FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
_Moslem Funerals._—Fatalism—Ceremonies before Burial—Testimony
of the Guests—Procession to the Grave—The Imam’s
Questioning—Funerals of Women—Effects of Rapid Burial—Sorrow
for the Dead—Mourning—Prayers for the Dead—Funeral of a Dervish
Sheikh.
_Greek Funerals._—Remains of Ancient Greek
Rites—Myriologia—The Obol for Charon—The Funeral Service—The
Interment—Mourning—Second Marriage—Masses for the Souls of the
Departed—Wheat Offerings—Opening of the Tomb and Collecting of
the Bones—Bulgarian Ceremonies—Messages to the Other World.
Few people in the world view the approach of death with such
indifference, or receive its fatal blow with such calmness and
resignation, as the Moslems.
According to some verses taken from the Koran, earthly existence is but a
fleeting shadow, seen for a moment, then lost sight of forever; its joys
and pleasures all delusion; itself a mere stepping-stone to the celestial
life awaiting the true believer.
“Know that this life is but a sport—a pastime—a show—a cause of
vain-glory among you! And the multiplying of riches and children is
like the (plants which spring up after) rain; whose growth rejoices the
husbandman; then they wither away and thou seest them all yellow; then
they become stubble.”[30]
Kismet (destiny) and Edjel (the appointed time of death) are decreed by
Allah. Every one of his creatures has these traced on his forehead in
invisible letters. Kismet, disposing of his earthly career; Edjel, fixing
its duration and the nature of its end. “To an appointed time doth he
respite them.”[31]
Seen from this fatalistic point of view, the terrors of death impress
Moslems mostly when viewed from a distance; and its name, softened by
some poetical expression, is never uttered in refined society without the
preface of _Sis den irak olsoun_, “Far be it from you;” and the common
people invariably spit before uttering it.
At the approach of death, the moribund appears resigned to his fate, and
his friends reconciled to the thought of his approaching end. No Imam or
servant of God is called in to soothe the departing spirit or speed its
flight by the administration of sacraments. The friends and relatives
collected round the couch weep in silence, and if the departing one is
able to speak, _helal_ (forgiveness) is requested and given. Prayers are
repeated by the pious, to keep away the evil spirits that are supposed to
collect in greater force at such moments. Charitable donations are made,
and other acts of generosity performed at death-beds; and frequently at
such times slaves are set free by their owners; for it is written: “They
who give alms by night and by day, in private and in public, shall have
their reward with their Lord; no fear shall come upon them, neither shall
they grieve.”[32]
The moment the soul is believed to have quitted the body, the women begin
to utter wailings. Some tear their hair, others beat their breasts, in
an outburst of genuine sorrow. A lull soon follows, and, without loss
of time, preparations are made for performing the last duties to the
corpse; for the Turks do not keep their dead unburied any longer than is
necessary for the completion of these preliminaries.
If the death be that of a person of consequence, the Muëzzin chants the
special cry from the minaret; and invitations are issued to friends and
acquaintances for the funeral. Directly after death the eyelids are
pressed down and the chin bandaged; the body is undressed and laid on a
bed called _rahat yatak_ (“couch of comfort”) with the hands stretched
by the side, the feet tied together, and the head turned towards the
_Kibla_. A veil is then laid over the body. While the company is
gathering in the Selamlik, or in the street, performing the ablution
(_abtest_), and preparing for the prayer (_namaz_), the corpse, if it
be that of a man, is taken into the court-yard on the stretcher, and an
Imam, with two subordinates, proceeds to wash it.
The formalities connected with this observance are of strictly religious
character, and consequently carried out to the letter. The first
condition to be observed is to keep the lower part of the body covered,
the next to handle it with great gentleness and attention, lest those
engaged in the performance of that duty draw upon them the curse of the
dead. Seven small portions of cotton are rolled up in seven small pieces
of calico; each of these is successively passed between the limbs by
the Imam, while some hot water is poured over the bundles, which are
then cast away one after the other. After the rest of the body has been
washed, the _abtest_, or formal religious ablution, is administered to
it. This consists in washing the hands, and in bringing water in the hand
three times to the nose, three times to the lips, and three times from
the crown of the head to the temples; from behind the ears to the neck;
from the palm of the hand to the elbow, and then to the feet, first to
the right and then to the left. This strange ceremony is performed twice.
The _tabout_ (coffin) is then brought in and placed by the side of the
stretcher, both of coarse deal, put together with the rudest workmanship.
Before laying the body in the coffin, a piece of new calico, double its
size, is brought. A strip about two inches in width is torn off the edge,
and divided into three pieces, which are placed upon three long scarves
laid across the shell. The calico, serving as a shroud, is next stretched
in the coffin, and a thousand and one drachms of cotton, with which to
envelope the corpse, are placed upon it. Some of this cotton is used to
stop the issues of the body, and is placed under the armpits and between
the fingers and toes.
The body is then dressed in a sleeveless shirt, called _kaflet_, and is
gently placed in the coffin. Pepper is sifted on the eyes, and a saline
powder on the face, to preserve from untimely decay; rose-water is then
sprinkled on the face, which is finally enveloped in the remainder of
the cotton. The shroud is then drawn over and secured by the three strips
of calico, one tied round the head, the other round the waist and the
third round the feet, and the coffin is closed down.
When all is ready, the guests are admitted; and the Imam, turning round,
asks the crowd: “O congregation! What do you consider the life of this
man to have been?” “Good,” is the invariable response. “Then give _helal_
to him.”
The coffin, covered with shawls and carrying at the head the turban or
fez of the deceased hung on a peg, is then borne on the shoulders of
four or more individuals who are constantly relieved by others; and the
funeral procession, composed exclusively of men, headed by the Imam
and Hodjas, slowly winds its way in silence through the streets until
it arrives at the mosque where the funeral service is to be read. The
coffin is deposited on a slab of marble, and a short Namaz, called _Mihit
Namaz_, is performed by the congregation standing. This concluded, the
procession resumes its way to the burial-ground, where the coffin is
deposited by the side of the grave, which, for a man, is dug up to the
height of a man’s waist, for a woman, up to her shoulder.
A small clod of earth, left at one end of the excavation, in the
direction of the _Kibla_, takes the place of a pillow. The coffin is then
uncovered, and the body gently lifted out of it by the ends of the three
scarves, previously placed under it (one supporting the head, another the
middle of the body, and the third the feet), and lowered into its last
resting-place. A short prayer is then recited, a plank or two laid at a
little distance above the body, and the grave is filled up.
At this stage, all the congregation withdraw, and the Imam is left alone
by the side of the grave, where he is believed to enter into mysterious
communications with the spirit of the departed, who is supposed to
answer all the questions on his creed which his priest puts to him. He
is prompted in these answers by two spirits, one good and one evil, who
are believed to take their places by his side. Should he have been an
indifferent follower of the Prophet, and forbidden to enter Paradise, the
evil spirit forces him to deny the only true God, and make a profession
unto himself. A terrible battle is supposed to ensue in the darkness
of the grave between the good and evil spirits called _Vanqueur_ and
_Veniqueur_.[33] The good angel spares not his blows upon the corpse and
the evil spirit, until the latter, beaten and disabled, abandons his
prey, who by Allah’s mercy is finally accepted within the fold of the
true believers.
This scene, however, is revealed to none by the Imam, and remains a
secret between Allah, the departed, and himself. I have questioned
several Mohammedans of different classes about this superstition, and
they all appear to believe in it implicitly. Most credulous are the
women, who embellish the tale with Oriental exaggeration and wonderful
fancies that pass description.
The funeral ceremonies of the women are similar to those of the men, with
the exceptions, that the washing is done by women screened from view,
and that when the body is laid upon the “couch of comfort,” the face, as
well as the body, is half covered, instead of the body only. During the
procession the only apparent difference is that, instead of the fez on
the peg at the head of the coffin, one sees the _chimber_, or coif.
The necessity of immediate burial in hot climates where Islam had its
birth and passed its childhood must have been the cause of the adoption
of the custom in Turkey. It has the disadvantage, that in the time of an
epidemic, such as cholera, a great number of people are falsely taken for
dead and buried alive; but when accident reveals the disturbed condition
of these unfortunate beings to the living, instead of exciting the horror
of relations, the disturbance is universally attributed to struggles
with evil spirits after burial. Few invalids receive regular medical
attendance, and post-mortem examinations are unheard of.
It is considered sinful for parents to manifest extreme sorrow for
the loss of their children; for it is believed that the children of
over-mourning parents are driven out of Paradise and made to wander about
in darkness and solitude, weeping and wailing as their parents do on
earth. But it is the reverse with the case of children bereaved of their
parents; they are expected never to cease sorrowing, and are required to
pray night and day for their parents’ forgiveness and acceptance into
Paradise.
Part of the personal effects of the deceased is given to the poor, and
charity distributed, according to the means of the family. On the third
day after the funeral, _loukmas_ (doughnuts), covered with sifted sugar,
are distributed to the friends of the family and to the poor, for the
benefit of the soul of the departed. The ceremony is repeated on the
seventh and the fortieth days, when bread is also distributed. These
acts of charity are supposed to excite the gratitude of the departed, if
already in Paradise, and if in “another place” to occasion him a moment
of rest and comfort.
External marks of mourning are not in usage among the Turks. Nothing
is changed in the dress or routine of life in consequence of a death
in a family. Visits of condolence are, however, paid by friends, who,
on entering, express their sympathy by the saying, _Sis sagh oloun
evlatlarounouz sagh olsoun_ (“May you live, and may your children live”),
with other expressions of a similar nature. Friends and relatives say
prayers at stated times for the soul of the departed. On my mentioning
to a Turkish lady that I was about to visit a common friend who a year
before had lost a beautiful daughter of fourteen years, she begged
me to say that her two girls, friends of the child, never failed to
offer prayers for the departed soul every day at noon. After the first
outbreak of grief, both men and women become calm and quite collected
in appearance, and speak of the event as one that could not have been
averted by human help.
When a dervish sheikh of repute dies, his remains are followed to the
grave by all the members of his brotherhood, by dervishes of the other
orders, and a large concourse of the population. It is a most impressive
and interesting sight: the long procession slowly winding through the
narrow streets, the variety of costumes presented by the numerous orders
of the dervishes, some with flowing robes and high sugar-loaf hats,
others with white felt caps and green or white turbans; all with bowed
heads and looks of deep humility, uttering at intervals the sacred word
_Allah_! On passing a mosque or _tekké_, the coffin is deposited in
front of the gate, and a service is chanted, the congregation joining
in the refrain of _Amin! Amin!_ when the body is again taken up and the
procession resumed.
The long survival of ancient customs is a continual subject of surprise
and interest; but nowhere is their seeming immortality more remarkable
than among the subject races of Turkey. The Greeks, whether residents
of Greece, Macedonia, Epirus, or other parts of south-east Europe, have
in many respects become assimilated to the different races among whom
they live; but nowhere do they appear to have lost in any marked degree
the characteristic features of their nationality—their language or their
ancient customs. Christianity and other causes have modified many of the
ancient ceremonies, but a rich heritage still remains to certify their
origin and bear testimony to the antiquity of their descent. Among the
most striking of these heirlooms are the funeral rites, in which the
modern Greeks closely preserve the traditions of their ancestors. The
fundamental points in these ceremonies are the same among Greeks wherever
they may be, and are everywhere observed by them with religious care.
The following is a description of the funeral ceremonies observed in
Macedonia and in other parts of European Turkey.
At the approach of death a priest is sent for to administer the sacrament
to the sick man. The family gather round the couch, give the dying
person the kiss of farewell, and press down his eyelids when his soul
has departed. His couch and linen are changed, and after being anointed
with oil and wine, and sprinkled with earth, he is dressed in his most
gorgeous apparel upon a table covered with a linen cloth, with the
feet pointing towards the door, with hands crossed on the breast, and
limbs stretched out to their full extent. A stone is placed in the room
and left there for three days. Friends watch round the body, chanting
Myriologia,[34] or dirges, lamenting his loss and illustrating his life
and the cause of his death. Tapers are kept burning all night round
the body, which is decorated with flowers and green branches. A cup is
placed on the body and buried with it; after the expiration of three
years it is taken out and treasured in the family. Should a person suffer
from the effects of fright, water is given to him in this cup without
his knowledge, which is supposed to prevent any ill consequences. The
interment usually takes place on the day following the death. Invited
friends assemble at the house of mourning, the priests arrive, and the
coffin, uncovered, is wreathed with flowers. The _obol_ of the ancients,
the ναῦλον for Charon, is not forgotten; a small coin is placed between
the lips, and a cake, soaked in wine, is eaten by the company, who say,
Ὁ θεὸς συγχωρήσει τόν. After the preliminary prayers have been offered,
the funeral procession proceeds to the church. Crosses are carried by the
clergy and lighted tapers by others. The coffin is borne on the shoulders
of men, and black streamers, ταινια, attached to it are held by the
elders of the community or the persons of greatest importance present.
Prayers are chanted as the funeral train slowly proceeds to the church,
where the body is placed in the nave. When the prayers and funeral mass
are concluded, the priest tells the relatives and intimate friends of the
deceased to give him the farewell kiss. On arriving at the cemetery, the
bier is placed by the side of the grave, the last prayers are offered,
the coffin-lid is nailed down, and the body is lowered into the earth.
After the priest has thrown in a spadeful of gravel in the form of a
cross, the spade is passed to the relatives, who do the same in turn,
with the words Ὁ θεὸς συγχωρήσει τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ (“God rest his soul”). The
bier is then again covered with the pall, and the grave is filled up. On
returning to the house of sorrow, water and towels are offered to the
guests for washing their hands. They then sit down to a repast, at which
fish, eggs, and vegetables alone are eaten.
The mourning worn by Greeks is similar to that of other European nations;
all ornaments, jewelry, and colored apparel are set aside, and both sexes
dress in plain black, and in some instances dress their furniture in
covers of the same mournful hue. The men often let their beards grow as
a sign of sorrow, and women frequently cut off their hair at the death
of their husbands, and bury it with them; I have known many instances of
this custom. In Epirus and Thessaly a widow would lose respect if she
contracted a second marriage, and in other parts it would be strictly
prohibited by custom.
On the evenings of the third, ninth, twentieth, and fortieth days, masses
are said for the soul of the departed. These are called _kolyva_. On the
fortieth _kolyva_, two sacks of flour are made into bread, and a loaf
sent to every family of friends as an invitation to the service held in
the church. Boiled wheat is placed on a tray, and ornamented, if for a
young person, with red and white sugar; if for an elderly person, with
white only. This is sent to the church previously, prayers are read over
it, and every person takes a handful, saying Ὁ θεὸς συγχωρήσει τόν, and a
small bottle of wine is presented to the priests.
On the following morning the friends assemble at the house of mourning,
and take more boiled wheat to church. On returning, they sit down to a
meal, after again saying Ὁ θεὸς συγχωρήσει τόν. This concluded, they
proceed to the grave, accompanied by the priest, and erect a tombstone. A
feast is subsequently given to the poor.
Tapers are kept burning in the house for forty days. On the last of these
a list of the ancestors of the deceased is read, and prayers are offered
for their souls. These ceremonies are repeated at intervals during the
space of three years, at the expiration of which the tomb is opened, and
if the body is sufficiently decomposed, the bones are collected in a
cloth, placed in a basket, dressed in fine raiment, adorned with flowers,
and taken to church, where they are left for nine days. Every evening
the relatives go to say prayers, and take boiled wheat to the church.
If the person had been of some standing, twelve priests and a bishop
perform mass. The bones are then put in a box, surmounted by a cross, and
replaced in the tomb.
Should the body not be sufficiently decomposed at the end of the three
years, it is supposed to be possessed, and for three years longer the
same prayers and ceremonies are repeated.
The funeral ceremonies of the Bulgarians differ from those of the Greeks
only in their preliminary usages. The religious service is very similar.
The sacrament is administered to the dying person, and his last hours are
cheered by the presence of relatives and friends.
After death he is laid upon a double mattress between sheets, and
completely dressed in his gala costume, with new shoes and stockings. A
pillow of home-spun is filled with handfuls of earth by all the persons
present, and placed under the head.
A curious idea prevails that messages can be conveyed by the departing
soul to other lost friends by means of flowers and candles, which are
deposited on a plate placed on the breast of the corpse.
An hour after death a priest comes to read prayers for the dead, tapers
are lighted, and dirges chanted until the following morning, when the
clergy again arrive to accompany the body to its last resting-place. Mass
is performed in the church, and when the procession reaches the grave a
barrel of wine is opened, and boiled wheat, with loaves, are distributed
to all present, who say _Bogda prosti_ (“God have mercy on his soul”).
The gay costume is taken off, and libations of oil and wine poured on
the body; the shroud is drawn over the face, the coffin nailed down and
lowered into the grave.
Returning to the house of mourning, the company wash their hands over the
fire, and three days afterwards everything in the house is washed. The
objects that cannot be washed are sprinkled with water and exposed to the
air for three days, given to the poor, or sold.
The ceremonies of the _kolyva_ are the same as among the Greeks, and
the bones are disinterred at the end of three years, with the same
observances.