A
charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging
graveGrave may refer to:*Grave *Grave accent*Grave *Grave *Grave, NetherlandsGrave might also refer to:*Peter Graves , an American film and television actor known for his starring role in the television series Mission: Impossible.*Dmitry Grave, a Russian mathematician*Ivan Grave, a Russian...
s. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a place filled with
deathDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical...
and destruction.
Often, where ground suitable for burial was scarce, corpses would be allotted a certain period of temporary interment following death.
A
charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging
graveGrave may refer to:*Grave *Grave accent*Grave *Grave *Grave, NetherlandsGrave might also refer to:*Peter Graves , an American film and television actor known for his starring role in the television series Mission: Impossible.*Dmitry Grave, a Russian mathematician*Ivan Grave, a Russian...
s. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a place filled with
deathDeath is the termination of the biological functions that define a living organism. It refers to both a particular event and to the condition that results thereby. The true nature of the latter has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical...
and destruction.
Old World
Often, where ground suitable for burial was scarce, corpses would be allotted a certain period of temporary interment following death. This enabled the relics to be harvested and the ground re-used for further planting (burial). This especially occurs in particularly rocky or arid places. These houses are usually made in the 14th century.
Monastery of the Transfiguration (Saint Catherine's), Mt. Sinai
Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai is famous for having a working charnel house. Saint Catherine's was founded by Justinian in the early 6th century on the site of a prior establishment named for
Helena of ConstantinopleSaint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross.-Family life:Helena's birthplace is not known with certainty...
founded about
313-Roman Empire:* February—Conference at Milan: Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, ending all persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.* April 30—Licinius becomes emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, defeating Maximinus at the battle of Tzirallum....
A.D. The monastery comprises the whole
Autonomous ChurchThis article covers the organization of the Eastern Orthodox Churches rather than the doctrines, traditions, practices, or other aspects of Eastern Orthodoxy....
of Sinai, under the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The site lies at the foot of Mount Sinai where Christians believe
MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
received the Ten Commandments .
Since the Sinai is an inhospitable place, the brethren of St. Catherine's have struggled to eke out a subsistence-level existence. The difficulty in establishing a large cemetery in the rocky ground notwithstanding, relics are also gathered for temporal and spiritual reasons; a reminder to the monks of their impending death and fate in the hereafter. The Archbishop of Saint Catherine's is commonly the
AbbotThe word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
as well. After death, he is afforded the dignity of a special niche within the "Skull-House".
New World
A Charnel house is also a structure commonly seen in some
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
societies of the Eastern United States. Major examples would be the
Hopewell cultureThe Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BCE to 500 CE...
s and
Mississippian cultureThe Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally....
s. These houses were used specifically for mortuary services and, although they required many more resources to build and maintain than a
cryptIn architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a church usually used as a chapel or burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
, they were widely used. They offered privacy and shelter as well as enough workspace for mortuary proceedings. These proceedings included
cremationCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
(in the included crematorium) as well as defleshing of the body before the cremation. Once the houses had served their purpose, they were burned to the ground only to be covered by earth creating a sort of burial
moundA mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
.