Empire de la Mort: honoring the dead around the world

October 8, 2016 10:11 PM

"Do you ever marvel at how there is not a single part of the planet that has not been died upon?" Dr. Paul Koudounaris probably has, given his interest in regional traditions regarding death and ways of honoring (and living with) the dead, with a focus on charnel houses and ossuaries. He has a website titled Empire de la Mort, "being an online resource for charnel houses and burial catacombs," and includes a section on skeletal reliquaries and individual mummies and other miscellaneous sites. His website is a bit dated in design, if not content, and he also posts on Facebook as Empire of Death and on Instagram as hexenkult. (Paul Koudounaris, previously)
posted by filthy light thief (10 comments total)

On his Instagram account, you can learn a bit about things like those "grave site" markers in Old Town San Diego that commemorate the more than 20 Men, Women and Children who lie buried beneath San Diego Ave and surrounding developed areas. And you can enjoy photos of his cat, like this one of her lounging on its newly claimed bed, a preserved mountain goat.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:11 PM on October 8, 2016

Whoa, awesome post!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:36 PM on October 8, 2016

Fantastic, flt!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:48 PM on October 8, 2016

While it can't be said that no one ever died on this island, this post reminded me of the islands of Rheneia and Delos. Delos was a sanctuary for a thousand years before it was decided that it was the birthplace of Apollo (around the 6th century BC); in order to purify it for this purpose, any interred bodies were dug up and moved to the nearby island of Rheneia, which served as necropolis for Delos.
posted by annathea at 8:50 AM on October 9, 2016 [3 favorites]

I love Paul Koudounaris' work! One of my first ambitious nail art designs was based on his photographs of jeweled skeletons from early modern Europe. I'm also a fan of the photos he takes of his very obliging cat.
posted by bookish at 10:01 AM on October 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

You have to love a site that has a skeleton of the week.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 12:11 PM on October 9, 2016

This is excellent. (A pedant writes: no-one ever died on Surtsey.)
posted by Segundus at 12:36 PM on October 9, 2016

I love to see my bones end up in a beautiful ossuary like Sedlak, but hopefully they'll be more useful to the medical school.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:32 PM on October 9, 2016

Fascinating topic, and one of my favorite authors - (proud owner of three of his books). Thank you so much for this.
posted by annieb at 6:12 PM on October 10, 2016

Recent/related: Family and relatives clean the body of Yakob Tandi Tondon, deceased 2009, during the ma'nene ritual at Batan Pangala village in North Toraja, Indonesia. (Smithsonian photograph of the day, Oct. 17, 2016)

When Death Doesn’t Mean Goodbye (National Geographic, March 2016)
In a remote corner of Indonesia, the departed—and their corpses—remain a part of the family.

August is a month not only for funerals but also for ma’nene’—the “second funerals” held by families every few years when they return to ancestral tombs to tidy up, bring the dead snacks and cigarettes, and take long-buried bodies out for a turn in the sun and put fresh clothing on them.

posted by filthy light thief at 3:07 PM on October 17, 2016 [1 favorite]