Egyptian and Greece Funerary Customs

In Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, religion plays a very important role in their lives. The change from life to the life after dead or the afterlife was the principal in their beliefs, so the Egyptian and the Greece funeral and burial practice were very essential for them to ensure the participation in the afterlife of the dead. Although the Greeks adopted and practiced the Egyptian funerary customs, in order to fit with Greek’s custom and traditions there were differences in how the Greeks practiced, however the idea of afterlife was kept. Even though Egypt and Greece culture have experienced each other, they still have some major differences, which represent each one’s exclusive. Especially, their funeral and burial practice clearly signify one of the differences between these civilizations. In this paper, I will discuss about two main differences between Egypt and Greece in the preparation of the corpse and the funeral procession.

Death in Ancient Egypt was considered as the transitional step in the progress to a better life in the afterlife. They believe that each person have three souls: the “Ka”, the “Ba” and the “Akh” (Ancient Egyptian Religion), and in order to success joining the dead to the afterlife the body must be survive undamaged, so that the Egyptian performed the mummification process to protect the body from being rotten. The process of mummification consists of three main steps. At first, except the heart and the skeleton, everything from the inside of the body must be removed and placed in jars. These jars were called canopic jars and they will also be placed in the chamber when buried. The main artery, which was said to be the chair of aptitude and sentiment, was left in the body. However, the brain was said to be not important so it was extracted through the nostrils. (Otey)

Secondly, in order to absorb the body fluids, brackish substance was filled in to the hollow body so the body can be dried. The body was left out for forty-five day to allow dehydration and ground wood was packed with the body to keep the appearance of the corpse. (Otey)
The last step, the body was wrapped with linen together with small charms. The amulet “Scarab Beetle” was placed over the heart, and while it was placed on the body, a cleric will pray for the dead person. After this process was finished, the body was placed in a shroud, and wait until the time of the procession. (Otey)

The concept of the afterlife and the burial ceremonies were already well established by the Greeks by the 6th century B.C. They believed that when a person died, the spirit will left the body and travel in form of a little breath or a puff of wind, so that the burial ceremony was also very important for the Greeks. The process of preparing the corpse for later procession and interment was called the prothesis in Greeks culture. Different from the Ancient Egyptian who practices mummification, the Greeks have a simpler process of preparing the corpse. First thing first, the eyes and mouth of the corpse was closed right after dead to prepare for burial. Women played a very important role in this process. The women of the household have to wash the body with water, it would be preferred to wash the body using seawater. If there were any wounds on the body of the dead, it will be cleaned and dress. (Alirangues)

After the corpse was cleaned, it was dressed in an ankle-length shroud in either white or grey color. Moreover, depends on the profession or what the deceased was doing recently, he or she will be dressed accordingly. For example: if the person was a soldier, he will be dressed in military cloaks. If the person who died was about to get married or just married recently, they will be dressed in their wedding costume. Earrings and necklace were given to the women’s body to wear and they usually the modest ones. In order to add dignity, the crown was placed on the head of the corpse however the exact reason of putting the crown on the head is not known. (Alirangues)
The corpse was laid on a draped bed with a bier-cloth and had checked pattern with its feet facing to the door. In order to make the payment to Charon for ferrying the dead across the Styx (one of the rivers in the underworld), a coin was placed in the mouth of the dead. To prevent the jaws from opening, there was a linen chinstrap tied around the head or a cushion placed beneath the head. (Alirangues)

One of the most important parts of the prothesis, which was totally different from the process of preparing the corpse of the Egyptian, was the ritual lament of the Greeks. The lament was sung by friends and relatives of the dead, while singing they will move around the bed where the corpse was placed. There was another type of lament in which professional mourners sang the lament and this was called the Threnos. (Alirangues)

After all the important stages of preparing the corpse in the mummification process of the Egyptian and the Prothesis of the Ancient Greeks, the next step of the Funeral’s procession was then progressed.

After the process of mummification was finished, the Egyptian placed the corpse in the shroud and waited until the time of the procession. The relatives of the dead were alerted when it was time of the procession, and then they would prepare for the journey to the other side of the Nile. A parade would go together with the mummy to the tomb, and was transported by boat across the Nile. (Otey)

Clerics, which are the religious leader, led the procession while repeatedly sing the ceremony hymns. Other people would go together in the procession carrying vegetation, gifts, canopic jars; all of these were to be buried in the tomb together with the mummy. After arrival at the burial site, there were many rituals were performed to pertain to “Osiris”- God of the afterlife. (Otey)

The last ceremony, which was one of the most important Death Rituals of the Ancient Egyptians, The Opening of the Mouth ceremony. To perform this ceremony, the mummy was raised in a standing position, facing south. There were many steps involved in the practices of this ceremony, including: purification, ritual objects was used to touch the mummy at the eyes, mouth, ears and nose in order to awake the senses of the dead so he or she could eat, drink and speak in the next world. Finally, the mummy was fully prepared to participate in the afterlife and was placed in the burial chamber of the tomb. (Death Rituals)

There were some similarities of the funeral procession of the Greeks to the Egyptian, which involved in the transport of the corpse to the burial site and the parade that go along with the corpse. The procession was called Ekphora in Ancient Greeks, the corpse was brought to the grave with the help of either horse-drawn hearse or it was carried by the pall-bearers which comprised of Klimakphoroi (ladder-carriers), Mekrophoroi (corpse carrier), Nekrothaptai (corpse-burriers) and the Tapheis (grave diggers). These pall-bearers used to be the family members, however later they were hired. It is different from the Egyptian, the musicians were hired instead of the family members to sing. While transporting the corpse to the gravesite, the mourners stopped at each corner of the street and lament to grab the attention of the people around. (Alirangues)

Although the idea of the afterlife was adopted by the Greeks from the Egyptian, the way of practicing the belief of each civilization has its unique approach to the concept. After approaching the gravesite, the Greeks practiced both inhumation and cremation. Wine was used to put out the funeral pyre after the corpse was cremated, then the ashes will be gathered by one of the relatives and put them into a vase. Food and ointments were then offered to the dead, which were deposited in the grave or next to it. To finish the burial ceremony, the women had to leave first so they could go back home to prepare a banquet held in honor of the dead. The grave or tomb were then be fully prepared by the men who stayed while the women left home. Finally, the grave would be placed over with a stele, which was very close to the modern gravestone. (Alirangues)

The world has acknowledged many achievements of Egypt and also Greece not only in their unique architectures, such as: Egypt with Pyramids and Greece with Pantheon or the Coliseum, but also their religious life. The preparation of the corpse and the funeral procession of the Egyptian and the Greeks has become one of the famous burial rituals in the world nowadays. The unique approach to the practices of the death rituals in each civilization make it become their own traditions and fit with each civilization cultures.

Reference:
Otey, T., Ancient Egyptian Funerary Customs,

http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Egypt/04/otey/otey.htm

Ancient Egyptian Religion

http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.3.html

Alirangues, L.M., Greek Burial and Lamentation Rituals

http://www.morbidoutlook.com/nonfiction/articles/2002_11_greekfuneral.html

Death Rituals

http://www.king-tut.org.uk/egyptian-mummies/death-rituals.htm