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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Helon held Ttaas cold band , and bathed it with his tears ; and all' who stood around his bed , in mournful silence , thought him already dead . But the dying eye opened once more—gazed round on them all—then fixed itself
on heaven . His head sank back in Salarnith ' s arms . Twice the mouth was distorted in the bitterness of pain —then once # gain . The body became rigid—the respiration ceased . " After a solemn pause , each reading in the countenance of the rest the
confirmation of his fears , all uttered at the same moment a piercing shriek of grief . The men rent their upper garments , beat their breasts , threw their turbans on the ground , strewed dust and ashes on their head , put on sackcloth , covered their chins and went barefoot- Helon was hurried
away , least , being a priest , he should contract pollution from the dead body . The eyes of the corpse were closed , and it was carried into the Alija ( a small chapel on the roof of the house ) by the nearest relatives . As it had been the custom in Judea , since the Captivity , to bury very soon , the night
was past in making preparations . The body was wrapt in a large sheet , the head bound with a napkin , and then the whale , from head to foot , swathed with a broad bandage , and each foot , each hand , each finger separately . At midnight came the Levites with their musical instruments :
the female mourners began their office by lifting up their voices and lamenting , strewing ashes on their heads and singing a dirge . On the following morning the house was filled with neighbours and friends , expressing their sympathy . Salamith ran about , weeping and wringing her hands above her head . The men sat in another
apartment upon the ground and mourned itt | silence . Salamith was conducted - # ' the apartment of the women , where she placed herself on a carpet in the middle , and the rest of the females of the family sat round her . The hired mourners formed a wider
circle at a little distance . Each of the women held a handkerchief in her hand by two of the corners . The niourn . ers , who knew a variety of funeral songs , began one which expressed th $ virtues , and calamities of the fle ^ eased , Salamith gave them a ai pi aha they ceased ; ami all the female *
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of the family began to'weep aldnjf-mth . her . They aroser , twisted their handkerchiefs together , and ran shrieking round the room , while Salamith ^ sitting motionless in the middle , wtdiiff her hands and tore her beautiful dark :
hair . When she ceased , the mourners resumed their song till she again gave them a signal , and the relatives renewed their lamentations . This lasted till towards evening , when the inhabitants assembled at the door , and the corpse was carried to the grave .
1 ho&e who carried the bier proceeded with such hasty steps , that they seetned rather to run than walk—an usage which was said to bear this meaning , that death is the most terrible punishment of sin . Every one who met the procession joined the mourners , and bore part in the cries of the women .
" Before the gate of the city , in a garden planted with trees , stood the sepulchre of Klisama ' s host , hewn out of the rock ; and in this the corpse was deposited $ for burning was deemed dishonourable by the Jews and regarded with abhorrence . The bearers
threw aloes , myrrh and other fragrant substances upon the body so as to cover it , and the sepulchre was closed with a stone , which was annually whitened with lime . The friends and relatives remained standing awhile before the closed sepulchre , then bowed themselves thrice to the earth and
preyed : then taking up a sod threw it behind them and said , * Remember , O man 1 that dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return . ' The procession returned with a repetition of the
funeral lamentations . On reaching home they washed their hands , and the neighbours brought them the bread of mourning . A beautiful and humane custom in Israel ! No
victuals were prepared in the house which death had visited , but the neighboursand friends came with costly viands and invited the mourners to partake of them , to recruit thenstrength and spirits . This was called the bread of mourning , and the cup
which was handed round , the cup of consolation . The mourning lasted seven days , during which it was held indecorous to wash the garnients , to bathe or anoint the body , or to wear the srindalsor the turban . * Every tlay Salamith went with the women of the family to lament , at the tomb of the
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" ffi&Sn 'i ^ PHgrifhm ? re to Jeritotitom , * ' fy M . Straus * . 19
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1823, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1780/page/19/
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