| 单词 | tower of silence |
| 释义 | > as lemmasTower of Silence Tower of Silence n. a squat, cylindrical structure on which Parsees place the bodies of the dead to decompose from exposure to the sun or be consumed by carrion birds; cf. dakhma n. [after French tour du silence (1799 in the passage translated in quot. 1800).] Towers of Silence have a hollow centre, with the surface on which the bodies are placed sloping down slightly from the upper edge of the tower towards a pit. Once a body has fully decomposed the bones are placed in an ossuary in or near the tower. The practice was made illegal in Iran in the 1970s but continues in India. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > other means of disposal > [noun] > exposure > structure for scaffold1777 Tower of Silence1800 1800 tr. L.-P. Anquetil Summary Universal Hist. I. 239 The dead body is carried to the tower of silence [Fr. tour du silence], where it is devoured by birds of prey. 1920 Times of India 21 Apr. The Commissioner of Police has issued a direct warning to pilots of aeroplanes now flying in Bombay to avoid flying low over the Towers of Silence. 2001 C. Bird Neither East nor West 371 Just below the tower of silence was a small cemetery where today's Zoroastrians bury their dead, in cement-lined coffins that continue to prevent direct contact with the Earth. < as lemmas |
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