Altar

(aultar.) [Heb. al, god, and tar, appointed.] In antiquity, a consecrated table, upon which sacrifices were offered to the Deity (Fig. 21). The principal altars of the Jews were those of incense, of burnt-offerings, and the altar, or table, for the shewbread. In the Roman Catholic Church, a permanent altar is a solid structure, the top of which must be a solid slab of stone. Within the altar is a hollow receptacle for the relics of martyrs or other saints, called the sepulchre. Altars on which the sacrament is reserved have a tabernacle, made in the shape of a small temple, some of which are masterpieces of artistic skill. [s. 23]