A FUNERAL IN NAZARETH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15501, 7 January 1914, Page 10

A FUNERAL IN NAZARETH.

Each religious community in Nazareth haa a separate cemetery, and the Moslems have two. A death in the household is immediately announced to the neighbourhood by the shrieks of the relatives who have been sitting around the deathbed. If a Moslem, the dying man is turned so as to face Mecca. No special religious ceremony is performed then ; but if the last struggle seems to be prolonged, the "khateeb," or priest, may be summoned to invoke Allah that the spirit may quickly leave the distressed body. It is believed to be the reward of a virtuous life to have a quick ending. The hands are lifted up at the very last, as a final adherence to the Moslem creed. The moment that the death occurs the women scream, tear their hair, and rend their clothes, and beat their chests. Thio frenzy brings all the neighbours, who crowd into the chamber of grief and add. their voices to the tumult. Such a scene may last an hour, but sooner or later order of a kind is achieved. The older women lay out the corpeo, putting on the beat clothes, and crossing the hands, and then, the formal wailing commences. The leader among the women, who are squatted close to the wall round the room, sets the rhythm of the dirge. She begins to clap her palme together and the rest join in, until the roomful are clapping in unison. Then the leader may sing a line In praise of the departed, and the line is repeated by all in chorus. A new sentiment is sung by the leader and repeated in unison, and this performance may go on for hours. Burial must quickly follow death, and presently a rough deal coffin covered with cloth is brought, in which the body is placed lying on its side. The colour of a Moslem coffin is frequently green. Borne by relatives and male friends it is taken to the mosque for ceremonious washing, after which the procession re-forms and proceeds to the Moslem cemetery. Headed by several priest*, the Moslem creed is repeated agai" and again as a monotonous chant. Shoulder-high the coffin is borne along by relays of the younger men, for it is a good act to carry a true follower of the Prophet to his last resting-place. So the edge of the coffin may be allowed to rest only a few seconds upon a man's shoulder before he is relieved of the burden by another. Meanwhile the women go straight to the cemetery, and form into a circle some distance away from the open grave. They resume their dirge, but add to it a slow ceremonious dance in which each dancing woman takes a handkerchief in each hand and waves them in'tune with the motion of her body. The rest look on, and keep time by band-clipping. As soon as the procession of men from the mosque appears in the cemetery gateway the women's dance and chant suddenly stop and give place to shrieks and screams and the rending afresh of clothes, and this continues until the body is finally interred he position.of the corpse" is such that the face is looking to Mecca. Later on a long low mound of stones and mortar ig built over the grave, white-washed, and painted in various strange designs 0 brilliant colours.