The African Nomadts observed, in general, the same ceremonies with the Greeks in the interment or the dead, excepting- the Nasamones, who buried the corpse in a sitting attitude ; aml were particularly careful, when any one approached his end, to prevent his expiring in a re clined posture. Ilcrodot. Nap. 190.
The ancient. Persians first inclosed their dead bodie‘. in wax, and afterwards placed them in the ground. For a long time, the :\ lagi seem to have retained the exclusive privilege of having their bodies left as a prey to carnivo rous animals. But in succeeding- times, the Persians abandoned all corpses indiscriminately to birds and beasts of prey ; and this custom still in part continues. The burial-place of the Guebres, about half a league from Is pahan, is a round tower made of free-stone, thirty-five feet in height, and ninety in diameter, w ithout gate or entrance of any kind, and ascended by a ladder. In the middle of the tower is a sort of trench, into which the bones arc thrown. The bodies are ranged along the wall in their proper clothes, upon a small couch, with bottles of wine, Sic. The ravens which fill the cemeter) devour them. (Chardin's Travels. 13cloe's Ilerodorus, vol. i. p. 144, N.) An exact model of this curious tower is preserved in the British Museum.
The funerals of the chief men among the ancient Thracians were performed in the following manner. For the space of three days the body of the deceased was publicly exposed ; then, after sacrificing animals of every description, and tittering many and loud lamentations, they celebrated a feast, and the body was finally either buried or burned. A mound of earth was aftt rwards raised upon the spot, and games of various kinds were celebrated, in which each particular contest had a suitable reward assinged it. Ilerodot. 7r< ries. 8.
Among the Romans, the dead body was bathed with warm water, anointed with per fumes, and then dressed in the best robe which the deceased had worn when alive ; ordinary citizens in a white toga, and magistrates in their nreetexta, &c. In this state the corpse was placed on a couch in the vestibule, with the feet outwards, as if about to take its last departure. A lamentation was then made over the body, and the conch was sometimes decked with leaves and flowers, as in the case of Pallas, mentioned by Virgil, Eneid, 64-66. If the deceased had obtained a crown for his bravery, it was now put upon his head. A small coin (triens vel °bolus) was put in his mouth, which he might give to Charon for his freight ; for, without this, it was thought that souls could not purchase a lodging, or place of rest. The body was afterwards either buried or burnt.
The Roman funerals were either public or private ; and these, again, consisted of several different kinds. When a public funeral was intended, the corpse was usually preserved for seven or eight days, with a keeper to watch it. In the case of a private funeral, the was not kept so long. On the day of the funeral, when the people were assembled, the dead body was carried out, with the feet foremost, on a couch, which was co vered with rich cloth, decorated with gold and purple, and generally supported on the shoulders of the nearest relations of the deceased, of his heirs, or his freedmen, and sometimes of persons of rank. Anciently, all fune
rals were celebrated at night, with torches ; but, after wards, public funerals were solemnized at an early hour of the day. Private funerals, however, always took place at night. The order of the funeral procession was regu lated by a person called designator, attended by lictors, dressed in black. First went musicians of various kinds ; then mourning women, hired to lament and to sing the funeral song, or the praises of the deceased, to the sound of the flute. The number of flute-players at a funeral was restricted to ten, by the laws of the twelve tables. Next came players and buffoons, who danced and sung ; while one of them, called Archiminzus, supported the cha racter of the deceased, imitating his words and actions when alive. Then followed the freedmen of the de ceased. Before the corpse were carried the images of the deceased, and of his ancestors, on long poles or frames. After the funeral, these images were again set up in the hall, where they were preserved. If the de ceased had distinguished himself in war, the crowns and rewards which he had received for his valour were dis played, together with the spoils and standards which he had taken from the enemy. The lictors attended with their fasces inverted ; and sometimes the officers and troops, with their spears pointing to the ground, or laid entirely aside. Behind the corpse walked the friends of the deceased in mourning ; the magistrates without their badges, and the nobility without their ornaments. At the funeral of an illustrious citizen, the corpse was carried through the forum; where the procession stopped, and a funeral oration was pronounced in praise of the de ceased from the rostra, by some near relation or friend, or by a magistrate. From the forum, it was carried to the place of burning or burial. if the corpse was to be burnt, it was placed, along with the couch, on the fune ral pile; which was built in the form of an altar, with four equal sides, of such kind of wood as might easily take fire. The nearest relations kissed the body with tears, and then set lire to the pile with a lighted torch, turning away their faces to strew that they did it reluc tantly. Various perfumes, £xe. were thrown into the fire ; and animals, especially such as the deceased had been fond of, were slaughtered at the pile, and thrown into it. When the pile was burnt down, the lire was ex tinguished, and the embers were soaked with wine; the bones were then gathered by the nearest relations. The bones and ashes, after haying been besprinkled with the richest perfumes, were put into an urn, made of earth, brass, marble, silver or gold, according to the rank and fortune of the deceased ; and along with them, some times, a vial full of tears, called by the moderns a la chryznatory. The urn was then solemnly &posted in the sepulchre.