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126-516: It became ubiquitous on headstones in the 18th century, and is widely used today when mentioning someone's death. The phrase dormit in pace (English: "[he] sleeps in peace") was found in the catacombs of the early Christians and indicated that "they died in the peace of the Church, that is, united in Christ." The abbreviation R.I.P., meaning Requiescat in pace , "Rest in peace", continues to be engraved on

252-662: A coffin , usually of wood. A mausoleum is a building erected mainly as a tomb, taking its name from the Mausoleum of Mausolus at Halicarnassus . Stele is a term for erect stones that are often what are now called gravestones . Ship burials are mostly found in coastal Europe, while chariot burials are found widely across Eurasia . Catacombs , of which the most famous examples are those in Rome and Alexandria , are underground cemeteries connected by tunnelled passages. A large group of burials with traces remaining above ground can be called

378-612: A freedman , the Pyramid of Cestius , and the Mausoleum of Caecilia Metella , all built within a few decades of the start of the Common Era . In Italy, sarcophagi were mostly intended to be set against the wall of the tomb, and only decorated on three sides, in contrast to the free-standing styles of Greece and the Eastern Empire. The relief scenes of Hellenistic art became even more densely crowded in later Roman sarcophagi, as for example in

504-452: A necropolis ; if there are no such visible structures, it is a grave field . A cenotaph is a memorial without a burial. The word "funerary" strictly means "of or pertaining to a funeral or burial", but there is a long tradition in English of applying it not only to the practices and artefacts directly associated with funeral rites, but also to a wider range of more permanent memorials to

630-528: A bodily resurrection of the dead at the Second Coming of Christ , and the Catholic Church only relaxed its opposition to cremation in 1963. Although mass ossuaries have also been used, burial has always been the preferred Christian tradition, at least until recent times. Burial was, for as long as there was room, usually in a graveyard adjacent to the church, with a gravestone or horizontal slab, or for

756-411: A certain shape or position to facilitate grass-cutting. Headstones of granite , marble and other kinds of stone are usually created, installed, and repaired by monumental masons . Cemeteries require regular inspection and maintenance, as stones may settle, topple and, on rare occasions, fall and injure people; or graves may simply become overgrown and their markers lost or vandalised . Restoration

882-532: A circular compound of thatched buildings similar to those inhabited by the earlier Kabakas when alive, but with special characteristics. In several cultures, goods for use in the afterlife are still interred or cremated, for example Hell bank notes in East Asian communities. In Ghana, mostly among the Ga people , elaborate figurative coffins in the shape of cars, boats or animals are made of wood. These were introduced in

1008-414: A community. Some gravestones were even commissioned and erected to their own memory by people who were still living, as a testament to their wealth and status. In a Christian context , the very wealthy often erected elaborate memorials within churches rather than having simply external gravestones. Crematoria frequently offer similar alternatives to families who do not have a grave to mark, but who want

1134-445: A discreet reference code as well to help accurately fix the location for maintenance. The cemetery owner, church, or, as in the UK , national guidelines might encourage the use of 'tasteful' and accurate wording in inscriptions. The placement of inscriptions is traditionally placed on the forward-facing side of the memorial but can also be seen in some cases on the reverse and around the edges of

1260-464: A far humbler middle-class Han dynasty tomb, and the mid-2nd-century Wu Family tombs of Jiaxiang County , Shandong are the most important group of commoner tombs for funerary stones. The walls of both the offering and burial chambers of tombs of commoners from the Han period may be decorated with stone slabs carved or engraved in very low relief with crowded and varied scenes, which are now the main indication of

1386-460: A focus for their mourning and for remembrance . Carved or cast commemorative plaques inside the crematorium for example may serve this purpose. A cemetery may follow national codes of practice or independently prescribe the size and use of certain materials, especially in a conservation area. Some may limit the placing of a wooden memorial to six months after burial, after which a more permanent memorial must be placed. Others may require stones of

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1512-624: A generally well-preserved ensemble. The Goguryeo tombs , from a kingdom of the 5th to 7th centuries which included modern Korea , are especially rich in paintings. Only one of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties has been excavated, in 1956, with such disastrous results for the conservation of the thousands of objects found, that subsequently the policy is to leave them undisturbed. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum in Hong Kong displays

1638-402: A gravestone was the stone slab (or ledger stone ) that was laid flat over a grave . Now, all three terms ("stele", "tombstone" or "gravestone") are also used for markers set (usually upright) at the head of the grave. Some graves in the 18th century also contained footstones to demarcate the foot end of the grave. This sometimes developed into full kerb sets that marked the whole perimeter of

1764-456: A great variety of tombs are found, with tumulus mounds, megaliths, and pottery as recurrent elements. In Eurasia, a dolmen is the exposed stone framework for a chamber tomb originally covered by earth to make a mound which no longer exists. Stones may be carved with geometric patterns ( petroglyphs ), for example cup and ring marks . Group tombs were made, the social context of which is hard to decipher. Urn burials, where bones are buried in

1890-492: A headstone may settle or its fixings weaken. After several instances where unstable stones have fallen in dangerous circumstances, some burial authorities "topple test" headstones by firm pressure to check for stability. They may then tape them off or flatten them. This procedure has proved controversial in the UK, where an authority's duty of care to protect visitors is complicated because it often does not have any ownership rights over

2016-453: A human to be taken away. The handshake was another common motif, as the dead took leave of the living. This often took place in front of or near a closed double doorway, presumably the portal to the underworld. Evidence in some art, however, suggests that the "handshake took place at the other end of the journey, and represents the dead being greeted in the Underworld". The burial customs of

2142-425: A large piece of pottery, and remains were also buried in urns. Pottery continued to be used extensively inside tombs and graves throughout the classical period. The great majority of surviving ancient Greek pottery is recovered from tombs; some was apparently items used in life, but much of it was made specifically for placing in tombs, and the balance between the two original purposes is controversial. The larnax

2268-687: A life-size effigy, also known as a gisant , lying on the sarcophagus, which was common from the Romanesque period through to the Baroque and beyond. Ruling dynasties were often buried together, usually in monasteries; the Chartreuse de Champmol was founded for that purpose by the Valois Dukes of Burgundy in 1383. The Scaliger tombs in Verona are magnificent free-standing Gothic canopied tombs—they are outside

2394-612: A long time, literary references to jade burial suits were regarded by scholars as fanciful myths, but a number of examples were excavated in the 20th century, and it is now believed that they were relatively common among early rulers. Knowledge of pre-dynastic Chinese culture has been expanded by spectacular discoveries at Sanxingdui and other sites. Very large tumuli could be erected, and later, mausoleums. Several special large shapes of Shang dynasty bronze ritual vessels were probably made for burial only; large numbers were buried in elite tombs, while other sets remained above ground for

2520-414: A number of members of the same family. In the 19th century, headstone styles became very diverse, ranging from plain to highly decorated, and often using crosses on a base or other shapes differing from the traditional slab. By this time popular designs were shifting from symbols of death like Winged heads and Skulls to Urns and Willow trees. Marble also became overwhelmingly popular as a grave material during

2646-588: A particular bodaiji over generations, and it might contain a second "grave" if the actual burial were elsewhere. Many later emperors, from the 13th to 19th centuries, are buried simply at the Imperial bodaiji , the Tsuki no wa no misasagi mausoleum in the Sennyū-ji temple at Kyoto . Unlike many Western cultures, that of Mesoamerica is generally lacking in sarcophagi , with a few notable exceptions such as that of Pacal

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2772-489: A particular revival in Roman art of the 2nd century. More peaceful mythological scenes were popular on smaller sarcophagi, especially of Bacchus . Objects connected with death, in particular sarcophagi and cinerary urns , form the basis of much of current knowledge of the ancient Etruscan civilization and its art , which once competed with the culture of ancient Rome , but was eventually absorbed into it. The sarcophagi and

2898-452: A pottery container, either in a more elaborate tomb, or by themselves, are widespread, by no means restricted to the Urnfield culture which is named after them, or even to Eurasia. Menhirs , or " standing stones ", seem often to mark graves or serve as memorials, while the later runestones and image stones often are cenotaphs , or memorials apart from the grave itself; these continue into

3024-520: A prominent family would add a special chapel for their use, including their tombs; in Catholic countries, bequests would pay for masses to be said in perpetuity for their souls. By the High Renaissance , led by Michelangelo 's tombs, the effigies are often sitting up, and later may stand. Often they turn towards the altar, or are kneeling facing it in profile. In the late Middle Ages, influenced by

3150-432: A reconstruction). Of particular note are the various ceramic tableaux including village scenes, for example, players engaged in a Mesoamerican ballgame . Although these tableaux may merely depict village life, it has been proposed that they instead (or also) depict the underworld. Ceramic dogs are also widely known from looted tombs, and are thought by some to represent psychopomps (soul guides), although dogs were often

3276-401: A reminder of the mortality of humankind, as an expression of cultural values and roles, and help to propitiate the spirits of the dead, maintaining their benevolence and preventing their unwelcome intrusion into the lives of the living. The deposit of objects with an apparent aesthetic intention is found in almost all cultures – Hindu culture, which has little, is a notable exception. Many of

3402-613: A stone. In addition, before laying a stone flat, it must be recorded for posterity. Gravestone cleaning is a practice that both professionals and volunteers can do to preserve gravestones and increase their life spans. Before cleaning any gravestones, permission must be given to the cleaner by a "descendant, the sexton , cemetery superintendent or the town, in that order. If unsure who to ask, go to your town cemetery keeper and inquire." A gravestone can be cleaned to remove human vandalism and graffiti, biological growth such as algae or lichen , and other minerals, soiling, or staining. One of

3528-524: A tradition which was to exert a great influence on Western art up to 18th-century Neo-Classicism . The late 4th-century Alexander Sarcophagus was in fact made for another Hellenized Eastern ruler, one of a number of important sarcophagi found at Sidon in the modern Lebanon . The two long sides show Alexander's great victory at the Battle of Issus and a lion hunt; such violent scenes were common on ostentatious classical sarcophagi from this period onwards, with

3654-419: A wide range of servants, entertainers, animals and fierce tomb guardians between about 12 and 120 cm high, and were arranged around the tomb, often in niches along the sloping access path to the underground chamber. Chinese imperial tombs are typically approached by a " spirit road ", sometimes several kilometres long, lined by statues of guardian figures, based on both humans and animals. A tablet extolling

3780-559: Is "not commonly used in Jewish contexts", though some commentators say that it is "consistent with Jewish practice". The traditional Hebrew expression עליו השלום , literally 'may peace be upon him', is sometimes rendered in English as 'may he rest in peace'. On the other hand, some Jews object to using the phrase for Jews, considering it to reflect a Christian perspective. [REDACTED] Media related to Requiescat in pace at Wikimedia Commons Headstone A gravestone or tombstone

3906-663: Is a marker, usually stone , that is placed over a grave . A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone . An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele , stela , or slab . The use of such markers is traditional for Chinese , Jewish , Christian , and Islamic burials , as well as other traditions. In East Asia, the tomb's spirit tablet is the focus for ancestral veneration and may be removable for greater protection between rituals. Ancient grave markers typically incorporated funerary art , especially details in stone relief . With greater literacy, more markers began to include inscriptions of

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4032-422: Is a small coffin or ash-chest, usually of decorated terracotta . The two-handled loutrophoros was primarily associated with weddings, as it was used to carry water for the nuptial bath. However, it was also placed in the tombs of the unmarried, "presumably to make up in some way for what they had missed in life." The one-handled lekythos had many household uses, but outside the household, its principal use

4158-529: Is a specialized job for a monumental mason . Even overgrowth removal requires care to avoid damaging the carving. For example, ivy should only be cut at the base roots and left to naturally die off, never pulled off forcefully. Many materials have been used as markers. Markers sometimes bear inscriptions . The information on the headstone generally includes the name of the deceased and their date of birth and death. Such information can be useful to genealogists and local historians . Larger cemeteries may require

4284-520: Is illegible after about a hundred years... For those of you who seek a degree of immortality , a slate headstone, or as a second choice, one carved from an Irish limestone, should ensure that your name will remain on view for several centuries to come! The choice of language and/or script on gravestones has been studied by sociolinguists as indicators of language choices and language loyalty. For example, by studying cemeteries used by immigrant communities, some languages were found to be carved "long after

4410-481: Is known of ancient Chinese architecture. Later, during the Six Dynasties , sculptural miniatures depicting buildings, monuments, people and animals adorned the tops of the hunping funerary vessels. The outsides of tombs often featured monumental brick or stone-carved pillar-gates (que 闕); an example from 121 CE appears to be the earliest surviving Chinese architectural structure standing above ground. Tombs of

4536-590: Is still hotly debated whether there was realistic portraiture in Ancient Egypt . The purpose of the life-sized reserve heads found in burial shafts or tombs of nobles of the Fourth dynasty is not well understood; they may have been a discreet method of eliding an edict by Khufu forbidding nobles from creating statues of themselves, or may have protected the deceased's spirit from harm or magically eliminated any evil in it, or perhaps functioned as alternate containers for

4662-473: The atrium . They were worn in the funeral processions of members of the family by persons wearing appropriate costume for the figure represented, as described by Pliny the Elder and Polybius . Pliny also describes the custom of having a bust-portrait of an ancestor painted on a round bronze shield ( clipeus ), and having it hung in a temple or other public place. No examples of either type have survived. By

4788-700: The Black Death and devotional writers, explicit memento mori imagery of death in the forms of skulls or skeletons, or even decomposing corpses overrun with worms in the transi tomb, became common in northern Europe, and may be found in some funerary art, as well as motifs like the Dance of Death and works like the Ars moriendi , or "Art of Dying". It took until the Baroque period for such imagery to become popular in Italy, in works like

4914-551: The Chi Rho monogram and, later, narrative religious scenes. The Early Christians' habit, after the end of their persecution, of building churches (most famously St Peter's, Rome ) over the burial places of martyrs who had originally been buried discreetly or in a mass grave perhaps led to the most distinctive feature of Christian funerary art, the church monument, or tomb inside a church. The beliefs of many cultures, including Judaism and Hinduism as well as classical paganism, consider

5040-1011: The Four directional constellations : the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea , built between 1408 and 1966, reflect a combination of Chinese and Japanese traditions, with a tomb mound, often surrounded by a screen wall of stone blocks, and sometimes with stone animal figures above ground, not unlike

5166-542: The Han dynasty show traditions maintained until the end of imperial rule. The tomb itself is an "underground palace" beneath a sealed tumulus surrounded by a wall, with several buildings set at some distance away down avenues for the observation of rites of veneration, and the accommodation of both permanent staff and those visiting to perform rites, as well as gateways, towers and other buildings. Tang dynasty tomb figures , in "three-colour" sancai glazes or overglaze paint, show

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5292-698: The Huaca de la Luna . Andean cultures such as the Sican often practiced mummification and left grave goods in precious metals with jewels, including tumi ritual knives and gold funerary masks, as well as pottery. The Mimbres of the Mogollon culture buried their dead with bowls on top of their heads and ceremonially "killed" each bowl with a small hole in the centre so that the deceased's spirit could rise to another world. Mimbres funerary bowls show scenes of hunting, gambling, planting crops, fishing, sexual acts and births. Some of

5418-549: The Iberian peninsula have been dated through thermoluminescence to c.  4510 BCE , and some burials at the Carnac stones in Brittany also date back to the fifth millennium BCE. The commemorative value of such burial sites are indicated by the fact that, at some stage, they became elevated, and that the constructs, almost from the earliest, sought to be monumental. This effect

5544-644: The Indigenous Australians typically feature body painting ; the Yolngu and Tiwi people create carved pukumani burial poles from ironwood trunks, while elaborately carved burial trees have been used in south-eastern Australia. The Toraja people of central Sulawesi are famous for their burial practices , which include the setting-up of effigies of the dead on cliffs. The 19th- and 20th-century royal Kasubi Tombs in Uganda , destroyed by fire in 2010, were

5670-580: The North American mounds , such as Grave Creek Mound (c. 250–150 BCE) in West Virginia , functioned as burial sites, while others had different purposes. The earliest colonist graves were either unmarked, or had very simple timber headstone, with little order to their plotting, reflecting their Puritan origins. However, a tradition of visual funerary art began to develop c. 1640, providing insights into their views of death. The lack of artistry of

5796-719: The Potala Palace in Lhasa and many other monasteries. However, most chortens do not function as tombs. The Catacombs of Rome contain most of the surviving Christian art of the Early Christian period, mainly in the form of frescos and sculpted sarcophagi . They show a Christian iconography emerging, initially from Roman popular decorative art, but later borrowing from official imperial and pagan motifs. Initially, Christians avoided iconic images of religious figures, and sarcophagi were decorated with ornaments, Christian symbols like

5922-636: The Tang dynasty (618–907) are often rich in glazed pottery figurines of horses, servants and other subjects, whose forceful and free style is greatly admired today. The tomb art reached its peak in the Song and Jin periods; most spectacular tombs were built by rich commoners. Early burial customs show a strong belief in an afterlife and a spirit path to it that needed facilitating. Funerals and memorials were also an opportunity to reaffirm such important cultural values as filial piety and "the honor and respect due to seniors,

6048-593: The Tomb of the Diver from southern Italy or the tombs at Vergina in Macedon. Almost the only surviving painted portraits in the classical Greek tradition are found in Egypt rather than Greece. The Fayum mummy portraits , from the very end of the classical period, were portrait faces, in a Graeco-Roman style, attached to mummies. Early Greek burials were frequently marked above ground by

6174-643: The Twenty-fifth Dynasty were greatly influenced by Egyptian funerary customs, employing mummification, canopic jars and ushabti funerary figurines. They also built the Nubian pyramids , which in both size and design more closely resemble the smaller Seventeenth dynasty pyramids at Thebes than those of the Old Kingdom near Memphis. Lower-class citizens used common forms of funerary art—including shabti figurines (to perform any labor that might be required of

6300-453: The acrostic message "KFC tortures birds". The group placed its grave marker to promote its contention that KFC is cruel to chickens. Gravestones may be simple upright slabs with semi-circular, rounded, gabled, pointed-arched, pedimental, square or other shaped tops. During the 18th century, they were often decorated with memento mori (symbolic reminders of death ) such as skulls or winged skulls, winged cherub heads, heavenly crowns, or

6426-518: The ancient Romans were influenced by both of the first significant cultures whose territories they conquered as their state expanded, namely the Greeks of Magna Graecia and the Etruscans. The original Roman custom was cremation , after which the burnt remains were kept in a pot, ash-chest or urn, often in a columbarium ; pre-Roman burials around Rome often used hut-urns—little pottery houses. From about

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6552-579: The pagoda of China and Japan and the candi of Indonesia evolved from the Indian form. However, none of these can strictly be called tombs. Some important Tibetan lamas are buried in relatively small chortens (Tibetan stupas), sometimes of precious metal, inside or outside monasteries, sometimes after mummification. There are examples at Kursha Monastery in Zanskar and Tashiding Monastery in Sikkim , as well as

6678-509: The shrines of saints, which became the destinations of pilgrimages . The monument to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in the Hofkirche, Innsbruck took decades to complete, while the tomb of St Dominic in Bologna took several centuries to reach its final form. If only because its strong prejudice against free-standing and life-size sculpture, Eastern Orthodoxy could not have developed

6804-731: The 1800s in the United States. More elaborately carved markers, such as crosses or angels also became popular during this time. Simple curb surrounds, sometimes filled with glass chippings, were popular during the mid-20th century. Islamic headstones are traditionally more a rectangular upright shaft, often topped with a carved topknot symbolic of a turban ; but in Western countries more local styles are often used. Some form of simple decoration may be employed. Special emblems on tombstones indicate several familiar themes in many faiths. Some examples are: Greek letters might also be used: Over time

6930-467: The 1950s by Seth Kane Kwei . Cremation is traditional among Hindus, who also believe in reincarnation , and there is far less of a tradition of funerary monuments in Hinduism than in other major religions. However, there are regional, and relatively recent, traditions among royalty, and the samādhi mandir is a memorial temple for a saint. Both may be influenced by Islamic practices. The mausoleums of

7056-401: The 2nd century CE, inhumation (burial of unburnt remains) in sarcophagi, often elaborately carved, became more fashionable for those who could afford it. Greek-style medallion portrait sculptures on a stela , or small mausoleum for the rich, housing either an urn or sarcophagus, were often placed in a location such as a roadside, where it would be very visible to the living and perpetuate

7182-514: The 2nd-century Portonaccio sarcophagus , and various styles and forms emerged, such as the columnar type with an "architectural background of columns and niches for its figures". A well-known Early Christian example is the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus , used for an important new convert who died in 359. Many sarcophagi from leading centres were exported around the Empire. The Romans had already developed

7308-540: The 3rd to 6th centuries CE, is named after kofun , the often enormous keyhole-shaped Imperial mound-tombs, often on a moated island. None of these have ever been allowed to be excavated, so their possibly spectacular contents remain unknown. Late examples which have been investigated, such as the Kitora Tomb , had been robbed of most of their contents, but the Takamatsuzuka Tomb retains mural paintings. Lower down

7434-453: The Christian period. The Senegambian stone circles are a later African form of tomb markers. Egyptian funerary art was inseparable to the religious belief that life continued after death and that "death is a mere phase of life". Aesthetic objects and images connected with this belief were partially intended to preserve material goods, wealth and status for the journey between this life and

7560-693: The Great or the now-lost sarcophagus from the Olmec site of La Venta . Instead, most Mesoamerican funerary art takes the form of grave goods and, in Oaxaca , funerary urns holding the ashes of the deceased. Two well-known examples of Mesoamerican grave goods are those from Jaina Island , a Maya site off the coast of Campeche , and those associated with the Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition . The tombs of Mayan rulers can only normally be identified by inferences drawn from

7686-500: The Japanese haniwa figures (see below). There is usually one or more T-shaped shrine buildings some distance in front of the tomb, which is set in extensive grounds, usually with a hill behind them, and facing a view towards water and distant hills. They are still a focus for ancestor worship rituals. From the 15th century, they became more simple, while retaining a large landscape setting. The Kofun period of Japanese history, from

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7812-542: The Middle Ages, temporary products, made as substitutes for the encoffined corpse for use during the funeral ceremonies". Others, however, have found this distinction "rather pedantic". Related genres of commemorative art for the dead take many forms, such as the moai figures of Easter Island , apparently a type of sculpted ancestor portrait , though hardly individualized. These are common in cultures as diverse as Ancient Rome and China, in both of which they are kept in

7938-602: The United States alone, pre-purchased headstones with pre-carved death years beginning with 19–. Bas-relief carvings of a religious nature or of a profile of the deceased can be seen on some headstones, especially up to the 19th century. Since the invention of photography, a gravestone might include a framed photograph or cameo of the deceased; photographic images or artwork (showing the loved one, or some other image relevant to their life, interests or achievements) are sometimes now engraved onto smooth stone surfaces. Some headstones use lettering made of white metal fixed into

8064-518: The archaeological evidence with descriptions in literature. It had the size and some elements of the design of the Greek temple , but was much more vertical, with a square base and a pyramidal roof. There were quantities of large sculpture, of which most of the few surviving pieces are now in the British Museum . Other local rulers adapted the high-relief temple frieze for very large sarcophagi, starting

8190-432: The areas in Japanese life where Buddhist customs are followed even by those who followed other traditions, such as Shinto . The bodaiji is a special and very common type of temple whose main purpose is as a venue for rites of ancestor worship, though it is often not the actual burial site. This was originally a custom of the feudal lords, but was adopted by other classes from about the 16th century. Each family would use

8316-407: The best-known artistic creations of past cultures – from the Egyptian pyramids and the Tutankhamun treasure , to the Terracotta Army surrounding the tomb of Qin Shi Huang , the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , the Sutton Hoo ship burial and the Taj Mahal – are tombs or objects found in and around them. In most instances, specialized funeral art was produced for the powerful and wealthy, although

8442-422: The blink of an eye. We captured the whole world through our courage and strength, Yet could take nothing with us to our grave." Or a simpler warning of inevitability of death: Remember me as you pass by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so you will be, Prepare for death and follow me. Headstone engravers faced their own " year 2000 problem " when still-living people, as many as 500,000 in

8568-410: The burials of ordinary people might include simple monuments and grave goods, usually from their possessions. An important factor in the development of traditions of funerary art is the division between what was intended to be visible to visitors or the public after completion of the funeral ceremonies . The treasure of the 18th dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun , for example, though exceptionally lavish,

8694-468: The case. But silverware is more often found around the fringes of the Greek world, as in the royal Macedonian tombs of Vergina , or in the neighbouring cultures such as those of Thrace or the Scythians . The extension of the Greek world after the conquests of Alexander the Great brought peoples with different tomb-making traditions into the Hellenistic sphere, resulting in new formats for art in Greek styles. A generation before Alexander, Mausolus

8820-535: The church in a special enclosure, and so are unrestricted in height. Important churches like St Peter's in Rome, St Paul's Cathedral , London, Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice (twenty-five Doges ), and the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence contain large numbers of impressive monuments to the great and the good, created by the finest architects and sculptors available. Local parish churches are also often full of monuments, which may include large and artistically significant ones for local landowners and notables. Often

8946-449: The custodians. In these cultures, traditions such as the sculpted sarcophagus and tomb monument of the Greek and Roman empires, and later the Christian world, have flourished. The mausoleum intended for visiting was the grandest type of tomb in the classical world, and later common in Islamic culture. Tomb is a general term for any repository for human remains, while grave goods are other objects which have been placed within

9072-428: The dangerous marker. Authorities that have knocked over stones during testing or have unilaterally lifted and laid flat any potentially hazardous stones have been criticised, after grieving relatives have discovered that their relative's marker has been moved. Since 2007 Consistory Court and local authority guidance now restricts the force used in a topple test and requires an authority to consult relatives before moving

9198-595: The dead ritually impure and avoid mixing temples and cemeteries (though see above for Moche, and below for Islamic culture). An exception in the Classical World were the Lycians of Anatolia . There are also the Egyptian mortuary-temples, where the object of worship was the deified royal person entombed, but Egyptian temples to the major gods contained no burials. An extreme example was ancient Delos . Christians believed in

9324-511: The dead person in the afterlife), models of the scarab beetle and funerary texts —which they believed would protect them in the afterlife. During the Middle Kingdom , miniature wooden or clay models depicting scenes from everyday life became popular additions to tombs. In an attempt to duplicate the activities of the living in the afterlife, these models show laborers, houses, boats and even military formations which are scale representations of

9450-463: The dead, such as war memorials , which may or may not contain remains, and a range of prehistoric megalithic constructs. Funerary art may serve many cultural functions. It can play a role in burial rites, serve as an article for use by the dead in the afterlife, and celebrate the life and accomplishments of the dead, whether as part of kinship-centred practices of ancestor veneration or as a publicly directed dynastic display. It can also function as

9576-426: The dead. Particularly influential in this regard was John Weever 's Ancient Funerall Monuments (1631), the first full-length book to be dedicated to the subject of tomb memorials and epitaphs . More recently, some scholars have challenged the usage: Phillip Lindley, for example, makes a point of referring to "tomb monuments", saying "I have avoided using the term 'funeral monuments' because funeral effigies were, in

9702-533: The deceased carried by the wings that would apparently take its soul to heaven. There is an enormous diversity of funeral art from traditional societies across the world, much of it in perishable materials, and some is mentioned elsewhere in the article. In traditional African societies, masks often have a specific association with death, and some types may be worn mainly or exclusively for funeral ceremonies. Akan peoples of West Africa commissioned nsodie memorial heads of royal personages. The funeral ceremonies of

9828-403: The deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death, often along with a personal message or prayer . The presence of a frame for photographs of the deceased is also increasingly common. The stele (plural: stelae ), as it is called in an archaeological context, is one of the oldest forms of funerary art . Originally, a tombstone was the stone lid of a stone coffin , or the coffin itself, and

9954-457: The deceased, and at some periods vivid images of everyday life, depicting the afterlife. The chamber decoration usually centred on a " false door ", through which only the soul of the deceased could pass, to receive the offerings left by the living. Representational art , such as portraiture of the deceased, is found extremely early on and continues into the Roman period in the encaustic Faiyum funerary portraits applied to coffins. However, it

10080-461: The different types of stone available: The use of slate for this plaque was a good choice as it weathers very slowly and the quality of the carved lettering remains good for many years. Many (Irish) gravestones from the mid 1700s and 1800s are made of slate. This is fortunate for those interested in tracing genealogies , as many of the inscriptions can still be read after two hundred years. This contrasts sharply with lettering cut into granite, which

10206-686: The dominating theme of the murals—these include the Tomb of the Dancers, the Tomb of the Hunters, the Tomb of the Four Spirits, and the Tomb of the Wrestlers. Heavenly bodies are a common motif, as are depictions of events from the lives of the royalty and nobles whose bodies had been entombed. The former include the sun, represented as a three-legged bird inside a wheel, and the various constellations, including especially

10332-539: The dust enclosèd here. Blest be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones. Or a warning about mortality , such as this Persian poetry carved on an ancient tombstone in the Tajiki capital of Dushanbe . I heard that mighty Jamshed the King Carved on a stone near a spring of water these words: "Many – like us – sat here by this spring And left this life in

10458-644: The duties incumbent on juniors" The common Chinese funerary symbol of a woman in the door may represent a "basic male fantasy of an elysian afterlife with no restrictions: in all the doorways of the houses stand available women looking for newcomers to welcome into their chambers" Han dynasty inscriptions often describe the filial mourning for their subjects. Murals painted on the walls of the Goguryeo tombs are examples of Korean painting from its Three Kingdoms era. Although thousands of these tombs have been found, only about 100 have murals. These tombs are often named for

10584-416: The earliest known headstones reflects the puritan's stern religious doctrine. Late seventeenth century examples often show a death's head; a stylized skull sometimes with wings or crossed bones, and other realistic imagery depicting humans decay into skulls, bones and dust. The style softened during the late 18th century as Unitarianism and Methodism became more popular. Mid 18th century examples often show

10710-420: The expression of religious and philosophical ideas in narrative scenes from Greek mythology , treated allegorically ; they later transferred this habit to Christian ideas, using biblical scenes. Funerary art varied greatly across Chinese history. Tombs of early rulers rival the ancient Egyptians for complexity and value of grave goods, and have been similarly pillaged over the centuries by tomb robbers . For

10836-652: The family to use in making offerings in ancestor veneration rituals . The Tomb of Fu Hao (c. BCE 1200) is one of the few undisturbed royal tombs of the period to have been excavated—most funerary art has appeared on the art market without archaeological context. The discovery in 1974 of the Terracotta Army located the tomb of the First Qin Emperor (died 210 BCE), but the main tumulus, of which literary descriptions survive, has not been excavated. Remains surviving above ground from several imperial tombs of

10962-539: The grave. Footstones were rarely annotated with more than the deceased's initials and year of death, and sometimes a memorial mason and plot reference number. Many cemeteries and churchyards have removed those extra stones to ease grass cutting by machine mower. In some UK cemeteries, the principal, and indeed only, marker is placed at the foot of the grave. Owing to soil movement and downhill creep on gentle slopes, older headstones and footstones can often be found tilted at an angle. Over time, this movement can result in

11088-416: The graves, along with food such as eggs, pomegranates, honey, grapes and olives for use in the afterlife. From the 5th century, the mood changed to more sombre scenes of parting, where the deceased are shown leaving their loved ones, often surrounded by underworld demons, and psychopomps, such as Charun or the winged female Vanth . The underworld figures are sometimes depicted as gesturing impatiently for

11214-596: The gravestones of Christians, especially in the Catholic , Lutheran , and Anglican denominations . In the Tridentine Requiem Mass of the Catholic Church the phrase appears several times. Other variations include "Requiescat in pace et in amore" for "[May they] rest in peace and love", and "In pace requiescat et in amore". The word order is variable because Latin syntactical relationships are indicated by

11340-485: The houses of the descendants, rather than being buried. Many cultures have psychopomp figures, such as the Greek Hermes and Etruscan Charun , who help conduct the spirits of the dead into the afterlife. Most of humanity's oldest known archaeological constructions are tombs. Mostly megalithic , the earliest instances date to within a few centuries of each other, yet show a wide diversity of form and purpose. Tombs in

11466-476: The ideal ancient Egyptian afterlife. During the Iron Age, the ancient Greeks did not generally leave elaborate grave goods, except for a coin to pay Charon , the ferryman to Hades , and pottery; however the epitaphios or funeral oration  from which the word epitaph comes was regarded as of great importance, and animal sacrifices were made. Those who could afford them erected stone monuments, which

11592-443: The inflexional endings, not by word order. If "Rest in peace" is used in an imperative mood, it would be "Requiesce in pace" (acronym R.I.P.) in the second person singular, or "Requiescite in pace" in the second person plural. In the common phrase "Requiescat in pace" the "-at" ending is appropriate because the verb is a third-person singular present active subjunctive used in a hortative sense: "[May they] rest in peace." The phrase

11718-534: The kings of Orchha , from the 16th century onwards, are among the best known. Other rulers were commemorated by memorial temples of the normal type for the time and place, which like similar buildings from other cultures fall outside the scope of this article, though Angkor Wat in Cambodia , the most spectacular of all, must be mentioned. Buddhist tombs themselves are typically simple and modest, although they may be set within temples, sometimes large complexes, built for

11844-543: The language ceased to be spoken" in the communities. In other cases, a language used in the inscription may indicate a religious affiliation. Marker inscriptions have also been used for political purposes, such as the grave marker installed in January 2008 at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky by Mathew Prescott, an employee of PETA . The grave marker is located near the grave of KFC founder Harland Sanders and bears

11970-453: The late Republic there was considerable competition among wealthy Romans for the best locations for tombs, which lined all the approach roads to the city up to the walls, and a variety of exotic and unusual designs sought to catch the attention of the passer-by and so perpetuate the memory of the deceased and increase the prestige of their family. Examples include the Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker ,

12096-477: The lavishness of the grave goods and, with the possible exception of vessels made from stone rather than pottery, these appear to contain no objects specially made for the burial. The Jaina Island graves are noted for their abundance of clay figurines. Human remains within the roughly 1,000 excavated graves on the island (out of 20,000 total) were found to be accompanied by glassware, slateware, or pottery, as well as one or more ceramic figurines, usually resting on

12222-417: The lids of the urns often incorporate a reclining image of the deceased. The reclining figures in some Etruscan funerary art are shown using the mano cornuta to protect the grave. The main subject in the funerary art of the 7th and 6th centuries BCE was typically a feasting scene, sometimes with dancers and musicians, or athletic competitions. Household bowls, cups, and pitchers are sometimes found in

12348-497: The living, including kitchens and bedrooms. The Castel Sant'Angelo , built for Hadrian , was later converted into a fortress. Compared to the Etruscans, though, there was less emphasis on provision of a lifestyle for the deceased, although paintings of useful objects or pleasant activities, like hunting, are seen. Ancestor portraits, usually in the form of wax masks, were kept in the home, apparently often in little cupboards, although grand patrician families kept theirs on display in

12474-469: The major source of protein in ancient Mesoamerica. The Zapotec civilization of Oaxaca is particularly known for its clay funerary urns, such as the "bat god" shown at right. Numerous types of urns have been identified. While some show deities and other supernatural beings, others seem to be portraits. Art historian George Kubler is particularly enthusiastic about the craftsmanship of this tradition: No other American potters ever explored so completely

12600-499: The memory of the dead. Often a couple are shown, signifying a longing for reunion in the afterlife rather than a double burial (see married couple funerary reliefs ). In later periods, life-size sculptures of the deceased reclining as though at a meal or social gathering are found, a common Etruscan style. Family tombs for the grandest late Roman families, like the Tomb of the Scipios , were large mausoleums with facilities for visits by

12726-581: The most important tenets of gravestone cleaning is "do no harm." In the United States, the National Park Service has published a list of guidelines that outline the best practices of gravestone cleaning: Do Don't Funerary art Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead . The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and communal memorials to

12852-408: The next, and to "commemorate the life of the tomb owner ... depict performance of the burial rites, and in general present an environment that would be conducive to the tomb owner's rebirth." In this context are the Egyptian mummies encased in one or more layers of decorated coffin, and the canopic jars preserving internal organs. A special category of Ancient Egyptian funerary texts clarify

12978-480: The occupant's chest or held in their hands. The function of these figurines is not known: due to gender and age mismatches, they are unlikely to be portraits of the grave occupants, although the later figurines are known to be representations of goddesses. The so-called shaft tomb tradition of western Mexico is known almost exclusively from grave goods, which include hollow ceramic figures, obsidian and shell jewelry, pottery, and other items (see this Flickr photo for

13104-418: The picks and shovels of the gravedigger . Somewhat unusual were more elaborate allegorical figures , such as Old Father Time , or emblems of trade or status , or even some event from the life of the deceased (particularly how they died). Large tomb chests, false sarcophagi as the actual remains were in the earth below, or smaller coped chests were commonly used by the gentry as a means of commemorating

13230-786: The plastic conditions of wet clay or retained its forms so completely after firing ... [they] used its wet and ductile nature for fundamental geometric modelling and cut the material, when half-dry, into smooth planes with sharp edges of an unmatched brilliance and suggestiveness of form. The Maya Naj Tunich cave tombs and other sites contain paintings, carved stelae, and grave goods in pottery, jade and metal, including death masks . In dry areas, many ancient textiles have been found in graves from South America's Paracas culture , which wrapped its mummies tightly in several layers of elaborately patterned cloth. Elite Moche graves, containing especially fine pottery, were incorporated into large adobe structures also used for human sacrifices , such as

13356-661: The purpose in the then-prevailing style. According to tradition, the remains of the Buddha 's body after cremation were entirely divided up into relics ( cetiya ), which played an important part in early Buddhism. The stupa developed as a monument enclosing deposits of relics of the Buddha from plain hemispherical mounds in the 3rd century BCE to elaborate structures such as those at Sanchi in India and Borobudur in Java . Regional variants such as

13482-577: The purposes of the burial customs. The early mastaba type of tomb had a sealed underground burial chamber but an offering-chamber on the ground level for visits by the living, a pattern repeated in later types of tomb. A Ka statue effigy of the deceased might be walled up in a serdab connected to the offering chamber by vents that allowed the smell of incense to reach the effigy. The walls of important tomb-chambers and offering chambers were heavily decorated with reliefs in stone or sometimes wood, or paintings, depicting religious scenes, portraits of

13608-515: The secretary of the Evangelical Protestant Society , said on a BBC Radio Ulster programme that he would encourage Protestants to refrain from using the term "RIP". Thompson said that he regards "RIP" as a prayer for the dead , which he believes contradicts biblical doctrine. In the same radio programme, Presbyterian Ken Newell disagreed that people are praying for the dead when they use the phrase. The expression "rest in peace"

13734-545: The social scale in the same period, terracotta haniwa figures, as much as a metre high, were deposited on top of aristocratic tombs as grave markers, with others left inside, apparently representing possessions such as horses and houses for use in the afterlife. Both kofun mounds and haniwa figures appear to have been discontinued as Buddhism became the dominant Japanese religion. Since then, Japanese tombs have been typically marked by elegant but simple rectangular vertical gravestones with inscriptions. Funerals are one of

13860-677: The spirit if the body should be harmed in any way. Architectural works such as the massive Great Pyramid and two smaller ones built during the Old Kingdom in the Giza Necropolis and (much later, from about 1500 BCE) the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were built for royalty and the elite. The Theban Necropolis was later an important site for mortuary temples and mastaba tombs. The Kushite kings who conquered Egypt and ruled as pharaohs during

13986-519: The stone itself. Some families request that an inscription be made on the portion of the memorial that will be underground. In addition, some gravestones also bear epitaphs in praise of the deceased or quotations from religious texts, such as " requiescat in pace ". In a few instances the inscription is in the form of a plea, admonishment, testament of faith, claim to fame or even a curse – William Shakespeare 's inscription famously declares Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear, To dig

14112-475: The stone, which is easy to read but can be damaged by ivy or frost. Deep carvings on a hard-wearing stone may weather many centuries exposed in graveyards and still remain legible. Those fixed on the inside of churches , on the walls , or on the floor (often as near the altar as possible) may last much longer: such memorials were often embellished with a monumental brass . Irish geologist Patrick Wyse Jackson mused on gravestone legibility in 1993 with regards to

14238-428: The stones being sited several metres away from their original location. Graves and any related memorials are a focus for mourning and remembrance. The names of relatives are often added to a gravestone over the years, so that one marker may chronicle the passing of an entire family spread over decades. Since gravestones and a plot in a cemetery or churchyard cost money, they are also a symbol of wealth or prominence in

14364-405: The style of the lost palace frescoes of the period. A cheaper option was to use large clay tiles which were carved or impressed before firing. After the introduction of Buddhism, carved "funerary couches" featured similar scenes, now mostly religious. During the Han dynasty, miniature ceramic models of buildings were often made to accompany the deceased in the graves; to them is owed much of what

14490-652: The tomb monument in the same way as the Western Church, and the burials of rich or important individuals continued the classical tradition of sarcophagi carved in relief, with the richness of the carving tending to diminish over the centuries, until just simple religious symbols were left. Constantine I and most later Byzantine Emperors up to 1028 were buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, which

14616-429: The tomb. Such objects may include the personal possessions of the deceased, objects specially created for the burial, or miniature versions of things believed to be needed in an afterlife . Knowledge of many non-literate cultures is drawn largely from these sources. A tumulus , mound, kurgan , or long barrow covered important burials in many cultures, and the body may be placed in a sarcophagus, usually of stone, or

14742-526: The virtues of the deceased, mounted on a stone representation of Bixi in the form of a tortoise , is often the centerpiece of the ensemble. In Han tombs the guardian figures are mainly of "lions" and " chimeras "; in later periods they are much more varied. A looted tomb with fine paintings is the Empress Dowager Wenming tomb of the 5th century CE, and the many tombs of the 7th-century Tang dynasty Qianling Mausoleum group are an early example of

14868-413: The wealthy or important clergy, inside it. Wall tombs in churches strictly include the body itself, often in a sarcophagus, while often the body is buried in a crypt or under the church floor, with a monument on the wall. Persons of importance, especially monarchs, might be buried in a free-standing sarcophagus, perhaps surrounded by an elaborate enclosure using metalwork and sculpture; grandest of all were

14994-762: Was a Hellenized satrap or semi-independent ruler under the Persian Empire , whose enormous tomb (begun 353 BCE) was wholly exceptional in the Greek world—together with the Pyramids it was the only tomb to be included in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The exact form of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , which gave the name to the form, is now unclear, and there are several alternative reconstructions that seek to reconcile

15120-570: Was destroyed after the fall of Constantinople of 1453. Some massive but mostly plain porphyry sarcophagi from the church are now placed outside the Istanbul Archaeology Museums . The Tomb of Antipope John XXIII in Florence is a grand Early Renaissance wall tomb by Donatello and Michelozzo ; although classical in style, it reflects the somewhat inharmonious stacking up of different elements typical of major Gothic tombs. It has

15246-414: Was first found on tombstones some time before the fifth century. It became ubiquitous on the tombs of Christians in the 18th century, and for High Church Anglicans, Methodists , as well as Roman Catholics in particular, it was a prayerful request that their soul should find peace in the afterlife . When the phrase became conventional, the absence of a reference to the soul led people to suppose that it

15372-408: Was never intended to be seen again after it was deposited, while the exterior of the pyramids was a permanent and highly effective demonstration of the power of their creators. A similar division can be seen in grand East Asian tombs. In other cultures, nearly all the art connected with the burial, except for limited grave goods, was intended for later viewing by the public or at least those admitted by

15498-493: Was often achieved by encapsulating a single corpse in a basic pit, surrounded by an elaborate ditch and drain. Over-ground commemoration is thought to be tied to the concept of collective memory, and these early tombs were likely intended as a form of ancestor-worship , a development available only to communities that had advanced to the stage of settled livestock and formed social roles and relationships and specialized sectors of activity. In Neolithic and Bronze Age societies,

15624-562: Was one of the functions of kouros statues in the Archaic period before about 500 BCE. These were not intended as portraits, but during the Hellenistic period , realistic portraiture of the deceased was introduced and family groups were often depicted in bas-relief on monuments, usually surrounded by an architectural frame. The walls of tomb chambers were often painted in fresco , although few examples have survived in as good condition as

15750-460: Was the decoration of tombs. Scenes of a descent to the underworld of Hades were often painted on these, with the dead depicted beside Hermes , Charon or both—though usually only with Charon. Small pottery figurines are often found, though it is hard to decide if these were made especially for placement in tombs; in the case of the Hellenistic Tanagra figurines , this seems probably not

15876-589: Was the physical body that was enjoined to lie peacefully in the grave . This is associated with the Christian doctrine of the particular judgment ; that is, that the soul is parted from the body upon death, but that the soul and body will be reunited on Judgment Day . In 2017, members of the Orange Order in Northern Ireland called on Protestants to stop using the phrase "RIP" or "Rest in Peace". Wallace Thompson,

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