Burial+Customs+2

Egyptian Burial Customs In Egypt, people belived in the afterlife. To them, the afterlife was a very important part of death and was respected greatly. The Egyptians belived that the body had to be unharmed in order for the afterlife to except it. To make sure that the body stayed in one piece, the Egyptions preformed the mummyfication process. Hawaii Burial Customs In Hawaii, death is not something to be taken lightly. The death of a king or high chief is no excption. In fact, the death of a high chief or king is a time of great mourning to the people. The people who knew those people best are the people who mourn the most. They weep, mourn, cut their hair, knocked out teeth, scared their skin, and sometimes even cut off one of their ears. William Ellis, a reverand in the 1800s, saw a queen wince in pain as she had a line tattoed across her tounge after her husband died. When he later asked her why she did it when it was so painful, she said that her greif was more painful than that could ever be.It was belived that the iwi, or bones held great power, and benifitted whoever possesed them. The skull, leg, and ocasionly arm bones of kings were espicially hidden, guarded and preserved. After awhile the priest would assemble the long bones and remaining skull into a sitting position, and when he chanted a prayer over the fire, the king was the supposedly transformed into gods. After that ceremony, the king's successor wauld have to build a house for the king's bones. The houses in which the king's bones reside are all on the Big Island. One of the houses, Hale o Keawe, was destroyed by Qween Ka'ahumanu after her change to the Christianity. Since then, the whole place has been reconstructed and is now open to visitors. Once, in 1821, Reverand Ellis peeked through the covering of the bones even after he was told not to. He saw images, shark teeth, pearl shell eyes and more. Another thing he saw was bundles of bones, cleaned and wrapped carefully. Amazingly, when Caption Cook died, his body was treated with great respect. The Hawaiians wrapped and treated his body, and his hands were still covered with flesh, even though they were stuffed with salt to preserve them. Burial caves are found all over Hawaii, with men, women and small children buried in the sand dunes. Many caves however, had already been discovered and raided. When King Kamehameha and his wife and Queen Kamamalu died in London in 1825, their bodies were taken back to Honolulu, a grand procession took place. People dressed in black, and paraded around with magnificent sytle, and now King Kamehameha and Queen Kamamalu rest in a Royal Mausoleum. After the 1990s, which is when President Bush signed and created the Native Amercian Grave Protection, which protects Native Amercain burial sites. That group is called the Hui Malama. The Hui Malama transports bones under the cover of night, and utmost secrecy. When someone important died, their grave was surounded with a circle of stones or high poles. Common people were buried in natural tombs, like caves or hollows. Citations http://www.coffeetimes.com/feb98.htm http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/History/Egypt/04/otey/otey.htm