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Burial at the village

It was always of use in Lebanon to share the joys and sadness alike. In case of the death of a Christian individual, church bells would ring to announce the death.

When the deceased was Moslem, verses of the Koran were recited. If the late one was an important character, the news of his death were shouted from one hill to another, and his house was quickly filled with parents, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Women and girls dressed in black, men replaced their red fez a black one and grew their beard, during forty days. The day of the burial no fire would be lit in the house of the deceased, people would talk sadly of the good qualities and the virtues of the deceased.

The funeral of a notable was grand. His horse, caparisoned in black, was walked in the village followed by people, each one carrying an object having belonged to the deceased. If the deceased was a young person, people would sing and fire their guns during his funerals, the way they would do for a marriage.

It was not rare in a funeral convoy to see several men of religion, on their way towards the church or the mosque, the stretcher or the coffin held high over their heads or on their shoulders. Sometimes the deceased was put on a carriage trailed by a mare covered with a black mourning fabric. His rifle and sword placed on both sides of the saddle.

Once the ceremony was over, the convoy would head towards the cemetery for the burial. The family then stood along the wall of the church or in the house of the deceased to receive the condolences.