There is no denying the fact that once someone dies, their body starts deteriorating. It's really all just part of Mother Nature's plan, but the human race has, along with many other facts of life, done everything possible to alter that. Every society has to make the decision whether to help that along or preserve the body. You will be surprised to learn just how diverse those solutions can be.
In India, the wealthy sect, called the Parsis, believed that the mortal flesh contaminated the earth as well as any fire that would be used in cremation. Because of this belief, they placed their dead on dokhmas (which means towers of silence). There, carrion-eating birds picked the bones clean and the bones were allowed to be bleached by the sun. Only after the bones are completely bleached, were they considered pure enough for burial.
Some tribes of Australian aborigines placed their dead in trees to rot, while other tribes believed that the flesh should be eaten in order to acquire some of the admirable traits of that departed person.
In Melanesia, inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands buried their dead twice. First, they would bury them, then dig up the bones and carve them into spoons and other utensils. They believed this was an act of piety. Eventually, these utensils were placed in caves facing the sea.
The most famous odd burial rite is attributed to the ancient Egyptians. They developed elaborate techniques of mummification on the basis of their belief that the departed soul would eventually return to it's body. Because of this belief, they would remove the brain and organs from the body and place them in a canopic jar. Then the body was packed with aromatic spices and soaked in a salt bath for 70 days. Afterward, it was wrapped in a gummed cloth and placed in a Sarcophagus, which is a elaborately decorated coffin type container.
Although embalming is the most common form of preservation, it is not the only technique used. In Africa, the Loango people smoked their deceased much the same way as you would smoke a ham. Alexander the Great was reportedly preserved by means of wax and honey.
Then there was Richard Hull, a 17th century Englishman who was convinced that, on Judgment Day, the dead would rise up and the world would be "reversed". Because of this belief, he ordered that he be buried upside down astride a horse.
Even some of our more modern burial customs come from surprising roots. Few people know that the custom of wearing black did not always stand for mourning. Our forefathers feared ghosts so much that they tried to hide themselves during the burial by painting their skin black so as not to be possessed. Tombstones were placed on the grave not only to mark the spot but also to deter the living from walking on the grave for fear of possession.
As a closing note, here are a couple of strange tombstone inscriptions:
- "Bathing, wine, and love affairs. These hurt our bodies, but they make life worth living" - On an ancient Roman tomb.
- "Why weep ye? Did you think I should live for ever? I thought dying had been harder." - Louis XIV
