(Download) "Ossuaries and the Burials of Jesus and James." by Journal of Biblical Literature " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Ossuaries and the Burials of Jesus and James.
- Author : Journal of Biblical Literature
- Release Date : January 22, 2005
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 270 KB
Description
In November 2002 the existence of a sensational archaeological artifact was announced to the world: a small stone box called an ossuary inscribed "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." (1) Before this most people had never heard of an ossuary, and many probably still do not know what ossuaries are. But even within the small circle of scholars who specialize in the history and archaeology of Palestine in the late Second Temple period, the reasons for the sudden appearance and relatively short period of popularity of ossuaries (from the late first century B.C.E. to mid-to-late third century C.E.) remain poorly understood. In the first part of this article I review the archaeological evidence for Jewish tombs and burial customs in the late Second Temple period, focusing especially on Jerusalem. Only the wealthier members of Jewish society could afford rock-cut tombs, which belonged to families and were used over the course of several generations. The poorer classes were buried in simple individual trench graves dug into the ground. Ossuaries were used in rock-cut tombs as containers for the collected, decomposed remains (bones) of earlier burials. The custom of ossilegium apparently has nothing to do with Jewish beliefs in resurrection and afterlife and instead is analogous to the use of cinerary urns elsewhere the Roman world. Since Jews did not cremate their dead, Judean ossuaries were used for the collection of bones, not cremated remains. The appearance of ossuaries is one aspect of the adoption of Hellenistic and Roman fashions by Jerusalem's elite during Herod's reign.
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