The dead tell tales at museum

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

One of the ancient large gravestones displayed on the wall remains blank. Underneath it reads the words: This has been reserved by the Arma family.

This is not a place to buy tombstones. It is actually the Museum Prasasti (Inscription Museum) on Jl. Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.

Some people might feel nervous to visit the museum as the more than 1,300 items in its collection are related to mortality, such as the old gravestones, an ancient hearse and coffins, including the ones used for former president Soekarno and former vice president Muhammad Hatta.

It was formerly a cemetery known as Kebon Jahe Kober. The graveyard was built by the Dutch colonial government in 1795 as the final resting place for those of Dutch ancestry, particularly those from noble and senior official families.

The city administration closed the graveyard in 1975. Some of the remains were sent to their families, while others were reburied in several cemeteries around the city.

However, none of the families transported the gravestones when they moved their ancestors' remains because they were too large and heavy, especially those with statues.

The administration then turned the graveyard into a museum in 1977.

Here you can also find many interesting facts about the gravestones.

According to a staff member at the museum, Ukon, gravestones reflected the deceased's social status.

"The more artistic the gravestones the higher the social status of the deceased," he told The Jakarta Post.

Most gravestones had plain designs. However, some came complete with statues of angels or even monuments.

From the design of the gravestones, one could accurately guess the profession of the deceased during their lifetime.

One of them is the gravestone for Dr. H.F. Roll, who founded the STOVIA medical school in 1851. The grave marker for his tombstone symbolizes a book since he was known as a scholar.

Another displays a figure of a bishop, indicating the past profession of Adami Caroli Claessens, who served as the Catholic bishop for Batavia in 1893.

The most unusual and macabre gravestone was the one for Pieter Erberveld, who died in 1722. It depicts an image of a sword stabbing a skull.

Ukon said that Erberveld, whose father was a rich German shoemaker and his mother a Burmese, was sentenced to death for planning to murder several Dutchmen here on New Year's Eve in 1722.

He was tied to the back of a horse-led carriage and dragged along Jl. Jayakarta in Central Jakarta.

This is the reason why the area is called Kulit Pecah (broken skin), Ukon said.

Like other museums in the country, Museum Prasasti fails to attract many visitors. When the Post visited the museum on Saturday morning, there was only one Dutch woman who wanted to see the gravestone of her great grandfather.

"This museum is visited by 40 people a month at the most," Ukon remarked, adding that most visitors were Dutch and students.

Even though the museum is interesting, the management does not provide descriptions for every piece in its collection. There are less than 20 gravestones which have a description written under them.

There were no guides, but Ukon, who has served with the museum for over 20 years, and other staff members are ready to accompany visitors.

Ukon said some people had organized a garden party in the museum's yard, while two top local artists had shot their music videos there.

Awaluddin, another staff member, said the price for a party that lasts all day and all night only costs Rp 2.5 million.

"And if you use it for only a few hours, the price is negotiable."