In keeping with the austere tenets of Wahhabism, yesterday's funeral of King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh was short and to the point.

One of the world's last absolute monarchs was laid to rest with little ceremony in a public cemetery after a short prayer session at the capital's grand mosque.

The body, wrapped in a plain white shroud and covered in his coarse brown abaya, arrived at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in an ambulance.

It was placed on a plain wooden stretcher covered with an ornate Persian carpet -- the only exotic touch -- and carried into the building by his sons.

The crowd of thousands -- all men, of course -- included his successor, King Abdullah, and members of the Saudi royal family.

King Fahd was buried at the al-Oud cemetery five kilometres away -- alongside commoners and former kings, including his half-brothers Saud, Faisal and Khalid.

Family members, dressed in traditional red headscarves and long white robes, filled in the grave with soil brought to the site in wheelbarrows. As Wahhabism guards against idolatry, the King will have no tomb or engraved headstone. Just a simple stone will mark the spot where he lies.