Prague's Old Jewish Cemetery

The headline in my news feed grabbed my attention - as it was supposed to:  Archaeologists Find Gruesome Coffin Birth.    Both the woman and child had died, and were buried, before the so-called "birth."  As we all know, bodies that are not prepared by a mortician bloat; they swell with gases caused by the decomposition of the body.  This woman, buried more than 400 years ago, had undergone brain surgery, a trepanning, before her death while pregnant.  She was, of course, buried with the child she carried still inside her womb.  Once she was in her coffin and in her grave, the gases built up inside her abdominal cavity, and the dead child was expelled from her body.  The archaeologists "found the bones of the child" between her femurs and within her pelvis.  The term "coffin birth" really caught me off guard, however.
    And since I had been looking at photos of old cemeteries, it made me wonder what would be found in the old Prague Jewish Cemetery.  It is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, and one of the most important Jewish historical monuments in Prague. It served its purpose from the first half of the 15th century up until 1786.  It now covers 2 acres and contains over 100,000 bodies, some of which are buried 12 deep.  It looks and seems incredible!  How I would love to visit this place!

Old Mountain Cemetery

Looking at fall leaf colors yesterday - a lot of green pines and yellow/gold aspen, but very few red or bronze leaves…  I know they don't normally grow where I was driving, but, still…..   (sigh)   I did take a dirt road that I hadn't followed before, and ended up on a big hill over looking Central City - and there was a huge Catholic Cemetery spread all around us.  I know there are over 538 interments there, as I looked it up on the web last night - but most of the monuments that I found fascinating weren't even listed…  There was a concrete log cabin that was four feet high (not counting the chimney), about four feet wide and three feet deep, with the name WALTER spelled out in branches above the door lintel.  At the foot of the grave was a concrete log, with a scroll draped over it, stating this was the resting place of a beloved son, aged 21 years and 7 months, who had died in 1899.  I have got to return with my camera and document these burials….   There were several cement/concrete cast tree boles scattered throughout the cemetery, and I assumed they were markers for members of the Woodmen of the World - but they were not.  Several, in fact, were markers for women, who were "cut down in their prime."  It was a very interesting place.  Several of the old stones, placed in the 1800s were indecipherable, and while I know it is silly, I was distressed how all the heads of the lambs on children's' graves had been knocked off.  The other odd thing is a large apartment or condominium complex that has been built within the past two years that hovers over the cemetery.  It has been built for the workers in the casinos - but the buildings sure don't blend in with the scenery.
   We saw several crows during the drive, one chipmunk and one squirrel, but plenty of livestock.  Oh.  Beatrice went with me.  She hadn't been in a cemetery since the burial of her parents, so she felt strange wandering through this old, forgotten place.  She wasn't creeped out by walking on graves, trying to read the markers, but there were a few folks who had their campers and all-terrain 4-wheelers outside the cemetery fence, who kept giving her long stares.  I realize that African-Americans are a minority in Colorado - but why do people have to stare?  It's ridiculous.
    I found quite a few of the verses on the gravestones to be rather different from the ones I am used to seeing along the coastal areas.  But the views were stupendous, and the colors glorious in the area.  I fell in love with Quartz Valley Ranch - and their horses and donkeys.
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  Please keep your eyes open for Dreamer's Faith. She's been missing for almost 4 weeks now, and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, the Chincoteague Police Department, and those of us who love the ponies are beginning to worry about her well-being.  Please report any weanling that might be Dreamer's Faith to your local police or Sheriff's offices.  The Chincoteague Police contact number is (757) 336 - 3315.