Another most beautiful specimen of Mahometan sepulchral architecture is the tomb of Runjeet Singh, near Lahore, which, though less known, is externally as magnificent as the mausoleum above described.
OSES prohibited the immolation of human victims on the tombs of the dead, and decreed that relatives should signify their sorrow by the manner in which they tore their garments. They rent them according to the degrees of affinity and parentage. Sometimes the tears were horizontal, and this indicated that a father, mother, wife, brother, or sister had died; but if the tear was longitudinal, it signified that some person had departed who was not a blood relation. An idea can be formed of the appalling destruction of clothing which must have occurred on certain occasions amongst the ancient Jews, when we remember that on the death of a king everybody was expected to tear their garments longitudinally, and to go about with them in tatters for nine days. This curious custom possibly explains Solomon's proverb, "There is a time to rend and a time to mend."
The High Priest among the Jews was exempted from wearing mourning. The French, when they embraced Christianity, added many Jewish customs to their own: up to the time of the Revolution of 1789, their Grand Chancellor, or Chief Magistrate, was not bound to wear mourning even for his own father.
The Greeks, doubtless, derived their funereal ceremonies from the Egyptians, and it is from this ancient people that we obtain the custom of wearing black as mourning. When a person in Greece was dangerously ill and not expected to recover, branches of laurestinus and achanthus were hung up over the door, and the relatives hurried round the bed and prayed to Mercury, as the conductor of souls, to have mercy upon the invalid, and either to cure him completely or else help his soul to cross the river Styx. If the death really occurred, then the house was filled with cries and lamentations. The body was washed and perfumed, and covered with rich robes; a garland of flowers was placed on its head, and in its hand a cake made of wheat and honey, to appease Cerberus, the porter of Hell; and in the mouth a purse of money, in order to defray the expenses of Charon, the ferryman of Styx. In this state the deceased was exposed for two days in the vestibule of the house. At the door was a vase full of water, destined to purify the hands of those who touched the corpse.
Visitors to Paris will remember how often they have seen a coffin exhibited in the doorway of a house, elaborately covered with flowers, having at its head a crucifix, and many lights surrounding it, everybody as they passed saluting it—the men by taking off their hats, and the women by making the sign of the cross, often using for this purpose holy water offered to them on a brush by an acolyte. Now, the Greeks used blessed water when they exposed their dead in front of their dwellings; possibly the French custom is derived from the Grecian. The funeral in Greece took place three days after the exhibition of the remains, and usually occurred before sunrise, so as to avoid ostentation. Many women surrounded the bier, weeping and howling, and not a few, being professionals, were paid for their trouble. The corpse was placed on a chariot, in a coffin made of cypress wood. The male relatives walked behind, those who were of close kinship having their heads shaved. They usually cast down their eyes, and were invariably dressed in black. A choir of musicians came next, singing doleful tunes. The procession, as a rule, had not far to go, for the body of a wealthy person was usually buried in his garden—if his city house did not possess one, in that of his villa residence.
