Feb 2022 MA Final MAL46 | Page 36

THE SILENT WITNESS

Customs And Myths About Death , Burial And Cremation

By Dr . Johansen Oduor
People die from different causes which can broadly be divided into natural causes and unnatural causes . Natural causes may include death from diseases , or old age , while unnatural causes includes sudden unexpected deaths , deaths due to accidents , suicide and homicide , among others .
Once a person dies , the way the body is handled has traditionally depended on the cause of death . It also varies from region to region , and is heavily dependent on cultures , religion , customs and beliefs .
So how did prehistoric people dispose of the dead among them ? Methods used varied with most of people existing during the Palaeolithic period ( early stone age ) and most of the Neolithic period ( the later part of the stone age ) burying the bodies of their deceased loved ones .
Disposition of human remains was and still is largely by depositing the body in the earth , ( a grave or a tomb ). Other methods were by consigning in water or by exposing to animal scavengers . All this depended on the climate of the region , the topography , geography , religion and social systems of the region . Religious and social attitude determined how the body should be buried , and whether they should be placed in shallow trenches or in an underground chamber .
Graves varied from simple to elaborate , with some Eskimos covering the corpse with a pile of stones or a small ice igloo in places with no stones .
In some places , the dead were left in caves . The Hebrews used natural single chambered caves and hewed and oblong recess lengthwise to accommodate the dead .
Positioning of the bodies also carried and still carries a significance , with the bodies of Muslims laid on their right side and facing Mecca . The Buddhists were placed with the face facing North and the bodies of ancient Egyptians were placed to face towards the west .
“ In the Scandinavian countries , cremation was favoured because it was believed to free the spirit from the flesh and also kept the dead from harming the living .”
In places where water burials took place ( a custom that was widespread from Iceland to England during the 7th and 8th centuries ), the practice carried a significance of reflecting an association between water and immortality for a god-hero who sails away from his people in death with the promise to return again .
Later on , cremation gained footage especially in some particular societies . In central Europe it began during the early bronze age while in France it was seen mainly during the later stages of bronze age .
The practice of cremation on open fires was introduced to the Western world by the Greeks as early as
1000BCE , a practice that had been developed to burn soldiers who died in foreign territories . The bodies were incinerated at the battle field , with the ashes taken back to the families for ceremonial entombment . This led to cremation being associated with valour and mainly virtue , patriotism and military glory .
In the Scandinavian countries , cremation was favoured because it was believed to free the spirit from the flesh and also kept the dead from harming the living .
Back in Africa , there was also regional variation in the way bodies were disposed after death , with some people leaving the body exposed so that it could be scavenged by wild animals , while in some regions the bodies were mummified after death ; Remember the Egyptian mummies ? Others took the bodies to some dark caves and abandoned them there .
Death in Africa was and continues to be looked at from religious and cultural perspectives . Death is considered as a transition from one form of life to another . Those who die are considered to be alive in a different world and can reincarnate and come back to the world in new births . Persons are expected to die in old age and if one dies while still young , it is considered abnormal and may have been caused by evil spirits among other things .
Rituals have to be performed on the dead persons according to well laid out customs in existence with variations amongst different people . Failure to follow these customs may lead to the dead , who are believed to have supernatural powers , to confer curses to the responsible persons .
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MAL 46 / 22 ISSUE