Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

captivity

of Philippos. He was spending Passover in Rome, and he was staying until Shavuot, or Pentecost, and since he was there, he thought he would bless the people on the occasion of the burial. A priestly blessing was a big deal, because that blessing could only be said by a priest; Uri too would get a chill every time it was recited at some big feast by a suitable person, a descendant of Aaron. Philippos was not permitted anywhere near the body. Not only was he forbidden to see the tumbrel that carried the corpse; it was not even supposed to cast its shadow on him because it would have made him unclean. Philippos blessed the mourners in the crescent entryway to the cemetery, likewise speaking highly of the deceased, expressing hope that a general resurrection was not far away,

so that the living and the dead would not be deprived of each other’s company for long. He read out the prayer, those present wept and said amen, then they shepherded the priest away and only pulled the tumbril into the cemetery once Philippos was long gone. The body, wrapped in white shroud, was carried through the gate by the Levite attendants, who been gazing of f and leaning listlessly on their spades during the speech. Members of the family rent their garments as they entered the gate to see into the niche where the body was placed, onto which vault or rectangular hollow scooped into the stone of the catacomb wall they should place the thin marble plate they had brought along with them, on which stood just the name, Fortunatus, and that he had lived sixty-four years

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