Death and Burial in the Ancient World

Introduction

Death, the final rite of passage experienced by all, has been held in awe and fear since humans first became conscious of their mortality in Paleolithic times. Death came to be regarded as a major “rite of passage” that many religious systems addressed in great depth. Mortality, death, and the unknown were ritualized out of a mixture of affection for the deceased, awe of death’s mysteries, and the obligation to prepare for an afterlife. It is likely that death and the afterlife generated a fear that haunted people more than any other experience or reality. Everything possible was done to prepare the departed for the unknown world they would enter. A change in status from life to death could not be taken lightly. Fear and awe concerning death were present since prehistoric times as was a belief that the deceased were a source of blessings and beneficence, especially if the rite of passage was properly ritualized.

Such sentiments evolved into a cult of the dead in many early societies, and many prehistoric people developed some form of religion and perhaps a belief in some type of afterlife. Various primitive societies throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America are mirrors of Stone Age views concerning the soul, the hereafter, and corpse disposal. Death, if not caused by violence, is generally ascribed to actions of supernatural spirits or to witchcraft. In the cult of the dead, attitudes toward the deceased and their afterlife generally revolved around fear of the power of the spirit and diligence in performance of death rituals. Full burial ensured proper dispatch to the next life; partial performance resulted in the dead becoming unsanctified ghosts that haunted the living in an attempt to get grievances rectified. Hence the dead were treated in different ways not only for reasons of status, but also as a sanction on those who remained behind. Because the spirit of a dead person was often viewed as a dangerous source of harm, sickness, and death, the corpse had to be removed as soon as possible to minimize “catching death.”

This fear explains in part why bodies were buried in various ways, burned, or removed from sight in some manner. The need to control the spirit influenced what people did with the dead. Inhumation, cremation, exposure, and abandonment of the corpse have their origin in beliefs about death, the power of the spirit, and the afterlife. The variety of burial receptacles as resting places for the body, the meticulous preparation of the body for its journey to the next existence, and the awe, fear, and belief in the power of the dead all contributed to attitudes regarding death as the great mysterium tremendum addressed in countless myths and a variety of religious rituals to remove pollution and other evil consequences, to propitiate the deity, and to obtain the favor of the deceased spirit.

Inhumation

Burial was the most prevalent practice among ancient peoples and appears to have been an earlier practice than cremation. There were no fixed rules governing the treatment of the dead. Burial involved placement in the ground, in a mound or tumuli, or in a grotto and marking the spot for future ritual practices. The most elaborate and imposing resting places involved entombment or erection of immense mansions of the dead seen in several places in the world.

Together with burial evolved grand myths that controlled treatment of the dead, the spirit world, nature of the final resting place, and preparation for rebirth in a new life. The deliberate burial of the dead, first associated with Paleolithic people some 25,000 years ago, represents one of humankind’s earliest cultural achievements. Homo sapiens, who seems to have shared most of the psychological characteristics of modern humans, deliberately buried their dead, covered the body with red ochre to give it a blood-red color of renewed vitality, and provided food, flowers, and useful paraphernalia near the body, all of which suggests a human concern for the welfare of the deceased and perhaps a “belief” in some sort of survival after death. The corpse was not separated from the living but was placed in a grotto where all lived. The dead may have been viewed as in a state of “sleep” from which they might awaken. In various regions of Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia, Neanderthal caves revealed ample evidence of respect for the dead. The same inhumation practice was followed among Cro-Magnon people some 10,000 year ago, with bodies interred in a flexed position, covered with animal shoulder blades, and smeared with red ochre amidst shells, bone necklaces, tools, and other items.

There also is evidence that cremation or cannibalism may have occurred because only skulls were found in some grottoes. This may suggest a type of ancestor worship with a possible belief the spirit rested in the head and the consumption of the brain absorbed the “soul essence.” Cannibalism, more widely practiced than previously believed, has persisted from prehistoric times down into the twenty-first century. There is every indication that many peoples, at one time or another, passed through a cannibalistic stage, and the custom has survived in various degrees among certain Australian aborigines, sub-Saharan African primitives, societies of Oceania, and New Guinea. Various reasons underlie the custom of anthropophagy, or cannibalism, such as hunger, acquisition of a victim’s strength or soul, magic, revenge, religious sacrifice, or honor of the dead. The dead’s essence and qualities were also regarded as present in the skull or bones worn by tribal members for protection.

Grotto burial progressed and took a huge step forward among the ancient Egyptians, whose elaborate tombs and mummification techniques were developed in preparation for an afterlife. Mummification is associated with the cult of the dead and ancestor worship and was designed to preserve the body as a permanent residence for the soul. Among various African and Oceanic societies, mummification is practiced to the present day to preserve the corpse until funeral and burial occurs, sometimes months or years after death.

Tombs or mastabas, pyramids, and elaborate funerary rites emerged to lessen the malevolent and increase the beneficent influences of the dead. The corpse was provided with numerous items he or she loved in life and could enjoy again in the land of the dead. The pyramids were erected for the pharaohs and mastabas for servants and royal aids near the ruler’s tomb. These pyramids evolved gradually from a series of mastabas placed one on top of the other. They were elaborately decorated inside with murals of daily Egyptian life and filled with treasures. The pyramid represented a staircase to heaven for the mummified body of the ruler, who was believed to become one with Osiris, the god of death. Because the ancient Egyptians believed that the soul needed a lasting body in which to dwell, rules and rituals of mummification were observed meticulously so that the soul would proceed properly to the Underworld. The pharaoh then became a divine intermediary between the people and their gods.

Such elaborate burial practices were also followed in the Middle East, where royal tombs or chambers of brick and limestone were erected by Mesopotamian cultures around 3000 b.c.e. Again the corpse was buried with personal property, soldiers, courtiers, and servants, all to serve their master in the afterlife. In the Helladic Mycenaean culture area around 1400 b.c.e., magnificent rectangular chamber tombs were cut in rock and encircled by upright stone slabs for the Royal House, and in China during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1066 b.c.e.), royal chambers lined with heavy timbers were built at the bottom of a shaft 40 or more feet (12 meters) deep with a ramp for access. As in Egypt, the inner walls were elaborately decorated, and ritual bronze vessels, stone and jade objects, food, garments, and human attendants were interred to serve the emperor in the next life.

With the death ritual developed the cult of ancestor worship, which served as a unifying bond and communication between the living and the dead. Because the living were under the watchful eyes of the spirits, rituals were absolutely necessary to placate the spirits by providing for their needs in the afterlife. To forget the ancestors would merit the return of the soul and its wrath. If treated properly, the ancestors were a source of great benevolence. Ancestor worship in China developed into a religion and affected all aspects of family life.

In Europe around 3500 to 1500 b.c.e., hunting-gathering cultures along the Atlantic seaboard built massive megalithic tombs of standing rocks with a slab placed atop as a roof where the dead were placed, covered with rocks. Many were communal burial places for family members who were provided with food and other items. The tomb was walled up to prevent the spirit from leaving. With each burial, the seal was broken, offerings made to the spirit of the first occupant, and skeletons of previous bodies were piled up to one side. A menhir or single upright stone marked the head of the tomb as a resting place for the soul and a marker to indicate the way back to the tomb. It is surmised that the megaliths represented the womb of the earth where the dead would be reborn. Death was viewed like winter, a time of darkness and cold. The earth goddess, representations of which were found in burial spots in Europe and elsewhere, would rescue people from death as she revitalized the earth each spring with living plants.

Around 500 b.c.e., various cultures accepted inhumation as a custom. The Etruscans of Italy built houselike tombs on the outskirts of cities where bathed, oil-scented, and richly arrayed bodies were placed in sarcophagi. It was believed that the dead lived in such “houses.”

The Druids of the British Isles, on the other hand, believed in metempsychosis. Souls were immortal and lived again for a number of years in another body. The Huns (c. 300 c.e.) included valuables with the body but no mound over the grave nor any mourning ritual. In Bronze Age Scandinavia around 500 b.c.e., huge boulders were set around a grave in the outline of a ship to carry the soul to Valhalla, the palace of the god Odin. By the seventh and eighth centuries c.e., actual ships were used for warriors and buried on the shore. Ordinary women, children, the old, and the sick were given a poor burial or cremated. Their situation in the next world would match their station in earthly life. Occasionally slaves were buried with the warrior, which was a privilege since they would enter Valhalla with the warrior they served. This avoided the usual dreary afterlife reserved for slaves. Ship graves have been discovered throughout Europe.

In Mesoamerica between 2000 b.c.e. and 700 c.e., Olmec and Maya civilizations flourished in Mexico and Central America. The Olmecs, an enigmatic people of uncertain origin and the mother culture for later Mexican civilizations, also buried their distinguished dead in tombs. This practice was followed by the Maya, a civilization preoccupied with death, the fate of the soul, reincarnation, and an elaborate concept of hells, paradises, and mythical lands. They buried the dead in caves believed to be gates to paradise. Souls then passed through various mythical realms. The good were rewarded with one of three paradises, depending on their spiritual status and behavior in life. The evil were condemned to an inferno at the center of the earth, a place of colorless existence rather than suffering. Reincarnation also was part of Maya theology. Souls of warriors became birds, aristocracy higher animals, and plebeians a variety of lower animals.

Cave burial was an archaic and widely distributed mode of burial still practiced in the Moluccas, the Philippines, Australia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Madagascar, and throughout Africa, where bodies or desiccated bones are placed in cliffs of rock. Such burial chambers became forerunners of grandiose sepulchres characteristic of ancient cultures.

Among the Hebrews and Christians of the Middle East, the mortal body was sacred and was interred with love, dignity, and care. Some Hebrews, such as the Sadducees, denied any conscious existence after death or bodily resurrection; the Pharisees, however, believed in bodily resurrection on earth. Christianity interpreted resurrection in the sense of a higher spiritual body in an eternity of love, peace, and happiness with God. The soul was an individual who was subject to final judgment that determined the nature of eternal life.

Cremation

Cremation, as an alternate method of body disposal, was practiced by only a few cultures. Among them were Australian, Tasmanian, Siberian, Melanesian, and African groups. There is some evidence that it may have been used by Paleolithic people because traces of burning were found on some skeletal bones. During the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe circa 6000 b.c.e., agricultural communities practiced both cremation and inhumation. As the second millennium b.c.e. approached, cremation was accepted as the primary method, and by the late Bronze Age, bodies were cremated in urn fields or cremation cemeteries.

Germanic tribes and the Etruscans, circa 800-600 b.c.e., consistently cremated the dead and buried the ashes in urns or ossuaries either secured with a cap or buried under small mounds. The Greco-Romans likewise practiced cremation and inhumation. Bodies were usually carried out at night, and purification rites were completed nine days after the funeral. Although relatively common among European societies, cremation was not the custom in the Middle East. The Far East did not practice the custom until it was introduced by Buddhism between 400-700 c.e. Only in Ancient Persia was cremation present in the early Parsi or Zoroastrian tradition where an ancient text, the Avestan Vidēvdāt, alludes to “cooking of corpses.”

Crematory practice was, and still is, the custom par excellence in Vedic and Brahmanical India. Apparently Neolithic India did not practice the custom, but it was introduced in Vedic India because burial urns with bone fragments and ashes have been found at Mohenjo-Daro, a Harappā city of the third millennium b.c.e. Originally bones were collected, which implied a bodily resurrection, but cremation quickly converted this belief into the subtle body concept. Harappān Aryans, who developed the present Indian crematory rituals, burned corpses in a burning ground, or śmaśāna, where the reading of sacred texts, circumambulation of the pyre, and purification bathing in a river, tank, or lake accompanied the ritual. The charred bones were gathered on the third day and immersed in a river, preferably the Ganges. Water, milk libations, and rice-ball offerings, or piṇḍa, were offered to the manes at śrāddha ceremonies linking the living with the dead. The entire ritual was presided over by Agni, the fire deity, who restored the dead, determined the good and evil of the individual, and prepared the path to eternity in Yama’s kingdom. Such śrāddha ceremonies were vital for the well-being of the ancestors and provided the dead with a type of corporeal substance, a new body. Otherwise the soul would have to resume the course of rebirth. Around 300 b.c.e., the ritual of sātī was introduced, which required a widow to join her husband on the funeral pyre in a practice of ritual suicide. Such ritual immolation was not only a custom in ancient India but also among early Indo-Europeans, Israelites, Japanese, and Scythians, who introduced the custom to India. In earliest India, horses were also sacrificed to carry the souls into the afterlife.

Exposure

Only a few cultures of the ancient world practiced exposure of a corpse to decay or consumption by animals. In early Egypt, disposal in desert regions was practiced but quickly was replaced by embalming. The Harappān Aryans often abandoned bodies in the cremation ground to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. Scythians in Central Asia suspended bodies in a tree for birds to consume, and the bones were collected and buried. Because the body was considered an empty shell whose spirit would be reborn in a new life no matter what happened to the body, Tibetans abandoned corpses to the vultures.

However, it was the Parsis of ancient Persia who ritualized exposure of bodies. Bodies of the deceased were washed, cleanly arrayed, and then removed to decay and be consumed by birds of prey. Exposure served to purify the remains by contact with the rays of the Sun, which was the great visible emblem of the invisible godhead. Their sacred texts, the Zend-Avesta (The Zend-Avesta, 1880-1887), Bundahisn (Zand-Akasih: Iranian or Greater Bundahism, 1956) and Dinkard (The Dinkard, 1874-1900) of the sixth century b.c.e., present a clear picture of death and afterlife that has been the basis of Zoroastrian religious philosophy. Earth, water, and flame were considered sacred elements. Because contact with death was the source of the greatest defilement, burial was forbidden, contact with water would render it unfit, and cremation would defile the sacred flame. Ablution with water or cattle urine was necessary if contact with a corpse was made. Hence the dead body was placed on a bed of stones or lime or placed in trees or on scaffolds to decay and be consumed by birds of prey or other animals. Defilement of the natural elements was avoided at all costs.

Suspension from tree branches, placement on scaffolds or summits of cliffs, placement on beds of vegetation in forests, abandonment to the elements, preying dogs, and wild beasts, or immersion in the sea were various methods practiced by coastal societies of Australia, Andaman Islands, Irian Jaya, Ceylon, Siberia, Oceania, and Africa from earliest times.

Bibliography

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