CHAPTER 2
Early Christian, Hebrew
and Scandinavian Burial
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
Death Beliefs
– The body is made of two elements.
• Basar= flesh
• Nefesh=breath
– At death the flesh returned to dust
while the spirit (breath) persisted.
– The dead retained most of their
former powers of thought and
feeling.
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
– Also they believed that the spirit
could take possession of stones,
images or bodies of men.
– The soul/spirit is found in the
blood.
– The Hebrew netherworld is
called Sheol.
– Believe in a concept of heaven
and hell.
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
– Ghosts
looked, acted and dressed like
the bodies they left behind.
– They believed in a shadowy
afterlife.
– Believe in a Monotheism as
opposed to Polytheism
(Yahweh).
– The breath or the spirit would
be put back into the body.
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
Burial Customs
– When death occurred, souls of the
righteous were passed into a
blessed existence and the souls of
the wicked were sent to a stake of
punishment.
– Both would raise from the
netherworld to be judged at the
last day to receive their rewards.
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
Burial Customs
– After death the eyes and mouth
were closed, body washed, anointed
with spices and dressed in daily
apparel to be recognized in the
afterlife, and the body was placed
in the fetal position.
– Burial was on the evening of the
day of death.
• Why do you think it was so soon?
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
Burial Customs
– It was mostly for hygienic reasons…..
• Putrefaction was quick to begin and
would spread rapidly. The Palestine
climate was hot sped up the process.
• The poor were carried on a bier to
the grave and buried.
• The wealthy were carried to natural
caves or sepulchers hewn out of
rock.
Funeral Practices in early Hebrew
Culture
Burial Customs
– Coffins were not used until 597-547
B.C.
– They wanted to return the body to
the earth as quickly as possible.
Mourning Customs
-They rent or tore their garments
-The person mourning remained
naked until the burial rites
-Bare feet remained a symbol of
death
-Covered head with cloth or hands
-Cut their flesh and their hair
-Threw dust on themselves
-Fasting became part of the ritual
Mourning Customs
-Fasted until evening on the day of
death
-Lamentation (What is another
word for lamentation?)
Hebrew Burial
-Family members who were buried
together remain together in Sheol.
-Extramural (What does that mean?)
burial was in simple, unadorned,
without inscription tombs.
-Tombs were unclean and were
thought to defile. They were later
made out of lime to whiten them
ceremonially and shun passers.
-
Mourning Customs
-Christ said in a parable:
“…woe unto you because you are
as sepulchers that appear not,
and men that walk over and are
not aware…”
-There was No Ancestral Worship!
Varieties of Graves
-Sunken, with stone cover
-Bench
-Trench
-Single Chamber
Most common, recess graves. They
were oblong excavations, 1 ½ feet
square and 6 feet long cut
lengthwise in chamber walls. Could
consist of 1, 2, 3 or more.
Varieties of Graves
-Burial places were sacred and
used for worship, making vows
and sanctuary
-The same offerings the Greeks
were given at the tombs side
-Interment or Inhumation was a
general and accepted practice.
Hebrew Burial
-Not a whole lot of embalming going
on…Jacob & Joseph were though.
-Cremation was frowned upon…It
was considered an indignity and a
means to intensify the disgrace of
the death penalty.
-The grave localized the soul and the
body, so it rested secure from
harm.
Hebrew Burial
-To remain unburied was a
misfortune. It was a duty to the
living to bury all the dead.
-even when stoned the stones
were
used to “bury the dead.”
-The Hebrews dreaded the thought of
not being buried-worse-being
devoured by wild animals.
-Interment was denied as a punitive
act only to the enemies of the
Hebrews.
Funeral Beliefs and Customs of
Early Christians
Death beliefs
– Believed much as the Hebrews
– Death, burial and resurrection and the
eventual divine judgment to pass to good
or bad.
– Christ added significant additions:
•
•
•
•
•
Commandment of love.
Devine sonship of man=brotherhood of man.
Internal conformity to spirit.
Infinite and equal value of every human soul.
No alienation of soul, it could not be
destroyed.
Funeral Beliefs and Customs of
Early Christians
Death beliefs
– Concept of heaven and hell.
– Soul was both spiritual and immortal.
Cremation beliefs
– The body needed to be transformed
on the judgment day so it was to be
buried not burned.
– Only used if disease or epidemic was
present.
– May be used to cover foul play.
Funeral Beliefs and Customs of
Early Christians
Christ’s Influence
– No official stance was ever taken on
cremation.
– Those who followed him in life
followed him in death (he was buried
so I will be too.)
– Every soul has an equal reward if the
“…become as little children…”
• What is your stance on cremation?

Funeral Beliefs and Customs of
Early Christians
Christian equality in death
– All men are equal.
– The first religion to say that
eternity could be had by all, not
just men, or certain people.
– They looked at death as sleep.
• Cemetery= put to sleep in Greek.
• First religion to say birth into eternity
was not sad.
• The afterlife was not feared.
Burial Customs
Canon law= church law
Burial was done in accordance with
the church.
– It was simple unpretentious and
organized.
– The body was laid out with lights
beside it.
– Washed with holy water and incensed
at stated times.
– A cross was placed on the breast, or
the hand was folded to make a cross.
Burial Customs
– Burial was on consecrated ground.
– EVERYONE received a Christian
burial (even passers through who
died).
– If they couldn’t pay for a funeral
the state paid.
– Early Christian cemeteries were
outside of the city (extramural).
Burial Customs
The Hebrew Family
– Eyes and mouth were closed by the
husband or wife, children, etc.
– The Hebrew women took care of
the dead.
The Christian Family
– The body was considered
contaminated so the priests did not
touch it except for the “Kiss of
Peace”
Role of the Family
– Someone rubbed the feet because it
was believe that the spirit left the
body from the feet to the mouth.
– The body was clothed in white
because it was believed that is what
the soul went forth in.
Preparation
-The body was washed to make it
appear to the best advantage in
the afterlife.
-Lime was used to counteract the
odor of decay (Hebrews).
-Perfumes and spices were used
to counteract the odor of decay
(Christians).
The Wake
The Christian Wake lasted for 3
days and had two purposes.
– Make sure the body was dead (old
Jewish custom).
Also the sepulcher was left unsealed
for 3 days.
– Give comfort to the family
There were no overwhelming
expressions of grief. The dead
were “asleep in Christ.”
The Christian Procession
-Subdued and reverent.
-Death was a victory marking the
beginning of a better life.
-Limited to the corpse, its
bearers, family and friends.
-Only done in the daytimesymbolic of entering into eternal
light and life.
The Christian Procession
-Lights were carried to symbolize
the glory into which it was hoped
the body had come, and the
triumph of the new state. (What
lights do we use now on the way to
the grave?)
-Flowers were left on the grave.
-Alms were given to the poor at the
grave. What is the version of this
today?
The Christian Procession
Eventually the procession
became more elaborate and they
started taking the body to the
church first, then to the burial
site.
Ancient Scandinavians
Death Beliefs
– believed in the journey of the dead
Cremation
– Cremation began in the Bronze age
and continued through the Iron Age.
– Cremation was widely accepted by
the Ancient Germans and
Scandinavians.
– As protection from the dead
– Aid in freeing the spirit of the dead
Ancient Scandinavians
Cremation Beliefs
Thought of as protection from the
dead.
-Burn the body to keep the spirits of
the dead from harming the living.
~Story of Aran and Asmunder.
-Aid in freeing the spirit of the dea
~The body and spirit would not
reunite and it was only the spirit
that gained entry into Valhalla
Ancient Scandinavians
Cremation Beliefs
-The disembodied soul was
liberated by ritualistic ceremonies
performed by the living so it may
enter spiritual after life.
~think of the Vikings and how they
sent off their dead.
Ancient Scandinavians
Cremation Beliefs
-The disembodied soul was
liberated by ritualistic ceremonies
performed by the living so it may
enter spiritual after life.
~think of the Vikings and how they
sent off their dead.
-Fire was considered an enabling
agent in transforming the body.