What are 8 Oldest Cemeteries in the World?Part 1

No one knows for sure when early humans decided to start deliberately burying the dead. The earliest uncontested burials date back to about 100,000 years ago, while cemeteries, intentional mass graves, appeared thousands of years later. Early hunter-gatherers often buried the dead next to their houses. To date, the earliest true burial grounds found are 8,500 years old, and no other ancient burial grounds have been found.

1.Miles Standish Cemetery

The Miles Standish Cemetery is the longest-maintained cemetery in the United States, according to the American Cemetery Association. The cemetery is located in Duxbury. Massachusetts, used from 1638-1789. It has only about 130 marked graves belonging to several prominent Pilarims who have flown on the Mayflower, including Captain Myles Standish, who shares the cemetery's name.

Most early tombs were simply marked with rough stone or wooden markers that had deteriorated or disappeared. The oldest surviving carved headstone belongs to Captain Jonathan Alden, who died in 1697. The cemetery was abandoned in 1789 and reclaimed by the Duxbury Country Society in 1887. They set out to find Miles Standish's grave, an unmarked grave, and eventually found it and erected a monument on his grave. In 2015, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

2.Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague

The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Prague and one of the oldest in all of Europe. The cemetery dates back to about 1439 (the earliest tombstone belongs to Rabbi Avignor Kara), but may have been used much earlier. Between 1439 and 1787 it was the only burial place for Prague's Jewish community, as they were not allowed to bury outside the designated ghetto. There are more than 12,000 headstones in the cemetery, but about 100,000 people are believed to be buried underneath. Some graves may have as many as 12 bodies stacked on top of each other. While the earliest tombstones were simple and unadorned, from about the 16th and 17th centuries, more elaborate tombstones were constructed. The symbols on these ornate tombstones represent a person's surname and/or occupation.

3. Heiliger Sand (Holy Sand)

The Jewish community in Worms was founded sometime in the 11th century, and the oldest graves in the cemetery date back to around 1058/59. During the Middle Ages, the Jewish community in Worms flourished, and many prominent Jewish leaders lived here and were buried in the cemetery. Some of the most important tombs belong to rabbis, such as Rabbi Meyer of Rothenburg, Alexander Ben Solomon Wimpfen. Nathan Ben Isakrabi, Jacob Ben Moses Halevi Rabi. It's called MaHaRil. The cemetery's last burial was in 1940, during the Holocaust. Somehow, the cemetery survived the First World War and is maintained by the Jewish Congregation of Mainz. Today, Heligshah is a place of pilgrimage for Jewish tourists from all over the world.

4. okunoin Cemetery

Okunoin Cemetery is the oldest, largest and most sacred cemetery in Japan. The cemetery is located on Köya Hill, established by Kükai in 819. Founder of Shingon Buddhism. When Kükai died in 835, he was buried in his mausoleum. According to Lutheran Buddhist beliefs, Kobo Daishi (the descendant name of Kükai) does not actually die, but is in an eternal state of intermediary, awaiting the appearance of the future Buddha Maitreya (known in Japanese as Maitreya).