DE MORTUIS NIHIL NISI BONUM

A QUICK LOOK AT MAUSOLEUMS

There is a prevailing belief that one can gauge how civilized a culture is by the way its dead are treated. The Latin phrase de mortuis nihil nisi bonum (“Of the dead, nothing unless good”), exemplifies this belief, to the extent that children are taught or told in hushed whispers, “Never speak ill of the dead.” One way of expressing respect for the dead is by constructing a mausoleum for the deceased. A mausoleum is a free-standing individual monument constructed entirely to enclose the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons, normally located in a cemetery, a churchyard or on private land. In the United States, the term may be used for a burial vault below a larger facility, such as a church. Mausoleum construction is nothing new-the pyramids in Egypt stand proud testimony to this statement.

Mausoleums may be made of any type of stone, like granite, basalt, sandstone, bricks, marble, etc. Of these types of stones, marble mausoleums are the most elegant and expensive. The Mausoleum of Gaius Cestius in Rome is over 2000 years old, built mainly of marble that was stolen over the centuries. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the world was also built using engraved and filigreed marble for its external panels. The most famous marble mausoleum extant is the historic Taj Mahal in India. Marble is also used today to build mausoleums for the rich and famous, leading to Ambrose Bierce’s quip circa 1900: ‘Mausoleum, the final and funniest folly of the rich’.

            Mausoleums can be of many types. A Sarcophagus is a large tomb that looks like it actually contains a body;however, most of the time the body is actually buried under it. A Vestibule looks like small house with a door that opens to a vestibule that has crypts on one or both sides. A Tumulus looks like a large mound that is built into a hill. Baroque style mausoleums have a flowing design with lots of decoration. Classical style mausoleums contain columns and look similar to structures built by the ancient Greeks. Gothic style mausoleums have lots of towers and pointed arches. Egyptian style mausoleums are shaped like pyramids, or mausoleums that contain sphinxes, a symbol of a circle with vulture wings, or twin cobras. There are other mausoleum styles as well, like the Modern style, Open Air and privately designed miscellanea.

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