In burial: Water burial. The association between water and immortality is reflected in the myths of many cultures, myths that often centre on a god-hero who sails away from his people in death with the promise to return again.
Many Norse cultures practiced water burials or incorporated water elements into their funeral rituals. Often the high ranking was honored in death by being laid to rest on a boat or ship, which was then launched out to sea. Other times they buried the dead in graves made to look like a ship made of stone.
Full-body burials require more effort than simply spreading ashes. You must be at least three miles offshore and in water that is at least 600 feet deep to submerge the body. The body must also be housed in a niche coffin or burial shroud.
Burial at sea is the disposal of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship, boat or aircraft. It is regularly performed by navies, and is done by private citizens in many countries.
Burial at sea is thought to have taken place throughout history, with instances dating back as far as Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, alongside the traditional funerary rites of these civilisations.
Burials at sea—loaded in Australia or performed from an Australian vessel or aircraft—require a permit. The permit application form must be completed and sent with a copy of the death certificate and the application fee.
A sea burial is when a boat takes a coffin out to sea and puts it into the water. This means the sea bed becomes someone's final resting place, as a specific kind of coffin is used to make sure it sinks. The body will then break down and become part of the ocean.
Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances. This is not one of them.” The only cases where burial at sea could be permissible are if death occurs on a ship and there is no way to prevent decay until landfall, or if an enemy is looking to desecrate the grave of the deceased.
Generally speaking, the first large port city the ship calls at is where the body will be offloaded, taken to a medical examiner's office and repatriated. But each country has its own rules and regulations about accepting bodies, declaring cause of death and repatriating remains.
There are many reasons why people want to be buried at sea. For some, the decision is financial: A sea burial including a coffin or custom-made shroud and boat rental might cost between $5,000 and $10,000, while a burial at a cemetery is at least $20,000, said Judah Ben-Hur, owner of Argos Cremation and Burials.
Non-cremated casketed remains
If using a casket, plastic materials should be removed from the casket before burial at sea because plastic materials do not degrade and may create unacceptable marine debris. A metal casket, as used by the United States Navy, should be considered.
Putrefaction and scavenging creatures will dismember the corpse in a week or two and the bones will sink to the seabed. There they may be slowly buried by marine silt or broken down further over months or years, depending on the acidity of the water.
You are loved, you are cherished, you are deeply missed. We all know (insert deceased individual's name) loved to be out on the water, so we thought it would be fitting to let him/her/them go here. We miss you every day, but we know you'll be happy and at peace in your new home, gently floating in the water.
Funeral rites began with preparing the body. The Vikings draped their dead in clean clothing and often adorned them with jewels. The next step in a Viking funeral was usually cremation on a funeral pyre. Then, the deceased's fellow Vikings would dig the grave, and the funeral feast would take place.
A prominent tradition is that of the ship burial, where the deceased was laid in a boat, or a stone ship, and given grave offerings in accordance with his earthly status and profession, sometimes including sacrificed slaves.
The beverage, produced in the Scandinavian countries, derives its name from aqua vitae (Latin: “water of life”), applied originally to liquor distilled from wine, and was made from imported wine; the product therefore was highly expensive until Swedish soldiers learned to make aquavit from grain.
And if the body is floating in water less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) for about three weeks, the tissues turn into a soapy fatty acid known as "grave wax" that halts bacterial growth. The skin, however, will still blister and turn greenish black.
The Navy's Burial at Sea Program enables families to provide for the final disposition of their service member's cremated or casketed remains as part of a special onboard ceremony.
The U.S. Navy provides burial at sea. The National Cemetery Administration can't perform this type of committal service. For information, call the U.S. Navy Mortuary Affairs office at 866-787-0081. We're here Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.
The new Vatican guidelines do not prohibit that, so long as the body or cremated remains are buried in a dignified and well-protected container. (Catholics should consult with their diocese for further instructions, since standards can vary from diocese to diocese.)
It seems that in Christianity, the star comes from the east. Some of the ancient religions (based on the sun) would bury the dead facing east so that they could face the "new day" and the "rising sun." Once again, Christ is considered to be the "Light of the World," which explains the eastward facing burials.
The rule in Islamic law is that every dead body should be buried in an individual grave. However, in cases of necessity, two or three bodies—or even more if needed—can be buried in the same grave.
During cremation, the body parts that do burn consist of organs, soft tissue, hair, and skin, while the water in our bodies evaporates. The body parts that do not burn are bone fragments. Teeth usually burn during cremation, but not entirely.
If the grave site is low on water content or moisture, metal caskets are known to last even longer, over five decades. Under favorable weather conditions, experts say that metal caskets may even last more than that – up to 80 years.
A century in, the last of your bones will have collapsed into dust. And only the most durable part of your body, your teeth, will remain. Teeth, grave wax, and some nylon threads.