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What was it about a graveyard? The concept itself bothered Eli. The Jews wanted you buried quickly – without embalming – as if to hasten your return to the earth. But then, if the purpose were to give back the resources you’d borrowed, a cemetery would be hardly the place to put them to productive use. The Christians, like the ancient Egyptians, wanted the body preserved in anticipation of a physical resurrection. It was a glorious destiny the old slave-masters thought only kings deserved. But the Christians apparently expected boatloads of believers to be ferried into the sky some bright morning. The Hindus, on the other hand, would not hesitate to burn you up before you stank. Despite beliefs about the soul’s ascending with the smoke, the practice probably had more to do with land-us
