Lyrics of the song ball of vampires - coffins. blood flows between us

Next section The book of Genesis, in the Old Testament tradition and in this fragment (23, 1), is called "The Life of Sarah." And it would seem that the story of her life should begin here. But! Talk about her death! Since the life of a person is truly revealed and realized in his subsequent offspring, carnal or spiritual; is defined and recognized in the last near-death characteristic.

The piety of a person is revealed posthumously and in the way they treat his burial and pray for him after his death.

And we read:

The life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years: these are the years of the life of Sarah (Gen. 23:1).

The construction of this verse, in the original text, is quite complicated: "And the life of Sarah was: a hundred years and twenty years and seven years - the years of the life of Sarah."

Perhaps an indication that at a hundred years old she was fresh and mobile, as at twenty years old, and at twenty years old she was clean and spontaneous, as at seven years old.

And the fact that the life of Sarah is indicated at the moment when she dies, and then it is told about her descendants - this means that it is told about the influence that she had on her children, on her family. Her influence was, first of all, on Isaac, and in the future - on all continuing generations. Sarah in the understanding of the Old Testament is, as it were, a foremother, and all subsequent generations of Jews are her children according to the flesh. Look at Abraham your father, and at Sarah, who bore you. (Isaiah 51:2).

But Sarah is an example for Christians and Christian women - her children in spirit. So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him master. You are her children if you do good and are not embarrassed by any fear.(1 Peter 3:6).

And Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, [which is in the valley,] which is now Hebron, in the land of Canaan. (Gen. 23:2).

Sarah dies in a place called Kiriath Arba. - In ancient times, the name of this city was interpreted in different ways. But, in my opinion, the most interesting interpretation is that four couples will be buried here later. According to legend, here, in the cave of Machpelah, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and, finally, Jacob and Leah were buried. That is only four pairs.

Here it is not clear at all: Abraham came to mourn for Sarah - Sarah dies, and Abraham comes from somewhere. Why did they live separately or something? It's hard to imagine Sarah dying and Abraham living somewhere else. Of course not! Therefore, it is more logical to connect Abraham's coming to Sarah with the event that we studied in chapter 22 - that is, Abraham returns from Mount Moriah, where he was supposed to sacrifice Isaac, and the Lord stopped this sacrifice. And so, Abraham comes back and finds out that Sarah is dead.

The oldest commentator of the Old Testament - Josephus Flavius (1st century) - directly makes Sarah's death dependent on what happened on Mount Moriah. Flavius writes: “A week after this (that is, after the sacrifice of Isaac - O.S.) Sarah died, having lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

At least this is a more likely explanation of the words: And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and mourn for her , because to assume that they lived separately, in different places, would be very doubtful, because it was a strong family. And what would it teach us then?

Saint Dmitry of Rostov already wrote about the circumstances of Sarah's burial:

“Abraham did not want to bury her body in idolatrous tombs, although the inhabitants there did not forbid him, but they even said: listen to us, lord, you are among us as a king sent from God, and therefore bury your dead in our honest tombs, and no one one of us will not forbid burying your dead in his coffin. Nevertheless, Abraham, not deigning that the body of his pious wife be near the corpses of those people who died after spending their lives in idol wickedness, bought from Ephron the Hittite, in the presence of the other sons of the Hittites, a deep cave for four hundred didrachms of pure silver so that he would have his own tomb and that none of the wicked would wish to have parts there for the burial of their dead, but that only the bodies of the righteous and pious would be buried there. - That is, all their actions are an example and a guide for us.

And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and mourn for her . A precedent is being set here, that is, Scripture tells us that we should mourn for the dead. Mourned the death of Lazarus and the Lord Jesus ( Jesus shed a tear- In. 11, 35). However, the New Testament says: I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance of the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope.(1 Thess. 4:13). We read this passage from the Apostle during the funeral service for the departed. That is, sorrow should be moderate, and we should not grieve, as the atheists (pagans) grieve, who do not have hope for the resurrection from the dead. And we believe in the resurrection from the dead, so our grief for the departed suggests that the separation will not be eternal...

Blessed Augustine wrote: “Indeed, you should not consider yourself abandoned, because in inner man you have Christ present by faith in your heart. Should you mourn like pagans who have no hope, when, thanks to the surest promise, we have hope that in this life we, who are about to leave it, did not lose some of our loved ones who are leaving us, but sent ahead of us to that life, into which we will come and in which they will be dear and kind to us, without any fear of separation, at least as much as they were close.

Therefore, when Christians say goodbye to the dead, they do not say: "goodbye", they say: "goodbye, see you." Because this is a temporary break. When King David died, as described in the Bible, then, consoling the people around him, he said: Behold, I am setting out on the path of all the earth(1 Kings 2:2; cf. Joshua 23:14).

And Abraham departed from his dead woman, and spoke to the sons of Heth, and said: I am a stranger and a settler among you; give me a place for a coffin between you, so that I can bury my dead from my eyes (Gen. 23:3-4). - This is a very interesting circumstance: it would seem that God gave Abraham and his descendants the possession of all this land. However, Abraham says that he stranger and settler , that is, as if an immigrant, not a native. And he asks to be given land to own. And that property should be a grave for his wife.

On the other hand, there is some duality in this phrase: I am your stranger and settler . If a stranger , then not settler , and vice versa. Abraham, as it were, says: consider me a "stranger" ( ger), I will be an alien, you consider a "settler" ( toshav) - I will be a settler.

Although we are talking only about the cemetery land.

Indeed, no matter how much a person has wealth, no matter how much land he has, sooner or later it all ends with two meters in the cemetery.

Saint Dmitry of Rostov wrote: “Let us learn two things from here: that our whole life is wandering, the coffin is the fatherland and heritage for our body, and that everything that we have in this life is alien to us, and only one coffin there is ours, in which we will decay.

And this becomes a stable and permanent property: a person does not take anything else with him to the grave, except for the grave itself, but these two meters, a piece of land in the cemetery, is something that will be our property for a long time.

Here is what Clement of Alexandria (Stromata) writes about the righteous Abraham: “The Scripture declares a virtuous person to be the heir of the Kingdom and a fellow citizen of the ancient righteous who followed the law or lived in harmony with the law even before the law was given. Therefore, their deeds became law for us. Scripture teaches us further that a wise man is a king to whom people of a foreign tribe say: “You are the king of God in our midst,” because the subjects voluntarily submit to the righteous and the pursuit of virtue. And the philosopher Plato, assuming the goal of striving in beatitude, says that it consists in assimilation of God as far as possible. In this he, to some extent, agrees with the teaching of the law. In fact, as the Pythagorean Philo says, explaining the life of Moses, great natures, free from passions, somehow easily reach the truth.

But here Abraham, a stranger and heir to the Kingdom of God, shows that he does not have any property on earth, except for what moves with him - these are herds and people. And the only property he wants in the Holy Land is a cemetery. He wants to create a cemetery for his family - teaching us to carefully approach this issue.

By faith, Abraham obeyed the call to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and he went, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for a city that has foundations, whose maker and builder God(Heb. 11:8-10). That is, in reality, all the aspirations of Abraham led to the transcendental, unceasing life, and he was waiting for the city that God would give him after his death. And the organizer of this city is God. In the New Testament this sky city is called the Heavenly Jerusalem or the Jerusalem descending from heaven. And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; there will be no more mourning, no outcry, no sickness, for the former is gone(Rev. 21:2-4).

Abraham and Sarah did realize that they were strangers and strangers on earth. And the main promise they had from God was still the Kingdom of Heaven. For all the mundane nature of many of their actions and deeds, they strove to ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven. And that was the point. Although they cared about their earthly fiefdom, that God promised their descendants the land, and Abraham walked on this land and painted different places, where very significant events later took place in future history his descendants.

I am your stranger and settler; give me a place for a coffin among you, so that I may bury my dead from my eyes. The sons of Het answered Abraham and said to him: Listen to us, our lord; you are the prince of God in our midst (Gen. 23:4-6). This is what Clement of Alexandria writes about: that in the eyes of the inhabitants of Canaan he was like a king, like a prince of God. And the people of Canaan say: Listen to us, our lord ! That is, they kind of guess that Abraham is much higher than they are, and that the aliens on this earth are rather they than he.

Now they are ready to provide any place where Abraham wants to bury Sarah, and they are ready to provide the places where their tombs were to prepare a place for Sarah.

But Abraham understands, as we read about above in St. Dmitry of Rostov, that it is impossible to bury a believer and pagans together.

This is a very serious problem. modern Russia- Lack of Orthodox cemeteries. We have Muslim cemeteries in Russia, and you won't bury anyone there unless the mullah gives permission. We have Old Believer cemeteries-graveyards, where the permission of the Old Believer priest is also required. There are Jewish cemeteries. But there is not a single Orthodox cemetery! This is a serious problem, because, since the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Christians, we were, as it were, entered into total mass and they bury with us, next to atheists, communists with red stars, suicides and in general it is not clear who. This is a very serious problem, because before the revolution there were quite strict laws: the rector of the Orthodox cemetery was the priest of the church closest to the cemetery. And he decided who could be buried and who could not. If a person was a suicide, he was buried behind an Orthodox cemetery: there was a specially allocated land for such cases. If it was a performer, an actor, they were also buried behind an Orthodox cemetery: they believed that this was an indecent profession. If the cemetery fell into disrepair - that is, the entire land, the entire area, for example, was already filled, or many years have passed, no one visits this place anymore - then they dug a border-ditch around the cemetery land, because the cemetery land is considered consecrated (separated ) earth. And this excavated ditch testified that no one has the right to desecrate this place, it is like a border strip. And when the crosses in the cemetery came into a dilapidated state, crumbled from time to time, they were taken to the church and in winter they heated the church. These crosses could only be used for heating the church. And this place was alienated - no one had the right to dig something up, rebury it, exhume it, and so on. That is, in imperial Russia there were quite strict laws on this matter. There were funeral brotherhoods before the revolution. These brotherhoods consisted of respected wealthy people who, at their own expense, buried the poor or found people who died on the street. And if it was established that he Orthodox person- they saw a cross on his chest, and there was no evidence that it was suicide or something else terrible, - then he was buried in the cemetery at the expense of the brotherhood. In the days of Jesus Christ, it was believed that there were three greatest virtues: to visit the sick on the Sabbath, to engage in matchmaking, and to bury the dead. The Bible teaches that next to the one who buries the dead, angels are always present as helpers (Tov. 12, 12). Righteous Tobit, testifying to his merits, exclaimed: He gave my bread to the hungry, my clothes to the naked, and if he saw one of my tribe dead and thrown outside the wall of Nineveh, he buried him (Tov. 1, 17). All this is a rather serious question. Now there are Orthodox cemeteries at some monasteries, where only the monastic brethren are buried. But in general, the problem remains a problem: when Orthodox Christians are buried next to atheists, next to heretics, sectarians, this is wrong.

Church mercy also determined to have the service of the funeral of the unbaptized and those of other faiths, reverent for the fact of human death and admonishing the deceased non-Orthodox with prayers and incense.

And Abraham's behavior is an example for us. He does not want to bury his wife even among the tombs of the princes of the land of Heth, he wants to have his own cemetery.

Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of that land, the sons of Heth; and [Abraham] spoke to them and said: if you agree that I bury my deceased, then listen to me, ask for me Ephron, the son of Tsokharov, to give me the cave of Machpelu (Gen. 23:7-9).

Abraham does not want to receive anything for free from these people. Remember when the king of Sodom offered him some of the riches he (Abram) freed after the battle of kings? Abraham then said: I won’t even take a thread and a belt from shoes(Gen. 14:23)! He never wanted to be dependent on the Gentiles.

Alas! Some modern Russians humanitarian consciousness: they live, receiving humanitarian aid, tranches, go to sects for the sake of humanitarian aid - this is terrible! Abraham does not want to be dependent on the Gentiles, and he says to Ephron: .. in the hearing of [all] the people of that land, and said: If you listen, I will give you silver for the field; take it from me and I will bury my deceased there (Gen. 23:13).

And now we will see how this Efron is a changeable person. It would seem that at first he was ready to give away the land for free, but now there is an opportunity to set a price, and then he will not miss his. This means that Efron guessed from the very beginning, that is, he knew about Abraham, that this man does not take anything for nothing from anyone, that it is completely independent person. Abraham does not take anything just like that, because nothing happens in this life just like that, you have to pay for everything.

Ephron answered Abraham and said to him: my lord! listen to me: the earth is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is it for me and for you? bury your dead (Gen. 23:14-15). In fact, he names a very large amount. Four hundred shekels of silver is a huge sum, this piece of land is not worth that kind of money. An example can be given from the Code of Hammurabi - this is the oldest legal document. The Code of Hammurabi states that a laborer who worked for a year in employment with some rich man was paid six or seven shekels of silver. This is for a year! That is, five shekels of silver was enough for one person to live for a year.

And this Efron, it would seem, such a “humanitarian” person, says: Four hundred shekels ! On the edge of his field there is a small plot, there is a cave.

This is a very large, just a huge amount! But Abraham is a man of his word, because he himself invited Efron to set the price himself. It is said: But let your word be: yes, yes; no no; and what is more than this is from the evil one(Matthew 5:37).

Yefimiy Zigaben wrote: “Let it be, he says, by your word, when you affirm, - Yes and when you deny No . Use this only for approval instead of oaths and nothing else: Yes and No . And what is added in addition to this, he calls an oath. - That is, for a believer, YES is always YES, and NO is always NO. Not like today Yes- this is Yes, and tomorrow changes to No, and vice versa.

Abraham listened to Efron; And Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver, how much he had announced in a loud voice of the sons of Het, four hundred shekels of silver, which goes with merchants (Gen. 23:16). It was not money in our understanding - in those days there was no money, and silver and gold were cut into pieces and weighed on a scale. Sickle is a measure of weight.

By the way, in ancient Russia there was no money, the word "ruble" means "a chopped off piece of silver" or "a chopped off piece of gold." There were such silver or gold bars, but when they were chopped (you know that silver and gold are soft metals), these pieces were called “chopped” or “rubles”, that is, the cut-off part of the ingot.

And so Abraham weighs out four hundred shekels of silver to this "disinterested", "humanitarian" Efron. It is generally dangerous to get involved with these people: all these humanitarian programs- tricks of rogue political technologists and crisis managers-adventurers.

Abraham did not want to be dependent on the pagans (people of a different faith), so he took a principled position. This is for us - an example of how to behave. Therefore, Clement of Alexandria writes: "Their deeds have become law for us."

As they say, free cheese is only in a mousetrap!

That is, it was a judgment. There is again a mention of the gates of the city, and you and I decided that in the language of the Bible this means a place where some legal decisions are made. That is, this decision was legalized, and Abraham receives the only property - this is the resting place and the cemetery land, which alienated the cave of Machpelah from the land that belonged to the pagans. And thus the patriarch of God, Abraham, to whom God gave all this land, is the owner of the land for burial.

And the field of Ephron, which is under Machpelah, opposite Mamre, the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field, all around it, became the possession of Abraham before the eyes of the sons of Heth, all who entered the gates of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, which is now Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So Abraham got from the sons of Heth the field and the cave that is on it, into the property for burial (Gen. 23:17-20).

The legend-parable, which we mentioned above, about the bull and the shining cave with Adam and Eve, is, of course, a fairy tale. But the fact is that in the Bible such an expression is very often found - when it is said about a dead person that he venerated to his fathers(Gen. 25:8; Dan. 14:1; Acts 13:36, etc.), that is, "lay down with his fathers." And the New Testament says that believers, when they die, will lie in the bosom of Abraham: I tell you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven(Matthew 8:11).

So, the cave of Machpelah is special place, and this is the first and only property that Abraham had in the Holy Land. This is very important question- the question of the burial of our loved ones. We must think about where we will be buried, this is very important. It is important that the children also know where they will be buried, after us and with us. For example, I (I hope) know where I should be buried - this is very a good place. There is a cemetery in a pine forest, and there is a place for me there, very good place so I think.

In Russia, it was believed that if a person prepares for death, then, as a rule, he lives a long time. Usually preparation for death began when a person got married, if it was a man. If a woman - she got married and began to prepare for death. As a rule, when a person got married, he was given a separate house so that the young people could live on their own. And the young man made coffins for himself, for his wife, and put them in the attic. And things for burial were also put in this coffin. When there were some temptations, thoughts, a Russian person in the old days could climb into the attic, lie down in his coffin, think. Well, by the time of death, the coffin was so dry that one person could lift it - the coffin became very light, because it lay in the attic for a long time, and people who are preparing for death live a very long time. That is, this is such a tradition of the Russian land - to be philosophical about the moment of one's own departure.

What do we know about burial in biblical times?

After the onset of death, the eyes of the deceased were closed (Genesis 46:4). They buried in the vestments that they wore during their lifetime: the king - with a diadem, the prophet - in a cloak, and the warrior - with weapons (1 Sam. 28, 14; Ezek. 32, 27). During the excavations of Gezer, a spear point was found in one ancient grave. Laid with the dead and wealth. Josephus tells about the robbery by John Hyrcanus of the tomb of King David for 3,000 talents of silver. He also tells about the abduction by Herod of many golden ornaments from there (“The Antiquities of the Jews”: 13, 8, 4; 15, 3, 4; 16, 7, 1). Fragrant plants that were burned immediately were placed in the graves of noble persons (2 Kings 16:14; 21:19; Jer. 84:5; "Jewish War": 1:33, 9). Embalming (Gen. 50, 2, 26) and the position in the tomb (sarcophagus) mentioned at the burial of Joseph, apparently, represent Egyptian customs, completely alien to the Jews of the biblical period (1 Kings 13, 21). The body was usually carried out on a stretcher (2 Kings 3:31). The Jews at all times buried the dead (Gen. 23, 19; 25, 9; 1 Sam. 25, 1), and did not burn them. Excavations in Gezer proved the possibility of burning corpses only in pagan times, but among the Jews it was used only as a shameful punishment (Josh. 7, 25; Lev. 20, 14; 21, 9; Am. 2, 1), since not to be buried was considered the greatest misfortune (1 Sam. 14, 11; 16, 4; Jer. 16, 4, etc.). Therefore, everyone considered it a duty to bury the corpse found in the field (2 Kings 21:14; Ezek. 39:14). Even an executed criminal had to be buried (Deut. 21, 23). AT close connection with these views, there is a covenant to cover all spilled blood with earth (Gen. 37, 26; Lev. 17, 13), since the soul is in the blood, and uncovered blood cries out for revenge (Ezek. 24, 8; Is. 26, 21) . AT early time buried in natural caves, and laid on the ground with raised knees. The bodies of noble persons in single graves were laid prostrate on benches or on the ground in special chambers made of unhewn stones. If the natural cave turned out to be insufficient, then it was expanded or a new one was arranged. And, probably, it was only during the time of the Israeli kings that they switched to the custom of carving regular single graves or family crypts in the rocks. In the prostrate state, the dead were buried at first only in grave crypts, but then it became a common custom. In the graves, together with the deceased, earthenware was placed, for example, lamps, pots, bowls, etc. Often, the vessels found contain the remains of food and bones. The idea that the community of the genus exists even after death is explained special meaning, which was attached to a common family grave, a family crypt. Initially, the crypt was arranged near the house, and the Jewish kings, who lived near the temple, had their tombs near the temple (Ezek. 43, 7), and then in the garden of Uzza (2 Kings 21, 18). There were common graves for the poor and strangers, as well as for criminals (Jer. 26:23; Is. 53:9). Not being buried in the graves of one's fathers was considered a curse (1 Kings 13:22). This was, according to the Chronicle, the lot of the wicked kings Jehoram, Joash and Ahaz. They usually buried on the day of death. The funeral was accompanied by mourning. In addition to women at home, professional mourners and mourners took part in mourning (Jer. 9, 16; Am. 5, 16; 2 Chr. 35, 25; Mt. 9, 23; Mk. 5, 38) - “singers and singers” . Mourning was accompanied by exclamations: "alas, my brother" or "sovereign", etc. Observance of mourning is a very ancient custom. Joseph mourned for his father for seven days (Gen. 50:10); they mourned for Moses and Aaron for 30 days (Num. 20:29; Deut. 36:8). Clothes were torn as a sign of sadness (2 Kings 3:31, etc.). They dressed, in addition, in a mourning cloak - a bag (“sackcloth”, Is. 15, 3, etc.), sat down in dust and sprinkled ashes on their heads (Job. 2, 8; Joshua 7, 6); beat themselves on the chest and thighs (Jer. 31, 18), took off their shoes, covered their heads. In more later times together with the deceased, they laid a jar with tears of those who mourned for him in the grave.

As the Word of God says: a time to cry, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance(Eccl. 3, 4). And next time, if we are alive and the Lord allows, we will talk about burial today and talk about a fun wedding and matchmaking.

Of course, the dead have no sense of humor. But a person has it while he is alive, his friends and relatives. And it is a sense of humor that can explain the presence in the world of very unusual, sometimes,. Here we will tell about the ten most unusual similar products in our today's review!

Even death cannot stop some people in their love of beer. It is for such beer lovers that a coffin in the form of a bottle with your favorite drink was created.

There are still people in the world who prefer vinyl records to digital music recordings. Therefore, it is quite logical that they should go to another world in a special coffin, stylized as a vinyl player.

The production of goods for people with non-traditional sexual orientation is gaining momentum. Even a special coffin for them, decorated with images of naked guys with the bodies of Apollo, has been made.

Those who during their lives could not tear themselves away from the computer, maybe in their afterlife keep doing it. For this, even a special coffin with a monitor, keyboard and mouse has been created.

It is not necessary to bury a person in a coffin - you can put your bad habits there (cigarettes, alcohol, gambling). For this, the symbolic coffin Bury the Habit Recordable Coffin was created.

Some old Nokia phones are still in active use by their owners - they are simple and reliable. It is for such people that a coffin was created in the form mobile phone Nokia with early 2000s design.

For the most part, no amount of reasoning will make a smoker quit his beloved bad habit. But perhaps a pack of cigarettes in the form of a coffin will cope with this difficult task. Very visual!

A coffin for Nikon camera lovers
The dispute between lovers of Canon and Nikon photographic equipment is so fierce that some participants in the conflict would gladly see their opponents in a coffin. Unless, of course, it's a coffin stylized as the owner's favorite camera.

For many hundreds and thousands of years, the custom of placing the dead in some place far from living people has become entrenched in popular superstitions. Or, at least, do everything possible to never cross paths with them - at least bury them in the ground. And then arrange deadly fireworks. Almost all peoples follow this logic, but some resort to it with particular ingenuity.

In the Philippines, the inhabitants of the mountainous province of Sagada have been burying their dead in so-called “hanging coffins” for more than two thousand years. With the help of ropes, wooden coffins are fixed high above the ground on limestone cliffs. Among the indigenous population, it is believed that the higher the body of the deceased is buried, the closer his soul is to heaven. Today this place is known as the Hanging Coffins of Sagada.

Let's take a closer look at them...

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Such a method of burial, although unusual, but if you look at it from a practical point of view, it becomes clear that the coffin on the rock is protected not only from defilement by various animals, but also from natural disasters (for example, floods).

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During life, every person wants his body to remain intact after death. It was this that apparently guided the inhabitants of the mountainous province, having come up with such unusual way burial. In addition, the local mountains themselves are considered a sacred place among the local population, so it is quite a suitable place for a cemetery.

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In some places, there are so many hanging coffins that from a distance the rocks resemble multi-storey buildings, where the coffins act as balconies. These designs look not only creepy, but also rather fragile. It seems that if the wind blows a little stronger, then the hanging cemetery will certainly collapse down. However, this impression is very misleading, as some coffins hang on the rocks for many, many years. Some coffins have been hung for hundreds of years!

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Almost all the rocks of Sagada are hung with dozens or even hundreds of coffins. By tradition, every resident of the province must prepare a coffin for himself in advance. When a person dies, his body is treated with a special compound that prevents decomposition. In this state, the body of the deceased remains for five days. At this time, relatives and friends of the deceased arrange a funeral feast, after which the bodies are finally placed in coffins carved from wood and hung high in the mountains.

When you first see wooden coffins suspended at a height of several tens of meters on an almost sheer cliff, you will probably have a question, how do the Filipinos place the coffins at such a height?! locals prefer to keep the burial process secret, so you will not get an answer to this question.

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In order to look at an unusual cemetery, you have to go a long way. The road to Sagada takes about 8 hours, but if you decide to visit the hanging coffins of Sagada during the rainy season, then get ready to spend all 16 on the road! In fact, the distance to the mountainous province is only 275 kilometers, but the condition of the road is not conducive to fast driving. The path to Sagada is very exhausting, so this route is not very popular with tourists.

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On the this moment this species burial is no longer practiced, however, the number of coffins suspended on sheer cliffs only increases from year to year, which leads to certain thoughts.

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Sometimes a chair is also hung next to the coffin, on which the deceased sat shortly before death.

In general, the hanging coffins of Sagada are a very strange and unusual place. Perhaps this is one of the most amazing cemeteries on the planet!

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The history of China contains many unsolved mysteries. Strange and mysterious traditions and rituals of forever disappeared peoples attract attention and push in search of answers. One of these mysteries is hanging coffins. To this day, scientists have not fully unraveled the mystery of hanging coffins and the people who practiced such a strange way of "burial".

Far away in the mountains, among the rocks, hanging coffins “hover” on wedges, the only thing that continues to remind of the mysterious disappeared people. The Bo people lived in the southwest modern China occupying part of the current province of Yun-Nan. The smallness that history has preserved allows us to judge that the people of Bo have stepped quite far in development. And would have developed further, if not for bloody wars with the Ming dynasty. Four hundred years ago, the Bo people were practically wiped off the face of the earth. There are almost no cultural monuments left, with the exception of strange air burials.

The Bo have always been an ethnic minority in China. However, despite this, they were able to create an original vibrant culture about three millennia ago. And one of the most amazing features bo are their burial customs.

It is necessary to make a reservation that in China they are especially reverent about funeral traditions and, in general, everything related to the dead. Most Chinese still ancient tradition they bury their dead on the slopes of the hills facing human habitation. It is believed that this brings good luck to the descendants.

The coffins were made rather roughly from hardwood and were not painted. However, many of them have survived to this day.
The most "fresh" ones were installed on the rocks along the Yangtze River 400 years ago. The oldest ones that can still be found are about a thousand years old. And the oldest coffin bo dates back 2.5 thousand years!

Photo 18.

Some bo coffins were kept not only on wooden stands attached to the wall, but also in small caves. The Filipinos came up with the idea of storing coffins in large caves, such as in these pictures. Please note that the coffins are made from solid tree trunks.

The nationality is now considered practically extinct, but there are still a certain number of bo in China. Even some geneticists are interested in their history!
And yet, where and how the Bo got the tradition to arrange rock graveyards is now difficult to establish. Modern researchers agree that the tradition had two motives. The people of the disappeared people believed that the soul of the deceased goes to heaven. Raising the coffin as high as possible helped the soul to rise. The rock, like a step, helped to reach heaven faster. From a practical point of view, this was convenient because the enemies could not desecrate the dead. Quite reasonable, given that no one has reached many "cemeteries" to this day ...

No less interesting is how they hoisted the coffins on the rocks ... The coffin weighed about 200 kilograms. The people of Bo raised and fixed coffins on sheer walls about 100-200 meters high (sometimes less, depending on the size of the rock). How did people who did not have any special equipment at their disposal climb where even now not all climbers can reach?

There are legends that the people of Bo were able to fly, and the air element was subject to them. That is why they buried their dead so high and strange. Some burials are found in gorges where mountain rivers run. Hypotheses have been put forward that the people of Bo waited for the spring floods, and the rising water helped them. Some believe that people drove wedges into the rock and climbed a makeshift ladder. The probability of this assumption is confirmed by the holes found in the bases of some rocks on which the coffins rest. The description of another plausible way of raising the coffin to the rock with the help of ropes was found in the archives.

Hanging burials are typical not only for China and the Philippines. There are hanging cemeteries in some other Asian countries, for example, in Indonesia.

Bo rock coffins are already cultural monuments. Therefore, the Chinese authorities are constantly making sure that the coffins remain intact. To do this, they carried out restoration work three times already - in 1974, 1985 and in 2002. By the way, during those works, several interesting facts. In particular, they learned that over the past ten years, two dozen coffins, for one reason or another, fell into the water. But there were 16 previously unknown. In total there are now about 290 of them.

Cremation American style. See also what is The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

Close your eyes, everything is gradual and no one will replace you here.
Morning will give us this moment and the cold outside the window is not a hindrance.
While we're here in a warm bed, the blood runs down your neck in waves.
The touches are quivering and serene, we apparently found what we wanted for a long time.

No trouble will find us here, just you and me in this crypt.
Time will freeze at this moment, I will give you everything I have.
Teeth clench tight, tight, that's all I need.
Ready to follow you to the ends of the world so that you bite me in the neck.

Chorus:

Blood flows between us, we found love in this castle.
We won't get wet in the rain, and today we're just the two of us.

Chorus:
Blood flows between us, we found love in this castle.
We won't get wet in the rain, and today we're just the two of us.
Blood flows between us, we found love in this castle.
We won't get wet in the rain, and today we're just the two of us.

Blood flows between us, we found love in this castle.
We won't get wet in the rain, and today we're just the two of us.
Blood flows between us, we found love in this castle.
We won't get wet in the rain, and today we're just the two of us.

[Verse 3]:
A night with you means we won't sleep
I take you, and I will bite professionally.
You put on your suit, I love raincoats so much.
I am our evil count among thousands of men.

I'm throwing a ball, you checkmate
And you don’t even know that now you don’t like chocolate.
You don't like bread, bananas, sushi, coffee and carrots
Otny, baby, there's only blood in your diet. Close your eyes, everything is gradually and nobody will replace you here.
Morning will give us this moment and the cold outside the window is not a hindrance.
While we are here in a warm bed, the blood waves along your neck.
The touches are trembling and serene, we have apparently found what we longed for.

Here we will not find problems, only you and I in this crypt.
Time will freeze at this moment, all that I have I will give you.
The teeth are tightly clamped, that's all I need.
I'm ready to run after you to the end of the world, so that you bite me in the neck.

chorus:

Between us, blood flows, we found love in this castle.
Do not get wet in the rain and today we are only two.

:
Again your voice, it's like a cradle.
I "ll bite you to be mine.
My jacket is so well seated on it,
And her eyes so beckon me - even kill

chorus:
Between us, blood flows, we found love in this castle.
Do not get wet in the rain and today we are only two.
Between us, blood flows, we found love in this castle.
Do not get wet in the rain and today we are only two.

Between us, blood flows, we found love in this castle.
Do not get wet in the rain and today we are only two.
Between us, blood flows, we found love in this castle.
Do not get wet in the rain and today we are only two.

:
Night with you means we won't sleep
I take you, and professionally I will bite.
You "ll wear your suit, I like raincoats.
I am our evil count for thousands of men.

I arrange a ball, you put a check and mate,
And even you do not know that now you do not like chocolate.
You do not like bread, bananas, sushi, coffee and carrots
Father, baby, your blood contains only blood.

The next section of the Book of Genesis, in the Old Testament tradition and in this fragment (23, 1), is called "The Life of Sarah." And it would seem that here the story of her life should begin. But! Talk about her death! Since the life of a person is truly revealed and realized in his subsequent offspring, carnal or spiritual; defined and recognized in the last dying characteristic...

The piety of a person is revealed posthumously and in the way they treat his burial and pray for him after his death.

And we read:

The life of Sarah was one hundred and twenty-seven years: these are the years of the life of Sarah (Gen. 23:1).

The construction of this verse, in the original text, is quite complicated: "And the life of Sarah was: a hundred years and twenty years and seven years - the years of the life of Sarah."

Perhaps an indication that at a hundred years old she was fresh and mobile, as at twenty years old, and at twenty years old she was clean and spontaneous, as at seven years old.

And Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, [which is in the valley,] which is now Hebron, in the land of Canaan. (Gen. 23:2).

Here it is not clear at all: Abraham came to mourn for Sarah - Sarah dies, and Abraham comes from somewhere. Why did they live separately or something? It's hard to imagine that Sarah is dying and Abraham is living somewhere else. Of course not! Therefore, it is more logical to connect the coming of Abraham to Sarah with the event that we studied in the 22nd chapter - that is, Abraham returns from Mount Moriah, where he was supposed to sacrifice Isaac, and the Lord stopped this sacrifice. And so, Abraham comes back and finds out that Sarah is dead.

... Saint Dmitry of Rostov already wrote about the circumstances of Sarah's burial:

“Abraham did not want to bury her body in idolatrous tombs, although the inhabitants there did not forbid him, but they even said: listen to us, lord, you are among us as a king, sent from God, and therefore bury your dead in our honest tombs, and no one one of us will not forbid burying your dead in his coffin. Nevertheless, Abraham, not deigning that the body of his pious wife be near the corpses of those people who died after spending their lives in idol wickedness, bought from Ephron the Hittite, in the presence of the other sons of the Hittites, a deep cave for four hundred didrachms of pure silver so that he would have his own tomb and that none of the wicked would wish to have parts there for the burial of their dead, but that only the bodies of the righteous and pious would be buried there. - That is, all their actions are an example and a guide for us.

And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and mourn for her . A precedent is being set here, that is, Scripture tells us that we should mourn for the dead. Mourned the death of Lazarus and the Lord Jesus ( Jesus shed a tear- In. 11, 35). However, the New Testament says: I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance of the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope.(1 Thess. 4:13). We read this passage from the Apostle during the funeral service for the departed. That is, sorrow should be moderate, and we should not grieve, as the atheists (pagans) grieve, who have no hope in the resurrection from the dead. And we believe in the resurrection from the dead, so our grief for the departed suggests that the separation will not be eternal...

Blessed Augustine wrote: “Indeed, you should not consider yourself abandoned, since Christ is present in your inner man by faith in your heart. Should you mourn like pagans who have no hope, when, thanks to the surest promise, we have hope that in this life we, who are about to leave it, did not lose some of our loved ones who are leaving us, but sent ahead of us to that life in which we will come and in which they will be dear and kind to us, without any fear of separation, at least as much as they were close.

Therefore, when Christians say goodbye to the dead, they do not say: "goodbye", they say: "goodbye, see you." Because this is a temporary separation ... When King David died, as described in the Bible, then, consoling the people around him, he said: Behold, I am setting out on the path of all the earth(1 Kings 2:2; cf. Joshua 23:14).

Although we are talking only about the cemetery land ...

Indeed, no matter how much a person has wealth, no matter how much land he has, sooner or later it all ends with two meters in the cemetery.

And this becomes a stable and permanent property: a person does not take anything else with him to the grave, except for the grave itself, but these two meters, a piece of land in the cemetery, are something that will be our property for a long time.

Here is what Clement of Alexandria (Stromata) writes about the righteous Abraham: “The Scripture declares a virtuous person to be the heir to the Kingdom and a fellow citizen of the ancient righteous who followed the law or lived in harmony with the law even before the law was given. Therefore, their deeds became law for us. Scripture teaches us further that a wise man is a king to whom people of a foreign tribe say: “You are the king of God in our midst,” because the subjects voluntarily submit to the righteous and the pursuit of virtue. And the philosopher Plato, assuming the goal of striving in beatitude, says that it consists in assimilation of God as far as possible. In this he, to some extent, agrees with the teaching of the law. In fact, as the Pythagorean Philo says, explaining the life of Moses, great natures, free from passions, somehow easily reach the truth.

All the aspirations of Abraham led to the transcendental life, he was waiting for the city that God would give him after death.

By faith, Abraham obeyed the call to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and he went, not knowing where is going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for a city that has foundations, whose maker and builder God(Heb. 11:8-10). That is, in reality, all the aspirations of Abraham led to the transcendental, unceasing life, and he was waiting for the city that God would give him after his death. And the organizer of this city is God. In the New Testament this heavenly city is called the Heavenly Jerusalem or Jerusalem descending from heaven. And I, John, saw the holy city of Jerusalem, new, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; there will be no more mourning, no outcry, no sickness, for the former is gone(Rev. 21:2-4).

Abraham and Sarah did realize that they were strangers and strangers on earth. And the main promise they had from God was still the Kingdom of Heaven. For all the mundane nature of many of their actions and deeds, they aspired to ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven. And that was the point. Although they cared about their earthly fiefdom, that God promised their descendants the land, and Abraham walked on this earth and painted different places, where very significant events later took place in the future history of his descendants.

Now they are ready to provide any place where Abraham wants to bury Sarah, and they are ready to provide the places where their tombs were to prepare a place for Sarah.

But Abraham understands, as we have read above from St. Dmitry of Rostov, that it is impossible to bury a believer and pagans together.

This is very serious problem modern Russia - the lack of Orthodox cemeteries. We have Muslim cemeteries in Russia, and you won't bury anyone there unless the mullah gives permission. We have Old Believer cemeteries-graveyards, where the permission of the Old Believer priest is also required. There are Jewish cemeteries. But there is not a single Orthodox cemetery! This is a serious problem, because, since the vast majority of Orthodox Christians, we are sort of included in the general mass and are buried with us, next to atheists, communists with red stars, suicides, and in general it is not clear who. This is a very serious problem, because before the revolution there were quite strict laws: the rector of the Orthodox cemetery was the priest of the church closest to the cemetery. And he decided who could be buried and who could not. If a person was a suicide, he was buried behind an Orthodox cemetery: there was a specially allocated land for such cases. If it was a performer, an actor, they were also buried behind an Orthodox cemetery: they believed that this was an indecent profession. If the cemetery fell into disrepair - that is, the entire land, the entire area, for example, was already filled, or many years have passed, no one visits this place anymore - then they dug a border-ditch around the cemetery land, because the cemetery land is considered consecrated (separated ) ground. And this excavated ditch testified that no one has the right to desecrate this place, it is like a border strip. And when the crosses in the cemetery came into a dilapidated state, crumbled from time to time, they were taken to the church and in winter they heated the church. These crosses could only be used for heating the church. And this place was alienated - no one had the right to dig something up, rebury it, exhume it, and so on. That is, in imperial Russia there were quite strict laws on this matter. There were funeral brotherhoods before the revolution. These brotherhoods consisted of respected wealthy people who, at their own expense, buried the poor or found people who died on the street. And if it was established that he was an Orthodox person - they saw a cross on his chest, and there was no evidence that it was suicide or something else terrible - then he was buried in the cemetery at the expense of the brotherhood. In the days of Jesus Christ, it was believed that there were three greatest virtues: to visit the sick on the Sabbath, to engage in matchmaking, and to bury the dead. The Bible teaches that next to the one who buries the dead, angels are always present as helpers (Tov. 12, 12). Righteous Tobit, testifying to his merits, exclaimed: He gave my bread to the hungry, my clothes to the naked, and if he saw one of my tribe dead and thrown outside the wall of Nineveh, he buried him (Tov. 1, 17). All this is a rather serious question. Now there are Orthodox cemeteries at some monasteries, where only the monastic brethren are buried. But in general, the problem remains a problem: when Orthodox Christians are buried next to atheists, next to heretics, sectarians, this is wrong.

And Abraham's behavior is an example for us. He does not want to bury his wife even among the tombs of the princes of the land of Het, he wants to have his own cemetery.

Abraham does not want to receive anything for free from these people.

Alas! Some modern Russians have a humanitarian consciousness: they live by receiving humanitarian aid, tranches, go to sects for the sake of humanitarian aid - this is terrible! Abraham does not want to be dependent on the Gentiles, and he says to Ephron: ... in the hearing of [all] the people of that land, and said: If you listen, I will give you silver for the field; take it from me and I will bury my deceased there (Gen. 23:13).

And now we will see how this Efron is a changeable person. It would seem that at first he was ready to give away the land for free, but now there is an opportunity to set a price, and then he will not miss his. This means that Efron guessed from the very beginning, that is, he knew about Abraham, that this man does not take anything for nothing from anyone, that he is a completely independent person. Abraham does not take anything just like that, because nothing happens in this life just like that, you have to pay for everything.

And this Efron, it would seem, such a “humanitarian” person, says: Four hundred shekels ! On the edge of his field there is a plot, there is a cave ...

By the way, in ancient Russia there was no money, the word "ruble" means "a chopped off piece of silver" or "a chopped off piece of gold." There were such silver or gold bars, but when they were chopped (you know that silver and gold are soft metals), these pieces were called "chopped" or "rubles", that is, the cut-off part of the ingot.

And so Abraham weighs out four hundred shekels of silver to this "disinterested", "humanitarian" Efron. It is generally dangerous to get involved with these people: all these humanitarian programs are the tricks of rogue political technologists and crisis managers-adventurers.

As they say, free cheese is only in a mousetrap!

And the field of Ephron, which is under Machpel, against Mamre, the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field, all around it, became the possession of Abraham before the eyes of the sons of Heth, all who entered the gates of his city (Gen. 23:17-18).

And the field of Ephron, which is at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field, all around it, became the possession of Abraham in the sight of the sons of Heth, all who entered the gates of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah, opposite Mamre, which is now Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So Abraham got from the sons of Heth the field and the cave that is on it, into the property for burial (Gen. 23:17-20).

So, the Cave of Machpelah is a special place, and it is the first and only property that Abraham had in the Holy Land. This is a very important issue - the issue of the burial of our loved ones. We must think about where we will be buried, this is very important. It is important that the children also know where they will be buried, after us and with us. For example, I (I hope) know where I should be buried - this is a very good place ... There is a cemetery in a pine forest, and there is a place for me, a very good place, so I think.

In Russia, it was believed that if a person prepares for death, then, as a rule, he lives for a long time. Usually preparation for death began when a person got married, if it was a man. If a woman - she got married and began to prepare for death. As a rule, when a person got married, he was given a separate house so that the young people could live on their own. And the young man made coffins for himself, for his wife, and put them in the attic. And things for burial were also put in this coffin. When there were some temptations, thoughts, a Russian person in the old days could climb into the attic, lie down in his coffin, think. Well, by the time of death, the coffin was so dry that one person could lift it - the coffin became very light, because it lay in the attic for a long time, and people who are preparing for death live a very long time. That is, this is such a tradition of the Russian land - to be philosophical about the moment of one's own departure.

What do we know about burial in biblical times?

It was considered a curse not to be buried in the burial places of the fathers.

After the onset of death, the eyes of the deceased were closed (Genesis 46:4). They buried in the vestments that they wore during their lifetime: the king - with a diadem, the prophet - in a cloak, and the warrior - with weapons (1 Sam. 28, 14; Ezek. 32, 27). During the excavations of Gezer, a spear point was found in one ancient grave. Wealth was also laid with the dead… Flavius Josephus tells about the robbery by John Hyrcanus of the tomb of King David for 3,000 talents of silver. He also tells about the abduction by Herod of many golden ornaments from there (“The Antiquities of the Jews”: 13, 8, 4; 15, 3, 4; 16, 7, 1). Fragrant plants that were burned immediately were placed in the graves of noble persons (2 Kings 16:14; 21:19; Jer. 84:5; "Jewish War": 1:33, 9). Embalming (Gen. 50, 2, 26) and the position in the tomb (sarcophagus) mentioned at the burial of Joseph, apparently, represent Egyptian customs, completely alien to the Jews of the biblical period (1 Kings 13, 21). The body was usually carried out on a stretcher (2 Kings 3:31). The Jews at all times buried the dead (Gen. 23, 19; 25, 9; 1 Sam. 25, 1), and did not burn them. Excavations in Gezer proved the possibility of burning corpses only in pagan times, but among the Jews it was used only as a shameful punishment (Josh. 7, 25; Lev. 20, 14; 21, 9; Am. 2, 1), since not to be buried was considered the greatest misfortune (1 Sam. 14, 11; 16, 4; Jer. 16, 4, etc.). Therefore, everyone considered it a duty to bury the corpse found in the field (2 Kings 21:14; Ezek. 39:14). Even an executed criminal had to be buried (Deut. 21:23). In close connection with these views, there is a covenant to cover all spilled blood with earth (Gen. 37, 26; Lev. 17, 13), since the soul is in the blood, and uncovered blood cries out for revenge (Ezek. 24, 8; Is. 26 , 21). In the early times, they were buried in natural caves, and they were laid on the ground with raised knees. The bodies of noble persons in single graves were laid prostrate on benches or on the ground in special chambers made of unhewn stones. If the natural cave turned out to be insufficient, then it was expanded or a new one was arranged. And, probably, it was only during the time of the Israeli kings that they switched to the custom of carving regular single graves or family crypts in the rocks. In the open state, the dead were buried at first only in grave crypts, but then it became a common custom. In the graves, together with the deceased, earthenware was placed, for example, lamps, pots, bowls, etc. Quite often, the vessels found contain the remains of food, bones ... grave, family vault. Initially, the crypt was arranged near the house, and the Jewish kings, who lived near the temple, had their tombs near the temple (Ezek. 43, 7), and then in the garden of Uzza (2 Kings 21, 18). There were common graves for the poor and strangers, as well as for criminals (Jer. 26:23; Is. 53:9). Not being buried in the graves of one's fathers was considered a curse (1 Kings 13:22). This was, according to the Chronicle, the lot of the wicked kings Jehoram, Joash and Ahaz. They usually buried on the day of death. The funeral was accompanied by mourning. In addition to women at home, professional mourners and mourners took part in mourning (Jer. 9, 16; Am. 5, 16; 2 Chr. 35, 25; Mt. 9, 23; Mk. 5, 38) - “singers and singers” . Mourning was accompanied by exclamations: “alas, my brother” or “sir”, etc. Mourning is a very ancient custom. Joseph mourned for his father for seven days (Gen. 50:10); they mourned for Moses and Aaron for 30 days (Num. 20:29; Deut. 36:8). Clothes were torn as a sign of sadness (2 Kings 3:31, etc.). They dressed, in addition, in a mourning cloak - a bag (“sackcloth”, Is. 15, 3, etc.), sat down in dust and sprinkled ashes on their heads (Job. 2, 8; Joshua 7, 6); beat themselves on the chest and thighs (Jer. 31, 18), took off their shoes, covered their heads. In later times, together with the deceased, a vial with tears of those who mourned for him was placed in the grave.