the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Cromlech
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or a huge flat and oblong stone, placed in a sloping position, and supported by pillars of unhewn and perpendicular stones. There were many of them at one time in Ireland, and they are supposed to have been Druidic altars for sacrifice. Their massiveness has defied the ravages of time and revolutions, while the simplicity of their structure bespeaks for them a high antiquity. There is one of them yet in Glansworth, Ireland, which forms a chamber of 25 feet long and 6 feet wide. Mr. Moore (History of Ireland) says that remotely they were called in Irish "Bothals, houses of God." The Druids in ancient Ireland had no temples. Instead of them, on a bill, in an oaken grove, and, if possible, near a flowing stream, they enclosed a circle, having a diameter of 70 or 100 feet, and in the center of it raised the cromlech, around which, on certain days, the people marched, and always in the direction of the sun. (See DRUIDS); (See ALTAR).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Cromlech'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/cromlech.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
