Online Encyclopedia
Make a correction
Your email address will not appear on the site. Note, comments may take some time to be approved.
Back to article:
CIST (Gr. ,dorn, Lat. cista, a box; cf. Ger. Kiste, Welsh kistvaen, stone-coffin, and also the other Eng. form " chest ")
Your email:
Article name:
Article content:
CIST (Gr. ,dorn, Lat. cista, a box; cf. Ger. Kiste, Welsh kistvaen, stone-coffin, and also the other Eng. form " chest "), in Greek archaeology, a wicker-work receptacle used in the Eleusinian and other mysteries to carry the sacred vessels; also,in the archaeology of prehistoric man, a coffin formed of flat stones placed edgeways with another flat stone for a cover. The word is also used for a sepulchral chamber cut in the rock (see COFFIN). " Cistern," the common term for a water-tank, is a derivation of the same word (Lat. cisterna; cf. "cave" and "cavern").