It is probable that a further step in the development of ideas regarding this activity is to be discerned in the belief that the spirit of the departed is joined by others who share with him his resentment against the living; and for safety the mourners disguise themselves, and, possibly, the dance then assumes a different purpose, namely, that of frightening the spirits away. This is said to be the purpose with which some of the tribes of Northern India dance at burials[392]; and the dance of the _Bharang_, disguised, to which reference was made above, points, perhaps, to the same thing; so also the custom of the inhabitants of the Aaru archipelago. Among them, when a member of the family dies, all the women leave the house with their hair hanging loose, to wail upon the shore; they tumble over one another head over heels in a strange kind of dance, and smear their bodies with dirt and mud[393]. SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS Although in the Old Testament there is no mention of dancing as a mourning or burial rite, there are strong grounds for believing that it was practised. No customs are more tenacious than those which are concerned with the dead, and since some other mourning customs, known to have been in existence among the Hebrews, are not referred to in the Old Testament, the non-mention of this one is no reason for supposing that it was not practised. That the religious leaders looked upon this, as well as various other rites performed in connexion with the dead, as heathenish and superstitious, would of itself account for the silence of the Old Testament on the subject. The positive grounds for believing in its existence among the Israelites are: its very widespread vogue among different races all over the world; the object, or objects, for which it was performed, which involved beliefs regarding the departed common to all races during some stages of their cultural and religious development; and most important of all, its existence, though in a modified form, at the present day. Evidence is forthcoming of the rite among the Jews in post-Christian times. Circumambulation round a corpse, which is in the nature of the sacred dance, was known and practised among the Greeks as early as the time of Homer, who mentions it; other examples are also recorded. The rite is in vogue among the Arabs to this day who dance in circles on their way to the place of mourning; it is performed by women and young girls. Much evidence is forthcoming as to its practice among the Egyptians, both ancient and modern, of which various examples are given above.