m

Introduction
When I recently visited the National Museum of the Philippines located in the
country’s capital, Manila, I became more interested with the artifacts located at
the Archaeology section of the museum. The first object that caught my eye was
the Manunggul jar, a secondary burial jar that has existed since the late Neolithic
Period (895-775 B.C.) in the Philippines.
Detailed Information and
Description
The Manunggul jar is largely made from clay and it measures 51.5 cm wide and
66.5 cm high. Its embossed, curved designs especially those at the upper portion
of the jar were painted in pure hematite and iron (National Museum Information).

There are two human images riding a boat located on top of the jar’s cover. The
first human image, holding an oar with a missing blade, is situated at the back
area. He seems to be steering the oar rather than paddling the boat. The second
human image, with arms folded across the chest, is situated at the front. Both
human images seem to have a band tied over their heads down to their jaws. The
image of a head complete with carved eyes, nose and mouth is also seen at the
front area of the boat.

The two human images were said to symbolize two souls on a voyage toward the
afterlife. The arms folded across the chest of the second human image and the
band being tied from the top of the head down to the jaw, on the other hand,
represented the Philippine tradition of arranging a dead body (Chua 1-2). The
three main features of the Manunggul jar is composed of the boat itself, the boat
driver and the soul. This was based on the Austronesian belief wherein the soul of
a human separates from the body after death and returns to the Earth in another
form for the purpose of looking after his or her descendants. The souls were
believed to travel through boats just like the one depicted on the jar’s cover (Chua
2-3).

The “ship-of-the-dead” image in the Manunggul jar was found to have close
similarities with the ship motifs of woodcarvings found in Taiwan, East Timor and
other places in South East Asia. Such ship motifs were seen during ancient
funerals using boat-shaped coffins (Tan 89).

Brief History and Implications

 The
Manunggul jar was discovered in a cave at Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan on
March 1964 by a team of volunteer workers from the United States Peace Corps
headed by Victor Decalan and Hans Kasten. Since the late Neolithic Period, the
jar became one of the important archaeological artifacts associated with the
culture depicted in the Tabon Cave of Palawan (Chua 2). Dr. Robert Fox, together
with his team of archaeologists, was able to obtain the jar and placed it at the
National Museum of the Philippines for display and safe-keeping in 1964 (National
Museum Information).
The Manunggul jar was regarded as a work accomplished by an ingenious artist
and master potter (National Museum Information). It was also deemed as an
artifact depicting the significance of water bodies such as seas, lakes and rivers
as a means of transportation, trade and communication during the time of the
country’s ancestors (Chua 2). The jar was also considered as a strong connection
between the culture and archaeology of the past and the present.

Personal Evaluation
For me, the Manunggul jar was a perfect illustration of the creativity and sense of
artistry of the Filipino people. The fact that Filipinos are natural risk-takers and
adventurers was also embedded in the elaborate designs of this artifact. The
Manunggul jar also depicted the Filipino values of respect for one’s soul,
compassion, nationalism and faith. Consequently, the jar served as a living
reminder of the country’s rich history and culture since it existence during the late
Neolithic Period.

Conclusion
The Manunggul jar is considered a living evidence of the Filipinos’ shared cultural
legacy with their Austronesian ancestors since marks of their tradition and culture
were seen in various areas of the Philippines and in numerous ethnic tribes (Chua
2).

Indeed, the Manunggul jar served as a representation of the National Museum’s

responsibility in preserving the Philippines’ rich cultural legacy. It was also a
potential proof of how art can reflect a country’s history, tradition and culture, no
matter how simple or intricate its form is.

https://openroadreview.in/the-manunggul-jar-a-relic-of-philippine-history/
Excerpt from Relation
of the Worship of the
Tagalogs, Their Gods,
and
Their Burials and
Superstitions by Fray
Juan de Plasencia
Excerpt from Relation
of the Worship of the
Tagalogs, Their Gods,
and
Their Burials and
Superstitions by Fray
Juan de Plasencia
This chapter begins by looking at class and social structure, and ends by
examining some of the traits which led to social conflict. The opening section
examines the ruling classes, looking at the leaders of what were essentially
small village groupings of often related families. The next section deals with
other members of what were the upper classes and how they managed to
obtain and keep their status. Following on from this is a discussion of some of
the Malay-derived titles which were common in the Tagalog speaking areas
around Manila, and concluding the section is a detailed examination of death
and burial practices among the elite.

Section 2 is a short discussion of the class of freemen, those who were

neither leaders nor slaves, and Section 3 a more detailed discussion of
slaves, their treatment, opinions, and the possibilities of freeing themselves
from servitude. In Section 4 is an examination of poverty, and in Section 5
some of the relationships pertaining between the powerful and powerless are
discussed.

The final section brings together various topics which together fall under the
heading of social conflict. To begin with is a discussion of irony and sarcasm,
the interpersonal play on words which can both amuse and hurt. A section on
arguments follows, discussed along with the reasons such situations occur.
Debates is the next section, seen perhaps as a more sophisticated way of
arguing, followed by the terms of provocation which could bring about such
interpersonal friction.

The sections which end the chapter deal with reprimands and blame, aimed
not only at the guilty, but the innocent alike; annoyance and offence and how
it was felt and conveyed; anger, a more extreme form of annoyance, and
finally challenges and threats and the kinds of warnings which might precede
the onset of more violent behaviour.

In addition to the control of land and accumulated wealth, the dátoˈ and his

attendant family were also in possession of a significant number of slaves
(see Section 3).[38] The absolute dominance of the dátoˈ over this particular
group of people can not be made more clear than during the rituals
accompanying death.

The early accounts written by observers in the sixteenth and seventeenth

centuries generally included descriptions of burial rituals which bore great
similarities from one region to another. Burials of the leaders of the
community, the dátoˈ, involved significant degrees of family oriented ritual and
veneration.[39]

Bodies of the dead were washed and then perfumed with various of the tree
resins available in the surrounding forests. These were then wrapped in cloth,
the type of cloth and the amount used to shroud the body commensurate with
the status of deceased (sápot ).
sápot a shroud; MA-, -ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to shroud the dead; MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to use
s/t as a shroud; also used to refer to clothes when annoyed or angry: Haháˈin idtóng sápot
digdí hoˈ? Where are the clothes that were here?; Kuˈá idtóng ipinagsápot kan bangkáy
mo? Pick up the shroud for your corpse (Said when angry, almost as a curse) [MDL]

The body was then embalmed, externally using extracts of the agarwood tree
(kalambák ) and internally by placing the sap of the Piper beetle (búyoˈ) into
the mouth of the deceased so that it would defuse into the cavities of the
body.[40] The following entries are Bikol, although Lisboa makes no mention
of their use in embalming.
kalambák oil (typ- medicinal, fragrant, used for rubbing into the skin); derived from the resin of
the agarwood tree (Aquilaria malaccensis), which is produced by the wood in response to
infection by a type of mold [ MDL]

búyoˈ vine (typ- Piper beetle, possessing a leaf used as part of the mixture of betel nut and lime
called mamáˈ); -AN a place where this vine grows [+MDL]

The deceased was then placed in a coffin (lungón) which was fashioned from
one piece of wood cut from the trunk of a tree with the lid positioned so tightly
so as to seal the coffin off from the outside air. In such a way, and with the
effects of the embalming, the body would remain intact for a significant period
of time.[41]
lungón coffin; MAG-, -ON to bury s/o in a coffin; MAG-, -AN to place s/o in a coffin; MAG-, I- to
use s/t as a coffin [+MDL: MA-, -ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to place or bury s/o in a coffin; MA-, -AN
or MAG-, PAG--AN to locate a coffin in a particular place]

The coffin was not buried in the ground. It was kept in the house which had
served as the residence of the deceased, or in a house built specifically for
the purpose of internment. The coffin could be placed in the upper part of the
house, or beneath it on a raised platform. A third option was its placement into
a pit dug under the house. In this position it would be encircled by a railing
and left exposed, not covered with soil.[42]

Plasencia, describing the customs of the Tagalogs, mentions a different

approach to burial. Here the body, after being mourned for four days, was
placed on a boat which served as the deceased's coffin. This was then placed
under the porch of a house and left there to decay.[43] Colin also mentions a
similar situation on the island of Bohol,[44] and a corresponding reference is
also found in the Boxer Codex.[45]

This now brings us to Bikol. During the burial of the leaders of the community
(lubóng), the coffin was also left in the residence of the deceased (biráy).
What is interesting about this term is its corresponding meaning in the other
central Philippine languages. In Tagalog it is described as a small boat.[46] In
Waray, Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Kapampangan it is a large boat,[47] with
Encarnacion for Cebuano and Mentrida for Hiligaynon drawing comparisons
to the barángay, the boat which once brought settlers to the Philippines from
the Malay world to the south. The term was subsequently applied to those
familial groups arriving by boat and the small communities they lived in.[48]
lubóng MAG-, I- to bury a corpse; to inter or entomb s/o; MAG-, -AN to inter s/o in a particular
place; MAKI- to attend a funeral; PAG- funeral, burial; -AN cemetery,
graveyard; linubngán grave, tomb [+MDL: MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to bury s/o; MA-, -AN or MAG-,
PAG--AN to bury s/o in a particular place]

biráy the house or residence of a leading member of the community which serves as a place of
confinement after death; the house with the coffin and body is then left to decay or collapse; MA -,
-ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to confine the dead in such a way; MA-, -AN or MAG-, PAG- -AN to
confine the dead to such a house; MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to use a house for such a purpose;
(fig-) Nagsulóm na iníng biráy This house is very dark (Said when annoyed or angry) [MDL]

barángay boat (typ- medium size, larger than a binítang) [MDL]

In addition to the biráy Lisboa makes reference to another type of shelter, also
reserved for the elite of the community, although, possibly, not those holding
the highest status. This was the kálang into which the caskets of people of
some influence were placed.
kálang a small hut or shelter in which the caskets of influential people of a town are placed; MA -,
-ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to place the dead in such a hut or shelter; MA-, -AN or MAG-, PAG-
-AN / MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to use a hut or shelter for such a purpose [MDL]

Accompanying the dead was some of the wealth which they accumulated
during their life. Gold was placed into the coffin along with the body so that the
deceased would be well received in their new world,[49] with the amount of
gold determined by their previous status in life.[50] The body could also be
adorned with jewels with gold leaf placed over the mouth and eyes [51] or
gold pieces placed into the mouth.[52]

Another box containing the finest clothing of the deceased was placed near
the coffin, and also located nearby were dishes of food left for the deceased
on their journey.[53] Near the coffin of men were left their weapons of warfare,
and around those of women the objects of their labour, such as looms.
[54] Where the body of the deceased was interred in a boat or boat-like coffin,
food was also added to the boat to simulate the supplies that would be
needed on a raiding journey.[55] In place of food supplies, Plasencia
describes a variation for the Tagalogs where male and female pairs of animals
which could be consumed as food were positioned where rowers would
normally sit at the oars to propel the boat forward. The welfare of the animals
was left to the attendance of slaves.[56]

There was great fear that the body of the deceased would be interfered with
by evil spirits. A coffin, for example, which had burst open was attributed to
the touch of such evil spirits. To prevent this from happening, fires would be lit
around the house where the coffin was kept and armed guards would stand
vigil for a number of nights.[57] In the Boxer Codex it is mentioned that
bamboo torches would be lit daily for more than two months [58] and the coffin
guarded continuously for up to three or four years.[59] For Bikol this guard
was one of the deceased's slaves (dáyo). The same term was used in Waray,
Cebuano and Hiligaynon.[60]
dáyo (arc-) a slave who stands guard over the grave of a leading member of the community so
that the body will not be disinterred by the aswáng; MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to assign a slave to
this task [MDL]
 aswáng supernatural creature; a devil or witch said to eat human flesh; -ON or MA- to be
bewitched, enchanted or put under a spell [+ MDL: MA-, -ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to bewitch s/o; to
call s/o an aswáng; to search out the bodies of the dead to feast on; MANGHING-,
PANGHING--AN to accuse s/o of being a witch; (fig-) KA- gluttonous: Kaaswáng mo doy sa
pagsúngay What an aswáng you are when it comes to eating]

The deceased would not go into the afterlife with just supplies of food, money
and clothing. They would also be accompanied by one or more of their slaves.
How this was effected was recorded differently in the extant accounts of the
time.

The Boxer Codex mentions that slaves would be killed in the same way that
their masters met their end. If they had drowned, the slaves too would be
drowned, and if they were stabbed, this would also be the way the slaves
were put to death. In the case of illness, the slaves would either be drowned
or buried alive.[61]

Loarca also mentions that a slave would be put death in the same way that
the deceased had died. The slave who was chosen was one that was little
valued, and one who was foreign to the region, presumably someone who had
been captured in one of the frequent raids on neighbouring communities.[62]

In Colin's description, one of the deceased favourite slaves, whether male or

female, would be well fed, and then put to death.[63] This description is from
an account based on the work of Chirino who, additionally, indicated that more
than one slave could be chosen for this fate.[64] Plasencia adds that if the
deceased was a warrior, a living slave would be tied beneath the body and left
there to die and subsequently decay along with the boat and its contents.[65]

Colin also relates an account attributed to the island of Bohol where the
deceased was placed in a boat serving as a coffin with up to seventy slaves
assigned as rowers buried with him. Colin, again, draws on the written reports
of Chirino. Chirino does mention that there was once a case where the
deceased was burred with a full contingent of rowers, but he does not mention
the number of rowers involved nor does he indicate that the incident took
place on the island of Bohol.

This scale of ritual killing is not repeated elsewhere and is very likely
exaggerated if not apocryphal. In societies so chronically short of labour as
those in the sixteenth century Philippines, where raids were carried out to
secure additional workers and death sentences were commuted to a life-time
of slavery, it is highly unlikely that the loss of so many lives for ritual purposes
would have been tolerated, although, if Chirino's account is to be accepted,
exceptions clearly occurred.

Lisboa includes two entries which refer to the death of a slave upon the death
of the master. Hugót refers to a slave killed by garrotting or strangling. In
none of the other central Philippine languages does this term refer to the
death of a slave, and only in Hiligaynon and Cebuano does it refer to death by
hanging.[66] In Waray as well as Hiligaynon and Cebuano, this term, or its
cognate form, igut in Kapampangan, refers to the tensing or tightening of
something which is slack or loose, such as a rope or cord.[67] In Tagalog it
has the opposite meaning of loosening something which is tense.[68]
hugót a sacrifice offered to the aswáng to keep it from devouring the entrails of a newly dead
chief or other important person in the village; the favorite slave of the deceased is killed and his
entrails are offered in sacrifice by the balyán [BIK MYT] [MDL: a slave who is killed by garroting
(strangling) upon the death of his master; MA-, I- to kill a slave as a sign of mourning for his
master; MA-, -AN to mourn a master with the killing of a slave]

The second term in Lisboa, sáyat, makes no mention of how the slave is put
to death, although if the following derivation is correct, then it may very well
have been through stabbing. This is a term which is not found in the Visayan
languages, nor in Tagalog and Kapampangan, with a relevant meaning. This
may be a borrowing of the Arabic sayyāf 'sword bearer' or the
plural sayyāfat 'sword bearers' which has entered Bikol through Malay.
[69] The term is associated with Penang Malay where sayat means 'to cut off
bits of skin or flesh'.[70]
sáyat (arc-) MA-, I- or MAG-, IPAG- to put to death a slave upon the death of his master as a sign
of mourning; to kill a slave for this purpose MA-, -AN or MAG-, PAG--AN to mourn a master in this
way [MDL]

2. FREEMEN

 
Accounts of early Philippine society have all described three classes of
citizens: the ruling class, discussed above (see Section 1) the slaves,
discussed below (see Section 3), and the group of freemen positioned
between these two.[71] This group of freemen, referred to as timáwaˈ,
comprised both individuals who were always free, that is, those who were
never slaves, as well those who had once been slaves, but were set free or
who had earned or purchased their freedom This is a term found in all of the
central Philippine languages.[72] Additionally, for Tagalog, there was another
term for this group of people, maharlika,[73] a term which has a dramatically
different meaning in the modern language. From reference to what were freed
slaves it now refers to the 'nobility' or 'aristocracy'.[74]

Maharlika is from the Sanskrit maharddhika, an adjective with the central

meaning of 'prosperous'. This is the meaning the term carried in tenth century
Java. By the early colonial period in Indonesia, the Dutch had come to use
this term, now expressed as mardijikers, to refer to the children of former
slaves, primarily the Portuguese-speaking Christians from India, indicating
that at some point in the etymological development of the term, reference
came to be made to freed slaves. It is this aspect of its meaning that must
have entered the Philippines. As a side note, maharddhika is also the origin of
the modern Indonesian term merdeka 'freedom'.[75]
timáwaˈ an ordinary resident or villager, neither a slave nor a noble; a freeman, a free slave; MA-
to free a slave; to declare oneself free (a slave); to become an ordinary citizen (one who was
once richer or of a higher rank) [MDL]

Bikol also has another term for the people who were neither nobles or
slaves, bátak, a term which parallels the meaning of timáwaˈ. This does not
appear in the other central Philippine languages and may be a borrowing from
Malay where the positive, nominal meaning is 'nomad', 'rover' or 'wander', and
the verbal meaning, 'to rove' or 'wander'. There is also a negative aspect to its
meaning in Malay, 'to rob' or 'steal', an association possibly made with those
whose have no permanent home.[76]
bátak freeman, describing a person who is no longer a slave; MAG- to free o/s or declare o/s
free; MA-, -ON to set s/o free; MA-, -AN to set s/o free from a group of slaves [MDL]

3. SLAVES

 
We now turn to the slaves, urípon, a term with cognates in all of the central
Philippine languages.[77] When annoyed with a slave, a term of anger in Bikol
such as salpók or pungkáˈ may have been used, and when reference is
made to slaves in a narrative or verse, the term pandóˈ.
urípon slave; MA- one who possesses slaves; MAG-, -ON to enslave; to treat s/o like a slave;
MAGPA-, PA--ON to capitulate to s/o; to yield or submit to s/o; KA--AN: kauripnán slavery,
bondage [+MDL: MA-, -ON or MAG-, PAG--ON to have slaves; to enslave s/o; MA-, -AN or MAG-,
 PAG--AN to take s/o's child or relative as a slave; MAKA-, MA- to take s/o as a slave due to
indebtedness; PAGKA- slavery, bondage; KAG- kagurípon slave owner]

salpók slave, used only when annoyed or angry; syn- pungkáˈ [MDL]

pandóˈ -AN slave, used in place of urípon in narratives and verse [MDL]

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