Burial Customs

Researched by: Laura Kovach and Jayden Robert © 2007

Egyptian Burial Customs
In Egypt, people believed in the afterlife. To them, the afterlife was a very important part of death and was respected greatly. The Egyptians believed that the body had to be intact in order for the next world to except it. To make sure that the body remained intact, the Egyptians preformed the mummification process.

To mummify a body, there were three main steps. However, the more money you had, the better burial you got. The first step was to get rid of everything that was inside the body except for the heart and skeleton. The removed organs were placed in jars. Those jars were placed in the tomb with the body later on. The heart was kept because it was thought to be important, but the brain was believed to have to no importance, so it was extracted through the nostrils.

The second step was to dry out the body. This was done by stuffing the body with fluid-absorbing substances. When it was fully stuffed, the body was left for forty-five days to become completely dried out. After that was done, the body was stuffed with ground-up wood. The body is now ready to be wrapped.

The body was wrapped in linen, with small charms put in between. The charm of the Scarab Beetle was placed on the heart, and this amulet meant the most in the afterlife. A cleric prayed for the dead while the amulets were placed over the body. When that was done, the body was shrouded until the time of the funeral procession.

For the funeral procession, the relatives of the dead person were alerted at the time of the procession, and prepared to travel over to the other side of the Nile. The mummy made it over the Nile in a boat accompanied by a parade of Egyptians. On land, oxen pulled the sleigh with the mummy on it.

The whole thing was led by chanting priests who chanted hymns just for the ceremony. Some Egyptians carried food, gifts, greases, and the Canopic Jars, just to be buried with the mummy. When they reached the burial site, the priests preformed ceremonies to Osiris, the god of the afterlife. The last ceremony was the ceremony in which the dead could talk and dine with the afterlife. The last step was to put the body in the casket and then to put the casket in the tomb. They then closed the tomb and had a party, concluding the ceremony.

Hawaiian Burial Customs
In Hawaii, death is not something to take lightly. The death of a king, queen or high chief is no exception. In fact, the death of a king, queen or high chief is a great time of mourning to the people. The people who knew the people the most are the people who mourn the greatest. They weep, mourn, cut their hair, knock out teeth, scar their skin, and sometimes even cut off one of their ears. William Ellis, a reverend in the 1800s, saw a queen in great pain while having her tongue tattooed with a black line after her husband died. When he asked her about it, she said that it hurt, but the pain of her grief was greater than that could ever be.

It was believed that the iwi, or bones held great power, and benefited whoever possessed them. The skull, leg, and occasionally arm bones were especially hidden, guarded and preserved.

After awhile, the priest would assemble the skull and long bones into a sitting position. He would then set fire to it if it were a king for ten days, while chanting, and at the end of ten days, it was believed that the king was now a god. After that ceremony, the king’s successor would have to build a house for the king’s bones.

Queen Kaahumanu destroyed one of the houses, Hale o Keawe, after her change to Christianity. Since then, the whole place has been reconstructed and is now open to visitors. Once, in 1821, Reverend Ellis peeked through the covering of the bones even after he was told not to. He saw images, shark teeth, pearl shell eyes and more. Another thing he saw was bundles of bones, cleaned and wrapped carefully.

Burial caves are found all over Hawaii, with men, women and small children buried in the sand dunes. Many caves however, had already been found and raided.

When King Kamehameha and his wife Queen Kamamalu died in London of 1825, their bodies were taken to Honolulu and a grand procession took place. People dressed in black, and paraded around with great style, and now King Kamehameha and Queen Kamamalu rest in a Royal Mausoleum.

After the 1990s, which is when President Bush created and signed the Native American Grave Protection, which protects Native American burial sites. That group is called the Hui Malama. The Hui Malama transports bones under the cover of night, and utmost secrecy. When someone important dies, their grave is surrounded with either rocks or high poles. Common people were buried in natural tombs, like caves or hollows.

Romanian Burial Customs
In Romania, the burial customs are pretty strict. For instance, there are no burials on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays. Another example is that Romanians believed that in the afterlife, people were separated by the age that they died, because “it is not good for the dead to be left behind.”

An experienced woman is always appointed to sing ceremonial funeral songs, but the woman cannot be closely related to the deceased person. Each song has its own time to be sung in the ceremony, but while being watched closely. The first song sung is always “Song of the Dawn,” which is sung in the morning to tell the village of the loss.

Mexican Burial Customs
In Mexico, people are buried in coffins in the ground. The Mexicans also have a holiday that is similar to Halloween, and it is called the Day of the Dead. However, the Day of the Dead is not only one day, but many. It lasts from mid-October through the first week of November. Day of the Dead is celebrated like Halloween, and the people welcome the spirits of the dead with open arms, for this is the holiday in which the spirits can pay a visit to home.

To prepare for this visit, many households start off by setting up an alter, and decorating it with flowers, candles, candy, food, drink and more. Naturally, when the spirit visits, it has to wash up before it eats, so a hand basin and wash towel is included. Day of the Dead is a holiday that many people enjoy and value annually.

Vikings Burial Customs:
The Vikings would burry their dead with their possessions that they valued most. Maya men were usually buried with their tools and weapons while the women were buried with their utensils and jewelry. Along with their possessions, they would be buried with a small amount of food and drink so they wouldn't be hungry on the trip to the other world. It was common for a Viking to be buried with his or her boat laid across their grave. If the dead did not own a boat their people would place stones around their grave in the shape of a boat because they believed that traveling by boat was the best way to get to the other world.

Maya Burial Customs:
The Maya's dead would be put to rest with a piece of maize, or Indian corn, and a stone bead placed in their mouth. The maize served as food for their long journey to the heavens and the bead was used as a toll for them to get there. Their graves would face either north or west, the direction of the Maya heavens, so that it was easier for them to access the other world. Before the bodies were placed inside of their grave, they were rapped in cotton blankets. Only people of the highest ranks were buried in actual tombs. The tombs had nine "step platforms" that represented the nine layers of the underworld. The Maya culture believed that the color red was a symbol of death and second birth. The dead bodies had scraps of cinnabar, or red sulfide, laid on them to substitute pigment.

Jewish Burial Customs:
In most religions people leave flowers on the dead person's graves. Although Jews will leave stones on their graves to show that they have not been forgotten and to pay their respects.

Roman Burial Customs:
The Romans did both cremations and burials. During a cremating ceremony, not only did they cremate the body, but they burned the dead's personal possessions as well. The ashes were put into a container and then buried in a cemetery. If a person was to poor to afford a proper cremation, their family would cremate them at their own homes and keep the ashes. Although if one was going to have a burial and were to poor to have a funeral, their friends and family would put their money together for their friend.

African Burial Customs:
During an African burial, an animal would usually be sacrificed. They believed that it was a respectful thing to do and that it served as food on their long journey to the heavens. Most of the time they would give sacrifice an ox, if the person was the last living in their family the ox would help take them to the afterlife. Africans were also buried with their personal possessions. Africans could only refer to some one as dead if they were the last one in their family to die.

 

Citations:

Otey, Tommy. "Ancient Egyptian Funerary Customs." ccds. Tommy Otey. 6 Feb 2007 <http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Egypt/04/otey/otey.htm>.

 Fullard-Leo, Betty. "Sacred Burial Practices." Coffee Times. Feb 1998. LBD Coffee LLC dba Coffee Times. 6 Feb 2007 <http://www.coffeetimes.com/feb98.htm>.

 Stanciu, Otilia. "Burial." Geosites. . Otilia Stanciu.06 Feb 2007 <http://www.geocities.com/petrud98/localcustoms/otherburial.html>.  

Palfrey, Dale. "The Day of the Dead." Mexico Connect. 1995. Dale Palfrey. 6 Feb 2007 <http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/muertos.html>.

"Tombs and Funerals." Roman Burial Customs. University of Michigan's Kelsey Muesum. 23 Jan. 2007 <http:\abcus.bates.edu-mimberRcivtombs.htm>.

Waidson, Gary. "Viking Burial Customs and Food." Lore Saga. 23 Jan. 2007 <www.lore-and-saga.co.ukhtmlviking_burials.html>.

"Maya Death Rituals." 31 Jan. 2007. 23 Jan. 2007 <http:\en.wikipedia.orgwikiMaya_death_rituals>.

"Why Do Jews Put Stones on Tombstones?" Jewish Virual Library. 23 Jan. 2007 <www.jewishviruallibrary.orgjsourceJudaismgraves.html>.

Related Links:

CoffeeTimes
American Burial Customs            
Burial Customs
Burial Customs
History of Funeral Customs
The Purpose of the Funeral

Egyptian Burial Customs
Roman Burial Customs
Viking Burial Customs
Inca Burial Customs
African Burial Customs
Sacred Burial Customs of Hawaii
Maya Death Beliefs
Chinese Burial Customs

Mexican Tradition - Day of the Dead, All Saints Day - Dia de los Muertos
Day of the Dead Photos

African American Cemeteries

Jewish Customs
Why Do Jews Put Stones on Tombstones?       

The Merry Cemetery in Sapinta, Romania     
Maramures