GROUP OF SCYTHIAN BARROWS.-From Pallas, may place in a vase of aquafortis, or consign it to the fire, 24. Elam. That is, Persia. The passage on this sub- 25. A bed in the midst of the slain.'-Here the bed appears to mean the cell in the sepulchral vault, which con tained the corpse. But some suppose the funeral bier to be understood. 26. Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude.'-The allusions which may be collected from this passage to the mode of sepulture among the people indicated, correspond remarkably to the conclusion that these people were situated about, and northward from, the Euxine and Caspian seas. The circumstances by which the present is distinguished from the other descriptions here given, are contained in verse 27, where they are described as buried with their weapons of war-their swords under their heads; and the remarkable expression, their iniquities shall be upon their bones,' may be well understood as an allusion taken from the vast heaps of earth which it was customary to pile over their bodies. This cannot so well be supposed to allude to anything else as to barrow-burial, which not only answers to these allusions, but is actually described by ancient authors, as practised among the very people of whom it is generally agreed that the prophet here speaks. Nothing therefore can be more to the purpose than to observe how their usages, in this matter, are described by Herodotus, who wrote no very long time after Ezekiel. His account refers to the burial of the Scythian kings, whose sepulchres were in a remote district, named Gerrhus, where the Borysthenes became navigable. When one of the kings died, his corpse, embalmed and covered with wax, was conveyed in a chariot, in solemn state, to this place. A large quadrangular pit was dug, and in this they placed the royal corpse, on a mattress of straw. On each side of this they planted spears, and covered it with wood, and roofed it over with hurdles of willow. In the remaining part of the pit they interred one of the late king's women, strangled for the purpose, together with his cup-bearer, his cook, his groom, his minister, his courier, his horses, as well as some articles of every kind he may be supposed to need, including several goblets of gold. This done, the people eagerly contended with each other in the work of heaping over the whole a mound of earth, as vast as possible. The proceedings did not here terminate; for, the year following, 539 fifty of the late king's confidential attendants and fifty of his horses, were slain and placed, the men on the horses, around his sepulchre.' (Melp. 71-2.) This account includes every explanation the text requires:-the 'weapons of war;' for beside the spears, particularly mentioned, other weapons were doubtless included among the articles which the deceased might be supposed to require; then there is the vast heaped up mound; and lastly, if this further illustration should seem needful, there are the numbers-the multitudes gone down to the tomb with him, and whose graves are around him. In the country in question, the present writer has seen great numbers of such mounds as are here described, and of various sizes, but generally in the form of a broad cone, more or less obtuse. They occur in the open steppe or desert, and we have sometimes seen them on approaching the Caucasian region, in the midst of the wide plains or hollows, enclosed by a surrounding border of natural hills; and where the few vast but simple tumuli of the mighty dead, holding these magnificent spots in solitary occupation, make an impression upon the mind which no excavated rocks or sculptured tombs could possibly create. These mounds are frequently overgrown with verdure; and, in favourable situations, trees are found upon them; but although they sometimes emulate natural hills in their dimensions, the situations in which they are found, and often the regularity of form which they still retain, prevent their being mistaken for such. Such of them as have been opened, have been found to contain human bones, skeletons of horses, articles of gold and silver, weapons and instruments of war, domestic utensils, and personal ornaments all confirming the account of Herodotus; as does also the frequent occurrence of the bones of many bodies in one sepulchre. It is true that many of these mounds appear to have been erected by the Tahtars of Genghiz Khan and their successors; and it appears that the Kalmuks are still in the habit of burying arms, horses, etc., with their chiefs. But many mounds, and those of the largest size, are considered by the modern Tahtars and the Russians to be of very remote antiquity, as their contents exhibit articles and indicate some usages not known to themselves even by tradition. Upon the whole, the tumuli which appear in this region seem to be of different ages, some very ancient, perhaps as ancient as the times before us: but, of whatever age, indicating the general accuracy of the account given by Herodotus, and supposed to be alluded to by the sacred writer, as to the custom of this country. The custom was not, however, peculiar to the Scythians, but was one of the most extensive as well as most ancient in the world. The heroes who perished in the war which Homer celebrates, were honoured with such sepulchres on the plain of Troy; and mounds which are declared to be their tombs remain to this day the subject of antiquarian discussion; the downs of Wiltshire, no less than the plains of Troy, bear evidence of the same custom, in the sepulchral barrows' which they exhibit, and in the contents which these barrows offer. But this suggests a large and interesting subject from which we are warned to abstain by the recollection that the mounds of Meshech and Tubal are those only that require our attention. We have only therefore further to observe, how the essential identity of the custom is established, wherever traced, by the existence of animal bones together with the human, and 'weapons of war,' and various utensils, in the larger proportion of the sepulchral hills which have hitherto been examined. 27. Gone down to hell.'-It is perhaps unnecessary to remind the reader that the word rendered 'hell,' here means the grave,' the region of the dead. 6 29. There is Edom,' etc.-We should have had much to say concerning the sepulchres of Edom, as exhibited at Petra, the city of tombs, had not such notice as we could take of the subject been anticipated by the general state SILBURY HILL (BARROW), IN WILTSHIRE. ment concerning that wonderful place which has been given under Jer. xlix., with the incidental notices which may be elsewhere found in this work. Many of these tombs are also represented in engravings formerly given, and which may be safely left to speak for themselves-the rather, as all that is peculiar to them is shewn in these engravings: for these monuments, in general, however rich externally, present nothing in the interior but coarsely chiseled walls. There is, however, one exception, noticed by Laborde, of a sepulchral chamber, with rows of sculptured pillars, which forms the finest interior to be found in the place. When the Bedouins descend into the valley, this tomb, which is easily closed, serves as a stable for their herds. Such are the uses to which the costly monuments of human vanity have been converted.' (Laborde.) And such too, we may add, are the fulfilments which the predictions of the prophets concerning the desolation of Edom have received. An engraving of this tomb has been furnished under Job iii., and we give in the next page a cut, shewing a portion of a long cliff or wall of rock at Petra, containing a prodigious number of those rock sepulchres, for which the locality has become celebrated. 30. The Zidonians.'-There are several places on the coasts of Phoenicia and Syria where sepulchral remains of a very interesting character occur. They consist of subterraneous sepulchral chambers, with sarcophagi above, of the character shewn in our engraving, which exhibits 21. Stone to sharpen bone. 22. Ring Amulet. 23. Breastplate of Blue Slate. 24. Incense Cup. 25. Ditto. 26. Ditto. 27. Whetstone. 28 to 32. Urns. a spot in the Zidonian territory, on the road from Zidon to Beirut. In giving a brief explanation, we shall avail ourselves chiefly of the account which has been given by Dr. Shaw (Travels, p. 324, 5; folio, 1738): for although his description refers to the sepulchres at Latakieh, he states that those in Phoenicia are precisely similar to them, This is indeed clear from our engraving, as well as from the further allusions of this author, as compared with Maundrell and other travellers. The sarcophagi are chests of stone, of the form shewn in our engraving. Some that Maundrell saw were two yards and a half long: some have lost their covers, others retain them in the proper position, but they are often thrown aside, having been probably removed in the search for treasure, which the Orientals generally expect to find in such situations. The chests are sometimes panelled, and often enriched with sculptures in shell-work and foliage, or with human or animal figures. Ox-heads, with wreaths between them, occur frequently. The covers are sometimes supported by pilasters: and Maundrell mentions traces of inscriptions too much defaced to be legible. The rocky ground on which these sarcophagi are found is hollowed below into a number of sepulchral chambers, some of which are ten, others twenty or thirty feet square; but the height is not in proportion to its extent. A range of narrow cells, wide enough to receive one of the sarcophagi, and long enough for two or three, runs along the sides of most of these CHAPTER XXXIII. 1 According to the duty of a watchman, in warning the people, 7 Ezekiel is admonished of his duty. 10 God sheweth the justice of his ways towards the penitent, and towards revolters. 17 He maintaineth his justice. 21 Upon the news of the taking of Jerusalem, Ezekiel prophesieth the desolation of the land. 30 God's judgment upon the mockers of the prophets. AGAIN the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, 'When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman : 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 Then 'whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and 1 Heb. A land when I bring a sword upon her. took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. 7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. his 9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, say |