CHAPTER XVII.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.
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 ofSis 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 calledrahat yatak(“couch of comfort”) with the hands stretched by the side, the feet tied together, and the head turned towards theKibla. 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, theabtest, 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. Thetabout(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, calledkaflet, 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 givehelalto 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, calledMihit 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 theKibla, 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 calledVanqueurandVeniqueur.[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 thechimber, 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 buriedalive; 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 wordAllah! On passing a mosque ortekké, the coffin is deposited in front of the gate, and a service is chanted, the congregation joining in the refrain ofAmin! 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. Theobolof 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 calledkolyva. On the fortiethkolyva, 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 sayBogda 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 thekolyvaare the same as among the Greeks, and the bones are disinterred at the end of three years, with the same observances.