Burial and Ceremonial Traditions of Egypt Compared to the Romans and How It Influenced America Today - Research Paper Example

A Research on Burial and Ceremonial Traditions of Egypt Compared to the Romans and How it Influenced America Today Introduction The culture of Egypt is known for its extravaganza when it comes to the mater of handling the dead. The picture that immediately comes to one’s mind about the Egyptian culture includes pyramids, mummies, and the large number of artifacts and ornaments found along with the mummies in pyramids. However, people possess relatively less idea about the fact that the Egyptian civilization shows stunning similarity with many other cultures, especially the Native American civilizations. Study of their beliefs and practices show that there existed a communication or interaction between the cultures of these two different continents, but any solid proof is still lacking. Later on, as believed, it is the influence of Christianity and that of Pilgrim Fathers led to the development of significant differences in the beliefs and practices of American cultures. In the case of Egypt, there was significant influence from Roman and Greek cultures. Thus, as time passed, there arose considerable differences among the cultures. A look into historical evidence proves that the practices related to the dead vary among various civilizations. However, it seems that all the civilizations share certain degree of similarity too. To illustrate, the Romans, Egyptians, and the ancient American civilizations like Mayan and Inca held the belief that the dead deserve some sort of rituals and planning. In addition, history proves that in societies the practices and beliefs undergo changes as time passes, and as civilizations decline. This work intends to look into the burial practices that existed among the ancient Egyptians and Romans, and it analyses if they had any influence on the American cultures. It becomes evident that all the pagan cultures had a lot of similarities in their burial practices and beliefs, and as time passed, these beliefs and practices changed. Obviously the coming of Christianity too had an influence on the burial practices of these cultures. A Look in to the Egyptian and Roman Burial Practices In fact, different Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures had different outlook regarding death and the afterlife. Consequently, their treatment of the dead varied accordingly. Ancient Egyptians buried their wealthy in expensive tombs which were filled with artifacts and wall paintings depicting families during their everyday lives. However, one can see that as time progresses, the positive outlook of the Egyptians about the afterlife changes significantly; the afterlife began to be considered as a place of fear; filled with evil spirits. As a result, they began to bury their dead with ‘The Book of Dead’ that contained spells that help the dead navigate in the afterlife. According to Davies (29), it is wrong to use the term ‘resurrection’ when one talks about the Egyptian belief because the Egyptians believed in the four stages of life starting from birth, life, death, and rebirth where death is an opportunity for fulfillment, not a matter of negation. Consequently, for them, death rituals were meant to ensure easy transcending of the dead to afterlife. In fact, the beliefs of the Egyptians regarding death and after life were based on the cult of Isis that had its birth around fourth millennium BCE. According to the belief, death is followed by a long journey through a number of tests and trials. The ones who pass the tests are sure to enjoy eternal life. In fact, the Egyptians were optimists about afterlife. Now, a look into the Roman burial customs proves that though they shared certain similarities in burial practices, their basic ideology was entirely different from that of Egyptians in the beginning. The first point of difference is the fact that while Egyptians believed in an exquisite afterlife, there was no such doctrine among Romans that taught there is an afterlife for which the present body is to be preserved. So, for them, the dead were nothing other than corpse. However, one can see that despite this difference in their basic ideology, Romans too used to carve elaborate sarcophagi. In the opinion of Davis (35), Egyptians can be considered ritual optimists, and they fervently believed in the ‘resurrection of the dead’. So, for Egyptians, the funeral rites were meant to rejoin the soul with the body. Davies rightly quotes from a 1450 BC stella: “spells of glorification will be red for you, an offering will be made for you, while your heart is really with you, your heart of your earthly existence, you will come in your former appearance as on the day you were born” (Davies, p. 35). Thus, it becomes evident that for the Egyptians, afterlife was as glorious as, or more glorious than, the present life. So, the burial rites were prepared accordingly. Though Romans believed in afterlife, it was not considered as a reunion of the worldly body and soul. According to Romans, one’s afterlife was, to a great extent, determined by ones way of life. If he committed crimes or was not given a proper burial, he would be tortured in ‘Furies’ or purgatory like existence. Though both Egyptians and Romans used to bury their dead ones with gifts, the most important thing Romans used was a coin kept on the body, that, according to them, would be used by the dead to pay Charon, the ferryman, for passage across the river Styx that all dead had to pass to reach heaven (Charon). However, it seems that there were Romans who used to burn the corpse instead of burying them; and along with the burial or cremation, the ‘Nine Days of Sorrow’ started. As per records (asascus.bates.edu), the elaborate tombs made by the Romans for their dead were called Etruscans, and were pyramidal, cylindrical, or like Caecillia Metella in shape. In addition, the grave sites were marked by inscribed tombstones and wooden grave markers. These stones could contain a sculpture of the dead person, demographic information, and a list of the public offices held by the dead (Roman Civilization, asascus.bates.edu). The first point that indicates a possible integration between Egyptian and Roman culture is the presence of a variety of artifacts that are directly connected to the burial. The common artifacts that are found in both the cases are portraits, sculptures in the tombs, painted shrouds, decoration of tombs, wooden coffins, and masks. The coffin is described as a four sided one with a flat lid. There were three patterned bands winding around the body of the coffin wit floral designs. In addition, there were jewels of different colors and sizes as a part of the decoration. Another artifact that was commonly used was a mask. It was known as ‘Medusa Mask’. It was either placed on the face of the mummified individual or was placed along with other grave goods. A Look into Ancient American Civilizations In America, especially the Central America, the present burial customs are a mixture of Christian ideology and traditional practices. It is evident that the ancient civilization of America too considered death as a part of a scared cycle; birth, life, death, and rebirth. Consequently, in some cultures, it was believed that spirit needs energy to complete its journey into the afterlife. To prove this energy, there was music, dance, food, laughter and tears as a part of the funeral rites. If someone is to believe that mummification is only seen in Egypt, it is surprising that the same mummification is seen in the Inca civilization of America too. It has been found that the wealthy of these societies too had their funeral pyramids which are very similar to the ones in Egypt. An interesting belief among the Mayan civilization was that the leaders and those who lived for a noble cause ascend to ‘the sky world’ and become gods. So, they are cremated or buried under family house or a newly built tomb. Another point was that death because of natural cause was considered shameful. On the other hand, death in a battle, in an animal attack or as a sacrifice was all considered noble. The body of the dead was covered with cinnabar and the mouth was stuffed with maize and stone bead and jade. The maize symbolized rebirth and the jade represented life, fertility and power. In addition, goods which are important to the dead were also seen buried along with them life pottery, whistles, and also books especially in the case of priests. The bodies were always laid facing the North or West, the direction of Mayan heaven. According to Mayan belief too, afterlife mainly consists of a dangerous travel of the soul through the underworld (Mayan Religion, Religion facts). It is surprising to note the great degree of similarity that existed between ancient Egypt and Americas. The similarities date back to 10000 BC to 1500 AD though there is no explicit proof available to show a cultural link between these two continents. In fact, the similarities are innumerous in number and the explanations for the similarity range from common ancestry, mass continent, and many other highly unlikely theories like visitors from outer space. As Donnelly (97) points out, the first and most important similarity among the cultures is the existence of pyramids. It is important that no other continent in the world has shown such a similarity with Egyptian culture. Additionally, according to the writer, one can see the existence of powerful hereditary priesthood in both the cultures. In addition, Nickell (5) points out the construction of numerous temples in both the cultures, showing the fact that religion held a very important place in both. Furthermore, one can see that just like the Egyptians who believed in the resurrection of the dead, the Peruvians too believed in the immortality of soul and the resurrection of the body. Also, in both Egypt and Central American cultures, animal worship was common. Another significant similarity is found in the fact that both Egyptians and American cultures worshipped the sun god. In Egypt, this sun god was named ‘Ra’. The same god, according to the Peruvian culture was ‘Raymi’, and for Toltecs of Mexico, it is ‘Rana’. In addition to all these similarities, one can observe a number of similar rituals among ancient cultures of American and Egypt. Some of these rituals are circumcision, astrology, and annual agricultural fairs. When it comes to the construction of pyramids, the Teotinuacan culture of Mexico had their pyramids in the North-South direction. Similarly, in Egypt, the pyramids were in north alignment, and their pyramids also had directional alignment to moon, planets, and stars. Another mater of consideration is the legends that existed in both the continents. To illustrate, as Donnelly (234) argues, both Egyptian and American civilizations had legends about a time when there was great suffering, ‘a time of great storms’. In addition, in both the cultures, one can see a mention about a ‘cave-life’. Both the cultures used caves at the time of suffering to save them from devastation. Additionally, one can see a lot of similarities in the written language too. For example, it has been found in studies that both cultures had the use of hieroglyphics. To illustrate, as Hawkes (41-45) points out, while Mayas used hieroglyphics in tombs, monuments, medallions, buildings and on pottery, Egyptians used hieroglyphics in temples, pillars, and statues; and in both South and Central American tombs, one can see the use of hieroglyphs to indicate the name of the diseased and the death date. Another striking similarity of consideration comes from the use of calendar systems. One can observe the use of a 365 day calendar in both American and Egyptian cultures. In addition, both Peruvians and Egyptians had a twelve month division of the year. Also, the Aztec of America too had a 365 day calendar though its year had 18 months of 20 days. Furthermore, the starting of the year in both Egyptian and Mexican cultures is on February. Now, when it comes to burial practices, one can observe that burial in underground tombs was common in Egypt, Peru, and Mexico. The rituals of burial were also almost the same. All of them embalmed and mummified their dead before burial. Furthermore all these cultures were very particular about preserving the remains of the dead and hence, the practice of sealing the tombs reached great complexities in all these cultures. Yet another vital feature is the near perfection shown by these cultures in their technology, in which it seems that neither culture surpassed the other in technology of buildings. The stones and construction techniques of both American and Egyptian cultures were very similar. To illustrate, both the Egyptian and the Itahuanco culture of Peru were able to build wit stones of 2 to 100 tons. In addition, both the cultures were capable of fitting a stone perfectly above another. Here it becomes a difficult task to identify how such a great degree of similarity was possible among the cultures on two different continents. One hypothesis is that the cultures had a common ancestor. Another argument goes that there was a continent Atlantis that was the common birthplace of both the cultures. When Atlantis sank, the cultures moved eastward and westward. Here, it is important to remember the argument that there was an island which sank in volcanic catastrophe around 14,000 BC. Also, both the cultures had legends about the origin of their cultures. According to Peruvian legends, the civilization came from the east. Similarly, Egyptians legends claim that their ancestors came from the island of Mero. In addition, there are legends that there were long bridges of land which joined Africa and America to Atlantis, the lost continent. Though the theory of Atlantis has not been proved due to lack of any explicit proof, one can say that both American and Egyptian cultures share a large number of similarities ranging from engravings, a belief in underworld, and the reunion of body and soul. Though Christianity invaded the native beliefs, much of their basic ideologies were easy to mingle as the native beliefs too had certain essential qualities like belief in the afterlife, the purgatory-like existence which the dead had to cross to reach eternal life and the punishment one would receive in case of failure. In addition, the ancient American civilizations too found it necessary to perform an elaborated burial practice. Thus, the amalgamation of the cultures did not create much tension when it comes to burial rites and ceremonies. Conclusion In total, it becomes evident that the ancient civilizations of America, Egypt and Rome shared a number of similarities. Though there were some civilizations of exception, generally, many American civilizations and Egyptian civilizations shared a number of similarities in their religious and cultural practices, and consequently, their burial practices too resembled each other. In addition, studies prove that the amalgamation of the Native American culture and the one brought by the European settlers were not entirely contradictory in nature as they possessed certain elements of similarity. Works Cited Charon, Roman Colosseum, 2008. Web 7 June 2011 Davies, Jon. Death, burial, and rebirth in the religions of antiquity. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print. Donnelly, Ignatius. Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. The Eco Library, 2006. Web. 7 June, 2011 Donnelly, Ignatius. Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel. Forgotton Books, 2007. Print. Hawkes, Jacquetta. The World of the Past. Simon and Schuster, 1975. Web. 7 June 2011. Mayan Religion. Religion facts. Web 7 June 2011 Nickell, Joe. The Mystery Chronicles: More real-life X-files. US: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. Print. Roman Civilization, Tombs and Funerals, University of Michigan's Kelsey Museum electronic exhibit. 7 June 2011 Read More