Once preparations were complete, the deceased had to be carried from the home to the grave or family tomb. Those accompanying the body formed a funeral procession.
The size and form of the procession depended on the status of the deceased, the size of the community, and family circumstances.
Funeral processions were common throughout the ancient Mediterranean, but Jewish funerals reflected specifically Jewish concerns about burial, mourning, and ritual impurity.
In a village, the route to the burial place may have been short. In larger settlements, the procession could move from the house through populated streets toward a cemetery outside the inhabited area.
Cemeteries surrounding Jerusalem show that mourners often had to travel outside the occupied city to reach family tombs. Archaeology reveals the destination even though the procession itself leaves little material trace.
Jewish literary sources preserve evidence for funeral processions and those accompanying the dead. New Testament narratives likewise assume that groups could accompany a body or grieving family.
Public mourning and accompaniment of the dead fit the wider biblical tradition of honoring the deceased and sharing the grief of relatives.
Luke describes Jesus meeting a funeral procession at Nain as a widow's son was being carried out for burial. A considerable crowd from the town accompanied her.
Funeral processions and communal accompaniment of the dead were established practices.
Ordinary village funerals were probably simpler than the funerals of wealthy or prominent people described in some ancient texts.
The widow of Nain narrative becomes especially vivid when we recognize that Jesus encountered an actual community procession moving toward burial.