Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright)For both common Egyptians and royalty, sacred spells from the work known as The Egyptian Book of the Dead were recited in order to provide guidance in the afterlife. In Egypt, the dead were also buried underground and, famously, in the pyramids of such as those at Giza. This burial process would be developed further by the Egyptians although whether their practices derived from those of Mesopotamia or developed independently is still debated. The dead body was not embalmed, but professional mourners washed and perfumed it, clad it presentably, painted its cheeks, darkened its eyelids, put rings upon its fingers, and provided it with a change of linen. In Babylonia, the dead were buried in vaults, although, as Durant notes:Ī few were cremated and their remains were preserved in urns. In ancient Sumer, as in later Babylonia and, more or less, throughout Mesopotamian history, it was believed that the dead “went to a dark and shadowy realm within the bowels of the earth, and none of them saw the light again” (Durant, 240). It was far more fitting for one's soul to descend to the underworld with other human souls. If one were cremated, it was thought, one's soul ascended skyward toward the home of the gods and, as a human soul, would not be at home there. The rocky outcrops on Vault Hill rise 169 feet above sea level and offer an inspiring view of the Parade Ground and, on a clear day, the skyscrapers of Manhattan.Cremation was uncommon throughout Mesopotamia owing to the scarcity of wood but, even if fuel for a fire had been available, the Mesopotamians believed that the proper place for the souls of the dead was in the netherworld of the goddess Ereshkigal and not in the realm of the gods. The square stone-walled structure sits atop a steep ridge of Fordham Gneiss, surrounded by the flats of the park’s Parade Ground to the south and west, and the Tibbets Brook valley and Van Cortlandt Golf Course to the east. During the 1960s, however, the grounds were vandalized and headstones and markers were removed. In 1890 NYC Parks acquired the authority to issue permits for repairs and restorations to Vault Hill. The cemetery was entailed in perpetuity to the Van Cortlandt family after the City acquired the parkland. He served as Frederick Van Cortlandt’s pastor. In addition, the Reverend Luke Babcock, rector of St. The Baileys were a prominent family in the borough’s early history. In August 1776, Augustus wrote to his cousin John Jay that he had taken advantage of a visit to his ailing mother to hide the records in the family burial vault.īefore they were permanently sealed, a bronze plaque was hung on each vault, one for the Van Cortlandt family and one for the Bailey family. At the onset of the Revolutionary War, City Clerk Augustus Van Cortlandt, James’s younger brother, was told by the Provincial Congress to find a safe place to secure the city records for fear that they might be destroyed during the British occupation of New York. After that time, the family purchased a large plot in nearby Woodlawn Cemetery.įrederick died before the completion of his new manor home, the Van Cortlandt House, and his estate passed to his eldest son, 13-year-old James. The burial vault holds the remains of many Van Cortlandt family members who were interred there until the land became a public park in 1888. Upon the death of Frederick Van Cortlandt in 1749, the family burial grounds were established on what has become known as Vault Hill in Van Cortlandt Park. If I do not cause the vault to be built in my lifetime, my executors are to build it, and deposit my remains therein.įrederick Van Cortlandt (1699-1749), Last Will and Testament My body I commit to the earth, to be buried in a family vault which I intend to build on my plantation.
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