ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH
| ARCHAEOLOGY OF DEATH |
The outlined here concepts related to death, showing concern raised by it and burial rituals are being created based on some text reconstructions, while discoveries made during excavations, to a certain extent, verify such a reconstruction.
The uniqueness of discoveries made on Tell Arbid, probably known in antiquity as Amaz, lies in the fact that it gives a coherent picture of the relationship between the world of death, everyday life and funeral practices. The image of these relations is clear because the settlement was uncovered in undistorted stratigraphic sequences comprising a period of about 120 years (19th and 18th century BC). Thanks to these discoveries, we can look at the factual evidence, which confirms burial practices.
First of all, we have here burials from the humblest ones, with a vessel being enough for the coffin, to the magnificent brick tombs of several generations. This confirms the importance that was attached to organizing the last resting place. What’s more, one can see that the place was connected with the family house and the homestead - all the graves were located in the farmyard. This confirms the strong social relationships between the deceased and his living relatives. Secondly, the finds in the graves confirm customs connected with equipping the deceased and the form of the final farewell, that is, of the feast.
There is no doubt that the finds on Tell Arbid allow for the reconstruction of rituals associated with the kispum ritual.
Let us concentrate on the grave vaults, which give us a pretty clear picture of events. More prosperous families have invested in the construction of tombs with spacious chambers to accommodate more than one dead. This has a practical dimension of both material and immaterial point of view, on the one hand, it saves time and money for another burial, and on the other hand it allows the bodies to be gathered in one place, facilitating rituals related to the worship of the deceased. It should be emphasized that, unlike our customs, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia do not do so for splendor alone - the tombs located in the farmyard are left invisible to the outsiders and are deeply dug into the ground.
The technique of building such a tomb is simple: a hole was dug down in the ground, then its walls were bricked, leaving only in one narrower facade an opening for putting the body into inside. The whole was covered with a brick cradle vault. Only the facade wall was pulled up so that its top would protrude above the ground for several bricks. This small, but visible, wall marks the position of the shaft leading to the grave chamber. This solution has a practical dimension: first, it signals where is the last resting place of family members, and excludes any building activity in this area. Secondly, it sets the place of performing kispum ritual and bringing offerings. As the kispum has been celebrating at the grave, it can be assumed that under the given circumstances the protruding wall face served as the altar, on which the sacrifices were deposited.
In front of the facade was a shaft leading to the entrance of the burial chamber. The entrance was blocked compactly with bricks, because mortar would make it difficult to open the chamber at the next funeral. Before the burial, the shaft had to be re-excavated and after the funeral filled up with earth.
In the tombs from Amaz, items and traces of the funeral rituals mentioned in the texts were found. The dead went to the Realm of Shades in full splendor of the earthen temporal life. The body was deposited on the side with more or less shrunken legs and bent arms, with hands along the stomach or beside the face. Such a position perfectly fits into the aforementioned notion of falling asleep at the hour of death. The body was anointed and clothed in pure fabric – this can only be assumed, because only skeletons have survived until now. But ornaments on garments have survived. In each grave preserved were pins used to fasten clothes. The material itself was adorned with tin plates of bronze or applications of rings made of shells. The equipment was completed by jewelry: bracelets on the wrists, pendants and necklaces of semi-precious stones on the chest, earrings in the ears. One of the dead had copper tin plates attached to his fingers.
The deceased was about to leave for a journey with no return, not only in appropriate garments, but also respectively provided with ornamental vessels, usually bowls, crucibles, grinders, as well as toiletries. In the richest grave chamber found were tweezers, bowls, three daggers and a shaft-hole axe. In another one a spearhead. This means that the dead were placed into the grave objects indicating his position in the society of the living ones. In addition, the deceased received a tasty bite into the chamber - a piece of cooked breasts and sheep comb, additionally a dish, probably filled with some liquid - maybe beer or wine?
In the myths describing the afterlife, the shadows of the dead seem to function in perfect democracy. We do not encounter the distinction between the poor and the affluent. Their fate is completely dependent on the family's concern - the quantity and frequency of offerings. However, we have a kind of contradiction, often to be found in Mesopotamian beliefs. Some texts leave no doubt the deceased would take up position in the Underworld, which he enjoyed in his lifetime. [1] Thus, it can be assumed that the evidence of importance of the deceased was used to emphasize the deceased's and his family's status as compared to other community members, and also had to ensure him a proper place in the Land without Return.
The discoveries also confirm that, on the occasion of the funeral, feasts were organized at the grave. Their traces were found in vestibules. On the occasion of the new burial, a part of earth was extracted from the vestibule and the chamber was opened. Adding next occupant to the grave required to move the corpses resting there into the deep of the chamber. It seems that, contrary to that, what claim the texts, the feast was held after the body was deposited and the entrance blocked with bricks. Such order is practical: the vessels filled with food and drinks were placed in the vestibule, but also thrown there were the remains of the slaughtered animals. It would be inconvenient to manipulate corpses in such a narrow space, additionally crammed with vessels. Bovine jaws and metapodials were found in the vestibule of the chamber tomb belonging to the inhabitants of House II. Similar finds are also known from other sites. This fact suggested Jill Weber, an American archaeologist, that the dead were receiving remnants from skinning of animals. Simply, while removing the skin, it was not pulled down to the end of the limb, but cut off at the mid-foot.
There is no doubt that the traces of feasting in the shafts leading to the chamber come from farewell feasts - it does not seem that the entrance would be re-excavated alone for the kispumritual. Nothing would justify such a practice.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to judge how frequent the kispum ritual would be performed - it was supposed to happen once a month, because the families of the deceased belonged to the well-off ones. There is no doubt, however, that living relatives cultivated ties with the dead, implying them into daily rituals and family meetings. At Ur, in the same period, in the houses small altars had been unearthed and it is assumed that the images of the ancestors stood on them. This phenomenon will strengthen with time: to the person inheriting a house fall also the statues of ancestors. About importance of images of deceased relatives may evidence a trial that took place in Nuzi. The case concerned the division of the property of the deceased and ancestor images between his sons. The court decided that one would take the smaller, the second the larger statues. [2] Such great emotions as well as the expenditures for a proper burial clearly show the importance attached to matters concerning death and the further fate of the deceased. It is difficult to be surprised, because in difficult times he should constitute a support for the family.
While exploring Tell Arbid cemeteries a different, although unrelated with the ancestor cult, element of the burial customs was encountered: two dog’s skeletons were found in the vestibules of two graves.[3] A small bitch was deposited in front of the chamber of the largest tomb – it could indicate that the animal belonged to one of the persons buried there. However, this is not quite evident and may imply, for example, a substitute offering. Such were made in case of man’s illness. Burial was arranged observing all the existing rites, to divert death attention from the sick. Or maybe the dog acted as a guardian, being careful that the spirits do not peep out from the grave to harass the residents? [4] The only analogy coming to mind, is a dog from Tell Barri - buried in the chamber and laying behind the head of the deceased. It wore a silver dog-collar.[5]Here already, one can rather think about the ties connecting the man and the animal in the life-time and there is no doubt that the dog was dispatched to the netherworld together with its owner.
The discussed here burials and rituals that accompany the farewells of the deceased refer to wealthy families, nevertheless they give the fullest insight into the rites. The poorer by no means was refused the last ministry, except that clothing and gifts were adequate to the prosperity degree. Absolutely no community could allow to neglect in this matter. The kind of burial was not only determined by the financial status of the deceased's family, but also by his status among relatives. This also applies to children, customary interred in vessels. There is no way to determine whether, in this case, the funeral celebrations enjoyed such splendor as those of the adults. But it was tried, where possible, to equip them suitably.
In all the children's tombs on the Tell Arbid, from the Khabur Ware period, characteristic small jars were found, and what is more, decorative items such as beads of semi-precious stones. It is worth noting that the children buried in Amaz several centuries earlier, also wore jewelry – bracelets of bronze, pendants. A very interesting question is when, in Mesopotamia, childhood ends. One could risk to claim that when a person is buried in accordance with adult rules, but that is not the case. This denies the smallest of the graves with bricks arranged “in diamond”, in which the remains of a four-year-old child were deposited. His forearms were adorned with bracelets of bronze; besides, in this case, fully observed was the ritual due the adults: it’s the only grave, into which a sacrifice of animal meat was put. This kind of proceedings can only justify the child’s position in the family - perhaps it was treated as a minor head of the family. Interesting is also a burial of a less than a year old infant in the vestibule of the richest grave in Amaz. Two vessels were placed in the dugout small pit, and the child had also a tin bracelet and colourfulbeads. Undoubtedly, it belonged so to family, and enjoyed also offerings brought for all ancestors.
In addition to the large chamber tombs, the inhabitants of Amaz more often decided themselves for modest graves “in diamond” with a single row of bricks. They are intended for one deceased person; however, it happens that more bodies are being added. Only some of these graves have larger facades, but before some of them dugout have been the shafts. Therefore, one can certainly say that even with modest burials, necessary rites were done, to keep the peace of both the community and the deceased.
TRAVEL COSTS INTO THE NETHER WORLD
The death of a family member meant expenses: equipment of the deceased, burial expenses, expenses for the priest and mourners, feast for the loved ones. Let's try to calculate the price of an extravagance, called death, in Mesopotamia. On Tell Arbid unearthed was a large, not robbed chamber tomb - so that one can check what were the actual expenditures associated with death. This attempt to determine the value of individual elements is based on the quoted values in ancient texts.
Tomb. The cost of masonry works is regulated by the Hammurabi Code: masons were paid 2 shekels of silver for 1 sar (36 m2) of the house area. [6] Our tomb is 4.16 m2 so the value the work to be done may be established at for 1/6 shekel.
Farewell feast. Judging by the text from Kaneš, being dedicated to the burial of an Assyrian woman Ištar-lamassi, it can be deduced that the funeral ceremony lasted two days, and at that time the family spent 20 shekels of silver.[7] This sum corresponds to the then price of 20 sheep. There are 14 persons deposited in our tomb: seven skeletons belong to adults, seven to children. It is difficult to judge, whether the family with the same swing treated all the dead. Let's suppose that these splendors were reserved for the most distinguished members of the family, usually adults.
Equipment of the deceased. The attempt to determine the value of objects deposited in a grave is based on two premises: the first is information from texts where the prices of bronze and semi-precious stones are determined, the second is the weight of objects found in the chamber. Due to the impossibility of valuation, in our estimates, the value of vessels was omitted.
Total value of beads of agate, alabaster, rock crystal and jasper is determined according to carnelian prices: 6 shekels of carnelian (50 g) = 1 shekel of silver. [8] Lapis-lazuli value: 1 shekel of lazurite = 2 shekels of silver. [9]
The value of weapons is the hardest to estimate. Small axe was laid to the grave in the 18th century BC, but it is certain that it was made in the 21st century BC. Its actual value has nothing to the symbolic one. Our estimation is based on the information that the makkasum [10] costs ½ shekel of silver. Consequently, a dagger weighing 90 g is worth ½ shekel, and the axe of 193 g weight twice as much - 1 shekel. For the remaining bronzes, the data presented are based on the weight of items cited by Hauptmann and Pernicka (2004).
| Semiprecious stones [11] |
| Type | and weight of the item | estimated value |
| Carnelian (45 beads) | 45.5 g | |
| Agate (19 beads) | 21.5 g | |
| Alabaster (1 disc) | 1.7 g | 1.5 shekel of silver |
| Rock crystal (6 pieces) | 3.0 g | |
| Jasper (3 beads) | 3.8 g | |
| Lapis lazuli |
6.0 g |
1.26 shekel of silver |
| Total | 2.75 shekel of silver |
| Metal |
| Type | and weight of the item | estimated value |
| Dagger | approx. 96 g | ½ shekel of silver |
| Dagger | approx. 90 g | ½ shekel of silver |
| Dagger | approx. 70 g | ½ shekel of silver |
| Axe | approx. 193 g | 1 shekel of silver |
| 1 bracelet | approx. 40 g | ¼ s shekel f silver |
| 3 pins | 3 x 27 g | ½ shekel of silver |
| Various (3 plaques, 1 tweezers) | 6 g | ¼ shekel of silver |
| Total | 3½ shekels of silver |
| Tomb: ¼ shekel of silver |
| Fees for mourners and feast: ¼ shekel of silver |
| Jewelry and weapons: ¼ shekel of silver |
Sighted could be a disproportion between the costs incurred for building the tomb, and those related to grave equipment and rituals. The only way that such an assessment would gain real dimension is to compare the purchasing power of those sums at that time.
| For the value of 20 shekels of silver one could: |
| Buy: | 20 sheep [12] or 6,000 sila3 barley = 100 monthly food rations of an adult, covering a period of over 8 years. |
| Pay for: [13] | 272 reapers (22 sila3 per reaper per 1 ha). |
| Sowing grain: [14] | for 135 hectares of fields. |
| Build: | 5.5 houses of an area of the house to which the tomb is assigned. |
It is hard to believe that a family from a relatively small village, even wealthy and respectable, is willing to spend such sums on a funeral. Comparison with Ištar-lamassi is also not the best in our case - she belonged to the merchant class, and her funeral took place in Kaneš, the city where everything was to be bought. It is unlikely that a family from a locality like Amaz would spend for a funeral more than 4 shekels.
| Purchasing power: |
| Goods/services | Currency | Equivalent value |
| 2 sheep | 2 shekels of silver | 36 pairs of good sandals = 4 chopping knives.[15] |
| 10 beer jugs | ½ shekel of silver [16] | 50 daily rations for a working ox. [17] |
| Mourner |
½ shekel; [18 ] if you count 10 mourners lamenting 2 days then it gives100 še or about ½ shekel |
second-class array. [19] |
| Total | 4 shekels | almost the value of one plow. [20] |
The total may seem to be overpriced, not in terms of value, but the actual financial effort. The family certainly made their own beer, had her own herds. What's more, the fees for the mourners and the priest, were probably regulated in nature, as long as it was not limited to feeding them during the ceremony - is possible that they were simply neighbours. Such a way of exchanging goods and services seems to be natural in the countryside.
The question of fairness of the presented calculations remains open until we complement our knowledge with information coming from the texts. It is certain that the expense for the tomb was a one off, and was a family investment in the much more broader meaning than the financial outlay. The value of robes and jewelry depended on the position of the family and, to a certain extent, on personal wealth, while of the offerings placed into the grave, on the family fortune.
FUNERAL RITES IN NEIGHBOURING LOCALITIES
Findings made in other settlements in the region confirm that at the beginning of the second millennium, burial customs were coherent. And everywhere we observe that the issue of death and responsibility towards the deceased was treated very seriously. So, we have to do with serious financial burdens on the tombs, and not spared was also on grave equipment - although it was quite standard. Of course, there are also local architectural tastes. The sites, which will be discussed are Tell Mozan, Chagar Bazar, Tell Barri, Ashur, Mari. Everywhere during the Khabur Ware period, the graves were located intra muros, entwined in a network of the settlement or of the residential buildings.
The most elaborate and expensive form of the last resting place are chamber tombs. However, they differ in construction. In Tell Mozan, similar to Tell Arbid, the chambers are covered with barrel vaults supported on the side walls,[21] but already those on the Chagar Bazar have a domed roof or corbel vaults. [22] At Tell Barri there are two types of tombs: the larger one with the vault supported on the side walls and the smaller one with the vault resting on the floor. They were roofed by a barrel vault, whose arches are slightly inclined to the rear. Interestingly, the bricks used to build these tombs are profiled. [23] In Ashur, the tombs have a false vault. At Tell Mozan there are also so-called Steinkiste, which are stone tombs covered with flat-laid stone plates. [24] We also have evidence of an exceptional foresight – on Tell Barri uncovered were graves, planned and built together with the buildings, inside of which they were located. [25]
The family could bury the deceased in one of several types of graves. The choice was dependent on status and wealth, as well as his rank among relatives. The youngest children were most often inferred in kitchen and household vessels, which were usually placed under the floors of homes or courtyards. This is a very old type of burial and occurs practically all over the Middle East. While in Mari, also the adults were buried in vessels. The vessel was larger in size, closed with another pot or brick. Less significant deceased were buried in pit and shaft graves. Pit graves appear on all listed sites except of Ashur. They consisted of a straight pit with no additional construction that was dug into the ground. Somewhat more sophisticated are the shaft graves that appear on Tell Arbid, Chagar Bazar and in Ashur. They consisted of a vertical shaft, at the bottom of which into one of the side walls the grave chamber was cut. In Tell Arbid and Chagar Bazaar, it was separated with several layers of bricks. In Ashur, stones or large parts of vessels were also used for this purpose.
At Tell Arbid, Tell Mozan, Chagar Bazar and Tell Barri the dead were also buried in simple brick tombs. These tombs consisted of a pit, at the bottom of which rectangular "frame" of one, two or several layers of bricks or stones was laid., which could eventually have been covered with a roof of cane and wood [26] or with bricks. After the funeral, the pit was filled with earth.
SUMMARY
The above-mentioned material illustrates therefore the essential part of the beliefs related to the afterlife life of the Mesopotamians: the necessity of depositing into the grave, dressing and equipping the body so that the deceased would remain in the Land of no Return, seen as newcomer and retained there for eternity, celebration of the burial feast and offering of proper sacrifices and maintaining regular contacts by locating the grave near house and performing the kispum rituals at the marked grave.
The discussed customs concern the beginning of the second millennium, what does not mean that they are new. Imagery of existence in the Underworld and the need to protect themselves from the bad influence of the dead are known from the oldest cuneiform texts. Worshiping the ancestors and maintaining relationships with the dead are a constant element of Mesopotamian beliefs for millennia. Only forms of this cult have evolved. The first half of the second millennium brought about changes not so much in the question of equipment splendor and the size of the tomb, as in the closer relationship of the living with their dead. It is expressed by placing the graves under the houses or in their immediate vicinity and frequent rituals to supply the dead in food and drink.
The discoveries made on Tell Arbid allow us to capture this account in a tangible way and confirm the information contained in the texts. Fortune favored us the more that in later times, the building of such impressive graves has been abandoned, thereby reducing the chance of knowing the rituals associated with Death.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Bottéro 1980, 35.
[2] Grave G2 at Chagar Bazar, Mallowan 1936, 55.
[3] Grave G8, Piątkowska-Małecka – Wygnańska 2006, 80.
[4] Piątkowska-Małecka – Wygnańska 2006, 92-93.
[5] Grave G763, Pecorella 1999, 15-19 (G763).
[6] HC, §228.
[7] Kt 91/k 369, Veenhof 2008, 112.
[8] YOS 6, 69.
[9] ARM IX, 254, cf. Durand 1983, 191.
[10] Cutting tools (CAD, M1, 133a, makkasu C).
[11] For beads, the appraisal is based on the weight, and this is based on the following formula: volume in cm3 (surface x height) x density (in grams per cm3) = weight in grams.
[12] Value of the animal: ARM XIX, 395, Limet 1976, 131; Koliński 2003, 84-101.
[13] Koliński 1998, 163-182.
[14] Ibidem.
[15] Shoes: ARM XIX, 300, Limet 1976, 33; Knives: ARM XXI, 219, Durand 1983, 217.
[16] Veenhof, idem.
[17] Bottéro, 247.
[18] Work day– 5 še of silver, cf. HC, § 273, 274.
[19] Durand 1983, 405.
[20] In HC, § 259 the compensation for stealing a plow is 5 shekels of silver.
[21] Dohmann-Pfälzner, Pfälzner 2001, 129-133.
[22] Mallowan 1937, 121-122.
[23] Valentini 2003, 279-280.
[24] Dohmann-Pfälzner, Pfälzner 2000, 212-215.
[25] Valentini 2003, 276-277.
[26] Chagar Bazar – G2, Mallowan 1936, 55.
| LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS |
| AJA | American Journal of Archaeology: The Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America (Boston, Concord, Princeton). |
| ARM | Archives royales de Mari (Paris). |
| CT | Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum (London). |
| HC | The Law Code of Hammurabi of Babylon (Kitchen, Lawrence 2011, vol. 1, 109-186). |
| KAR I | E. Ebeling, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religiösen Inhalts I/ (=WVDOG 28), Leipzig 1919. |
| KAR I | E. Ebeling, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religiösen Inhalts II (=WVDOG 34), Leipzig 1923. |
| LKA | E. Ebeling, Literarische Keilschrifttexte aus Assur, Berlin 1953. |
| YBC | Yale Babylonian Collection. |
| YOS | Yale Oriental Series, Babylonian texts. |
| WVDOG | Wissenschaftlische Veröffentlischungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, (Leipzig, Berlin, Wiesbaden. |
| ZA | Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie (Berlin). |
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Thanks to the support of the Stowarzyszenie Autorów ZAiKS