BURIAL CUSTOMS

Burial customs differ from culture to culture, depending on religion, economic standards, social status, and more. The burial customs from a few cultures (Greek, Roman, and Egyptian) are outlined in the following slides.

GREEK: BELIEFS

• Believed the soul left the body in a breath or small puff or wind.
• Death was the entrance to the afterlife.
• Interpreted as an insult if burial rites were left out.
• Relatives of the dead (usually women) performed burial rites.
• Burials consisted of three parts.

GREEK: PROTHESIS (PART ONE)

• Prothesis: laying out of the body
• The body should be washed, anointed, and clothed by female relatives.
• The body was placed in the house on a bed, with their feet toward the floor.
• Coin was placed under the tongue to pay for passage into the underworld.
• Relatives and friends come to grieve and pay their dues.

GREEK: PROTHESIS (PART ONE)

• Mourning of the dead was portrayed in early Greek art.
• Vases depicted scenes of people surrounding and grieving the dead.

GREEK: FORMAL MOURNING (PART TWO)

• Mem didn't tend to show much emotion.
• Men acted formal and disconnected during mourning.
• Early art depicted men greeting guests while women mourned nearby.
• Tombs, marble statues, stelas, and large earth mounds marked the gravesite.
• Remberance ensured your immortality, so tombs and statues were usually elaborate.

GREEK: EKPHORA (PART THREE)

• Ekphora: the funeral procession-usually took place before dawn
• Internment: the burial of a corpse in a tomb or grave
• Men went first, women followed.
• Family members visited on the third, ninth, and thirteenth days after internment.
• Gifts (like cakes or other items) were left.

GREEK: SOCIAL/RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE

• Charon carried dead into the underworld.
• He only accepted those that had a proper burial and had a coin to pay the toll.
• If you were turned away, your soul would not find peace.
• Heroes and women who died during childburth received elaborate funerals.
• Boastfulness became forbidden, and it was illegal to disrespect the dead.

GREEK: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

• Perideipnon: a banquet following the internment held in the home of the deceased.
• This banquet was seen as a commemoration.

GREEK: THE UNDERWORLD

• After the soul was taken across the River Styx, it endered one of three levels:
• Elysium Fields: those favored by the gods were accepted
• Asphodel Plains: the souls of most people were accepted
• Tartarus: similar to our hell and where criminals went

ROMAN: BURIAL IMPORTANCE

• The romans thought that a soul could only find rest when poperly buried.
• Until then, the soul stayed on earth, causing unhappiness.
• It was the duty of the family to give them a proper burial and funeral.
• If the body was unrecovered, a religious ceremony was still performed.
• If a Roman came upon a unburied corpse, he should cover it with three handfulls of dust.

ROMAN: BURIAL AND CREMATION

• Romans buried their deceased.
• Cremation was popular, but another part of the body (usually a finger) was buried.
• Cremation was practiced before the Twelve Tables.
• The Twelve Tables were a Roman set of laws created in 451 B.C.
• Cremation was expensive-lower class couldn't afford it.

ROMAN: BURIAL AND CREMATION

• Some aristocratic and wealthy families also stuck to traditional practices.
• Children under the age of 40 days old were to be buried.

ROMAN: PLACES OF BURIAL

• The Twelve Tables made it illegal to bury or burn dead within city limits.
• The poor were provided with a place outside of the city for burial.
• Middle and wealthy class people were buried and presented with elaborate tombstones.
• The tombstones and monuments were created to keep the name of the deceased respected.
• Tombs were lined up on vast roads outside of the cities.

ROMAN: PLACES OF BURIAL

• Appian Way: the oldest Roman Road
• Home to the burial sites of the most noble and ancient families.

ROMAN: TOMBS

• Tombs vried and size and structure, depending on situation.
• Some tombs held entire families with multiple generations.
• Some were built for individuals, but generally tombs were public memorials.

ROMAN: CEREMONIES

• Children: a quiet and simple ceremony
• Lower Class: buried with no public ceremony
• Middle Class: a choice of co-operative burial society
• Upper Class: elaborate tombs and processions

ROMAN: DEATH AT HOME

• If a Roman died at home, the eldest son would stand over the body and call his name.
• This was done in hopes of the person restoring life.
• After death was declared, the eyelids were closed, the limbs were straightened, and the body was anointed.
• A wax mask was created if the man was of high rank.
• The body was dressed in a toga and laid to rest on the funeral couch until the funeral time.

ROMAN: DEATH AT HOME

• The couch was surrounded by flowers and burning incense.
• Branches of a pine or cypress tree was placed at the door to represent death in the home.
• These tasks were performed by relatives or slaves of the family.
• As the dying person took his last breath, he would be kissed so his breath carried into the living.
• Sometimes a coin was placed between the teeth.

ROMAN: DEATH AT HOME

• The coin was to pay Charon.
• Charon was a character in Greek mythology who took souls across the River Styx.
• The River Styx led to Hades, God of the underworld.

ROMAN: FUNERAL PROCESSION

• Sons or relatives of the dead would carry the casket.
• Other family and friends would gather around and follow.
• Music was also involved in the procession.
• Public crier would notify everyone of the death as soon as possible.

ROMAN: FUNERAL PROCESSION

• Musicians and singers led the procession.
• Jesters tried to cheer the crowd up.
• Actors wore wax masks that depicted the diceased ancestors.
• Memorials of the dead person's great deeds.
• The dead subject was carried on a large couch-his face uncovered.

ROMAN: TIME OF BURIAL

• THREE THINGS NECESSARY FOR A PROPER BURIAL
• 1. a consecrated resting place
• 2. the casting of earth upon the remains
• 3. the purification of all those polluted by the death

ROMAN: TIME OF BURIAL

• If the body wasn't burned, it would be lowered down on the couch or in a casket.
• If the body was to be burned, a small hole was dug and filled with wood, the body, and the couch.
• After burning, the hole was filled again.
• Bustrum: the grave in which a body is burned

ROMAN: TIME OF BURIAL

• In later times:
• Burial-body placed in a stone coffin already in the tomb.
• Cremated-body placed on a pile of wood.
• Perfumes, spices, tokens and gifts were thrown on the body.
• A relative would light a torch and set the wood on fire.

The burial of the deceased began the "Nine Days of Sorrow" for the immediate family. Sometime in this nine day period, the ashes were taken, if dried, and taken into a part of the tomb. At the end of the nine days, a sacrifice was offered to the dead. On this day, they heirs were given their inheritance. The period for mourning did not end on this day. The amount of time given to mourn was based off of your relation with the deceased and how old he or she was.

Day of Obligation:
-To keep the memory of the dead alive, there was a "Day of Obligation."
-The festivals of violets and roses were held in late March and May.
-Violets and roses were given to family members to put on their loved ones graves.
--Offerings were made in temples.

EGYPTIAN: BELIEFS

• Beliefed that to ensure immortality, rituals had to be performed.
• Mummification, spells, and burial played a major role in ensuring afterlife.
• Some details have changed, but details still remain.

EGYPTIAN: TRADITION

• Bodies were buried rather than cremated.
• They believed that the body should be preserved to ensure afterlife.
• Also believed that bodies may rise again if mistreated after death.
• Human sacrifices were buried with important figures to serve them in the afterlife.
• Figurines or wall paintings eventually replaced human victims.

EGYPTIAN: TOMBS

• Prehistoric burials took place in the desert-this would naturally preserve the body.
• Buried in small pits with enough room for a few jars of food & a clay slab containing spells.
• Size of hole depended on wealth and social status.

EGYPTIAN: TOMBS

• Tombs eventually evolved into mud brick structures called "Mastabas."
• Royal mastabas evolved into what we know as pyramids.
• Pyramids are believed to be connected to the sun god, Ra.

EGYPTIAN: MUMMIFICATION

• dehydration-drain and pit the body of all internal organs except the heart
• washing-the body was washed with wine and stuffed with bags of natron
• wrapping-body is wrapped in bandages with amulets while a priests recite prayers

EGYPTIAN: BURIAL RITUALS

• The opening of the mouth ceremony happened after body was prepared.
• Performed so the mummy could breathe and speak in the afterlife.
• It was then moved ino the tomb and prepared for his final journey.
• Pyramid was sealed so no one would open it again.

EGYPTIAN: COFFINS

• After preservation, the mummy was placed in a coffin.
• Coffin was elaborately decorated with hieroglyphics.
• It was then placed in a more simply decorated coffin.
• Again, these two coffins were placed in yet another wooden coffin.
• Wealthy people received a stone coffin.

EGYPTIAN: BURIAL GOODS

• Burial goods protected the deceased and provided sustenance in the afterlife
• Small burials included everyday objects.
• Wealthy Egyptians were accompanied by jewlry, furniture, and other items of value.
• Egyptians believed boats played in a role because they related to the gods' method of travel.
• Egyptians were sometimes buried with Funerary Boats.

SOURCES

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/42667960?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dbag/hd_dbag.htm
• http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_14.html