The Special Issue on Contemporary Issues in Business and Economics © Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA 242 Inheritance, Condolence and Funeral Procession in Nestorian Society in the 19 th Century Dr.Murat Gökhan DALYAN Assitant Professor Adıyaman Üniversity Turkey Email: mgdalyan@adiyaman.edu.tr Abstract Funeral procession began shortly after death; the corpse was washed and buried in Nestorian society in the 19th century. Different genders and people of different social classes were treated differently during burial procession. Accordingly, when a clergyman died, his dead body was washed without his clothes being taken off. Dead bodies of women were buried in graves which were dug more deeply than those of men. When children under the age of six months died, they were buried by their mothers. When they died above the age of six, their corpses were buried by priest and others along with him. Visits of condolence started shortly after burial and finished when men shaved and women washed their hair at the end of the ninth day. As for inheritance share, sons were entitled to get more inheritance than daughters were. Keywords: Nestorian, Funeral, Condolence, Inheritance 1.Introduction While considering both History of religions in general and History of Christianity in particular, it is seen that Nestorianism represents an unusual sample of an authentic view that turned into a sect. Its establishment as a sect and its historical experiences have become an interesting research subject as a different interpretation of Christianity. There has been an increase on the number of studies related to the issue in Turkey. This should be noted as an important development because it eliminates incompleteness of studies made about the minorities who lived hundreds of years in this region. This study deals with funeral, burial and inheritance procession among Nestori community who lived on the border regions of Ottoman-Iranian States in the 19th century. But the fact that there is shortage of written resources related to the burial issue and that the present resources are not directly connected to the issue cause some questions remain unanswered. 2. Nestori name and a short look into their History until 19th century Nestori is the name given to Christians who settled down in Anatolia and northern Iran. This name was given to them since they believed and supported Constantinople’s Patrick Nestor’s views during the controversial religious discussions started with Ephesus Council in 431. Nestorianism, which came into existence as a sect in the first quarter of the fifth century, caused the greatest shock in the Christian world, followed by doctrines of Arius. Because after discussions of znik Council in 325 and Constantinople Council in 381 in which the doctrines of Arius were rejected, the trinity belief was grounded and the deity of Jesus Christ was accepted officially, the discussions were inevitably focused on personality of Virgin Mary. The phrase Theotokos (Mother of God) was used for Mary to glorify her during discussions. A monk named Anastasius, who was a friend of Constantinople Bishop Nastoryus, alleged that that view was sacrilege during a sermon. And he recommended that the phrase Hristokos (Mother of Christ) be used. Meanwhile Nastoryus supported his view. This situation caused a new discussion that shook Christian Church and Roman Empire. Nastoryus explained his view that would later be called as diofizit in those remarks: “Christ has two features and two essences. Mary gave birth to a pure human who had no links with deity. After Christ was baptized at the age of 30, God’s revelations were sent down to him. For this reason Mary cannot be called Theotokos , she is not mother of God. She is mother of Christ only.” Ephesus Council was held again upon the request of the emperor in 431-449. In these councils, it was agreed that Christ had the same essence of God and he was associated with God. Thus, Nastoryus’ views were rejected and the view that Mary was Thetokos was officially accepted. However, this development paved the way for the first big separation in Antakya Church, which was kept under the control of Suryanis. Nestor supporters, who were discharged during discussions started in Church, continued their activities in Urfa. Then after they were banished into Iran by Emperor Zenon, they carried on their activities here. Contentions between Eastern Church and Western Church, struggle for hegemony were important factors in these pressures. And they wanted to dissolve Nasturi Church, giving diofizit view as an excuse.