over them the tears of fond regret. And hence, in the interesting narrative of the raising of Lazarus, when Mary rose abruptly to meet Jesus, whose ap- proach had been privately announced to her, it was natural for her assembled friends, who were ignorant of her motives, to suppose " she was going to the grave to weep there" (John xi, 31; see Hackett's Illustra. of Scrtpt. p. 111). — Kitto, s. v. See Sepulchre.