DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13855#0266
MURUS.
25
8
MYSTERIA.
period of architectural history. For build- I with stucco were exceedingly common with
ings of a common sort, the materials em- I the Komans : even columns were made of
brick covered with stucco.
MUSCULUS was a kind of vinea, one of
the smaller military machines, by whic'i the
besiegers of a town were protected.
MUSEUM (fj-ovcrelov), the name of an insti-
tution founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus,
about b. c. 280, for the promotion of learn-
ing and the support of learned men. The
museum formed part of the palace, and con-
tained cloisters or porticoes (n-eptVaTo;), a
public theatre or lecture-room (cfe'Spa), and
a large hall (oucos ne'yas), where the learned
men dined together. The museum was sup-
ported by a common fund, supplied appa-
rently from the public treasury; and the
whole institution was under the superin-
tendence of a priest, who was appointed by the
king, and after Egypt became a province of
the Roman empire, by the Caesar. Botanical
and zoological gardens appear to have been
attached to the museum.
MYRII (fivpioi), the name given to the
popular assembly of the Arcadians, which
was established after the overthrow of the
Spartan supremacy by the battle of Leuctra,
and which used to meet at Megalopolis in
order to determine upon matters affecting
the whole people.
MYSIA (nvcrta), a festival celebrated by
the inhabitants of Pellene in Achaia in ho-
nour of Demeter Mysia, which lasted for 7
days.
MYSTERIA. The names by which mys-
teries or mystic festivals were designated in
Greece, are ftucmjpia, TeAeTou, and bpyia. The
name opyia (from eopya) originally signified
only sacrifices accompanied by certain cere-
monies, but it was afterwards applied espe-
cially to the ceremonies observed in the wor-
ship of Dionysus, and at a still later period
to mysteries in general. TeAe-7) signifies, in
general, a religious festival, but more par-
ticularly a lustration or ceremony performed
in order to avert some calamity, either public
or private. Mucrnjptov signifies, properly
speaking, the secret part of the worship, but
was also used in the same sense as TeAenj,
and for mystic worship in general. Mys-
teries in general may be defined as sacrifices
and ceremonies which took place at night or
in secret within some sanctuary, which the
uninitiated were not allowed to enter. "What
was essential to them, were objects of wor-
ship, sacred utensils, and traditions with
their interpretation, which were withheld
from all persons not initiated. The most
celebrated mysteries in Greece were those o'
Samothrace and Eleusis, which are described
in separate articles. [Cabeiria ; Eleusiuu.]
Anuium Wall at Mycenae.
ployed were smaller stones, rough or squared,
or flints, as well as bricks. These were
bound together with various kinds of mortar
or cement, composed of lime mixed witli dif-
ferent sands and volcanic earths. The history
of Roman masonry is not very different from
that of the Greek.-—The most ancient works
at Rome, such as the Career Mamcrtinus,
the Cloaca Maxima, and the Servian Walls,
were constructed of massive quadrangular
hewn stones, placed together without ce-
ment. [Cloaca.] Five species of Roman ma-
sonry may be distinguished; namely, 1. when
the blocks of stone are laid in alternate
courses, lengthwise in one course, and cross-
wise in the next; this is the most common ;
'1. when the stones in each course are laid
alternately along and across ; this construc-
tion was usual when the walls were to
be faced with slabs of marble ; 3. when they
are laid entirely lengthwise ; 4. entirely
crosswise ; and 5. when the courses are al-
ternately higher and lower than each other.
As by the Greeks, so by the Romans, walls
of a commoner sort were built of smaller
quarried stones [eaementa) or of bricks. The
excellence of the cement which the Romans
used enabled them to construct walls of very
small rough stones, not laid in courses, but
held together by the mortar ; this structure
was called opus incertum. Another structure
of which the Romans made great use, and
which was one of the most durable of all,
was that composed of courses of fiat tiles.
Such courses were plso introduced in the
other kinds of stone and brick walls, in which
they both served as bond-courses, and, in the
lower part of the wall, kept the damp from
rising from the ground. Brick walls covered
25
8
MYSTERIA.
period of architectural history. For build- I with stucco were exceedingly common with
ings of a common sort, the materials em- I the Komans : even columns were made of
brick covered with stucco.
MUSCULUS was a kind of vinea, one of
the smaller military machines, by whic'i the
besiegers of a town were protected.
MUSEUM (fj-ovcrelov), the name of an insti-
tution founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus,
about b. c. 280, for the promotion of learn-
ing and the support of learned men. The
museum formed part of the palace, and con-
tained cloisters or porticoes (n-eptVaTo;), a
public theatre or lecture-room (cfe'Spa), and
a large hall (oucos ne'yas), where the learned
men dined together. The museum was sup-
ported by a common fund, supplied appa-
rently from the public treasury; and the
whole institution was under the superin-
tendence of a priest, who was appointed by the
king, and after Egypt became a province of
the Roman empire, by the Caesar. Botanical
and zoological gardens appear to have been
attached to the museum.
MYRII (fivpioi), the name given to the
popular assembly of the Arcadians, which
was established after the overthrow of the
Spartan supremacy by the battle of Leuctra,
and which used to meet at Megalopolis in
order to determine upon matters affecting
the whole people.
MYSIA (nvcrta), a festival celebrated by
the inhabitants of Pellene in Achaia in ho-
nour of Demeter Mysia, which lasted for 7
days.
MYSTERIA. The names by which mys-
teries or mystic festivals were designated in
Greece, are ftucmjpia, TeAeTou, and bpyia. The
name opyia (from eopya) originally signified
only sacrifices accompanied by certain cere-
monies, but it was afterwards applied espe-
cially to the ceremonies observed in the wor-
ship of Dionysus, and at a still later period
to mysteries in general. TeAe-7) signifies, in
general, a religious festival, but more par-
ticularly a lustration or ceremony performed
in order to avert some calamity, either public
or private. Mucrnjptov signifies, properly
speaking, the secret part of the worship, but
was also used in the same sense as TeAenj,
and for mystic worship in general. Mys-
teries in general may be defined as sacrifices
and ceremonies which took place at night or
in secret within some sanctuary, which the
uninitiated were not allowed to enter. "What
was essential to them, were objects of wor-
ship, sacred utensils, and traditions with
their interpretation, which were withheld
from all persons not initiated. The most
celebrated mysteries in Greece were those o'
Samothrace and Eleusis, which are described
in separate articles. [Cabeiria ; Eleusiuu.]
Anuium Wall at Mycenae.
ployed were smaller stones, rough or squared,
or flints, as well as bricks. These were
bound together with various kinds of mortar
or cement, composed of lime mixed witli dif-
ferent sands and volcanic earths. The history
of Roman masonry is not very different from
that of the Greek.-—The most ancient works
at Rome, such as the Career Mamcrtinus,
the Cloaca Maxima, and the Servian Walls,
were constructed of massive quadrangular
hewn stones, placed together without ce-
ment. [Cloaca.] Five species of Roman ma-
sonry may be distinguished; namely, 1. when
the blocks of stone are laid in alternate
courses, lengthwise in one course, and cross-
wise in the next; this is the most common ;
'1. when the stones in each course are laid
alternately along and across ; this construc-
tion was usual when the walls were to
be faced with slabs of marble ; 3. when they
are laid entirely lengthwise ; 4. entirely
crosswise ; and 5. when the courses are al-
ternately higher and lower than each other.
As by the Greeks, so by the Romans, walls
of a commoner sort were built of smaller
quarried stones [eaementa) or of bricks. The
excellence of the cement which the Romans
used enabled them to construct walls of very
small rough stones, not laid in courses, but
held together by the mortar ; this structure
was called opus incertum. Another structure
of which the Romans made great use, and
which was one of the most durable of all,
was that composed of courses of fiat tiles.
Such courses were plso introduced in the
other kinds of stone and brick walls, in which
they both served as bond-courses, and, in the
lower part of the wall, kept the damp from
rising from the ground. Brick walls covered