Funeral Ceremonies Research Articles

Եզդիական թաղման ծեսի որոշ առանձնահատկությունների շուրջ

In science, the interest in rituals and customs is growing, because their study provides an opportunity not only to reveal the stages and nature of the historical development of this cultural phenomenon, but also to penetrate the most diverse spheres of the people's socionormative culture by referring to its unique ways of living, to highlight many unique features of the ethnic tradition. Therefore, there is a need to comprehensively study the ethno-cultural heritage of the past, also in the sense that all the positive and original folk, so that all the positive and genuine people that have withstood the test of time and reached us, can be used for the fulfillment of today's problems, seasoned with the researches we have carried out. The funeral rite is one of the most closed and least modified ceremonies. The most important components of the funeral rite are offering a sacrifice, giving a sacrifice, reciting appropriate religious hymns by the clergyman. Among the Yazidis, the funeral ceremony is based on the belief in the strong bond between the dead and the living.

Not up in smoke: Lipid and phytolith evidence for the function of combustion features at CA-ALA-11, a San Francisco Bay area shellmound

Ash and black char samples from seven combustion features at CA-ALA-11, an Early to Middle Period (ca. 2500 cal BCE to 585 cal CE) shellmound site on the San Francisco Bay shoreline, were analyzed for lipid, isotope, and phytolith content. Three features were intermingled with human burials and four were from nearby contexts not directly associated with human remains. Unlike more fragile biomolecules and floral remains, lipids and phytoliths can survive exposure to high temperatures. Together, these techniques supply independent and complementary lines of data for considering past cultural practices, local ecology, and post-depositional contributions. Our results shed light on the function and content of several combustion features, highlighting the untapped potential of such applications in the archaeology of California and elsewhere in North America. We focus on two combustion features with very different purposes. One appears to be the burnt remains of a basket (or possibly, a woven mat) coated with bitumen. This feature was associated with a burial and the basket or other woven object may have been burned as part of the funerary ceremony. Another feature, not directly associated with a burial, was composed of burned oyster shells and layered with leaves from a broadleaf tree—seemingly the remains of an ancient cooking feature for baking/steaming shellfish. Though small, this study demonstrates that analysis of sediments from combustion features can provide behavioral and ecological insights while avoiding destructive analysis of artifacts or human remains. We conclude with simple recommendations for integrating phytolith and lipid analysis of combustion features in future archaeological projects.

The Cultural Treasures of Baima Tibetan Folk Songs in Gansu Province, China, as a Resource for Literacy Education in Chinese Music History

Baima Tibetan folk songs are an integral part of the Baima Tibetan music culture. They are performed in diverse styles, including solo, duet, lead singing, round singing, and chorus. The objective of the study was to explore the significance of Baima Tibetan folk songs as a resource for literacy education in Chinese music history. By engaging with key informants divided into three groups - scholar informants, casual informants, and general informants. The result of this study reveals that ritual music holds deep roots in religious beliefs and is performed during sacrificial ceremonies, marriage ceremonies, and funeral ceremonies. Dance music culture reflects the collective nature and community cohesion of the Baima people, with dances like the fire circle dance serving as prominent expressions. Folk songs encompass a wide range of themes, including labor, wine, wedding, and love, showcasing the diverse musical expressions within Baima Tibetan society. The unique rituals, dances, and songs of the Baima people contribute significantly to the preservation and celebration of their rich cultural heritage. This study highlights the educational potential of Baima Tibetan folk songs as valuable resources for promoting literacy and understanding in the context of Chinese music history.

The Role of The Melajin in The Funeral Ceremony

The Role of The Melajin in The Funeral Ceremony

Vivacious and Sad Dances: Yala jama and yala paatey as pre- and post-burial celebrations of the Ga people in Ghana

This article investigates the special funeral ceremony of contemporary Ga people in Ghana. It unpacks the culturally controversial practice that are referred to as yala jama and yala paatey (a coined word for party). Today's Ga communities, during funeral ceremonies of persons who used to be popular, as well as societal public figures, practice what is largely termed yala jama (literally meaning funeral processional praise singing and dancing) and yala paatey (meaning funeral party). While the two practices would have been considered as cultural aberrations within the context of traditional funeral rites in the past, they are, to a large extent, accepted norms in the contemporary Ga society. The Ga people are a very interesting ethnic group who occupy part of the coastal boundary of Ghana, specifically the Greater Accra Region (habours the capital city Accra). The Ga communities, by virtue of their location in the capital of Ghana are susceptible to other cultures, because of the cosmopolitan tendencies of the region. The Ga, therefore, comes across as an eclectic society but have strong traditional roots. How has the funeral rites and ceremonies metamorphosed from sadness and moderately joyous after-burial-celebrations to vibrant jama and vivacious after-burial popular dance patterns? How have the traditional gate keepers embraced the conflict between sadness and buoyant celebrations during funeral and after burial rites? These and many more questions have instigated this paper. The research is predominantly qualitative including ethnographic approaches. Data gathered is in the form of ethnographic interviews, focus group discussions, study of online videos and archival materials for analysis. The paper argues that the Ghanaian society today is made up of ethnic groups whose changing behavioural patterns can be attributed to the nuanced and complex interactions, between the people and environment based on homogeneity, cosmopolitanism, enculturation and influences of new media practices.

Royal funeral ceremonies in fourteenth-century Central Europe

Royal funeral ceremonies in fourteenth-century Central Europe

Funerals and Funeral Ceremonies of the Hungarian Nobility in the Late Middle Ages

Funerals and Funeral Ceremonies of the Hungarian Nobility in the Late Middle Ages

Mutations and ceremonial transfiguration in times of crisis

The state of emergency established at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic imposed, beyond the restrictions provided for in the regulatory acts, a new perspective on human existence, including the dismantling of some traditions and stereotypes. In the conditions where the restrictive measures issued by the authorities only concerned the activity of public institutions and state-regulated economic sectors, traditional community customs remained outside the epidemiological regulatory acts and ended up in the ungrateful niche of uncertainty and interpretations. Consequently, family rituals were put on hold and underwent a series of transformations once the number of people allowed together in one place was limited, and the obligation to observe distance and wear protective masks was imposed. Ultimately, this scientific endeavor aims to analyze the impact of the pandemic crisis on the funeral ceremony in all its complexity and to investigate the degree of resistance of the ceremonial tradition to the new realities and norms imposed by the pandemic.

НАРОДНЫЕ ИГРЫ В КАРАХАНИДСКОМ ГОСУДАРСТВЕ

Since ancient times, mobile folk games have occupied an important place in the life of the peoples of the Karakhanid state. They strengthened the health and fighting spirit of the younger generation, prepared them for military affairs, and played an important role in their education. Military sports games related to military life and nomadic economic activity were mainly distributed. There were also games and entertainment that carried ritual and ritual functions included in the system of marriage, as well as memorial and funeral ceremonies. In the post-Soviet period in the Kyrgyz Republic, there was a need for a deeper study and systematization of folk games for practical use in the interests of reviving Kyrgyz traditional sports and folk outdoor games. In this regard, the study of the place and role of games and competitions in the life of the peoples of Central Asia in the Middle Ages is of great relevance. This article discusses the specifics of the development of traditional folk games in the Karakhanid state. During the existence of the Karakhanid state in Central Asia in the 9th-13th centuries. there was an intensive development of trade, science, culture.

Rome, 10 December 1696, a symbolic funeral: decorations placed in the Polish church of St Stanislaus to commemorate the death of John III Sobieski

The Church of St Stanislaus the Bishop and Martyr in Rome is the national church of Poland, where the funeral ceremonies of Polish rulers were celebrated. After the death of King John III Sobieski, ceremonial symbolic obsequies were held. Carlo Barberini, as cardinal protector of Poland, organized public and expensive ceremonies to properly honour the king’s death. The course of the funeral service and the funeral decoration are known in detail through three contemporary printed reports and an engraving describing every aspect of the ceremony and the decoration of the church in honour of the Polish king. The church was decorated with six painted medallions celebrating important events in the life of King John III Sobieski. The surviving four of the six medallions are now kept at the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. In 2018, researcher Giovan Battista Fidanza found documents in the Barberini family archives regarding the cost of the ceremony. According to sources, the artist who made the six funerary oval paintings was Giacomo Wernele, which indicates an Italianization of the name Philip Jakob Wörndle. Currently, the state of preservation of the oval funerary canvases is poor. It is imperative to preserve the paintings in order to save them from destruction and make them available for museum display.

On Song Dictation and Their Texts in the Village of Shalanky (Transcarpathia)

The present paper examines a novel aspect of folk literacy within the ethnographical research, in particular to a separate genre of oral folk art, which is an organic component of modern Ukrainian and Hungarian cultures. The focus of the study is written sources from the village of Shalanky (Berehove District, Transcarpathia), as well as from some other areas of the former Hungarian historical region of Ugocsa. The collection entitled The Book for Funeral Ceremonies (Halottas alkalmakra készített és írott könyv) is presented in four copies, each containing songs for a funeral ceremony. The main occasions for recitative singing are, on the one hand, church events, divine services, and, on the other, funerals and commemorations. For the latter, there were prepared, in the Reformed communities, separate handwritten songbooks titled The Book-Collection of Funeral Songs, or The Book, Prepared and Written to Honour the dead. Currently, more than ten manuscripts have been collected in the studied region. Information about their use and purpose, the role in the life of a community can be obtained from narrations of informants. The oldest collection was compiled in the 1880s. The books contain only the texts that provide a decent burial of the dead. For burial, a cantor (singer) selects suitable songs by age, sex, ecclesiastical order of the deceased, etc. Most manuscripts have a similar structure; we can also find much in common in the subjects of song texts. In general, as already noted, the content of each manuscript is divided into ten sections, the songs are mainly grouped by age. Until recently, in the communities surveyed, there was a custom of so-called song dictation (recitative). Community members have different views on its decline. The older generation prefers recitative, while young people prefer rhythmic singing and new songs. However, the fact is that the song dictation was a characteristic sign of both the Reformed divine services and the Hungarian identity. It also had a moral content in relations between members of a community. Our duty is to show and preserve this custom!

Exploring the Values of Education through Post-Death Traditions in Indonesia

This research explores the values ​​of character education in post-death traditions in Indonesia. Post-death traditions play an important role in Indonesian culture and often reflect deep social values, ethics, and beliefs. This research involves an in-depth analysis of post-death traditions, including funeral ceremonies, memorial rituals, and related practices. The research method used in this research is library research and analysis of documents related to post-death traditions. It is hoped that the results of this research will provide a deeper understanding of the role of education in post-mortem traditions and how these values ​​can be integrated into the context of formal education in Indonesia. The findings of this research can provide new insights into how education and culture are interrelated, as well as how local traditions can contribute to the sustainable development of education in Indonesia. The character education values ​​ in the post-death ceremony tradition include religious, familial, and educational values. Educational values ​​include Religiosity, communicativeness, collaboration (cooperation), responsibility, and social concern.

Grieving Process Among Bereaved Family in The Funeral Ceremony Amid Covid-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT Sudden death due to COVID-19, will have an impact on the family and causes grief, devastating and traumatic. To prevent the Coronavirus high transmission rate during pandemic has provided a new perspective on dying and rituals worldwide and needs reform. Funeral practices that should give comfort and support were not possible, which can increase feelings of isolation, loss, and despair on family. This study aims to find out what information already exists in the bereaved family grieving process related to the funeral ceremony policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used literature review from 21 articles from four electronic databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, EBSCOhost, and Scopus, and added the search from other references as grey literature. The literature was reviewed chronologically to demonstrate how grieving process went through by bereaved family related to the funeral policy during COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of the selected literature review and equipped with grey literature, shows how family involvement in each funeral’s stage of the deceased: planning, within and post ceremony, having a relationship and impact on the priesthood and success of the grieving process on the family left by Covid-19. We underline that it is essential to be present in the burial process, starting from involvement in planning, attending, and believing the funeral process and after it is necessary to note. Future research is still needed to review more literature with a mix-method study. Thus, it can equally review both studies to balance and mutually supportive Keywords: Bereaved Family, COVID-19, Funeral Ceremony, Grieving Process, Literature Review

A Century of Funeral Change in Burial Practices: From Church Burial to Cremation Without a Ceremony

The changes in funeral practices in Czech society which occurred during the 20th century were more significant than those that took place during the whole of the second millennium. Traditional Roman Catholic Christian funerals which were performed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries are described as a starting point from which the focus moves to a study of the major changes from the onwards. The first half of the 20th century was specific in the emergence of cremation. The Communist era was characterized by a huge expansion in the popularity of cremation as well as by a significant increase in the proportion of secular funerals. Contemporary Czech funeral practices can be seen as a direct continuation of those of previous generations and are noteworthy in terms both of having one of the highest cremation rates in Europe and, even more strikingly, the extraordinarily high rate of cases (around one quarter to one third) in which no funeral ceremony is held at all for the deceased.

Upacara Penghormatan Jenazah dalam Adat Kematian Dayak Aoheng dan Liturgi Kematian Gereja Katolik

This study aims to explore and describe of ceremonies honouring the dead person in the adat of the Dayak Aoheng, that can be practiced in the Light of the Catholic Faith as efforts to adapt a series of ceremonies honouring the dead person. The research was conducted among the Dayak Aoheng of the Semukung sub-group, who live in Long Apari and Noha Silat Villages, Long Apari District, Mahakam Ulu Regency, East Kalimantan. This study uses a comparative qualitative method with interview data collection techniques and related document collection. The informants in this study were fifteen informants spread over two research sites. The results of the study reveal that there are several parts of the series of ceremonies honouring the dead person in the adat of the Dayak Aoheng that can be proposed for adaptation into the Liturgy of Death of the Catholic Church to enrich the Church's Liturgy and the local cultural wisdom. The series of ceremonies honouring the corpse that can be proposed for adaptation efforts are found in the series of ceremonies undertaken before the death and at the time of death, during the taking care of and caring for the corpse, during the praying for the corpse and consoling the family, and in the funeral ceremonies.

Axes in the Funerary Ceremonies of the Northern Pontic Scythians

Axes were rare among the Scythians but are occasionally found in Scythian kurgans. Like other weapons, axes had practical as well as social and religious roles. The Scythians not only placed axes in burials as burial gifts, but also used them at various stages of the funeral ritual. This article considers several hitherto unknown, highly unusual archaeological contexts featuring axes. These contexts show that axes were used in the ritual preceding the excavation of the grave; they completed the ritual before the filling of the grave; and they were included in the final sealing of the burial. In addition to the ritual implications of Scythian axes found in kurgan burials, this article considers the meaning of the representations of related artifacts on Scythian metalwork, as well as on the coins of Kerkinitis and Olbia. A bronze votive axe similar to the one from L’vovo Kurgan 18, Burial 2 is shown on Olbian Borysthenes coins, indicating a permanent relationship between the city and the Scythians, perhaps in the form of paying tribute (“gifts”) to the Scythians. The dating of Olbian Borysthenes coinage is also discussed.

Las pamięci – ekologiczny minimalizm funeralny

The article presents a reflection on ecological burials of the deceased possible in Poland. Funeral ceremonies are an expression of cultural tradition and variously defined personal attitudes, including religious faith, as well as legal and administrative orders. Also in this respect, new solutions are socially expected, which should be legally allowed, especially regarding the possibility of scattering the ashes of the deceased. Burials in biodegradable urns are already practised as well as scattering of the ashes of the dead, e.g. in the Forests of Remembrance in cemeteries-parks, which are by no means disrespectful to the dead. It is a deepening, a complete and last dedication to the biosphere of which we are a part and after death we will continue to reside therein.

Denied funeral rituals in pandemic times

The extremely high death rates in northern Italy during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic called for exceptional rules and suspension of funeral practices and burial rites. Additionally, forms of collective burial, typical of a wartime scenario, and mechanical methods and timing were reintroduced into the handling of corpses. Although several academic studies have highlighted how the absence of funeral ceremonies and ‘dignified burials’ has caused prolonged and deep suffering for the mourners and for many of the caregivers and health workers, few have so far focused on funeral workers. This article focuses on the intimate, emotional and ethical experiences of a group of funeral workers in northern Italy who handled COVID corpses and had to take the place of the mourners at the time of burial. Through an anthropological analysis of their oral memories, this work attempts to analyse their expressions of discomfort, frustration, fear and suffering.

Hybrid funerals: how online attendance facilitates and impedes participation

ABSTRACT Livestreaming and filming death rites and funeral ceremonies to enable remote engagement proliferated rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many expect these options to remain prevalent going forward. This paper draws on interviews with a diverse UK sample of 68 bereaved people, funeral directors, officiants and celebrants. It illustrates how, and explains why, people’s experiences and evaluations of hybrid funerals can vary. In a context when in-person gatherings were limited, hybridisation played a valuable role in enabling more people to engage with funerals. However, virtual attendance was often considered less satisfying than in-person attendance because it did not enable people to participate well in the funeral activities that mattered to them or to participate with others as they would in person. Scope for participation was partly contingent on the functionality and use made of technology, including whether and which steps were taken to facilitate engagement and a sense of connection for those joining online. People’s evaluations of hybrid funerals could also reflect their relationships to the deceased and their frames of reference – for example, whether they were comparing virtual attendance to attending in person, or to being unable to attend at all, or to an overwhelmingly large funeral.

The Death, Burial and Funeral Ceremonies of Margaret Theresa of Spain in the Augustinian Church in Vienna in 1673

This article attempts to reconstruct the course of preparations for the death, funeral and funeral ceremonies organized from 19 to 21 April 1673 in the Augustinian church in Vienna for the deceased Empress Margaret Theresa of Spain. With the help of historical- anthropological approaches and concepts of symbolic communication, the author monitors the formation of the social body of the ruler at the moment of her premature death, the last farewell and the subsequent obsequies in Vienna. In its analysis, it draws on a varied range of material, iconographic and written sources preserved in various European archives and libraries, but in particular on detailed descriptions by direct participants in these events, reports by foreign ambassadors to the court of Vienna, and burial sermons which have survived.