Greek and Egyptian Burial Customs: What Made Them Different?

Funerary practices in Ancient Civilisations have always been a reflection of a culture's beliefs and values. When the Greeks came into contact with the ancient civilisation of the Nile Valley, including the conquest of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and the Ptolemaic period, there were significant differences in the funerary practices of the two cultures. The native Egyptian people had strong beliefs that death was a temporary state in life and therefore, they preserved the body of the dead person with great care so that when they died they would have an everlasting afterlife. The Greeks however had strong beliefs that death was the end of life and they preferred cremation or simple inhumation. Comparisons can be drawn between the two cultures looking at their religious beliefs, body treatments, tomb design, grave goods and mourning rituals.

1. Religious Beliefs – Immortality or Hades?

The different burial practises between the Greeks and Egyptians are largely due to their contrasting religious beliefs.

A. Egyptian Immortality

The ancient Egyptians believed life was an endless cycle. Based around the myth of Osiris and how he was killed, cut up and pieced back together by Isis and brought back to life, they believed the body could be brought back to life if certain conditions were met. They believed the soul consisted of many parts including the Ba (personality) and Ka (life force). The souls needed to be kept attached to the body to have an everlasting afterlife in paradise (Field of Reeds/Aaru). Therefore, the Egyptians had strong beliefs that the body should be preserved at all costs. They believed the dead would be judged by the gods and then go to Osiris. They believed that the body should be protected using spells and sacred texts.

B. Classical Greek Hades

The religious beliefs of the Greeks were very negative. The Greeks believed that when you died your soul (Psyche) would leave your body forever and go to Hades. The souls would become weak and fade away into phantoms. They would live in the dark grey light in the Asphodel Meadows. They could not expect to be brought back to life unless they were an exceptional hero. They would be taken to the Isles of the Blessed. The Greeks believed that death was a terrible event and they wanted to be remembered in life. They didn't want to be brought back to life as they would be cut off from the sun forever.

2. Body Treatments – Mummification or Cremation/Inhumation?

The main difference between the two cultures was in how they treated the body.

A. Egyptian Mummification

The body would be mummified due to their strong belief that they could be brought back to life. The embalmer would remove all the organs and put them into sacred Canopic jars. The body would be dried out with Natron salt for 40 days. The skin would be treated with protective oils and resins. The body would then be wrapped in hundreds of metres of linen bandage. This could take up to 70 days to complete. Everything involved in the mummification process was done with care as it was seen as a sacred ritual to turn the body into an everlasting divine being like Osiris.

B. Greek Cremation/Inhumation

The Greeks would bury or cremate the body depending on the time period, region and social status. Cremation was seen as a prestigious practise in early Greek times. The Greeks would burn their dead heroes on a pyre as described in Homer. This would free their soul quickly. If they buried the body they would place them into a simple coffin, sarcophagus or urn. The Greeks did not try to preserve the body. Once the body was buried or burnt they would let it rot as they did not believe it had any purpose in helping their soul in Hades.

3. Tomb Design - Eternity or Simplicity?

The tombs of the Egyptians were very grand. They were built to last forever. They would contain rooms to offer food to the dead, false doors and would be covered in paintings, farming scenes and sacred texts to help the soul forever.

A. Egyptian Tombs

Egyptian tombs were very grand and elaborate. They ranged from huge pyramid tombs in the Old Kingdom, Hypogea of the Valley of the Kings and tombs of the elite in provincial areas such as Tuna El Gebel. They were designed to last forever and contained offering rooms, false doors and were full of painted reliefs.

B. Greek Stelae

In classical Greece it was against the law to build extravagant tombs to stop the aristocrats showing off. The tombs would be in the outlying areas of the town such as the famous Kerameikos in Athens. The tombs would be very simple with a small amount of stone covering the grave. The stone would be a slab of marble and would have low reliefs of the person resting peacefully, with simple inscriptions telling the name and family.

4. Grave Goods – Practical or Remember?

The Egyptians would provide practical items in their graves.

A. Practical Items

The Egyptian graves would contain plenty of items to help the soul in the afterlife. They would have food offerings, wine and oil jars, make-up palettes, clothes, jewellery, furniture and hundreds of magical servants (Shabtis) to do the hard work for the dead person in the farming fields. All of this would be included so that they would have something useful or magical to help them in the world of Osiris.

B. Personal Items

The Greeks would usually include personal items in their graves. The family would include items relating to the person. This would include oil flasks (Lekythoi), terracotta figures, mirrors, weapons for soldiers or toys for children. The famous item included was a coin (Obol) which would be placed in the mouth of the dead person. This would be used to pay the boatman Charon to take them across the River Styx. This idea is not present in traditional Egyptian beliefs.

5. Mourning – Mourners or Reserved?

There were some differences in how the Greeks and Egyptians mourned.

A. Mourning in Egypt

The Egyptians would hold large processions for the dead with professional women to mourn. They would hit their chests, throw dirt on their heads and wail loudly to show just how sad they were and to please the gods. Crossing the Nile to the Necropolis in the West was seen as a sacred pilgrimage.

B. Reserved Mourning

The Greeks had strict rules on how they mourned due to state laws. Female family members would lead the mourning at dawn. They would quietly cry and offer honey and wine on the grave. They would also visit the grave on certain days (Genesia).

C. Fusion in Graeco-Roman Egypt

Once the two cultures were combined under Ptolemaic and Roman rule many changes happened. The Greeks in Egypt quickly began to mummify their dead and added painted Fayum heads to their mummies. However they would keep their Greek names and style of clothing. The Egyptians began to embrace the Hellenistic styles, including art, coffins and tomb designs. A fusion occurred with the hope of Osiris and Greek art.

Conclusion

The burial practises of Ancient Greece and Egypt show how different they were. The Egyptians invested their money, architecture and science into bringing their dead back to life through mummification. Whereas the Greeks were more concerned with remembering their dead, the philosophical ideas and peaceful journey to Hades. When the two mighty cultures came together along the banks of the Nile they created one of the most visually beautiful and fascinating periods in human history.