Material Memorials > Thomas Browne, Urne Buriall
The title page to Browne's Urne Buriall, which also went under the title Hydrioptaphia, the Greek name for the practice
One of Browne's most frequently cited passages, his depiction of "the iniquity of oblivion" and its disregard for human attempts to materialize memory.
Browne’s Urn Burial, inspired by the discovery of a Roman burial ground in Norfolk, surveys and comments on a plethora of ancient and contemporary burial practices. Browne understands burial rituals as an effort to “extend our memories by monuments” but reminds his reader that “the iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy, and deals with the memory of men without distinction to merit of perpetuity.”