Tempon-teloris (Ship of the Dead)

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Tempon-teloris (Ship of the Dead)

Among the Dayaks of Borneo, the ship of the dead, the vessel that carried the souls of the departed in search of the hereafter, was generally represented in the shape of a bird, the hornbill (rhinoplax vigil ). Accompanying the souls on their journey through the fire-sea were all the stores that had been laid out at the feast of the dead (trivah ), and all the slaves who had been killed for that purpose. After some chain of events in the fiery sea, the ship of the dead, with Tempon-telon at the helm, reached the golden shores of the blessed.

Some of these beliefs echo the ancient burial rites of Egypt as portrayed in the Book of the Dead.

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