Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 159. Rest in peace.

Today we're going to talk about Byzantine burial customs and the resting place of

the empires. This was partly inspired by Basil II's unusual decision to be buried alone

away from the rest of his predecessors and family. For those who are not so thrilled that

we're ending this year on a downbeat note, you can also blame listener K.S., who asked specifically

about imperial funerals. But to be fair to him, it's a good question.

Before we move to the palace and the church of the Holy Apostles, I wanted to look at the funerals

of the average Byzantine man and woman. Sadly, a much more frequent ceremony than most of us would

be used to because of their high mortality rates. And what we discover is a lot of similarities

to our own ceremonies today. Assuming that the unfortunate person lies sick in bed,

then the first concern of their family upon death was to close their eyes and mouth.

This is a natural act in most cultures to give the deceased some dignity and protect

mourners from further shock. But in Byzantium, it was also believed that evil spirits would attempt

to enter the body through the open mouth. A ribbon or cord was usually placed around the jaw

to prevent it from opening and keep the face in a neutral pose.

Once the family were ready, the body was lowered from its sick bed onto a cot or stretcher.

Justinian and others had actually passed laws about the importance of stretching the limbs of the

dead out into the traditional resting pose before Rigomortus set in. The body was now moved

and prepared for the funeral. For the wealthy servants would perform this task, but out on the farm,

the family or someone knowledgeable in the village would take charge.

The body was bathed in warm water. Again, the idea that evil spirits were lurking and needed to

be washed away was a consideration beyond cleanliness. Then perfume, wine, mure, and various other

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