From about 20 BCE to 70 CE, the Jews in and around Jerusalem practiced a unique set of burial customs, which blended older Jewish customs with traditions from neighboring cultures and from the Greeks, whose earlier conquest had led to the Hellenization of the entire region (Fine p.2). Ossuaries were an integral part of these burial practices, which involved burying the person two separate times. These ossuaries were usually made from the same materials and decorated according to certain motifs. The ossuary stored in the Kelsey Museum is indicative of the form which most of these artifacts took and the style in which they were fashioned.
Introduction
In 586 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple of Solomon, bringing the First Temple Period to an end. Most of the ruling class of the Kingdom of Judah was sent into exile in Babylonia, destroying the kingdom as a political entity. About fifty years later, the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and took control of Israel/Palestine. He divided the region into several administrative regions, known as pahvot, and appointed local officials to govern them. Many of the exiled Jews returned to their ancestral homeland, though some chose not to, forming the beginnings of the Jewish Diaspora. The Declaration of Cyrus granted the returning deportees permission and funding to rebuild a temple on the site of the previous one. Construction was temporarily halted after rumors began that the temple would lead to a nationalist uprising, but was later resumed under Darius I. The temple was completed in 516 BCE, marking the beginning of the Second Temple Period.
In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire ...
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...written in Hebrew or Greek, since those were the main spoken languages of the region, but were sometimes written in other languages (Rahmani p.13). The reason for this seems to be that the deceased were Jews who, as a result of the Diaspora, lived in other areas of the Near East, but who wished to be buried near Jerusalem because of its religious significance (Rahmani p.13). Once again, the ossuaries from this period demonstrate the unique cultural fusion which was occurring at that time.
The Kelsey Ossuary and its counterparts demonstrate that the Second Temple Period was a time of significant cultural change in the Jewish community. Outside influences, along with internal shifts in belief, manifested themselves in art, literature, and in the burial of the dead. For the short time they were popular, ossuaries offer an unparalleled window into these developments.
When an Etruscan person died, they would be cremated and would be seen as entering a new life. They would put the remains in a special urn called Etruscan hut urn (c. 800 B.C.E.), this urn was another ‘home’ for the afterlife.
Fellner, Judith B. & Co. In the Jewish Tradition: A Year of Food and Festivals. The. New York: Michael Friedman Publishing Group. 1995. The 'Se Raphael, Chaim. Festival Days: A Jewish History.
Maxwell, . "The Jewish Diaspora in the Hellenistic Period." A Jewish Synagogue. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Mar 2011. .
“Divine of Body: The Remains of Egyptian Kings” was written by Robert Morkot, a lecturer in Archeology at the University of Exeter, and was published in Past and Present in 2010. In this article, Morkot argues that the Egyptian practice of mummification was not related to the western principle of relic-collection and that the remains of rulers weren't worshiped or put on display. Instead, the Egyptian obsession with the preservation of bodies was linked to their view of a complete body being essential as a place for the soul to reside after death. Current mummies are a controversial issue due to how, or if, they should be displayed to the public because the Egyptian Kings wouldn't have wanted to be put on display. The way in which they are displayed is more in line with the western view of relics than the religious significance with which the Egyptians intended them to be. The lack of this “relic view” of the mummified remains in Egypt is due to their “completeness view,” closely associated with religious practices of the time. Each person was made up of different elements, each having a different purpose, and together making up the essence of that person. Upon preservation, the body became a vessel for the soul, divine (after the incense rite) and non. The body was placed in a tomb, which became the place of rituals for awhile after death. These tombs were robbed many times over the years, but the primary motivation appears to have been the acquisition of valuables and not on the collection of relics. In many cases, after robbery, the mummified bodies would be re-wrapped and preserved along with all the rituals that went with it, showing how important it was that the body remain complete after death.
The history and tradition of Egypt is one of the most greatly studied and admired of all past world civilizations. The lure of the pyramids and the specter of the sphinx have led many archeologists to dedicate his/her life to unraveling the mysteries of ancient Egyptian culture. Arguably, the most captivating aspect of Egypt’s past is that of mummification. Why did the Egyptians mummify their dead? What beliefs did the Egyptians have regarding the after life? What portion of the Egyptian civilization was mummified? What was the Book of the Dead? This is a mere sampling of the questions that come to my mind when I think of ancient Egyptian culture. I hope to lay forth answers to these questions and many more in the following pages dedicated to the history and purpose behind Egyptian mummification.
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran caves, the lives of a now deceased society has been placed under the microscope. With the amount of work archaeologists and manuscript scholars have committed themselves to accomplish, more information on these Qumranites has been learned. Scholars have been able to determine that they were a Jewish sect, while also learning that they were a Jewish sect and obtaining their Biblical canon. The majority of scholars have associated the sect of Qumran with the Essenes due to their similarities. Though much was not found at the beginning of the excavations concerning women, it has become a matter in which many scholars are seeking more to know. Further archaeological findings have led to knowing more information about the Qumranite women.
The Marble Grave Stele is a horizontal piece that was embedded in a larger piece of marble. The inscriptions of the names of who died have long been lost. Thus, we must interpret for ourselves what the full meaning of the piece is. The artist of the piece is unknown, but it was constructed in Greece in around 360 B.C. during the Classical Era and stands at 171.1 centimeters in height. Its original location, as its name suggests, was at a gravesite; currently, it is located in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Stele was carved from marble. Overall, it is in good condition; however, the body of the woman on the left is missing with only her head surviving. Its stone frame in which it was set is also missing. This frame more than lik...
The time period for Egyptian mummification is from their Predynastic Period (4650-3050 BC) until after the New Kingdom (1069 BC-395 AD). The Egyptians believed in Polytheism, which the religion of worshiping more than one god. Since they believed in more than one god, they believed in Osiris, the earthbound god of the dead, and Re, the sun god. These two gods were critical to the Egyptians, because they counted on those two gods to lead people into the afterlife. In order to achieve the afterlife, a proper burial had to take place for the dead. The Table of Sinuhe, a twelfth dynasty text, described the preparation for a funeral for someone who is elite in Egypt, which included: constructing the grave on an elite location, with both a public chapel and a private burial chamber. The Egyptians did this to preserve the name of the deceased, and their objects that were given to the deceased to help guide them to the afterlife. The family of the deceased then needed to choose which of the three embalming processes was right for them. There were three types of mummification processes: there was the most expensive and most elaborate process; the second way contained some of the steps from the first way to embalm a person, but was very limited; and the last way would be the cheapest and least elaborate way to embalm someone. The embalmer was astute man, who was respected and had the same privileges as the priests did. Nevertheless, this belief in life after death affected the population of Egypt and their art, architecture, technology, and their legal practices, which would be that no one could do any damage to a dead body. Historians find all this information from two writers, who wrote different pieces of text on mummification.
Hebrew religion began to give rise to Judaism after the destruction of the temple and the exile of Judah in 586 BC. The term "Jew," in its biblical use, is almost exclusively postexilic. The Jewish religion of the biblical period evolved through such historical stages as the intertestamental, rabbinic, and medieval to the modern period of the nineteenth century with Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism.
Main Events in the history of Jerusalem. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2011, from Century One Educational Bookstore: http://www.centuryone.com/hstjrslm.html
Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York.
After seventy years of exile the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem. Most of them gave up this option and elected to stay in Babylon. Those who stay in Babylon became ...
Chamberlain, Andrew, and Pearson Michael Parker. Earthly Remains: The History and Science of Preserved Human Bodies. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
It is clear that tombs and burial rituals were a key element in the Egyptian society and their way of life as it ties into almost all things they did on a daily basis. Whatever a person’s status was when they were alive followed them into the afterlife. Food and luxury goods were buried with a person so that they could have it in the afterlife. The tombs became a person’s new house after they died. Therefore, making it as nice as possible was really important. Art work and clay models were added to a person’s tomb as material goods needed for the afterlife. They were also seen as decorations that kept the tombs looking nice. Throughout the years, Egyptian artworks on the inner parts of the tombs and on the coffins show a development in the Egyptian customs. Each new development was created to better preserve the bodies and comfort of the dead.
Not all Jewish communities continued on their faith with YHWH. Before the exile, many communities began to scatter all over the Middle East, Egypt and Babylon; however, the exile...