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κατημένους θάπτουσι. The idea was that the soul could not escape if the dying man lay on his back; it would therefore haunt the grave. Rohlfs (K. p. 269) found the dead buried in a sitting posture in the oasis of Taiserbo. For other instances cf. Tylor, P. C. ii. 422-3.

σύμπηκτα: translate ‘compacted of asphodel stalks inwoven round wattles’. These are the ‘mapalia’ of Sallust, Jug. 18; cf. Liv. xxx. 3 ad fin.

For the nomadic life cf. Verg. Geor. iii. 343-4 ‘Omnia secum Armentarius Afer agit, tectumque Laremque’.

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