Cultural Lesson: Islamic Burial Practices

I did this lesson on Islamic burial practices with my Latin IV class last year as we were reading my publication Nasreddin Chogia: Fabellae. One of the fables alludes to Islamic burial practices. Here is my Latin adaptation of the fable:

Chōgia ōlim hieme in silvā ligna caedēns, “Algeō!,” inquit, “Ergō, mortuus sum!”

Ergō, Chōgia cum dēcubuisset tamquam mortuus, “Efferendus sum!,” inquit.

Chōgia cum domum rediisset, tum, “Mortuus sum,” inquit uxōrī, “in silvā. Iubē amīcōs mē efferre.”

Deinde Chōgia cum in silvam rediisset, dēcubuit.

Cum uxor Chōgiae in tabernam vēnisset, “Nasreddīn Chōgia,” inquit, “in silvā mortuus est.”

Amīcī Chōgiae, “Quī scīs?,” inquiunt.

Uxor, “Quia,” inquit, “Chōgia domum rediit et haec mihi dīxit.”

(A translation for readers who do not read Latin:)

Once upon a time, Hoca, while chopping firewood in the woods in the wintertime, said, "I am cold! Therefore, I am dead!"

So Hoca, when he had lay down as if he were dead, said, "I must be carried out (i.e. for burial)!"

So Hoca, when he had returned home, then he said to his wife, "I died in the woods. Tell my friends to carry me out (i.e. for burial)."

Then Hoca, when he had returned to the woods, lay down.

When Hoca's wife had arrived at the coffeehouse, she said, "Nasreddin Hoca has died in the woods."

Hoca's friends said, "How do you know?"

The wife said, "Because Hoca came back home and told me this."

After reading this fable with my students, I wanted students to understand Islamic burial practices and why Nasreddin Hoca feels such a strong sense of urgency to be buried when he believes that he is dead. For this lesson, students located QR codes posted around our building at school. These QR codes linked to a sentence in Latin and a clue to the location of the next clue. All of the sentences described steps involved in a traditional Islamic burial. Students not only located the QR codes and copied down the Latin sentences, but also put the sentences in chronological order.

The sentences for each step. I glossed new terms in Latin or in English in parentheses:

1. Muslimus periit. (A Muslim has died.)

2. Cadaver (corpus mortui) inter 24 horas sepeliendum (in terra ponendum) est. [The corpse (the body of a deceased person) must be buried (placed in the ground) within 24 hours.

3. Cadaver necessariis (e.g. sororibus, fratribus, filiis, matri, patri, etc.) lavandum est. [The corpse must be washed by relatives (e.g. sisters, brothers, children, mother, father, etc.).]

4. Cadaver involvendum est. (The corpse must be wrapped up.)

5. Cadaver in arca ponitur. (The corpse is placed in a coffin.)

6. Cadaver ad meschitam effertur. (The corpse is brought to a mosque.)

7. Cadaver in sepulcretum effertur. (The corpse is brought to a cemetery.)

8. Eis qui adsunt orandum est. (Those in attendance must pray.)

9. Cadaver in sepulcro sepeliendum (in terra ponendum) est. [The corpse must be buried (placed in the ground)].

10. Cadaver in Meccam advertendum est. (The corpse must be turned towards Mecca.)

After putting the steps in order, students then wrote in Latin summarizing the fable in their own words in Latin and explaining why Hoca felt such a strong sense of urgency to be buried.

The worksheet:

Biduum Georgianum

This past April, I attended the first ever Biduum Georgianum, hosted by the Septentrionale Americanum Latinitatis Vivae Institutum (SALVI), an organization that hosts and promotes opportunities for Latinists to speak Latin actively. For most world language teachers, they can seek communities where their language is spoken and/or travel to countries where their language is spoken to get a fully immersive experience. We Latin teachers do not have the same opportunity - so SALVI addresses this need. SALVI is most famous for hosting Rusticatio, a week-long summer program in West Virginia.

I first heard about SALVI's first Biduum (essentially a weekend-long sampler of the week-long Rusticatio experience) in Georgia from my dear friend, pun partner in crime, and fellow Latin teacher, Liz. I jumped on the opportunity to go because 1) it's with her so I was guaranteed at the very least a weekend of mischief and laughter, 2) it was much cheaper than the week-long Rusticatio experience in the summer, and 3) it was within driving distance, unlike Rusticatio. My four Latin teammates at work gave me helpful suggestions, as they have all done immersion programs like Rusticatio before.

For about 36 hours at a campsite in rural Georgia, around 30 participants and I were allowed to speak only in Latin. We did a variety of group activities like games and lessons, read some Latin texts on the bodily humors, shared and prepared meals, played frisbee, went hiking, had a campfire (complete with Latin campfire songs), had conversations, and more. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and especially loved (surprise surprise) being goofy and humorous in Latin (yep, I made at least one yo-mama joke in Latin).

The SALVI dinner chant

I attribute a large part of my enjoyment of the experience to my own self-awareness. I have always considered language a tool or a toy with which to express myself and manipulate for my own amusement, so I have never had the hang-ups experienced by other Latinists who enjoy Latin purely for its literary value and scorn any active use of the language (e.g. prose composition, conversational use, et al.). My previous enjoyment of using Latin actively made me excited to make the most of my 36 hours in this Latin bubble in the middle of nowhere.

Vocabulary from various activities

Body parts

Besides my own comfort with the language, I was aware of my own emotional limits. For example, I am a strong introvert, so for my sake I did not participate in many conversations at breakfast time. I knew that I needed that time in the morning to wake up both physically and mentally. Conversation too soon in the day - before I was mentally ready and had mustered enough social energy - would have exhausted me. I also made sure to be aware of my affective filter (the impact one's mental and emotional state has on their comfort with second language use). Whenever I felt overwhelmed, I withdrew and refocused. I did not strike up conversation for the sake of conversation - that is how I am in English anyway. There were, however, some interesting conversations over dinner, such as my attempt to explain comprehensible input to another teacher.

Adds a whole new spin on "I'm your Venus, I'm your fire" 😂

My conversational Latin is still a work in progress, so I hope to acquire an arsenal of go-to phrases and expressions that could apply to most conversations. Besides immersion programs like Biduum, conversing in Latin with my teammates and reading comedy has helped me work on this. Overall, Biduum was worth it and I definitely would love to do the full Rusticatio program in the future.