DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4098#0462
TUMULI. 417
Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and America.1 They are still used
in Spain, where, according to Townsend,2 it is thought an act of
piety to throw a stone upon the spot where a man has been killed.
Thus cairns were raised in Scotland in early times.3
Herodotus4 tells us, that the Thracians raised tumuli' over the
dead, and the practice prevailed among the Persians ; for the same
author asserts, that the tomb of Alyattes,5 father of Croesus, in
Lydia, was a tumulus. Strabo6 says, that tumuli were used by the:
Indians. Pindar7 describes that of GEnomaos, near Olympia, as
rvu&og a^tpmoXog: Pausanias8 calls the same ra.(pog yv\g xuH/U arepfwjeWejtAij-
pevog XtSoig. Tumuli were raised near Platasa,9 after the conflict of
the Greeks with the Persians. Those near Orchomenos, in Arcadia,
mentioned by Pausanias,10 still remain. There are some in the
plain of Marathon, as well as in various parts of Attica.
The sepulchre of King Dercennus, according to Virgil,11 was a
tumulus. This is probably the most ancient kind of sepulchre for
great persons, the pyramid the second, and the spelaion the third.
They generally contained sarcophagi, and were sometimes orna-
mented with the inscribed stele or column which is noticed by
Homer.12 One of the tumuli in the plain of Athens has been ex-
cavated, when it was found to contain a chamber finely constructed
with large blocks of stone, in which Avas a vase of terra cotta,
with figures and inscriptions. Many of the tumuli, however, which
are seen in Greece and other parts of the world, when consisting only
of small loose stones, are nothing more than the cleanings of the
fields, the stones having been picked up and heaped together, in
order to prepare the soil for cultivation. In some countries they
1 See Lechevalier, Voyage de la Troade, vol. 2. p. 255. who cites Jefferson on the State
of Virginia, p. 74, and 173. * Travels in Spain.
I See Pennant's Tour in Scotland, p. 184. 1772. * B. 5. c. 8. 5 B. 1. c. 93.
6B. 15. p. 709. T Olymp. Od. 1. v. 148. 8 B. 7. c. 21.
9 Herodot. b.9. c. 85. 10 B. 8. c. 13.
II iEneid. 11. v. 849- 12 Iliad. lG. v. 457.
VOL. I. 3 n
Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and America.1 They are still used
in Spain, where, according to Townsend,2 it is thought an act of
piety to throw a stone upon the spot where a man has been killed.
Thus cairns were raised in Scotland in early times.3
Herodotus4 tells us, that the Thracians raised tumuli' over the
dead, and the practice prevailed among the Persians ; for the same
author asserts, that the tomb of Alyattes,5 father of Croesus, in
Lydia, was a tumulus. Strabo6 says, that tumuli were used by the:
Indians. Pindar7 describes that of GEnomaos, near Olympia, as
rvu&og a^tpmoXog: Pausanias8 calls the same ra.(pog yv\g xuH/U arepfwjeWejtAij-
pevog XtSoig. Tumuli were raised near Platasa,9 after the conflict of
the Greeks with the Persians. Those near Orchomenos, in Arcadia,
mentioned by Pausanias,10 still remain. There are some in the
plain of Marathon, as well as in various parts of Attica.
The sepulchre of King Dercennus, according to Virgil,11 was a
tumulus. This is probably the most ancient kind of sepulchre for
great persons, the pyramid the second, and the spelaion the third.
They generally contained sarcophagi, and were sometimes orna-
mented with the inscribed stele or column which is noticed by
Homer.12 One of the tumuli in the plain of Athens has been ex-
cavated, when it was found to contain a chamber finely constructed
with large blocks of stone, in which Avas a vase of terra cotta,
with figures and inscriptions. Many of the tumuli, however, which
are seen in Greece and other parts of the world, when consisting only
of small loose stones, are nothing more than the cleanings of the
fields, the stones having been picked up and heaped together, in
order to prepare the soil for cultivation. In some countries they
1 See Lechevalier, Voyage de la Troade, vol. 2. p. 255. who cites Jefferson on the State
of Virginia, p. 74, and 173. * Travels in Spain.
I See Pennant's Tour in Scotland, p. 184. 1772. * B. 5. c. 8. 5 B. 1. c. 93.
6B. 15. p. 709. T Olymp. Od. 1. v. 148. 8 B. 7. c. 21.
9 Herodot. b.9. c. 85. 10 B. 8. c. 13.
II iEneid. 11. v. 849- 12 Iliad. lG. v. 457.
VOL. I. 3 n