Hamzza
VIP
Scenes from the Burial of a young Somali girl as described by the French traveler Georges Révoil
"Among the scenes, I witnessed during my stay in Somalia, the one which struck me the most was the burial of a young girl, who had died from the bite of a snake. The accident had happened to her while she was drawing water from the fountain the night before she died. So terrible is the effect of the venom, that it brings death to this young creature full of health and of remarkable beauty.
The dead had been sewn into a white shroud. At daybreak, a large number of natives draped in their most beautiful loincloths went to the hut where the unfortunate victim lay. The body was hoisted on a stretcher carried by six men who took turns from moment to moment so that almost all the male population of the village could pay this supreme homage to the poor deceased. In front and behind the procession, two women, each placed on one side of the stretcher, held raised in their hands a "Dabqaad" or incense burner, in which incense and mourkoud were smoking.
No singing, no noisy demonstration, nothing but the muffled cadence of the footsteps of the porters and the escort, accompanied by the sad Muslim chant: 'Lā illāha, Illah Allah!' the procession had a truly imposing appearance, and I was struck by the resemblance offered by its arrangement and order to the funeral ceremonies of the Greeks and Romans, such as the ancient authors describe them to us."
"Among the scenes, I witnessed during my stay in Somalia, the one which struck me the most was the burial of a young girl, who had died from the bite of a snake. The accident had happened to her while she was drawing water from the fountain the night before she died. So terrible is the effect of the venom, that it brings death to this young creature full of health and of remarkable beauty.
The dead had been sewn into a white shroud. At daybreak, a large number of natives draped in their most beautiful loincloths went to the hut where the unfortunate victim lay. The body was hoisted on a stretcher carried by six men who took turns from moment to moment so that almost all the male population of the village could pay this supreme homage to the poor deceased. In front and behind the procession, two women, each placed on one side of the stretcher, held raised in their hands a "Dabqaad" or incense burner, in which incense and mourkoud were smoking.
No singing, no noisy demonstration, nothing but the muffled cadence of the footsteps of the porters and the escort, accompanied by the sad Muslim chant: 'Lā illāha, Illah Allah!' the procession had a truly imposing appearance, and I was struck by the resemblance offered by its arrangement and order to the funeral ceremonies of the Greeks and Romans, such as the ancient authors describe them to us."
, but their shock and amazement is still very amusing to hear
