RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Cemeteries
grave-chambers in the underground cemeteries would lead to the expectation of finding the same structure above ground; and as a matter of fact it is the rule in Syria and Mesopotamia, while the early existence of numerous examples of this class may be inferred from paintings and sculptures representing the raising of Lazarus, which nearly always depict an oblong tomb like a house or temple. Actual examples from the West are one built like a tower above the Catacomb of St. Calixtus in Rome, another vaulted one at Tropea, two adjoining ones by the side of a basilica at Morsott, and another at Tipasa in North Africa. Occasionally to the rectangular ground- 3. Ground- plan was added a semicircular ter- Plan and mination at the rear, as in the group Form. of tombs in the cemetery of Manastirine near Salona, of the fourth century or earlier, and other examples at Tipasa and Ancona. The rotunda shape, however, was also of frequent occurrence from the earliest times. Two large mausoleums of this shape, Santa Petronilla and Santa Maria della Febbre, stand near St. Peter's in Rome, and the church of St. George at Salonica was probably sepulchral in origin. The tomb of Theodoric at Ravenna is externally a decagon, on the ground floor within a Greek cross, and circular above. After semicircular additions to an original rectangular plan became common, suggesting the form of a cross, the idea received further development at the hands of Christians. The most prominent representative of this was the mausoleum of the first Christian emperors, the church of the Apostles at Constantinople, of whose sumptuous structure, unhappily, little more is known now than that it had the shape of a Greek cross. The tomb of Galla Placidia at Ravenna also deserves study from this point of view. Probably earlier than the time of Constantine is the original construction of the two mausoleums above the catacombs of St. Calixtus, which later received the names of St. Sixtus and St. Soter. When, after the cessation of persecution, the erection of churches over or near the graves of the saints was carried out on a large scale, the development of cemeteries in connection with them followed as a consequence of the desire of Christians to be buried near the resting-place of the martyrs. In spite of the ancient law forbidding burial within the walls of the city, such burials continued after the relics of the martyrs were brought in to the principal churches of various places (see Churchyard). Burial within the church itself was not everywhere approved. In Spain and Gaul, particularly, it was even a subject of adverse conciliar legislation, although this barrier did not suffice to keep back the flowing tide of popu- 4. Ceme- ^ar P^ty- Both literary and monuteries Con- mental evidence attests the existence nected with, in the most widely separated portions Churches, of the primitive Church of buildings used both for worship and for interment. A large number of them arose outside the walls of Rome. Unfortunately many smaller buildings of this class sank into decay or oblivion during and after the Middle Ages, while the larger
ones were so transformed in course of time that to-day they have scarcely a trace of their original use. It is thus easier to examine the extant ruins in order to form an idea of the construction adopted in the first instance. Of these undoubtedly the most significant is that discovered and explored by Delattre at Damous-el-Karita near Carthage. Here, in the church proper and atrium as well as in the immediate neighborhood, more than 14,000 inscriptions or fragments of inscriptions were brought to light. The dead were buried in ordinary sunk graves, lined and covered with slabs, though some were constructed of masonry, frequently covered with stone slabs, and a number of sarcophagi were found, these latter sunk flush with the floor. Of the great burial-churches in Rome, the best example was until recently furnished by that of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo, the floor of which was literally crowded with graves and sarcophagi. The church of St. Paul without the Walls, also at Rome, which from the fourth century was a favorite burial-place, was surrounded by a space intended especially for interment, covered by a roof supported on columns, and adorned with paintings; and that of St. Balbina, also outside the city, had a teglata under which the dead were buried.
b. Types of Graves: In the primitive age, the simple grave dug in the earth was the commonest form for cemeteries above ground. It was ordinarily not so deep as the graves of to-day, and was frequently lined with slabs of stone, with brick, or with masonry. This custom led to the enlargement of the simple grave into a vault capable of holding several bodies. Of these vaults none have been so thoroughly investigated as were those of the upper cemetery of St. Calixtus and the churches of St. Laurence and St. Paul without the Walls by De Rossi. In the first-named large holes were dug, and then divided off by partitions into spaces
each large enough for one body.
Ordinarv ^'ie materials used in construction
Grave. were tufa, brick, marble, and thick
layers of mortar. In these compartments the corpses were placed one above another, a slab covering the one first buried and serving as a support for the next. The place of the slab was occasionally taken by an arched covering of brick or by a layer of masonry. In this particular cemetery the excavation was carried deep enough to contain ten or even more bodies thus superimposed; the average is between eight and nine. The same system is found at Ostia, Porto, and Tropea in Calabria, as well as in North Africa and at Athens. In other cases, as in the same cemetery of St. Calixtus, the corpse;; were laid side by side and separated by an upright slab. While the usual shape of all these graves was rectangular, some occur in North Africa which correspond roughly to the shape of the body, and are rounded off at the head and foot. They were frequently also wider at the head than at the foot, giving a bell-shaped type which corresponds to examples found in the Sicilian catacombs. In both cases this type is a survival of native pre-Christian usage. The closing of the graves, whichever of these
Cemeteries