HOME: Bible Archaeology                                 DEATH & BURIAL                          TOMB OF KING HEROD

Death

The Tomb of Lazarus

Why have a tomb?

Importance of burial

Bench burial caves

Recesses in the wall

Burial customs

Ossuaries

Extra Websites

Abraham

Adam

AncientReligions

Catacombs

Cities

Clothes

Crucifixion

David

Farming

Houses

Jesusalem

Jewelry

Palaces

Stone Tablets

Tombs

War

Work

Ziggurats

'While the body was decomposing it was treated as if it was still partly alive: it was given food and drink, and visited by relatives and friends...' Ancient Burials

The Tomb of Lazarus,  view from interior

Death

The ancient Jewish people of the Bible did not believe that death meant total annihilation, or that we vanish completely at the moment of death. 

Death to them meant the loss of vitality and strength, but so long as the body or at least the bones remained, the soul or nefesh continued to exist. In its greatly weakened state, the nefesh sheltered in Sheol, the subterranean abode of the dead (Genesis 44:29; Job 10:21 ff; Isaiah 14:9 ff.), where it led a shadowy, meaningless existence.

However, as the soul was presumed to feel what was done to its dead body, a corpse must be given honourable burial. It must not be burned, and to leave it as a prey for wild animals would bring curses to the living.

In ancient Israel and other ancient civilizations, tombs and catacombs were homes for the dead. They held the body until it decomposed, then the bones were stored in a central pit or in an ossuary (bone box). Tombs were cut into the rock, usually with a small central room and recesses for bodies. 

The Tomb of Lazarus

People were never buried inside the walls of the village or city. This was considered a pagan practice (see Jericho Skull). The only person exempted from this law was the King, who was buried in a royal sepulchre inside the walls of Jerusalem. 

If a city wanted to expand its walls and build on land that had tombs on it, all the bones had to be exhumed and reburied outside the new city walls.

'Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.  He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean.  But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the Lord's tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.  This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days, and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.  Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.'    Numbers 19:11-16

 

BENCH BURIAL CAVES

Tomb with rock benches: the Tomb of Kings, Jerusalem

The most common way to be buried was in a communal family tomb, in a cave hewn out of the rock. There were rock benches around the walls of each compartment, on which the body was placed. 

When these spaces had all been used, and another body had to be buried, the bones on the benches were collected together and placed in the center of the cave - either on the floor or in a shallow pit dug out for this purpose. 

Removing the bones in this way made it possible for one family to use the same tomb for many generations.

The Canaanites placed food vessels (and presumably food), personal objects such as jewelry, inscribed seals and weapons with the dead body. This practice continued even as late as the 2nd or 1st century BC.

A circa 1900 photograph of a tomb which is said to have contained the body of the beautiful queen Mariamme, who was strangled by her husband King Herod the Great.  Upper Hinnom Valley, Jerusalem

 

WALL RECESSES

Up until the century before the birth of Jesus, the body of the dead person was placed on a stone bench in the sepulchre. 

After this period, however, a new type of tomb was used. This was still carved into the rock, but now the benches were replaced by  cavities cut into the side of the wall, one above the other - much the same as the catacombs.

Each of these cavities contained one body, which could be sealed in by a well-fitting slab of stone. The body would then be left undisturbed. This meant that people placing a new dead body in the tomb were spared the unpleasant sight of decomposing bodies from past burials.

When the body had decomposed, the stone slab was removed and the bones collected. They were then placed in small individual stone boxes called ossuaries, which often had the name of the dead person carved on the side.

An ossuary was a box in which the bones of the dead person were stored.  This one was inscribed  'Simon the temple-builder'

The entrance to this type of tomb was sealed with a large, heavy stone which had to be rolled into position. The entrance itself might be decorated with carvings and look out onto a small courtyard - according to the wealth of the family.

It was in this type of tomb that Jesus of Nazareth was buried on the night after his death on the cross.

It was the women’s task to prepare a dead body for burial. The body was washed, and hair and nails were cut. Then it was gently wiped with a mixture of spices and wrapped in linen strips of various sizes and widths. While this was happening, prayers from the Scriptures were chanted.

The body was wrapped in a shroud, but was otherwise uncovered.

Tombs were visited and watched for three days by family members and friends. On the third day after death, the body was examined. This was to make sure that the person was really dead, for accidental burial of someone still alive could happen. 

At this stage the body would be treated by the women of the family with oils and perfumes. The women's visits to the tombs of Jesus and Lazarus are connected with this ritual.

'The Dead Christ', by Andrea Mantegna

After visiting the tomb on the third day the body was left untouched for a year, by which time it had decomposed. The bones were then collected and stored in an ossuary, a ‘bone box’, with the large bones at the bottom and the smaller bones and skull placed on top.

After the funeral, the family of the dead person stayed at home for seven days. They sat on the floor or on a low bench, barefoot. They did not wash themselves or their clothes, or do any work. They did not cook, but were given food by relatives. They were visited by a continual stream of friends and relatives, who sat with them and comforted them. For a thirty-day period after the death, the family members took no part in any entertainment, but lived a quiet, reflective life. 

After the death of a father or a mother, the mourning period was one year. This period was an opportunity to pay respect to the two people who had given you life.

Preparing the Corpse

Pins, fibulae and other ornaments discovered in excavated tombs in Palestine show that the dead were buried in their clothes. The description of Samuel rising from Sheol for instance (I Sam. 28:14) includes the fact that he was "wrapped in a robe". Ezekiel describes the brave lying in Sheol in their armour, with their weapons in their hands and their swords resting beneath their heads.
In Old and New Testament times, the dead were carried to the grave laid on a bier. Talmudic literature records that until the time of Rabbi Gamaliel (end 1st century AD) the people would bury their dead in luxurious garments involving considerable expense. He ruled instead that the dead be buried swathed in white cloths and the custom has been maintained until today among the Jews. According to the New Testament, a corpse was washed (Ac. 9:37), anointed (Mk. 16:1) and wrapped in shrouds containing spices (Jn. 19:40). The hands and feet were tied with bands and the face covered with a kerchief (Jn. 20:7). According to Mt. 27:59, Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and swathed it in a white shroud before burying it. John 11 :44 describes the risen Lazarus appearing at the opening of his tomb "his hands and feet bound with bandages and his face wrapped with a cloth."

Burial

Embalming was never practiced in Israel. Jacob and Joseph were embalmed but in both cases it is ascribed explicitly to Egyptian custom (Gn. 50:2, 26). There is evidence that corpses were cremated in Palestine long before the coming of the Israelites or, later, among groups of foreigners living in the country. The Israelites never practiced cremation which, like embalming, was considered sacrilegious and was forbidden by Mosaic Law (Lv. 20:14; 21:9; Am. 2:1). I Samuel 31:12 records that the bones of Saul and Jonathan were burned before burial by the people of Jabesh-Gilead but this was a departure from the usual custom. The parallel passage in I Ch. (10:12) omits the burning and has Saul and his sons buried, not burned. Incense, however, was burned at the side of the bodies of kings and other high dignitaries (Jer. 34:5; 11 Ch. 16:14).

Tombs

Pre-Israelite: A large number of Canaanite tombs from the Early to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages have been found throughout Palestine in many of the excavations of ancient towns. The most usual tomb was a natural cave or irregular, rounded chamber reached through a vertical shaft which could be sealed by a stone slab.  

In this tomb at Megiddo, chambers lead off a vertical entrance shaft that can be sealed  by a stone slab. Three chambers B, C and D open off a central chamber A.

Sometimes, in more elaborate constructions, the shaft had a flight of steps and the chambers were rectangular in shape. In general, burial grounds were outside a village or town. The normal arrangement of a shaft tomb is shown; three chambers BCD opened off the central chamber A.
The tombs of the Early Bronze Age (4th mill. BC) in Palestine were used successively for a number of burials and the custom was continued in the Middle Bronze. After each burial, the shaft would be filled, to be re-excavated the next time the tomb was needed. When a new burial was to be made, the bodies and accompanying offerings from earlier burials would be pushed to the back and sides of the tomb chamber. The final burial remained intact against a background of jumble from earlier interments, as shown in this picture (below) from a Jericho tomb (circa 1600-1700 BC). Many of the tombs probably belonged to a family group and contained twenty or so bodies, which would cover a few generations.

Group of bones in a Jericho tomb, circa 1600-1700BC

The bodies were laid side by side and, as can be seen from the Jericho tomb, a supply of food and equipment was placed beside them. This custom is found, to the great benefit of archaeological study, from the fourth millenium BC onwards. The offerings apparently represented what was considered the necessary provision for the after-life and may equally well have been the equipment used by the dead in this life. Besides food and drink, aromatic oils and perfumes would also be placed in the tomb in clay pots and jars. As many of the vessels have survived reasonably intact, they provide valuable information about the sequence of cultures of the group that used the tombs. The Israelites continued the custom, although in a different form. Whereas the Canaanites used to supply their dead with food and drink, furniture and implements for use in the netherworld and on their way there, later Israelite graves rarely contain more than personal belongings and pottery containers.

Early Israelite Graves

No authentic tomb from the earliest Israelite or Patriarchal times has ever been identified (cf. Hebron'). Archaeologists interpret this as evidence that the majority of burial places of the common people must have been extremely modest — simple shallow graves which would easily be obliterated by time and tilling or erosion. Common people were probably buried in common burial pits, a "tomb of the sons of the people" and the practice continued until the monarchy (II Kings 23:6; Jeremiah 26:23). More important burials were in caves or shelters under rocks. A few tombs of this kind have been found on the outskirts of Jerusalem and there is ample biblical evidence for their use.
In the time of the Patriarchs, according to Genesis, Sarah (23:19), Abraham, (25:9), Isaac, Rebecca and Leah (49:31) and Jacob (50:13) were all buried in the "Cave of Machpelah to the east of Mamre which Abraham bought ... as a burying place". In general, people who died away from home were buried where they died. Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, was buried near Bethel "under an oak" known henceforth as "Alon bacuth" (the oak of weeping; Gn. 35:8) and Rachel was buried on the way to Ephrath (Bethlehem; Gn. 35:19-20). Jacob erected a pillar at Rachel's tomb.

Burial during the Monarchy

Family tombs continued to be used during the period of settlement and once the kingdom had been established. Gideon (Jud. 8:32); Samson (Jud. 16:31), Asahel (II Sam. 2:32) and Ahitophel (II Sam. 17:23) were all buried in "the tomb of their father". The remains of Saul and Jonathan were finally laid to rest in Zela, in the tomb of Saul's father, in their own tribal territory of Benjamin (II Sam. 21:14). It is mentioned that Samuel was buried "in his house at Ramah" (I Sam. 25:1), and the same is recorded of Joab (I K. 2:34), but this may mean a family sepulchre rather than a dwelling. Except for the kings, there is no evidence that the dead were buried inside the towns. Tombs would be scattered over surrounding slopes, or grouped in places where the soil was suitable.
The pattern of the graves hardly changed. The normal tomb of the period of the monarchy was either a natural cave, or else a burial chamber cut out of the soft rock, made with an entrance opening, sometimes with a few steps. The bodies were laid on ledges hewn out of the rock. When the chamber was filled, the bones were removed to niches in the walls of the chamber, so as to make room for new burials. The tombs might be used by a family or a clan for a considerable time.

Group of burial caves found in the excavation of Samaria (see information below)

A typical group of tombs of thus period was discovered in the excavation of Samaria. The best preserved is an irregular cave measuring 5 m. by 4.70. A rock pillar in the centre, which once supported the roof, has now collapsed. An opening in the north wall led into a smaller chamber (2.4 x 1.9 metres and only 1.55 high) which must have been the burial place. It contained four skeletons, three adults, one child, laid with their heads to the east. Beside the bones were pots, beads of semi-precious stones, bronze and other objects. Outside the chamber a kind of bench, 0.44 metres high, was cut in the rock. In the floor of the cave were six holes, some with a double-rimmed mouth to carry a cover stone; two of them were connected by a narrow and shallow channel. The holes - opened into- bottle-shaped rock-cut pits, varying in depth from 2.20 to 4.50 m. and in lower diameter from 1.80 to 2.90 m. The pits were, full of pottery, much of which had apparently been broken intentionally; there were also objects in bronze, iron, stone and bone, as well as some animal bones. The pits suggest the practice of a cult of the dead, in spite of the rigorous opposition to it by the prophets.

In general, however, tombs of the Israelite period show few signs of burial offerings, beyond some pottery and clay lamps. Funeral offerings in the sense of provisions for the future use of the dead, such as the Canaanites had provided are rarely found although there was a time when this custom was followed. The custom of leaving offerings by the dead is not necessarily connected with any acts of worship towards them — which never existed in Israel. It indicates a belief in survival after death although the Israelites did not express it as crudely as had the Canaanites. Men's idea of the future of the dead had developed. Quite possibly the offerings had no more than a symbolic value, but they raise a complex problem.

Nevertheless, the entrance to a grave was carefully closed against robbers or beasts of prey. Sometimes sepulchres of great splendour were prepared. Isaiah denounced a high official "Shebna, who is over the house" for the magnificence of the tomb he had carved for himself (Is. 22:15-16). When a funerary inscription from the period of the first Temple was discovered in the village of Siloam with an indecipherable name, it was very tempting to link it with the man Isaiah had in mind. The inscription runs

 "This is the sepulchre of .... iah who is over the house. There is no silver and no gold here, but only (his bones) and the bones of his handmaiden with him. Cursed is the man who will open this (sepulchre)." 

The title in the inscription and the date of the tomb would both fit Shebnayahu who was a contemporary of Hezekiah, but any certain identification is impossible.
It is interesting to compare this with a Phoenician funerary inscription (see below) in Cyprus (900-850 BC) reading: "He who defiles this sarcophagus will perish by ... the hand of Baal .... by the hand of the assembly of God . . . ."

This Phoenician funerary inscription reads "He who defiles this sarcophagus will perish by ... the hand of Baal .... by the hand of the assembly of God."

Poor People's Burials

Not every family could afford to maintain large or elaborate tombs. A common grave or trench in which the bodies of homeless people or condemned criminals were thrown, was to be found in the Kidron valley near Jerusalem. A more exalted offender, or dead enemy, might have a cairn of stones raised over his grave.

The Unknown Tomb of David

In spite of the certainty of popular tradition, the data on David's place of burial are in fact too scanty to enable his tomb to be identified. A tomb of the Canaanite type, made from a cave approached by a shaft with steps, has been discovered on the south-eastern slope of Mount Zion within the area of ancient Jerusalem (the Ophel), the original "City of David". 

By comparison with tombs at Megiddo, Ugarit and elsewhere, its entrance could be reconstructed and it has been suggested that it was the tomb of one of the early Jebusite kings of Jerusalem and that it could possibly have been used for David. It is recorded (I K. 2:10) that David was buried "in the city of David" and this new discovery is a much more likely site than the famous "Tomb of David" under the hall believed to be the "Cenacle" near the church of the Dormition at the south-western end of the city. This site is based only on the tenuous evidence of an Arab tradition which knows the place as Nebi-Dahood (David the Prophet, or Holy David) and on mediaeval Jewish traditions.

POST-EXILIC BURIAL CUSTOMS

From the late Hellenistic period a new type of family sepulchre made its appearance. Instead of laying the bodies on ledges on three sides of the tomb, narrow perpendicular niches were cut into the walls and the bodies placed inside. Alternatively, the bodies would be placed in a sarcophagus of limestone or lead. Later on the bones would be gathered together into stone coffers or ossuaries ("gluskamah") and the sepulchre made available for new occupants. 

The ossuaries might be made of wood, clay or lead. Stone ones were made in the form of houses with an arched roof, often decorated with rosettes of six, nine, twelve or more petals, or other plant and architectural motifs. Others were left undecorated. Many of them were inscribed in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek with the names of the dead whose bones they contained. Over a thousand of these ossuaries have been found in Jerusalem alone, all of them dating between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD.

The use of such ossuaries, sarcophagi, burial niches or coffins in Palestine began after Old Testament times. Stone sarcophagi had been known for centuries in the countries adjoining Palestine, but their use by the Jews was only introduced in the Herodian period, and was restricted to the wealthy and prominent. Like the lead coffins and the more modest ossuaries, the stone sarcophagi were decorated with motifs borrowed from Hellenistic (Graeco-Oriental) religions.
Tombs continued to be closed against marauding men or beasts. Sometimes this was done by a heavy stone door which could be locked. Other tombs were closed by means of a circular stone, as in this Herodian tomb (below) which could be rolled into position along a groove, propelled by a simple lever and kept in place by a small stone, called a "dofek".

In general, until the late Hellenistic period, tombs were not distinguished by monuments. Rabbinic tradition (confirmed in Mt. 23:27-29) records that the doors were coated with chalk or whitewash as a warning to the passer-by to avoid the ritual defilement caused by inadvertent contact.
The first reference to adding a commemorative monument to a tomb is the account in I Mac. (13:27-30) of the Hasmonean Simon's memorial to his brothers at Modiin. The custom of building monumental mausoleums was apparently becoming widespread among the leading families.

Monumental Tombs of the Kidron Valley

Some very fine post-Exilic tombs and monuments were found in the Kidron Valley, just to the south of Jerusalem's walls. These include the ones known to tradition as the "tombs of Absalom, Zechariah and St. James".  In fact the inscriptions prove that they were all the tombs of members of the aristocratic, priestly family, the Bnei-Hezir, and they all belong to the 1st century BC.
The monuments and the mausoleum were all carved out of the rock. On the right is a commemorative monument ("nefesh" in Hebrew) in the form of a cube with Ionic decoration, surmounted by an Egyptian cornice and pyramid. Combinations of this nature were particularly common in the funerary architecture of the Hellenistic period. The upper part of the mausoleum  had an ornamental Doric facade carved out of the rock.

Other Monumental Tombs

These were the most elaborate tombs and funeral structures found, although other rock-cut tombs were discovered all around Jerusalem and near other ancient Israelite and post-Exilic cities. Tombs built after the Hasmonean era show a generally more careful workmanship than those of the 2nd century BC.  A shallow dome known as the arcosolium was placed over the benches in the tombs, although the central chamber retained its flat ceiling. During the Roman era, stone sarcophagi began to be replaced by coffins of lead and wood.

The Necropolis of Beth-Shearim

The development is best illustrated from the vast Beth-Shearim necropolis near modern Haifa, which has served since the 3rd century AD as a large and elaborate burial centre for Jews from both Palestine and the Near East. It is composed mainly of caves cut in the rock, each cave consisting usually of a large entrance corridor whence halls, burial chambers and single loculi branch out. The most important catacombs have monumental arched masonry applied to the rock, with open-air places of prayer cut in the rock above them. 

Necropolis of Beth-Shearim, near Haifa: entrance to a burial cave

Design of the facade of one of the monumental tombs near Jerusalem

Entrance to the Tomb of the Sanhedrin: the origin of the name is unknown

Monumental tombs in which sarcophagi were found near Jerusalem, called Tombs of the Kings, have been identified with the tombs of the royal family of Adiabene from Mesopotamia after their conversion in the 1st century AD.
There is another graveyard north of Jerusalem which was apparently used for the burial of ordinary people and had much simpler tombs than those of the Kidron Valley. The most elaborate of the graves are traditionally known as the "Graves of the Sanhedrin", though the origin of the name is obscure.

Interpretation of Funeral Rites

Many scholars have tried to interpret Israelite funeral rites as evidence for the survival of a cult of the dead. Some argue that the dead inspired fear and that the bereaved were trying to protect themselves and earn the dead person's goodwill. Another school of thought believes that the living ascribed a kind of divinity to the dead.
Neither of these opinions has any solid support in the Old Testament. To the Jews a corpse and the tomb which contained it were both unclean. The corpse was inescapably doomed to corruption and it contaminated everything and everyone who came into contact with it. It seems impossible that it could ever have been in any way an object of worship. In post-Exilic times, any such concept would have been unthinkable.
Orthodox opinion regards funerary rites as exclusively the expression of sorrow at the loss of dear ones. However, this is not a sufficient explanation by itself. Some of the customs, e.g. the wearing of sackcloth or fasting are also found in penitential rites and must therefore have a religious significance.
The self-mutilation and shaving of the head condemned by the Torah (Lv. 19:27-28) also had a religious meaning, although it is not easy now to define it. Food offerings placed in the grave — a custom which the Israelites followed for a time in imitation of the Canaanites — bear witness to a belief in a life after death, as well as affection towards the dead. Such ceremonies were considered the right of the deceased and a pious duty which his kin owed to him. They were enjoined by the Decalogue as part of the filial duty every one must pay to his parents.
In general, the dead were honoured in a religious spirit but were not made the objects of any cult. A connection between mourning and religious customs is not exclusive to Judaism. Similar parallels can be found in many other religions and it appears to be a universal tendency.

MOURNING CUSTOMS

A certain ritual governed the actions of a deceased person's relatives and those who were present at his death and funeral. The details varied between the different peoples of the ancient Near East but, broadly speaking, the customs of the Israelites followed lines laid down by their neighbours, especially the Canaanites.

Customs of Israel's Neighbours

The poetry of Ugarit contains descriptions of funeral and mourning rites and these are also referred to in various places in the Old Testament (e.g. Is. 15:2; Jer. 48:37; Ezk. 27:31).
One of the Ugaritic epics describes how the father of gods and his daughter, Anat, mourn the death of Baal. The god descends from his chair and sits on a stool, from there he descends to the earth, puts ashes on his head and earth on the crown of his head, covers his body with sackcloth, girdled at the waist, makes incisions in his flesh, clips his beard and pulls the hair out from his head.

Archaeological discoveries have richly illustrated the mourning customs of other contemporary peoples. Egyptian tombs, especially, contained a wealth of mourning scenes. Mourning women bared their breasts, covered their faces with earth, wrapped black and torn sacking around their hips, put ropes around their necks and raised their clasped hands above their heads (see wall relief below).

Egyptian tomb relief showing mourning practices (top) and the funeral procession (below)

The sarcophagus of King Ahiram of Byblos in Phoenicia, who lived during the 10th century BC, carried a carving of four bare-breasted women, two with their hands over their heads and two beating their sides. In front of the king stand men with their right arms bared. This was a custom common to both Egypt and Palestine. Rabbinical literature refers to the baring of the arm and shoulder in mourning. Pre-Islamic Arab women bared their breasts and beat on them, tore their hair and their flesh and mourned for the dead for a week. The men would shave their heads and their faces, leaving the hair and beards on the tomb and offering sacrifices over them to the dead.

Pre-Exilic Israelite Customs

Many of these rites were forbidden by the Law of Moses because they seemed idolatrous and, moreover, involved acts of desecration against the human body. Deuteronomy 14:1 commands the Israelites: "you shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for your dead." Cutting the hair, shaving the beard or lacerating the skin in especially sensitive places were all forbidden. Exaggerated mourning was prohibited to priests who were not even permitted to let their hair grow during the period of mourning (Lv. 10:6). A High Priest, indeed, was forbidden to mourn at all and. might not even approach the bodies of his dead mother and father for fear of the defilement which was involved in touching a corpse (Lv. 21:10-11). The same rule applied to a Nazirite dedicated to God (Nu. 6:7).
The various prohibitions were not altogether successful and many forbidden customs were followed (see Jer. 16:6; 41:5; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16).
Certain mourning customs were, of course, permitted. From the earliest period, the close relatives of the deceased would gird their loins with sackcloth and sit upon the floor (Gn. 37:34; II Sam. 3:31; Ezk. 26:16; Lam. 2:10). The head was sprinkled with earth, dust and ashes (II Sam. 1:2; Esther 4:1), or at least covered (11 Sam. 15:30; Jer. 14:3).
When David learned of the death of Absalom, he covered his face (II Sam. 19:4); when Saul and Jonathan were killed, he tore his clothes and wept and fasted until evening. Those who were with him did likewise (I I Sam. 1:11-12). At the news that all his sons had been slain by Absalom, he "rent his garments and lay on the earth" (II Sam. 13:31).
According to Ezekiel (24:17) it was customary to bare the head, cover the "lips" i.e. the lower part of the face and go barefoot in mourning. Going barefoot as a sign of mourning was universal. The prohibitions on bodily mutilations were not observed. The men who came from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria mourning Gedaliah ben Ahikam (Jer. 41 :5) had "their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed". Many other forbidden customs were followed (see Jer. 16:6; 41:5; Am. 8:10; Mic. 1:16).
Mourners showed their distress by refusing food. On the day of a burial none of the deceased's relatives would eat. Nor at the end of day would they prepare food for themselves, but would be served by others who would also offer the "cup of consolation". After the death of Abner, all the people came to bring bread to the mourning David, but he would not eat until nightfall (II Sam. 3:35).

Funeral Lamentations

The dead would be wept and lamented over. The main ceremony at a funeral was the lamentation over the dead. Professional mourners and wailing women would join the relatives (Am. 5:16; Jer. 9:17 ff; 11 Ch. 35:25) to make lamentation. A spontaneous lament could be amplified into a lament or "qinah" — a poem composed in a special rhythm and sung by professionals—many of whom were women (Jer. 9:17-22; Ezk. 32:16). Such women probably had a repertoire of laments which could be adapted to different occasions, but sometimes the poems were specially composed. The most famous of these are the laments of David for Saul and Jonathan (II Sam. 1:17-27); and for Abner (II Sam. 3:33-34), while it is recorded (II Ch. 35:25) that Jeremiah uttered a lament for Josiah. Eventually the forms of such laments became standardized, for instance the lament over Judas Maccabee, patterned on David's great poem in honour of Saul and Jonathan (I Mac. 9:20-21). Jeremiah (Jer. 22:18) prophesied that no lament would be sung for Jehoiakim.

Mourning period

According to Mosaic law, one who dies must be buried on the same day. This applied equally to executed criminals (Dt. 21:22-3) and was obviously a wise provision in a hot eastern climate. The custom was perpetuated in post-Exilic times and a "halakhah" forbids keeping a corpse overnight.
In general the period of mourning after a death was seven days and during this period the mourners did not wash or anoint themselves (II Sam. 14:2). After the bones of Saul and Jonathan had been buried the people of Jabesh-Gilead fasted seven days (I Sam. 31:13). The period could, however, be extended as after the death of Aaron (Nu. 20:28-29) and Moses (Dt. 34:8) or shortened (Ecclus. 38:17).
A man who desired to take a captive woman for his wife must allow her to mourn for her father and mother for a month in his house (Dt. 21:11-13). It was considered unseemly to mourn for too long a period, partly to avoid any tendencies towards making a cult of the dead. Moreover, the inevitability and finality of death are taken for granted in most of the Old Testament.

See other fascinating links between 
Archaeology and the Bible

  

 

  Tombs in Bible Times  - Archaeology of The Bible:  Burying the Dead, Burial Customs in Old and New Testament: Bible  Study Resource

   Home                                     FAQs                                        About the Author