After Death... – Dealing with the dead body in past and present religions

Thematic field of the exhibition "Body. Cult. Religion."

Death biologically represents the end of life, but the treatment of the dead body in many religions reflects ideas of an "afterlife". In some traditions, an essential component of continued existence is the preservation of the body, which is why attempts are made to stop or slow down the natural process of decay by means of various practices such as mummification.

The treatment of the deceased and the type of burial vary greatly according to culture, religion and time, which is why the associated practices and rituals are very diverse. In addition to burial in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the burning of the body was a common ritual in Hinduism as well as in ancient Greece and Rome. In Buddhist Tibet, the sky burial dominates, in which the body is cut up and given to the vultures as a ‘donation’. The dead bodies of powerful rulers or saints are often honoured as part of the cult of relics. The same applies to images of the deceased, which can serve as objects of veneration.

The best example of this is the crucified Jesus, who has become the most important symbol of Christianity. The "afterlife" ranges from the Elysian realms of ancient Greece to heaven, the kingdom of God in Christianity and the paradisiacal gardens promised to believers by the Koran. A commonality between the cultures is that you can get there through good deeds and a righteous life but the belief in salvation through divine grace is also widespread. This is why there is usually a counterpart to paradise, such as hell or hades, where a person is sent as punishment for a bad life.

Selected exhibits

The following texts are based on the exhibition catalogue:

Erhardt, S.; Graefe, J.; Lichtenberger, A.; Lohwasser, A.; Nieswandt, H.-H.; Strutwolf, H. (eds.): Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from Antiquity to the Present. Münster 2024. (only available in german)

• Replica of the death mask of the unknown woman from the Seine (orig. "L'inconnue de la Seine") (Cat. no. 117)

  According to legend, this death mask was made from the face of the corpse of an unknown woman who was found in the Seine in Paris at the end of the 19th century. The mask, which is said to have been made by a coroner who was impressed by the beauty of the deceased, became so famous that it is still known today from numerous reproductions. The creation of death masks to commemorate deceased relatives was already a common practice in Roman antiquity and has remained so over the centuries. In modern times, plaster casts were also made of the faces of emperors, kings and famous people after their death. (exc/fbu)

• Volute krater with underworld scene (Cat. no. 113)

  

  This volute krater from around 320 BCE in Apulia in southern Italy was part of the extensive burial objects given to the deceased in underground burial chambers. The scenes depicted on the krater are set both in the world of the living and in the underworld. According to ancient beliefs, a person, depending on their lifetime achievements, could end up in the underworld or on the Island of the Blessed after death. In the darkest part of the underworld – Tartarus – terrible punishments awaited, these depicted here as two bound youths being tortured with scourges by goddesses of revenge. The transition from life to death can also be depicted in a positive light, though, as shown in the illustration of Persephone, the wife of Hades. (exc/tst)

• Painting depicting the tasks of the Prague confraternity chevra kadisha (Cat. no. 118)

  

  The chevra kadisha (literally: ‘holy brotherhood’) emerged in Jewish communities in the early modern period to accompany the dying, care for their bodies, and conduct their funerals. The belief in bodily resurrection explains why particular care is given to how the funeral rites are performed. The images presented in the exhibition are taken from a series of 15 images from 1772, and show the tasks of the Prague chevra kadisha: the body is covered with a cloth and laid on the floor (1). The brotherhood’s tasks also include digging the grave, building a coffin, organizing the funeral procession (2), and the burial itself. (exc/tec)

• Engraved tombstone of an abbess (Cat. no. 120)

  

  A tombstone is the visible marking of a grave. Giving the grave a specific location allows the bereaved to mourn and remember the deceased many years after their death. The 12th-century tombstone shown here was carved in its original dimensions of about 180 x 70 cm from the Baumberger sandstone found locally near Münster. It probably showed an image of an abbess. Only half of it remains today, as its reuse as a round-arched window opening in the upper tower chapel of Münster’s cathedral led to its partial destruction. An inscription is only partially extant. (exc/tec)

• Fragment of a cloth with a tiraz inscription (Cat. no. 126)

  

  The tiraz inscription (the Persian word ṭirāz means ‘embroidery’) dates this Egyptian silk linen cloth to 967/968, and is thus a record of Abbasid Egypt shortly before its conquest by the Shiite dynasty of the Muslim Fatimids in 969. Tiraz inscriptions are embroidered bands of writing that usually contained the name of the caliph, and were thus intended to bestow blessings (Arabic: baraka). The cloth on display comes from a Fatimid-era tomb and was originally wrapped around the body of the deceased. Cloths with tiraz inscriptions were often used as shrouds during the Fatimid period, and the embroidered blessings and the name of the caliph were intended to signal the deceased’s true faith to the divine judge on Judgment Day. (exc/tec)

To the next thematic field: "Purity of the Body"