The bath of 44 is the ceremonial bath given to an Achehnese mother at the end of the 44-day post-childbirth “oven” period, on the occasion of the boih dapu (“removal of the oven”). As Snouck Hurgronje describes it, “the woman is then given a bath, which is called the ‘bath of 44’ (i.e. 44 days). If we may believe the old legends, women of rank in earlier times had this bath served from 44 jars. The water for the bath is mixed with the juice of sour oranges (boh kru’èt)”. The bath is the central ceremonial act by which the Achehnese mark the close of the period of post-partum purification and recovery.
The 44-day period
The Mohammedan law sets down the average period of purification after childbirth at 40 days, and this is the time observed in Java. “As we have seen however the period of forty days customarily observed in other countries is often replaced by forty-four, which latter number plays a prominent part in Achehnese superstition.” The 44-day period in Acheh is the time during which the mother lies close to the fire — the dapu or oven — by which she is dried and restored. “During this period it is said of the woman that she is ‘engaged in drying herself over the fire’ (madapu’èng). She is then called ureueng didapu i.e. ‘one that lies close to the hearth’.” The woman suffers dreadfully under this process, and tosses hither and thither to save her skin from being scorched. She is not allowed to quench her thirst with water, but must be content with a little — and that not too often. The close of this period, on the 44th day, is the moment at which the bath is given.
The ceremonial of the bath
The bath is the chief act of the boih dapu ceremony. After the 44 momentous days have passed, there takes place what is known as the “removal of the oven” (boih dapu); this however as a rule really occurs on the 41st or 43rd day, “as a day of even number is considered less lucky”. A kanduri is given to a number of teungkus and leubes, at which feast there must be plenty of apam or cakes in addition to the rice and its accessories. One of the guests consecrates the fast by the funeral prayer, in which the mercy of Allah is invoked for all the dead and for the living as well. A number of women are invited to attend the ceremony, but these take no share in the kanduri. Those whose means allow of it give at the same time a Rapa’i, the religious play so popular among the Achehnese. The midwife removes the dapu or oven and pushes it beneath the house, where the platform on which the mother has rested during her confinement is also deposited. The woman is then given the bath of 44.
The 44 jars of the old legends
The detail of the 44 jars is one of the survivals of the older and more elaborate Achehnese ritual of which only echoes now remain. “If we may believe the old legends, women of rank in earlier times had this bath served from 44 jars.” The parallel with the Javanese bath of the pregnant woman in the 7th month of her pregnancy — “the water for which is if possible taken from seven wells” — is noted by Hurgronje. Both customs testify to the prominence of the magical number in the ceremonial bath, and to the antiquity of the rite. In the Achehnese custom, the 44 jars of the old legends correspond both to the 44 days of the purification period and to the 44 posts (in the larger houses) of the Achehnese dwelling — the same complex of magical numbers that runs through the whole of Achehnese ceremonial life.
See Also
- Boih dapu
- Peutron
- Rapa’i
- Kanduri
- Apam
- Peusijue
- 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 40th, 44th, 50th, 100th, 1000th day ceremonies
Source
The Achehnese, Vol. I, by Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje, translated by A.W.S. O’Sullivan, indexed by R.J. Wilkinson. Leyden: E.J. Brill, 1906.