The Christian Post > World|Wed, Jan.

26 2011 06:24 PM EDT Nepal Christians Fight for Burial Rights KATHMANDU, Nepal Three years after the death of a Christian who was a captain in the Nepal Army, his widow, Gamala Guide, faces fresh grief. The grave of her husband, Narayan Guide, is threatened with destruction as authorities of Nepal's most powerful Hindu temple are reclaiming the forested land where it is located. "What kind of strange country is this that doesn't allow its own citizens to rest in peace?" the 55year-old recently asked leaders of the Christian community in Kathmandu. "Please do something to stop the desecration, or my husband will die a second death." At least 200 graves, many of them unmarked due to Christians' fear of discovery and destruction, could share the same fate. The Pashupatinath Area Development Trust, the organization administering the Pashupatinath temple that dates back to the fourth century AD, has begun renovating the shrine as Nepal celebrates 2011 as its "tourism year" with the goal of attracting 1 million visitors. The temple has been declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. "In the late 1980s, the government gave us 292 hectares of land to develop the Pashupatinath temple," said Ram Saran Chimoria, director of the trust. "We have accordingly drawn up a fiveyear plan that will renovate the main shrine and beautify its surroundings. The forested land adjoining the temple will be used to grow plants considered sacred by Hindus." Chimoria said part of the forest is also meant to be used for Hindu burials. "A Hindu sect called the Dashnami, which has 10 sub-groups under it, buries its dead here, as Muslims and Christians do," he said. "Since Pashupatinath is a Hindu temple, the 10 sub-groups are allowed to bury their dead here. But other communities also began burying their dead here, first pretending to be the Dashnami and then clandestinely. This is against Hindu traditions, and the temple is seeking to reclaim what belongs to it. It is the responsibility of the government to allot burial grounds to non-Hindus, not the trust's." The burial ground lies opposite Arya Ghat, a cremation ground at Pashupatinath, where bodies are burned on pyres according to Hindu tradition. Known as the Sleshmantak Forest, it is a steep

and nearly inaccessible wooded tract where monkeys and foxes roam. Locals advise visitors not to wander into the forest alone, even during day time, for fear of robbers. "I attended several burial rites there," said Chirendra Satyal, spokesman of the Catholic Assumption Church of Kathmandu Valley. "They were all low-key. Many of the graves are unmarked to avoid detection. The burial ground is used as a garbage dumping site, and at times foxes dig up the buried bodies. There are also cases of bodies being dumped on top of one another." An increasingly angry Christian community, tired of petitioning the government for an official burial ground, is now seeking stronger measures. "Nepal became secular in 2006, and two years later, we petitioned the prime minister, the culture minister and the top human rights agency in Nepal, saying that in a secular democracy Christians should have the same rights as others and should be given their own burial ground," said C.B. Gahatraj, general secretary of a Christian committee formed to provide recommendations to parliament, which is drafting a new constitution. "We understand the temple's position. But the state should understand ours too." The committee had identified forested land on the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley, in an area called Duwakot, and proposed that it be given to them. "We would make it one of the most idyllic sites in Nepal," said Gahatraj. "It would have gardens and would be an attractive destination for tourists as well. But so far, there has been no response from the state." Believing the time has come for stronger action, Christians plan to discuss the issue with 22 major parliamentary parties on Sunday (Jan. 30). "At the meeting, we will present our case again," Gahatraj said. "We also want the trust to suspend the demolition drive till we are given our own land. If there's no result, we will internationalize our case by taking our problem to international rights organizations and the United Nations."

As the first such public protest, on Feb. 15 at Maitighar Mandala, one of the most prominent areas of the capital, the Christian community will begin a "relay hunger strike." Christians are also beginning the first-ever Christian census this year to ascertain their true position in society. "We estimate there are about 2 million Christians now [out of a population of nearly 29 million]," Gahatraj said. Catholics, however, form a tiny fraction of the Christian community. Satyal assessed there were about 7,500 Catholics. In 2009, three women were killed at the Assumption Church when a militant underground organization planted a bomb there. All three had to be cremated. "Land is a premium commodity in Kathmandu Valley," said Anthony Sharma, Nepal's first Catholic bishop. "When the living don't have land, it is futile to seek land for the dead. We have accepted cremation for Catholics in Nepal in keeping with acceptance worldwide." But even the cremation is dogged by discrimination. "The Arya Ghat cremation ground at Pashupatinath distinguishes between upper castes and lower castes," the bishop said. "If Christians are taken there, they would be treated as lower castes. So we have organized our own cremation site in Teku [in a different part of the town]." Madhav Kumar Nepal, who resigned as prime minister on June 30 but leads a caretaker government, was regarded as having a soft spot for Christians. After the attack on the Assumption church, he was among the first state officials to visit the injured in the hospital and kept his promise to bring the culprits to justice, with police managing to arrest the blast mastermind. Nepal resigned last year under pressure by the largest opposition party, and since then the turbulent republic has remained under a powerless caretaker government, unable to make any major decision. With the squabbling political parties unable to form a new government and a political deadlock spilling into its seventh month, there are now new fears about the prospective constitution, which is expected to consolidate the secular nature of the nation. The constitution was to have been

completed last year, but as the bickering parties failed to accomplish the task, the deadline was extended to May 28. The delay has enabled a spurt in activities of Hindus calling for the restoration of Hinduism as the state religion. If Nepal's May deadline fails as well, Christians fear it could be impossible to obtain their own official burial site.

A Bold Suggestion to the Groping Nepali Church Dr. Ramesh Khatry:: Youve never been a pastor, so you dont know the problems we face!NepaliChurchleaders can readily throw this accusation at me when a Christian has died, and they have spent the last four days looking for a burial site. I fully sympathize with a pastors predicament when death occurs. A church with 100 members can hardly afford to buy a burial site of its own. Some rich churches have their own cemeteries, but they dont allow the dead from other congregations to rest there. Even as I write this, some Christians have gone on a hunger strike to force the government to give them a burial site. Some months ago, they with a few tribal non-Christians, halted traffic along the ring road for the same purpose. The Nepali government too has no easy solution. Muslims, some tribes, mendicants, and sects of various religions also make the same demand. Adherents of a major faith have declared that on no account will they allow churches to bury their dead in the hill east of the Pashupati Nath temple. Many Christian dead had found their final rest in that area till now, but no more. What should the Nepali Christians do? In this thesis: Funerary Rites in Nepal: Cremation, Burial and Christian Identity, Dr Bal Krishna Sharma has pointed out the solutionChristians too can cremate their dead, and avoid all the hassle. Dr. Sharma suggests that Christians in Nepal can continue burial if the land is available for this purpose and if they face no opposition from the non-Christian communities, but if those options are not available, then there is no problem in accepting cremation. Even Nepali church accepts cremation, they will not be wrong theologically. The early Christians put Jesus body in a cave on a hillside. They merely followed what their Jewish counterparts had been doing for ages. Christians during Jesus days didnt bury their dead in a hole in the ground. They kept them in caves as their Jewish ancestors did. The soft limestone abundant inPalestines geography allowed such a custom. Nepali Christians too can follow the practice of cremation which their non-Christian ancestors have practised. Nepali Roman Catholic Christians have already shown us the way. InKathmandu, they cremate their dead at Kaal Mochan Ghat at Teku. True, firewood causes deforestation; but the governments recent proposal to establish electrical crematoria should put many at ease.

Christians have always adopted neutral practices of peoples around them. Otherwise, they wouldnt have survived. Dr Sharma points out that cremation in no way runs counter to the belief of resurrection. As God can call back the bodily elements that have rotten away after burial, he can also gather together what fire has devoured. Besides, the picture of fire so frequent in the Bible can help Christians develop a theology of cremation. Nepali Christians have adopted many neutral elements from cultures around them to make their faith more relevant to their societies. They have taken to Saturday as the day of worship instead of Sunday. They sit on the floor at church, like worshippers of other religions do. They have allowed dances in worship, something quite foreign in the 1970s. Many brides now dress in red, green or other colours instead of white, a sign of mourning in our country. They also light candles at weddings, a new practice. Thus, Dr Sharma argues that some bold Christians should volunteer their dead bodies for cremation. Once someone has taken the first step, others will follow. I find Dr Sharmas leaning towards cremation very valuable. First of all, I believe Christians should use their resources more for the living than the dead. So, raising millions of rupees to buy a burial site has never appealed to me. Secondly, taking a corpse to a burial site, even though legally bought, has raised opposition from adherents of other religions living around the area. I agree with Dr Sharma that Christians should take the extra mile for social harmony. Christians have enough problems of their own, why irritate followers of other religions by stubbornly insisting on burial at any cost? Thirdly, cremation is so much cheaper and convenient because our society throughout the centuries already has all the facilities in place. Once Dr Sharma publishes this thesis in English, he should translate it into Nepali so that the Christians reading only in the vernacular will have access to it. This book should convert many Nepali followers of Jesus to adopt cremation, and thus avoid much heartache.

"Hot" religious topics The cremation process. Its history. Cremation and burial in the Bible.

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The cremation process: The word cremation comes from the Latin word cremo which means "to burn" - particularly the burning of the dead. Cremation generally involves the application of high temperature, typically between 1400 and 2100 Degrees Fahrenheit (760 to 1150 Deg. C), to a wooden box or casket which contains a dead body. The body and container are almost completely consumed; the cremated remains consist of bone fragments and particles, which usually weigh from 4 to 8 pounds (1.8 to 3.6 kg). They are then finely ground into granule form. The entire process takes 3 to 5 hours. Although the attendants attempt to remove all of the remains, a very small portion will be left inside the cremation chamber, and subsequently mingled with the next body to be cremated. During 1999-JUL, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted 10 test cremations to determine the optimum temperature for cremation, in order to minimize smoke, dust and gas emissions. Most bodies that are not cremated are buried in a casket where they gradually decompose over time.

History of cremation: Most archaeologists believe that cremation was invented during the stone age, about 3000 BCE. 1 It was most likely first used in Europe or the Near East. It became the most common method of disposing of bodies by 800 BCE in Greece, and by 600 BCE in Rome. However, other societies had other methods: In ancient Israel, sepulchers (tombs or vaults) were used for burial; cremation was shunned. The body was exposed to the air of the tomb

Cremation in the Christian World From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Cremation in Christianity) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009)

Columbarium niches built into the side of St. Joseph's Chapel Mausoleum at the Catholic Mount Olivet Cemetery, Key West (rural Dubuque), Iowa. Today, cremation is an increasingly popular form of disposition of the deceased. This is true even in the Christian world, which for many years was opposed to cremation, but has come to a greater acceptance of cremation over the past century. In Christian countries, cremation fell out of favour due to the Christian belief in the physical resurrection of the body, and as a mark of difference from the Iron Age European pre-Christian Pagan religions, which usually cremated their dead. It was even made a crime punishable with death by Charlemagne in 789 for this reason.[1] Beginning in the Middle Ages, rationalists and classicists began to advocate cremation. In Medieval Europe, cremation was practised only on

special occasions when there were many corpses to be disposed of simultaneously after a battle, after an epidemic or during famine, and there was an imminent danger of disease spread. Much later, Sir Henry Thompson, Surgeon to Queen Victoria, was the first to recommend the practice for health reasons after seeing the cremation apparatus of Professor Brunetti of Padua, Italy at the Vienna Exposition in 1873. In 1874, Thompson founded The Cremation Society of England. The society met opposition from the Church, which would not allow cremation on consecrated ground, and from the government, who believed the practice to be illegal. Cremation was forced into British law when a Welsh doctor, William Price burned his infant son, named Jesus Christ, in a Pagan ritual shortly before 1883 in the historic town of Llantrisant. The doctor was a well known eccentric whose cremation ceremony was initially stopped by people coming home from church. The police returned the partially burnt body of his son on condition that it would neither be buried nor burned. Later that year, Dr. Price reneged on his promise and burned his son's remains. The townsfolk, unhappy with this sacrilege, went in an angry mob to burn out Dr. Price, but were turned back when they discovered only his wife armed with pistols. Dr. Price had already left the building. Dr. Price was arrested and tried in an 1884 court case which resulted in an amendment to legalize cremation in February of that year. Due to this legal decision several companies pre-empted the legalisation of cremation and formed cremation companies in anticipation of a change in the law, knowing that Price had set a critical precedent. One of the first such companies was set up in Manchester in 1892, closely followed by Maryhill, Glasgow in 1895. An Act of Parliament for the Regulation of burning of human remains, and to enable burial authorities to established crematoria, the "Cremation Act" was eventually passed in 1902, removing all ambiguity. Contents [hide]

1 The Roman Catholic Church 2 Eastern Orthodox Church 3 Protestant Churches 4 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) 5 See also 6 References

[edit] The Roman Catholic Church Also see the Roman Catholic section of the main cremation article. For most of its history, the Roman Catholic Church had a ban against cremation. It was seen as the most sacrilegious act towards Christians and God, not simply blaspheming, but physically declaring a disbelief in the resurrection of the body. In 1963, the Pope lifted the ban on cremation, and in 1966 allowed Catholic priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies. The

Church still officially prefers the traditional interment of the deceased. Despite this preference, cremation is now permitted as long as it is not done to express a refusal to believe in the resurrection of the body. [1] Until 1997, Church regulations used to stipulate that cremation has to take place after a funeral service. Such funeral services are conducted in the same manner as traditional burials up to the point of committal, where the body is taken to the crematorium instead of being buried. A burial service is performed after the cremation is completed. In 1997, the funeral rite was modified so that church funerals can take place when the body has already been cremated before the ashes are brought to the church. In such cases, the ashes are placed in an urn or another worthy vessel, brought into the church and placed on a stand near the Easter candle. During the church service, and during the committal rite, prayers that make reference to the body are modified. Any prayers that refer to the "Body" of the deceased are replaced with "Earthly Remains." Since the lifting of the ban, even with the official preference for burial, the Church has become more and more open to the idea of cremation. Many Catholic cemeteries now provide columbarium niches for housing cremated remains as well as providing special sections for the burial of cremated remains. Columbarium niches have even been made a part of church buildings. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California has a number of niches in the crypt mausoleum. However, church officials still tend to discourage this practice because of concerns over what would happen to the niches if such a parish closes or decides to replace the current building. The Church requires reverent disposition of the ashes which means that the ashes are to be buried or entombed in an appropriate container, such as an urn. The Church does not permit the scattering of ashes or keeping them at home, though some Catholics have done so despite the ban. Traditionalist Catholics have objected to the practice of allowing cremation, which sedevacantists believe to be one of the many reasons why the post-Vatican II church is no longer the true Catholic Church. [edit] Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church forbids cremation. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided as in when civil authority demands it, during epidemics or other similar necessary cases. When a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection, and as such is viewed harshly. [edit] Protestant Churches The Protestant Churches approved cremation earlier than the Catholic Church with the rationale being "God can resurrect a bowl of ashes just as conveniently as He can resurrect a bowl of dust. [citation needed] " The development of modern crematoriums also helped to differentiate Christian

cremations from Pagan rites of burning the body on pyre. The first crematorium in Stockholm, Sweden was built 1874; in Finland, the Helsinki Lutheran Parish Union built its first modern crematorium in 1926 which is still in use. Nowadays in Lutheran Scandinavia, approximately 50 to 70 percent of the dead are cremated, and in large towns up to 90 percent. In Scandinavian Lutheran doctrine, the ashes are to be dealt with the same dignity as any earthly remains. They are either to be interred in an urn or sprinkled on consecrated ground, "dust returning to dust," and not stored at home or disposed of in an undignified way. Most large parishes do have crematoriums as part of their chapels, and urns are buried in the cemetery in the usual manner, or sprinkled on special consecrated grounds. Some seashore parishes also have consecrated sea areas where the ashes can be scattered. The rise in popularity of cremation has resulted in the resurgence of the old Lutheran tradition of family graves in Scandinavia. As urns require less space than caskets, the family grave in the cemetery can now contain the earthly remains of the family members in many generations. Cremation has become accepted in the American Episcopal Church, so much so that many parishes have built columbaria into their churches, chapels and gardens. [edit] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) have said that cremation is "not encouraged"; however the church provides instructions for properly dressing the deceased prior to cremation.[2] In the past, Apostle Bruce R. McConkie[3] wrote that "only under the most extraordinary and unusual circumstances" would cremation be consistent with LDS teachings. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

BURIAL ber'-i-al (qebhurah; compare New Testament to entaphidsai): I. IMMEDIATE BURIAL CONSIDERED URGENT 1. Reasons for This 2. The Burial of Jesus 3. The Usual Time 4. Duties of Next of Kin II. PREPARATIONS FOR BURIAL 1. Often Informal and Hasty 2. Usually with More Ceremony 3. Contrasts between Jewish Customs and Other Peoples' (1) Cremation (2) Embalming

III. ON THE WAY TO THE GRAVE 1. Coffins Unknown 2. Professional Mourners IV. AT THE GRAVE 1. Graves Dug in the Earth 2. Family Tombs. Later Customs 3. Sealed Stones 4. Stated Times of Mourning 5. Excessive Mourning 6. Dirge-Songs V. FAILURE TO RECEIVE BURIAL A CALAMITY OR JUDGMENT VI. PLACES OF BURIAL: HOW MARKED LITERATURE It is well to recall at the outset that there are points of likeness and of marked contrast between oriental and occidental burial customs in general, as well as between the burial customs of ancient Israel and those of other ancient peoples. These will be brought out, or suggested later in this article. I. Immediate Burial Considered Urgent. 1. Reasons for This: The burial of the dead in the East in general was and is often effected in such a way as to suggest to the westerner indecent haste. Dr. Post says that burial among the people of Syria today seldom takes place later than ten hours after death, often earlier; but, he adds, "the rapidity of decomposition, the excessive violence of grief, the reluctance of Orientals to allow the dead to remain long in the houses of the living, explain what seems to us the indecency of haste." This still requires the survivors, as in the case of Abraham on the death of Sarah, to bury their dead out of their sight (Gen 23:1-4); and it in part explains the quickness with which the bodies of Nadab and Abihu were Carried out of the camp (Lev 10:4), and those of Ananias and Sapphira were hastened off to burial (Acts 5:1-11). Then, of course, the defilement to which contact with a dead body gave occasion, and the judgment that might come upon a house for harboring the body of one dying under a Divine judgment, further explain such urgency and haste. 2. The Burial of Jesus: It was in strict accordance with such customs and the provision of the Mosaic law (Dt 21:23; compare Gal 3:13), as well as in compliance with the impulses of true humanity, that Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus for burial on the very day of the crucifixion (Mt 27:39 ff). 3. The Usual Time: The dead are often in their graves, according to present custom, within two or three hours after death. Among oriental Jews burial takes place, if possible, within twenty-four hours after death, and frequently on the day of death. Likewise Mohammedans bury their dead on the day of death,

if death takes place in the morning; but if in the afternoon or at night, not until the following day. 4. Duties of Next of Kin: As soon as the breath is gone the oldest son, or failing him, the nearest of kin present, closes the eyes of the dead (compare Gen 46:4, "and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes"). The mouth, too, is closed and the jaws are bound up (compare Jn 11:44, "and his face was bound about with a napkin"). The death is announced, as it was of old, by a tumult of lamentation preceded by a shrill cry, and the weeping and wailing of professional mourners (compare Mk 5:38 ff). See MOURNING. II. Preparations for Burial. 1. Often Informal and Hasty: These are often informal and hasty. Under the tyranny of such customs as those noted, it is often impossible to make them elaborate. Canon Tristram says: "As interments take place at latest on the evening of the day of death, and frequently at night, there can be no elaborate preparations. The corpse, dressed in such clothes as were worn in life, is stretched on a bier with a cloth thrown over it, until carried forth for burial" (Eastern Customs, 94). In Acts 5:6 we read of Ananias, "The young men .... wrapped him round, and they carried him out and buried him." "What they did," as Dr. Nicol says, "was likely this: they unfastened his girdle, and then taking the loose undergarment and the wide cloak which was worn above it, used them as a winding-sheet to cover the corpse from head to foot." In other words, there was little ceremony and much haste. 2. Usually with More Ceremony: Usually, however, there was more ceremony and more time taken. Missionaries and natives of Syria tell us that it is still customary to wash the body (compare Acts 9:37), anoint it with aromatic ointments (compare Jn 12:7; 19:39; Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1), swathe hands and feet in gravebands, usually of linen (Jn 11:44a), and cover the face or bind it about with a napkin or handkerchief (Jn 11:44b). It is still common to place in the wrappings of the body aromatic spices and other preparations to retard decomposition. Thus the friends at Bethany prepared the body of Lazarus, and he came forth wrapped in grave-bands and with a napkin bound about his face. And, we are further told that after the burial of Jesus, Nicodemus brought "a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds," and that they "took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury," and that Mary Magdalene and two other women brought spices for the same purpose (Jn 19:39,40; Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1). That this was a very old custom is witnessed by such passages as 2 Ch 16:14, where it is said that Asa, the king, was laid "in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the perfumers' art" (compare Jn 12:3,7; Sirach 38:16). From Acts 5:6; 8:2 it appears that there was in later times a confraternity of young men whose business it was to attend to these proprieties and preparations on behalf of the dead; but it was probably only in exceptional cases that they were called upon to act. Certainly such ministries ordinarily devolved, as they do now, upon loving relatives and friends, and mostly women, among the Jews as well as among the Greeks. The practice among the Greeks, both by similarity and contrast, affords an interesting illustration. The

following instance is aptly cited in D B (art. "Burial"): Electra believing Orestes to be dead and his ashes placed in the sepulchral urn (Soph. Electra 1136-52), addresses him thus: "Woe is me! These loving hands have not washed or decked thy corpse, nor taken, as was meet, their sad burden from the flaming pyre. At the hands of strangers, hapless one, thou hast had those rites, and so art come to us, a little dust in a narrow urn." 3. Contrasts between Jewish Customs and Other Peoples': This brings us to note two marked contrasts between customs in Israel and among other peoples. (1) Cremation: With the Greeks it was customary to cremate the dead (see CREMATION); but there was nothing in Jewish practice exactly corresponding to this. Tacitus (Hist. v.5) expressly says, in noting the contrast with Roman custom, that it was a matter of piety with the Jews "to bury rather than to burn dead bodies." The burning of the bodies of Saul and his sons by the men of Jabesh-Gilead (1 Sam 31:11-13) seems to have been rather a case of emergency, than of conformity to any such custom, as the charred bones were buried by the same men under the tamarisk at Jabesh, and later, by David's order, removed and laid to rest in the sepulcher of Kish (2 Sam 21:12-14). According to the Mosaic law burning was reserved, either for the living who had been found guilty of unnatural sins (Lev 20:4; 21:9), or for those who died under a curse, as in the case of Achan and his family, who after they had been stoned to death were, with all their belongings, burned with fire (Josh 7:25). (2) Embalming: As the burning practiced by the Greeks found no place in Jewish law and custom, so embalming, as practiced by the Egyptians, was unknown in Israel, the cases of Jacob and Joseph being clearly special, and in conformity to Egyptian custom under justifying circumstances. When Jacob died it was Joseph, the Egyptian official, who "commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father" (Gen 50:2), and it was conventionally the fit thing that when Joseph himself died his body was embalmed and "put in a coffin (sarcophagus) in Egypt" (Gen 50:26). III. On the Way to the Grave: When the preparations were made and the time came, the corpse was carried to the grave on a bier, or litter (miTTah). 1. Coffins Unknown: Coffins were unknown in ancient Israel, as they are among the Jews of the East to this day. The only one mentioned in the Bible is the sarcophagus in which the embalmed body of Joseph was preserved, unless Asa's bed (2 Ch 16:14) be another, as some think. Moslems, like eastern Jews, never use coffins. The bier sometimes has a pole at each corner by means of which it is carried on the shoulders to the tomb. See BIER. 2. Professional Mourners: The procession of mourners is made up largely, of course, of relatives and friends of the deceased, but is led by professional mourning women, who make the air resound with their shrieks and lamentations (compare Eccl 12:5; Jer 9:17; Am 5:16). See MOURNING. Am 5:16

alludes to this custom in describing the mourning that shall be over the desolations of Israel: "Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful in lamentation to wailing." Jer (9:17,18) breaks out: "Call for the mourning women, that they may come; .... and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters." Dr. Fred. Bliss tells of a mourning delegation at the mahal, or mourning house, of a great man. "No matter how gaily they may be chatting they approach, when they reach the house they rush forward, handkerchiefs to face, sobbing, weeping, with utmost demonstrations of grief, going through them time after time as occasion requires." Amelia B. Edwards gives a vivid account of her first experience with such mourning: "It rose like the far-off wavering sound of many owls. It shrilled, swelled, wavered, dropped, and then died away, like the moaning of the wind at sea. We never heard anything so wild and plaintive." Among some Jews of today, it is said, the funeral procession moves swiftly, because there are supposed to be innumerable evil spirits (shedhim) hovering about, desirous to attack the soul, which is thought to be in the body until interment takes place and the corpse is actually covered (see DB, article "Burial"). IV. At the Grave. When the grave, or place of entombment, is reached ceremonies more or less characteristic and peculiar to the Orient take place. 1. Graves Dug in the Earth: When the body is let down into the ground, the bier, of course, is set aside, and at first a heap of stones only is piled over the shallow grave--to preserve the dead from the dreaded depredations of hyenas, jackals or thieves. Beyond question graves among ancient Jews were often simply dug in the earth, as they are with us, and as they are with Jews at Jerusalem and elsewhere in the East today. 2. Family Tombs. Later Customs: But originally, it would seem to have been customary for each family to have a family tomb: either a natural cave, prepared with stone shelves to receive the bodies, or else hewn out of rock in the hillside, each tomb, or sepulcher, having many niches or loculi, in each one of which a body could be placed (see Gen 25:10; 49:31; 50:13; 35:19; Josh 24:32). As Dr. Nicol says, "All among the Israelites who possessed any land, or who could afford it, had their family tombs, hewn out of the rock, each sepulchre containing many niches. Many generations of a family could thus be placed in the ancestral tomb." Countless numbers of such tombs are to be found all over Israel, but Machpelah, of course, is the chief example (Gen 23). Compare the cases of Joshua buried in his inheritance at Timnath-serah (Josh 24:30), Samuel in his house at Ramah (1 Sam 25:1), Joab in his house in the wilderness (1 Ki 2:34), Manasseh in the garden of his house (2 Ki 21:18), Josiah in the same tomb, it would seem, as his fath er and grandfather (2 Ki 23:30), and Asa, singled out for special mention (2 Ch 16:14). According to custom, too, the Jew was not to sell his burying-place, if it was possible for him to hold it. Today in the Orient it is quite different--burying-places of Moslem, Jewish and Christian peoples, while distinct from each other, are community rather than family burying-places.

3. Sealed Stones: When the tomb was a cave, or was dug out from some rock, the entrance was often closed with a large circular stone set up on its edge or rim and rolled in its groove to the front of the mouth of the tomb, so as to close it securely. This stone was then often further secured by a strap, or by sealing. In such case it could easily be seen or known if the tomb had been disturbed. Pilate, it will be recalled, directed that the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Jesus was laid, should be carefully sealed and made as secure as the officials could make it. "So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them" (Mt 27:66). 4. Stated Times of Mourning: In Syria, as elsewhere in the East, it is customary to have stated times after the burial for mourning at the tomb--for example on the third, seventh, and fortieth days, and again on the anniversary of the burial. The relatives or friends then go to the tomb without ornaments, often with hair disheveled; sometimes with head covered and faces blackened with soot, or ashes, or earth, in their oldest and poorest clothing, which is sometimes violently rent, and, sitting or moving in a circle around or near to the tomb, they break out in spells into weird, dirge-like singing or wailing. 5. Excessive Mourning: The violence of grief at times leads to lacerations of the body and the shedding of blood. Morier (Second Journey through Persia), describing a celebration which takes place annually to commemorate the death of the grandson of Mohammed, says: "I have seen the most violent of them, as they vociferated Ya Hosein! walk the streets with their bodies streaming with blood by the voluntary cuts they had given themselves". Such cutting of the flesh in mourning for the dead was specifically forbidden by the Mosaic law (Lev 19:28; 21:5; Dt 14:1). But excessive mourning for the dead is often alluded to in Scripture (see 2 Sam 1:11,12; Ps 6:6; 119:136; Lam 1:16; 3:48; Jer 9:1). 6. Dirge-Songs: The custom of dirge-songs seems to be alluded to (Mt 9:23; Mk 5:38) in the narrative of the healing of the ruler's daughter: "Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute-players, and the crowd making a tumult." A characteristic oriental funeral procession and burial are vividly pictured in the narrative of the burial of Jacob (Gen 50:6-13). V. Failure to Receive Burial Counted a Calamity or a Judgment. Any lack of proper burial is still regarded in the East, as it was in ancient times, as a great indignity or a judgment from God. It is esteemed the greatest calamity that can befall a person. It gives men still untold distress to think they shall not receive suitable burial, according to the customs of their respective race, or family, or religion--a fact or sentiment that is often alluded or appealed to by way of illustration in the Scriptures. For a corpse to remain unburied and become food for beasts of prey was the climax of indignity or judgment (2 Sam 21:10,11; 1 Ki 13:22; 14:11; 16:4; 21:24; 2 Ki 9:37; Jer 7:33; 8:1; Ezek 29:5; Ps 79:3; Rev 11:9), and uncovered blood cried for vengeance (Ezek 24:6 f; 39:11-16), the idea being the same as among other oriental peoples, that the unburied dead would not only inflict trouble upon his family, but bring

defilement also and a curse upon the whole land. It was, therefore, an obligation resting upon all to bury even the dead found by the way (Tobit 1:18; 2:8). Even malefactors were to be allowed burial (Dt 21:22,23), and the exceptional denial of it to the sons of Rizpah gave occasion for the touching story of her self-denying care of the dead found in 2 Sam 21:10,11. VI. Places of Burial: How Marked. Ordinary graves were marked by the heaping of crude stones, but hewn stones and sometimes costly pillars were set up as memorials of the dead (Ezek 39:15; 2 Ki 23:17 the Revised Version (British and American), "What monument is that which I see?" the reference being to a sepulchral pillar). Jacob set up a pillar over Rachel's grave (Gen 35:20), and her tomb is marked by a monument to this day. Absalom's grave in the wood of Ephraim had a heap of stones raised over it (2 Sam 18:17), but in this case, as in the case of Achan, it was not for honor but for dishonor. In New Testament times the place of burial was uniformly outside the cities and villages (see Lk 7:12; Jn 11:30). There was public provision made for the burial of strangers (Mt 27:7), as in the closing days of the monarchy there was a public burying-ground at Jerusalem (Jer 26:23), probably where it is to this day between the city wall and the Kidron Valley. Thousands of Jewish graves on the sloping sides of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the Jews have come from all lands to be buried, bear witness today to the belief that associates the coming of Messiah with a blessed resurrection. Many Jews hold that Messiah, when He comes, will descend upon the Mount of Olives, and will pass through these resting-places of the dead as He enters the Holy City in glory. LITERATURE. HDB, article "Burial"; Keil, Biblical Arch., II, 199 f; Nowack, Heb Arch., I, 187 ff; "Burial" and "Tombs" in Kitto, Cycl.; Thomson, LB (see "Funerals" in Index); Tristram, Eastern Customs in Bible Lands; Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs. George B. Eager