The Sacred Art of Dying
by Kenneth Kramer
It must be noted that the civilizations dating back to about 30,000 BCE were obsessed with three things in their lives: “birth, food and death (94). As a result, these three factors of ancient life played major roles in this peoples culture both in the practical and supernatural sense. The death ritual of these people im-particular reflected these ancient quandaries. If fact their burial customs consisted of:
1. “Often the corpse was covered with a red pigment (associated with blood or vitality) which suggests a hope that vitality would be restored, and a belief in an afterlife.
2. Food, tools and weapons were found in graves which indicates a belief that they would be needed in some way in the next world.
3. The dead were usually buried on their side, legs tightly flexed, hands covering their face, in the fetal position, as if to prepare them for rebirth from the grave/womb of Mother Earth.
4. Stone or bone ornaments and figurines were placed in the grave; their accentuated sexual features and blank faces suggest that these figurines represent not individual women but the Mother Goddess”(94).
In the text two ancient writings are cited as examples of death rituals of the time period. The first, the Epic of Gilgamesh recounts how Gilgamesh mourns his friend Enkidu who was killed by the gods. The story first recounts that he mourned over the body seven days and seven nights finally commissioned artisans to construct a statue of his friend. When the statue was completed it was placed on a table with a bowl of honey and a bowl of milk. Finally, Gilgamesh offers the site to the god of the sun and departs.
The death of his friend drove Gilgamesh to search for everlasting life. Three beings attempt to dissuade him from his quest all of them basically telling him:
“The life thou pursuest thou shalt not find.
When the gods created mankind,
Death for mankind they set aside,
Life in their own hands retaining.
Thou, Gilgamesh, let full be thy belly,
Make thou merry by bay and by night.
Of each day make thou a feast of rejoicing,
Day and night dance thou and play”(97-98).
These words portray the Mesopotamian view on death; live life to the fullest while they still can. While conversing with an immortal Gilgamesh discovers the location of a of a plant called “The Old Man Becomes Young Again”(99). He retrieved the plant only to have it absconded from him and he finally returns to his own city of Uruk. When Gilgamesh finally passes on, his people mourn him and give offerings to the gods of the dead, but they have no hope for Gilgamesh will not rise again. The text even presents us with lessons we can garner from this epic:
1. “The to find answers to questions raised by death one has to search life with a single-minded passion.
2. That the only valid answers to death’s mystery come from one’s own experience, not from someone else’s attempt to provide answers.
3. That there is no personal immortality for humans, only for the gods, that human fate is in the hands of the gods and that only the gods know when a person will die.
4. That even though the key to rejuvenation is possible to grasp momentarily, it cannot be kept.
5. That society (the polis)outlasts the individual and is the only immortality humans can achieve, that is, to live on in the memory of living, indeed in the memory of this story itself”(100).
The text continues to relate another tale from the same time period, however this story comes from the south in the land of ancient Egypt. This civilization was also obsessed with death, but it viewed it in a profoundly positive sense. This optimism in the face of death can be observed in artifacts such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, funerary writings, mummies, tombs, pyramids, and mortuary tools. The numerous cities within Egypt were known to each have a god which garnered the majority of worshiping. Egyptian mythology is complex and extensive, however, the text narrows the view for us and focuses on the story of Isis and Osiris, which deals largely with the cult of the dead.
The records tell us that Osiris was a king and his land was fertile and full of vegetation; there was no death in the land. He ruled the land with his wise sister/wife yet despite his admirable rule he had many enemies including his brother Seth who killed him. Osiris was the first man to die. Kenneth Kramer’s book, The Ancient Art of Dying, tells of Osiris’ resurrection, second death and final resurrection during which he becomes the god of the dead, ruler of the Nether World.
A fact which I find fascinating about Egyptian mythology is the judgment and weighing of souls. When an individual crosses over they must confess in the presents of forty-two judges, and then the individuals soul is weight against an ostrich feather. If the weight of the soul and the weight of the feather is equal then the soul is allowed the pleasures of paradise. There is no indication in the Book of the Dead that any soul has not passed the test of the weighing of souls(104).
The preservation of the body was of extreme importance to the Egyptians because it was believed that a person’s ka or spiritual personality would need to reoccupy the body in the after-life. Having completed extensive research of the process of mummification, I am able to share that knowledge with you.
The Egyptian art of mummification was developed over a period of approximately 100 years. What prompted the development of mummification was the fact, that previously the Egyptians had arranged their dead in coffins and then buried them in sand pits out in the desert; before coffins were adopted, however, the Egyptians simply placed the unprotected bodies in the pits; there, the Egyptian heat and sand would dry the body out. Just placing the bodies in pits, unfortunately, created targets for carnivorous desert animals, so coffins found their employment in Egypt. Coffins, however, kept away the preserving elements of sand and heat and the bodies promptly rotted, leading the afterlife- believing Egyptians to dedicate substantial time and aspiration into the art of preservation.
The process of mummification was performed in two parts: first the embalming later to be followed by the wrapping. To begin the embalming stage, the body was quartered in a special tent called the ‘Ibu’ or place of purification. There, the body was bathed in richly scented palm wine and rinsed with water from the Nile. This completed, an embalmer would then slice open the left side of the thoracic cavity and the stomach, liver, intestines and lungs were extracted, cleaned and packed with natrons --- a drying material. The heart was not removed, however of the Egyptian belief that it was the center of intelligence and feeling; the brain, on the other hand, was shown no mercy; it was smashed up and drawn out the nose with a specially designed hook. This completed, the entire body was stuffed and wrapped entirely with natron and left to dry for forty days. After which, the body was rewashed with Nile water and massaged with sweet scented oils to maintain integumentary elasticity. Finally, the dehydrated organs would be placed back in the body and wrapped in linen, along with a manifold of dried material to endow the body with a natural look.
This completed, the outer wrapping begins. First the head was bound, followed by the individual fingers and toes. Next, the arms and legs would be fettered separately, with amulets placed within the individual layers of the linen. All throughout the swathing process, spells and prays were chanted from the Book of the Dead --- to ensure that evil spirits are kept at bay during the journey to the afterlife. The next step was to bind the hands and legs together and place the Book of the Dead between the hands. The deceased was then shrouded with more layers of linen; each painted with resin to help them hold together. Finally, an image of Osiris, god of the dead, was painted on the body, which was then placed in the first coffin, which, in turn, was then placed in a second, more elaborate coffin or sarcophagi, and carried to its final resting place; the surviving family would be attending and grieving behind
