Chapter 4 - Funeral Rites and Funerary Treatment of the Dead

Funeral rites - significantly important cultural practices for humans within their religious systems

• proper treatment of dead and “correct” funeral rites - established within the faith-based systems

• connected to a culture’s beliefs about the afterlife

Funerals serve multiple purposes in societies

Some functions of funerals more commonly shared across cultures

Four important functions of funerals in many societies include:

1) Preparing the dead for the afterlife

2) Providing an opportunity to celebrate the life of the deceased

3) Allow the community of the living to collectively mourn the loss of the individual and provide an opportunity for emotional support and healing for those who are grieving (Rites of Intensification)

4) To reaffirm overall value of religious beliefs about death, funerary rites, and the afterlife

Funerary rites help remind the living (who will eventually die) there’s something after death

Structure to the universe that they will participate in after life has ended

Provides emotional well-being for the living

Provides sense of stability in the universe

Provides promise of a reunion with the dead in the afterlife

Neanderthals (ca. 300,000 - 30,0000 years ago)

• often interpreted as the first human line to develop concept of death connected to an afterlife

• developed burial customs intended to honor dead and support them in the afterlife

• no idea what their version of the afterlife was like

• archeological evidence of their burial practices

• burials in Shandar Cave, Iraq (60,000 years ago) - group of neanderthals buried with eight species of plant (seven of which could be used for medicinal purposes)

• archeologists think survivors had expected plants to “revive” deceased to a new life elsewhere

• based on recovery of Neanderthal skeletons from burials - pattern to funerary customs:

  1) mainly single interments in caves or rock shelters

  2) bodies are buried in a fetal position

  3) aligned in an east-west direction

  4) bodies usually lie on their left side

  5) sometimes the heads were removed before burial, such as at Kebara Cave in Iraq

  6) grave good, usually stone tools and animal bones have been recovered in the graves

Ancient Greeks (ca. 500 - 300 BC)

• their literary sources emphasize the necessity of a proper burial

• refer to omission of burial rites as insult to human dignity

• relatives of deceased (primarily women) conducted the elaborate rites

• consisted of 3 parts:

  1) prothesis (laying out the body)

  2) ekphora (funeral procession)

  3) interment of the body/cremated remains of the deceased

• after washing and anointing with oil - body was dressed and placed on a high bed within house

• during prothesis - relatives and friends came to mourn and pay respects

• very few objects placed in the grave

• monumental earth mounds, rectangular built tombs, and elaborate marble stelae and statues erected to mark grave

• women of classical Athens made regular visits to grave with offerings

• most lavish funerary monuments were erected 6th century BC

• wealthy, aristocratic families of Attica in private burial grounds along roadside on family estate or near Athens

• relief sculpture, statues, and tall stelae crowned by capitals, and finials marked many of these graves

• each funerary monument had inscribed base with epitaph (often in verse) that memorialized the dead

• relief depicting generalized image of deceased’s life

• during 4th century BC - more and more family members were added to scenes and many named were inscribed making it difficult to distinguish deceased from mourners

• at the end of 5th century BC, Athenian families began to bury dead in simple stone sarcophagi placed in ground within grave precincts

• sarcophagi in grave precincts arranged in human-made terraces buttressed by high retaining wall that faced cemetery road

• marble monuments belonging to various family members placed along the edge of the terrace rather than over graves themselves

Ancient Maya (ca. 600 - 900 AD)

• didn’t bury dead in cemeteries

• graves were beneath or near their homes; sometimes in caves

• buildings on eastern perimeter of residential plazas - “household shrines” or “eastern shrine structures”

• shrines - burial of eminent inhabitants of plazas

• residents of the high wealth and status were buried in temples

• construction, ranging in size from altar, stair block, or entire temple - served as memorial

• rituals conducted at memorials - ancestor worship/veneration

• Four types of burials among Maya:

  1) simple burials of human remains in ground/within structure - covered by earth or rubble

  2) cist burials - secondary burials of bones and objects in hollowed out spaces

  3) crypt burials - construction of a coffin-shaped grave built of cut stones and covered by stone capstones

  4) burial chambers - rooms in buildings that sealed up after the body is in it

• bodies of important people - sometimes covered in red ochre or wrapped in burial shroud

• grave goods varied in terms of quantity, types, and quality

• poorest individuals typically buried with no grave goods

• royal grave goods - decorated pottery vessels, jade jewelry, copal (incense), seashells, coral, other parts of sea creatures, or jaguar bones/teeth

• sometimes, only some body parts were included in ritual deposits with other valuable objects (e.g. ‘finger bowl’ cache - pottery vessel with only finger bones)

The Norse (Vikings) - (ca. AD 800 - 1050)

• practiced variety of burial customs - cremation, inhumation/burial - varied over time

• remains interred in buried mounds (howes) and accompanied by grave goods

• In life - ships critical to Viking survival and identity

• In death - Norse used ships to carry souls to the next life

• Belief that souls couldn’t be properly transcend to the afterlife, until body was properly disposed of

• bodies cremated in funeral pyre, laid in graves in wooden ships, or burnt while laid in stone ship on shore

• Burials at sea (often involved cremation) - thought to help deceased travel to afterlife

• dead accompanied by grave goods - food, weapons, treasure

• high status and great wealth - buried in an enormous longboat

• some graves on land - sacrificed horses included - wooden chests, ornate carts, beds, and other luxuries

• Norse mythology - believed chief god Odin sent his own deceased son to sea in a funeral barge laden with gold and silver

• ship was set on fire and burned as it sailed

• myth strongly influenced Viking burials - particularly warriors who sought to join Odin and other warriors in Valhalla

Victorian England (and Anglo-America) (ca. AD 1840 - 1914)

• for Victorian wakes - body of deceased remained in the home, dressed and laid out so family could come and see loved one before burial

• wake - open time for mourning and period of deep superstition

• belief - after death, spirit of deceased, along with other wandering specters, may become trapped in this world, or may possess the living

• mirrors and paintings - covered in black shrouds so spirits wouldn’t become entrapped inside them (locked in realm of the living)

• any who looked into mirrors and paintings were in danger of becoming possessed by the spirit

• windows - often thrown open in last moments of someone’s life - soul or spirit could leave house

  • also covered with white linen sheets - prevent entrapment of spirits

• superstitions - fear of inviting the spirit back into the house

• endangered the living and prevented soul/spirit could not pass on to afterlife

• Victorian literature - specters appeared in windows and mirrors and called out to the living for entrance into home

• referenced first in biblical times (Psalms 56:8) - human tears and their collection - symbols of grief and sorrow

• for example, in the city of Carthage - believed that mourning mothers would collect their tears during time of mourning to be placed on grave of deceased loved ones as tangible representation of loss and love

• similar practice developed in Victorian times

Tear Bottles - Victorian England (and Anglo-American)

• part of public grieving and elaborate, public, and romantic ritual

• collecting tears became prevalent in popular culture through literature and poetry

• creation and use as art items - relationship between the dead and living through sorrow

• somewhat similarly - urn today serves purpose of storing the ashes of the dead often in family’s home

• Urn at home - intimacy lacking in graveyards, allows dead to remain in home

• either kept tears as reminders of the dead or sprinkle tears on graves

• debate - perfume bottles?

Post-mortem Photography - Victorian England (and Anglo-American)

• common trend in 19th and early 20th centuries

• dress up corpse and pose body for photography

• only visual memento of a person’s life

• living family often posed in the photograph with deceased

• why? - photographs too expensive for families while alive

• photograph of deceased, esp children - expensive extravagance

• during time of high child morality - photograph only token of child’s life

Inuit (Northern Canada)

• After person died - family of deceased empties person’s house and purifies it - cleaning and burning of grasses of resins (smudging)

• some community members carry weapons in case of encounter with evil spirit

• whole village goes to house and brings important objects from everyday life as gifts

• gifts - useful to deceased in afterlife (e.g. hunting weapons/fishing utensils for men; sewing needles for women)

• deceased’s corpse kept overnight in house wrapped in shroud of animal skin (usually from a seal) and leather thongs - force spirit to stay with body until body arrives at final burial place

• to not bring bad luck - men removed deceased through hole in wall in front or back of home

• moving a body through doorway that should be used by living is bad luck

• bundled body - placed on hilltop or behind house (cold ensures body’s preservation)

• bury dead - under pile of stones, at bottom of a cave, or lay the body outside to be eaten by birds

• regional variation - Inuit from east side of Greenland - sent bodies out to sea

• some Inuit cremated bodies of their dead

• forbidden to pronounce name of dead person until it’s given again to an unborn child

• belief - way to transmit values, characteristics, and destinies

• practice allows deceased’s soul/spirit to live again in another

Islam (Muslim Faith)

• belief in day of judgement and life after death

• death - transition from one state of being to another, not as an end

• actions follow you to afterlife

• if follow law of Koran and live a good life - rewarded in afterlife

• in death - separated from ugliness in the world

• if live dishonest and bad life - separated from all beauty of the world

• body must be buried as soon as possible - soul may be freed

• body buried within 24 hours of death

• embalming and cremation aren’t permitted - body must be buried intact (sometimes - autopsy permitted)

• head face Mecca or the East

• death immediately announced to all friends and relatives

• body - bathed and covered in white cotton by Muslim person of same sex/gender

• contact between body and non-Muslim - strongly discouraged (non-Muslim must wear gloves)

• guest greeted by someone of same sex - they shake hands

• at funeral - women and men sit separately

• flowers, perfume, and excessive mourning are discouraged

• deceased’s eyes and mouth closed, rarely open casket

• imam - preside over funeral service

• person sitting next to body - reads scripture from the Koran

• funeral prayer (salat al-Janazah) asks Allah to forgive deceased and welcome them into Jannah (final resting place of good and devout in afterlife)

• body - carried to graveyard by four men; procession of friends and relatives follow behind

• no discussion at time of burial; all guests pray for soul of departed

• body of deceased - buried in shroud; head positioned with face turned to right and pointing toward Mecca

• after burial - all guests go to deceased’s family’s house

• meal prepared - guests stay for entire day

• family members may stay for whole week and socialize to ease suffering

• Islamic funeral customs - mourning period for relatives - 3 days (hidaad)

• widow may mourn - 4 months and 10 days (iddah)

Wicca (Neo-pagan Religion)

• funeral - two parts

• first part - priestess and priest conduct the funeral ceremony with assistants

• ritual space cleared - body of deceased laid out at altar

• mourners wait at outside edges of space while priestess prepares space and recites ritual chant

• after prayer by both priest and priestess - mourners invited to speak to deceased - say whatever needed to help along journey into death

• second part - burial of body

• priest or priestess conducts ceremony

• incorporate “green” or eco-friendly burials

• preference for deceased to be buried in a natural setting with body only wrapped in cloth to allow the body to decompose naturally and as quickly as possible

• body may be buried naked or almost naked

• burial intended to respect Earth and for ‘death to nourish life’ (symbolic cycle and biological cycle)

• alternative to outdoor burial - cremation and burial of ashes (returned to the earth)

• memorialization of deceased varies within different Wicca sects/covens

• for example, sharing of some of ashes of deceased with those who loved them

• in strict or ‘orthodox’ neo-pagan communities - non-wiccans may be forbidden from participating in funeral and burial

• at conclusion - attendees invited to share stories, memories, and often prayers

• close family and friends may choose to stay after ceremony - own private ritual

• connection to the earth - tied to belief in reincarnation and flight of spirit to an afterlife - “Summerlands”

• afterlife realm - naturally beautiful - like forest filled with trees, flowers, and animals

• eternal peace and harmony

• “Summerlands” - place to find friends and family who died previosuly

• afterlife not final destination of the individual’s spirit - eventually reincarnated

• wiccans believe that with each life, a person learns to lead a better life - accumulation of many lives’ experiences

Judaism

• after death - body wrapped in white cloth, laid on floor (sometimes with feet facing door) and candles lit

• body not left alone between death and burial

• some families call upon ‘watcher’ (shomer) to keep vigil over deceased

• eating and drinking - not allowed near body as sign of respect

• washing of body and burial preparations - done by special group of volunteers of same sex as deceased

• among orthodox jews - Chevra Kadisha

• not acceptable for jews to be cremated or embalmed

• burial of deceased - as soon as possible (ideally within 24 hours)

• deceased burial in plain coffin - represented equality

• head stone in cemetery - show that they aren’t forgotten

• mourning - take place in cemetery, not in synagogue

• mourners - sometimes tear clothing or cut black ribbon (kraih) expression of grief

• some denominations - bereaved expected to cry for 3 days, be sad for 7 days (sit shivah - period of mourning when friends and relatives visit the family of deceased), avoid haircuts, not shave, or wear clean clothes for 30 days (shloshim)

• children of deceased - expected to mourn individual for 1 year (aveluf)

• end of funeral service and for 1 year after death - special prayer called kaddish said by relatives of deceased

• following burial in cemetery - communal meal for family, friends and mourners (seudant havra-ah)

• one food always served - hard-boiled eggs (symbolize the continuation of life)

Illegal, Banned, or Abandoned Funerary Rituals (NOT ON TEST)

• Sati (Hindu - India)

  • first banned by British (1829)

  • legality of practice debated and performed until 1987 - criminalized in India as murder

  • traditional Hindu practice - widowed women also burned on dead husband’s funeral pyre

  • in theory, custom was voluntary - significant social pressure placed on women to participate

  • examples of widows dragged against their will to be burned alongside husbands

  • reasons debated - one argument = a way for husband and wife to enter afterlife together

• Self-mutilation (Dani - West Papua, New Guinea)

  • people show mourning of death through self-mutilation

  • men, women, and children related to deceased - required to cut off their own fingers

  • practice had two purposes: drive away spirits and provide physical pain as expression of sorrow and suffering

  • fingers tied with string then cut off with axe

  • finger ends or tips - dried and burned to ashes or stored in a special place

• Cannibalism (Wari’/Pakaa Nova - Western Brazil)

  • dead cannabalized by some members of their own family

  • dead person’s brothers-in-law and sons-in-law responsible for body preparation, roasting, and disposal

  • light fire, build roasting rack, dismember body, separate edible (including heart and liver) from inedible parts and burn inedible parts

  • most distressful part - dismembering, not roasting or consuming

  • family members with direct bloodline to deceased and deceased’s spouse (Iri’nari) - not eat corpse - “fluid connection”

  • like eating themselves (autocannibalism) - thought to be fatal

  • men and women were treated the same way

  • eaten with delicacy by using thin sticks - living couldn’t touch flesh of deceased with bare hands

  • whatever left over - burned, including bones pounded to ash and funeral equipment

  • ash was buried in ground under floor of the hut, and ground was swept to erase all evidence of funeral

Disposal of Dead by Nature

• Sky burial (Buddhists - Mongolia and Tibet)

  • funerary rite involves leaving body of deceased exposed to nature

  • often in high elevation location (plateau or in mountains)

  • bodies left outside (often cut into pieces) - scavenged by birds and other animals

  • allows for elimination of body (conceived as empty vessel) and allows soul to depart body

  • connection to nature - practice complete circle of life (death supports life)

  • specifically - vultures are believed to be dakinis (somewhat like angels) - transport soul to heaven (sky)

  • there - soul waits to be reincarnated and start next life

• Tower of Silence (Zoroastrians - Iran)

  • tower - tall circular structure made of stone

  • roof flat with hole in center and raised exterior (perimeter) edge

  • roof divided into 3 concentric rings - with bodies of men in outer ring, bodies of women in second, and bodies of children in third innermost ring

  • bodies - left exposed to be scavenged by vultures

  • remaining bones - eventually fall through opening in roof into hollow tower

  • bones eventually disintegrate

  • belief - dead body defiles everything it touches (specifically earth, fire, and water - considered sacred and pure)

  • bull’s urine - used to clean body before clothing cut off with tools (later destroyed)

  • corpses - considered polluting/contaminating substances (nasu)

  • corpses become nasu - at the time of death, demon (Nasu) believed to possess body and cause it to contaminate anything it touches