Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19 CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 285
the solidity necessary to prevent too early a collapse under
the weight of the fuel heaped upon it." In order to concentrate
the heat, a kind of low oven was sometimes erected,
"but, on the whole, it seems as though in the oldest period
the complete incineration under an open fire was the rule."
Weapons, utensils, jewelry, seal-cylinders, toys, food, and
drink were frequently burned with the body, and similar
objects were generally deposited a second time in the tomb
itself, where the charred remains found their final restingplace.
Which of the two methods of burial referred to above
(" body-graves " or " ash-graves ") was chosen, depended
essentially on the intensity of the cremation.
If considerable
portions of the body were afterwards found to be untouched
or little
injured by the fire, the remains were left where they
had been exposed to the heat ;
in other words, the funeral pyre
became also the grave of the dead person (so-called " bodygrave").
If, on the other hand, the cremation was successful,
and the body reduced to ashes or formless fragments,
the remains were generally gathered and placed in vases or
urns of different sizes and shapes, which, however, were often
too small for their intended contents. In many instances
the
ashes were merely collected in a heap and covered with
a kettle-formed clay vessel. Burials of this kind, the socalled
" ash-graves," are both the more common and the more
ancient at Surghul and El-Hibba. The urns of ordinary
persons were deposited anywhere in the gradually increasing
mound, while the rich families had special houses erected
for them, which were laid out in regular streets. It must
be kept in mind, however, that cremation was practically the
main part of the burial, the gathering of the ashes being more
a non-essential act of piety.
Frequent sandstorms and the heavy rains of the South-
Babylonian fall and spring must often have ruined whole
sections of these vast cemeteries, and otherwise greatly interfered
with the uniform raising of the whole necropolis.
From