As soon as a person wondered what to do with the dead and how to treat them, he ceased to be an animal. Only now the answers at different times and among different peoples were very different. Accordingly, burial rituals were also different. After all, seeing the dead directly depends on what the living believe in.
The idea that the body of a deceased person cannot be simply thrown into an open field arose about 200 thousand years ago - even among the Neanderthals. To date, more than 60 of their graves have been found - in France, Crimea, Uzbekistan and Palestine.
And although the life of the most ancient people was not at all easy, they spent a lot of time and effort to dig a grave for the deceased. Usually he was laid on his side, in the "sleeping position". The head is always to the west or east - that is, towards sunset or sunrise. This indicates the existence of some kind of solar cults among ancient people.
Ocher graves
Tools and pieces of meat were always placed next to the body. Apparently, so that the dead had something to eat in the next world. But the rest of the burial gifts are not so easy to explain.
For example, in a burial in Shanidar cave, the deceased was covered with flowers. In other places, the dead were covered with shells or stones, and somewhere they were simply covered with mammoth bones.
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In the Teshik-Tash grotto, archaeologists found the burial of a child of 8-9 years old, surrounded by a "fence" of the horns of a mountain goat stuck into the ground. Most likely, mammoths and goats played an important role in the beliefs of the Neanderthals, and people counted on their protection for the deceased members of the community.
In homo sapiens, funeral rituals were more complex. For example, they often sprinkled ocher on the deceased. Less often - hematite crushed into dust. Scientists believe that the red paint symbolized blood, which in turn was the personification of life. Perhaps the ancients tried to make the funeral look like a birth.
Sometimes, as in the burials in Kostenki, the dead were left in the house - they made a grave for them right under the hearth or threshold. Sometimes a special house was built for the deceased next to the house for the living.
But more often - as in the burials of Malta or the Grimaldi grottoes - dolmens were built for the dead from stone slabs. They were built quite differently from residential buildings. Still, the ancients were clearly convinced that the needs of the dead are about the same as those of the living. And the most important of them is housing!
It is believed that about 40 thousand years ago, people already had a formalized idea of the afterlife. They began to put into the graves everything that the dead in the next world might need. And 30 thousand years ago, wall paintings in burial places became fashionable. Thanks to them, we can now imagine what the funeral ceremony looked like in those distant times.
A bas-relief in a cave near Lossel depicts a woman raising a horn upward in a ritual gesture. And in the cave of the Three Brothers on the Garonne River, a dancing man with deer horns on his head is painted. He has a long beard and a ponytail, and has a skin draped over his shoulders.
Perhaps these bestial man and woman are priests who, during the ceremony, personified the totemic ancestors, to whom the deceased "went".
Ashes to ashes
In the Neolithic era, people began to practice cremations. Most likely, cremation was invented in Northern France.
It is there, especially in Brittany, that most of the burials of ashes are found. And in Scandinavia there are none at all during this period.
In the Bronze Age, this type of burial was already widely used. At the same time, they began to divide the dead into important and those that are simpler.
High mounds or megaliths were erected over the graves of leaders and nobles. Many valuables were placed inside, sacrificed horses and even people.
Actually, thanks to the tradition of lavish funerals, we have an idea of the life of people of those times. Since the burial grounds have survived better than the settlements.
It is interesting that among the Mixtecs, a people who lived on the territory of modern Mexico, and much later, already in the X century, even the position of the body depended on the social status of the deceased. The noble people were buried face up, and the poor face down. However, even today the property inequality of the dead can be easily traced on the gravestones.
Another discovery of the Bronze Age is embalming. It was invented in Ancient Egypt around 3200 BC. According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, the preservation of the body was the key to a happy life after death. This idea is still alive, embalming the dead for religious reasons is practiced by some tribes in Central Africa and South America.
At the junction of the Bronze and Iron Ages, a coffin appeared in the field of ritual services. At first, it was simply hollowed out in a tree trunk. But then they began to hammer from boards or sculpt from clay.
The pharaohs had matryoshka coffins in fashion. However, the leader of the Huns Attila was also buried in three coffins - gold, silver and iron. And among the Scandinavians, the role of the coffin was performed by a boat or even a ship. It was launched into the sea and set on fire, but could be burned on the shore or even buried. The main thing was to provide the deceased with transport to the next world.
Not in the ground and not in fire
Then a completely new type of funeral appeared - air. It was invented by the Colchians. According to the ancient Greek historian Nymphodorus, they wrapped the bodies of men in skins and hung them from trees. The women were buried in the ground.
Chilpyk - Zoroastrian "tower of silence", Karakalpakstan. A round tower without a roof, 15 meters high and 65 meters in diameter.
In 500 BC, this idea was developed by the Zoroastrians. They believed that dead flesh was unclean and should not come into contact with sacred fire, water or earth.
Therefore, the body of the deceased was taken to a deserted place, ideally on a rock, and left to be eaten by scavengers. The gnawed bones were then buried.
Over time, instead of rocks, they began to use specially built towers - dakhmas. In Iran, the tradition of burial in the "towers of silence" existed until 1970. But then, under pressure from Muslims, it was banned.
In Tibet, the so-called "heavenly burial" is still practiced today. There is even a rite of invoking vultures and vultures, which should free the soul from the burdensome flesh.
In China, since the Ming Dynasty, the Bo people have buried their relatives in hanging coffins. They were installed on rocky ledges at about 100 meters. It was believed that this helps the dead to ascend to heaven. Hanging coffins were also practiced in the Philippines and Indonesia. They were usually hung in caves.
And some tribes of North American Indians buried the dead on trees or high platforms. In addition to the sacred meaning, this tradition had a practical one - it was easier to protect the remains from wild animals.
Perhaps the strangest funeral ritual in our time is preserved among the Yanomamo tribe, which lives in the jungle on the border of Venezuela and Brazil. Aborigines cremate bodies, grind bones into powder and mix it with banana paste.
The whole village is treated to it, after which the circle of the deceased's life is considered complete. Yanomamo are sure that if this is not done, then the soul will forever be doomed to wander between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
To each according to faith
From the moment when world religions were formed, funerals were unified. For example, Jews and Muslims are supposed to bury the dead within 24 hours. And for the Orthodox - on the third day.
The ritual of ablution before the funeral for the same Jews and Muslims is mandatory. Moreover, it is performed only by people of the same sex and according to the established order once and for all. The Jews even have a stipulated amount of water used. Among the Orthodox, ablution is also practiced, while among other Christians this is not regulated by the canon.
Vigil at the tomb is present in one form or another everywhere. Like the coffin. But the funeral service for the deceased or the service in the temple is held only among Christians. Neither Jews nor Muslims carry the coffin to the mosque or synagogue.
Cremation is also not allowed in all religions. It is not forbidden for Christians, but it is forbidden among Jews and Muslims. On the other hand, cremation is recommended for Buddhists.
Of course, the religious canon is not observed in the same way in different countries, because local pagan funeral customs are still preserved. People still open windows and doors in the house where a person dies, curtain mirrors and lay spruce branches at the doorstep.
A handkerchief and a hairbrush are often placed in a coffin, and food is left on the grave … All this was done by the Neanderthals! And it seems that these rituals are the most tenacious.