V. On the Origin of Cremation, or the Burning of the Dead. By JOHN JAMIESON, D. D. F. R. S. & F. A. S. E.

(Read April 3. 1815.)

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S far as we can judge from historical records, the primeval' mode of disposing of dead bodies, was by inhumation. It has been observed in another essay, that according to PLINY, the ancient Romans did not burn their dead, but consigned them to the earth. It must be admitted, however, that by some the mode of cremation had been preferred in a very early period of their history; as we cannot otherwise account for the prohibition, which PLUTARCH ascribes to NUMA, as to the burning of his body. If we may credit the testimony of CICEthe Greeks, during the reign of CECROPS, inhumated their dead †. The same mode of interment is attributed, by ÆLIAN, to the Athenians ‡; and by PLUTARCH to the Greeks in general |. It is well known that CECROPS and DANAUS, who brought colonies:

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* PLIN. Hist. Nat. lib. viii. c. 54.

+ De Leg. lib. ii.

Var. Hist. lib. v. 14.; vii. 19.

In Vit. SOLON.

colonies into Athens and Argos, were Egyptians; and generally admitted that CADMUS, who founded Thebes in Boeotia, was a Phenician. It may therefore be conjectured, that as neither the Egyptians nor the Phenicians burnt their dead, while the memory of these illustrious men retained any considerable influence, the colonies planted by them would strictly adhere to the rites of sepulture which they had introduced; especially as these had been sanctioned by the authority and example of their ancestors, in the countries from which they had migrated. From the institutes of LYCURGUS it is evident, that, in his time, the ancient mode of inhumation prevailed among the Spartans. For he enacted, that the dead should be deposited in the earth, wrapt in a covering of scarlet cloth, and surrounded with olive leaves *.

It seems to be generally believed, that, in later ages, the Greeks universally burned their dead. LUCIAN, indeed, as POTTER has remarked in his Archæologia, expressly assigns cremation to Greece, and inhumation to the Persians t. But this must be understood with great latitude. From the language ascribed by PLATO to SOCRATES, it appears, that both these modes had been promiscuously used in his time, according to the predilection of individuals. For he speaks of it as a matter of indifference to him, whether, after his death, his body should be burned or buried. The language of ÆLIAN would imply, that inhumation had continued to be the general practice at Athens. For he says, "It is an Athenian law, that if any one accidentally meet with the corpse of a man not bu"ried, he shall cover it entirely with earth; and that the dead "shall

PLUTARCH. in Vit. LYCURG.

* Διελόμενοι κατα έθνη τὰς ταφας, ὁ μὲν Ἑλλην, ἔκαυσεν. ὁδὲ Πέρσης, έθαψεν, &c. LUCIAN. de Luctu, Oper. ii. 306. edit. Amstel. 1687.

"shall be buried so that they may look towards the west *." Both these institutes obviously preclude the idea of crema

tion.

But although, in some of the Grecian states, the ancient custom seems to have long retained its influence, it cannot be denied, that, according to HOMER, the mode of burning had been very common among the Greeks before the time of the Trojan war. From the particularity with which he describes the funeral rites of PATROCLUS, in the twenty-third book of the Iliad, there is no reason to suppose that he viewed them as even at that time a recent institution.

It would appear, indeed, that the Phrygians were acquainted with this custom before it was received by the Greeks †. But it can scarcely be supposed, that the Greeks borrowed it from them, either during the Trojan war, or in any preceding era. It is far more probable, that it had made its way from Thrace, where it unquestionably prevailed in an early age ‡; especially as it cannot reasonably be doubted, that a considerable, if not the greatest part of Greece, was peopled from that country. The Thracians, most probably, received this custom from their progenitors the Scythians, who inhabited those vast regions now known by the name of Tartary. As the people of that country, apparently in the most remote ages, erected very large tumuli in honour of the dead, it is undeniable, from the remains found in those which have been explored by the Russians or Tartars, that, in many instances at least, they burned their bodies. Mr TOOKE, indeed, informs us, that no sepulchral urns have been discovered in any of these tombs.

" Of

*ELIAN. Var. Hist. lib. v. c. 14.

† ALEX. ab ALEXANDRO, Gen. Dies, lib. iii. c. 2.

HERODOT. Hist. TERPSICH. c. 8.

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"Of these Russian and Siberian sepulchres, some (he says) “ are encompassed with a square wall of large quarry stones, placed in an erect position; others are covered only with a "small heap of stones, or they are tumuli adorned at top. In 66 many of these sepulchres the bones of men, and frequently "of horses, are found, and in a condition that renders it "bable the bodies were not burnt before they were inhumed. "Other bones shew clearly that they have been previously "burnt; because a part of them is unconsumed, and because they lie in a disordered manner, and some of them are want"ing. Urns, in which other nations of antiquity have deposi"ted the ashes of their dead, are never met with here. But "sometimes what remained of the bodies after the combu"stion, and even whole carcases, are found wrapped up in thin plates of gold.-There is a very remarkable circumstance "observable in some of the tombs on the upper part of the "Yenisei, which forms an exception to the general rule of "other sepulchres. Instead of ornaments and utensils of gold "and silver found in other tombs, you meet here only with

copper utensils. Even such instruments as would have been "better wrought of iron are here found all of copper, as "knives, darts and daggers. The nation, therefore, whose "dead are here inhumed, seems to have been unacquainted "with the use of iron; and these tombs must accordingly be 66 more ancient than the others *.

This learned writer seems himself to admit, that some of these monuments are far more ancient than others; and gives an indubitable proof of the high antiquity of some of them, when he remarks, that all the instruments found in them were

made

• Account of the Burial-places of the ancient Tartars, by the Reverend WILLIAM TOOKE, F. R. S. Chaplain to the English Factory at St Petersburgh. Archæologiu, vol. vii. p. 223, 224.

made of copper; whence he reasonably concludes, that the use of iron had been unknown in those regions when these monuments were erected. This might seem to carry us as far back as to the times of the Massageta; who, as we learn from HERODOTUS, used no iron, having all their weapons made of brass *. From the same venerable historian, we learn the great respect which the Scythians had for the tombs of their ancestors. That intelligent traveller STRAHLENBERG informs us, that these monuments contain earthen urns of different sizes †. He does not say, however, that bones have been found in any of them. It affords a strong presumption that many tribes of the Scythians anciently burned their dead, that the Chinese Tartars, who are said to be the descendants of those Scythians whose tombs are to be seen on the river Jenisei, still retain this mode ‡.

Perhaps the first notices which we have of this custom, in ancient history, occur in the slender accounts that have been handed down to us concerning the manners of some of the nations of Hindostan. How early they burned their dead we are not informed. But we certainly know, that, before the time of ALEXANDER of Macedon, they erected funeral piles for the living. QUINTUS CURTIUS, from TROGUS, asserts, that those who were called Wise Men, when they saw the infirmities of age approaching, ordered their pyres to be raised, and cheerfully devoted themselves to the flames §. The same thing is asserted by CLEMENS of Alexandria concerning the Gymnosophists. Speaking

Ὅσα μὲν γαρ ἐς αιχμὰς καὶ ἄρδεις και σαγάρεις, χαλκῷ τὰ πάντα χρέωνται. Clio, c. 215.

+ Description of the North and East parts of Europe and Asia, p. 364, 365. + Ibid. p. 365. 367.

§ Hist. lib. viii.