Word: tomb
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...outset there were two incongruous conceptions about the state of the dead. One was that they were powerful. This belief brought with it a corresponding cultus of the dead. On the other hand was the conception of the dead as "the weak," or "languid." The idea of the tomb in which the members of a family were buried, grew to the larger idea of sheol or the underworld, a place of dark, gloomy depths. Several passages in the Bible indicate the belief that earthly distinctions were carried into the other world...
...life after death was conceived under two forms; life in the tomb, and life in another world. The body was supposed to live in the tomb. The body had its double, called the ka, which had the human form. Next came the ba, or soul; and lastly the ku, or "luminous." These really represent the amalgamation of different sets of ideas...
...body was provided for while in the tomb. Food was left for its subsistence. It was believed that the double would continue only while the body lived. For this reason great care was taken in embalming the body and in the construction of the tomb. It was thought possible to increase the chance of the continuance of the double by placing in the tomb statues of the dead. Then arose the practice of covering the walls with representations of offerings of food, with magic formulae for transforming these representations into food...
...seen in a preceding lecture, that the spirit of the dead continued in its earthly dwelling; and all sorts of devices were resorted to in order that the spell of its presence might not remain over the other inmates of the house. The earliest idea of a tomb was that of a house like that occupied by the spirit in life and which was to be its permanent domicile. Among people who lived in caves, burial was made underground. Thus grew up the ideas of the nether world which are shown in the word hell, which means "the hidden." Some...
...last be put in the earth, but as only the rich and noble could afford any pomp in that sad office we get the word for it-funeral from the Norman. So also the poor man was put into a Saxon grave, and the noble into a Norman tomb. All the parts of armor, which was worn only by the nobel, have French names, while the weapons of the people, sword, bow, and the like continued Saxon. So feather is Saxon, but when it changes to a plume for the lord, or a pen for the learned it becomes foreign...