The comparative lateness of the so-called sepulchre of Gamaliel and other rabl)iiis at IMcirAn is proved by the presence of sarcojihagi still within them (Thomson, Land and Book, i, 433),
Since the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, none of the native inhabitants have been in a position to in-
dulge in much sepulchral magnificence, or perhaps had any taste for this class of display; and we in conse- quence find no rock -cut hypogea, and no structural monuments that arrest attention in modern times.
IV. Comparison ivith Modei-n Oriental Tombs. — The style of the public cemeteries around the cities of an- cient Palestine in all probability resembled that of the present burying-places of the East, of which Dr. Shaw gives the following description : " They occupy a large space, a great extent of ground being allotted for the purpose. Each family has a portion of it walled in like a garden, where the bones of its ancestors have remained imdisturbed for many generations. For in these enclos- ures the graves are all distinct and separate; each of them having a stone placed upright, both at the head and feet, inscribed with the name or title of the de- ceased ; while the intermediate space is either planted with flowers, bordered round with stone, or paved with tiles," Examples of these tombs are given in the ac-
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Modern Syrian Tombs, companying cuts. By these it is seen that, as among people in good circumstances, the monumental stones are placed upon quadrangular tombs, in the centre of which evergreen or flowering shrubs are often planted, and tended with much care. There were other sepul- chres which were private property, erected at the ex- pense and for the use of several families in a neighbor- hood, or provided by individuals as a separate bur3'ing- place for themselves. These were situated either in some conspicuous place, as Rachel's on the highway to Bethlehem (Gen. xxxv, 19), or in some lonely and se- questered spot, under a wide -spreading tree (ver. 8) in a field or a garden. Over such garden tombs, espe- cially when the tomb is that of some holy person, lamps
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Oriental Garden Tomb.
SEPULCHRE
563
SEPULCHRE
Oiieutal Domed Sepulchre. are sometimes hung and occasionally lighted. The graves of the most eminent Mohammedan saints are each covered with a stone or brick edifice called icely. It has a dome or cupola over it, varying in height from eight to ten feet. Within lamps are often hung, and the grave proper is covered with carpet and strings of beads. Sometimes more costly ornamentation is used. In common cases, sepulchres were formed by digging a small depth into the ground. Over these, which were considered an humble kind of tomb, the wealthy and great often erected small stone buildings, in the form of a house or cupola, to serve as their family sepulchre. These are usually open at the sides. Sometimes, how- ever, these interesting monuments are built up on all sides, so that the walls are required to be taken down, and a breach made, to a certain extent, on each succes- sive interment. " This custom," says Came, " which is of great antiquity, and particularly prevails in the lonely parts of Lebanon, may serve to explain some passages of Scripture. The prophet Samuel was buried in his own house at Ramah, and Joab was buried in his house in the wilderness. These, it is evident, were not their dwelling-houses, but mansions for the dead, or family vaults which they had built within their own precincts." Not unfrequently, however, those who had large estab- lishments, and whose fortunes enabled them to com- mand the assistance of human art and labor, purchased,
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Interior of Sepulchre at Tyre.
like Abraham, some of the natural caverns with which Palestine abounded, and converted them by some suita- ble alterations into family sepulchres ; while others, with vast pains and expense, made excavations in the solid rock (Matt, xxvii, 60). These, the entrance to which was either horizontal or by a flight of steps, had their roofs, which were arched with the native stone, so high as to admit persons standing upright, and were very spacious, sometimes being divided into several distinct apartments; in which case the remoter or innermost chambers were dug a little deeper than those that were nearer the entrance, the approach into their darker sol- itudes being made by another descending stair. ]\Iany sepulchres of this description are still found in Pales- tine; but the descent into them is so choked up with the rubbish of ages that they are nearly inaccessible, and have been explored only by a few indefatigable hunters after antiquities. Along the sides of those vast caverns niches were cut, or sometimes shelves ranged one above another, on which were deposited the bodies of the dead, while in others the ground-floor of the tomb was raised so as to make different compartments, the lowest place in the family vaults being reserved for the servants. Some of those found near Tyre, and at Alexandria, are of the round form shown in Fig. 1, but these seem exceptions; for the tombs at Jerusalem, in
Modern Sheik's Tomb.
Ground-plans of Oriental Sepulchres.
Asia Minor, and generally in Egypt and the East, ofFer the arrangements shown in Fig. 2.