[7] _And therefore the Inscription of his Tomb was made accordingly._ Nic. Damasc.
But the _Chaldeans_ the great Idolaters of fire, abhorred the burning of their carcasses, as a polution of that Deity. The _Persian Magi_ declined it upon the like scruple, and being only solicitous about their bones, exposed their flesh to the prey of Birds and Dogs. And the _Persees_ now in _India_, which expose their bodies unto Vultures, and endure not so much as _feretra_ or Beers of Wood; the proper Fuell of fire, are led on with such nicities. But whether the ancient _Germans_ who burned their dead, held any such fear to pollute their Deity of _Herthus_, or the earth, we have no Authentick conjecture.
The Ægyptians were afraid of fire, not as a Deity, but a devouring Element, mercilesly consuming their bodies, and leaving too little of them; and therefore by precious Embalments, depositure in dry earths, or handsome inclosure in glasses, contrived the notablest wayes of integrall conservation. And from such Ægyptian scruples imbibed by _Pythagoras_, it may be conjectured that _Numa_ and the Pythagorical Sect first waved the fiery solution.
The _Scythians_ who swore by winde and sword, that is, by life and death, were so far from burning their bodies, that they declined all interrment, and made their grave in the ayr: And the _Ichthyophagi_ or fish-eating Nations about Ægypt, affected the Sea for their grave: Thereby declining visible corruption, and restoring the debt of their bodies. Whereas the old Heroes in _Homer_, dreaded nothing more than water or drowning; probably upon the old opinion of the fiery substance of the soul, onely extinguishable by that Element; And therfore the Poet emphatically implieth the total destruction in this kinde of death, which happened to _Ajax Oileus_.[8]
The old _Balearians_[9] had a peculiar mode, for they used great Urnes and much wood, but no fire in their burials; while they bruised the flesh and bones of the dead, crowded them into Urnes, and laid heaps of wood upon them. And the _Chinois_[10] without cremation or urnal interrment of their bodies, make use of trees and much burning, while they plant a Pine-tree by their grave, and burn great numbers of printed draughts of slaves and horses over it, civilly content with their companies in effigie, which barbarous Nations exact unto reality.