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BronzeAgeReligion | IronAgeReligion | Bible | Glossary | Bibliography | Activities Death, and the proper treatment of the dead,
were important issues for both Canaanites and
Israelites. Appropriate arrangements included
activities perpetuating the name of the deceased,
offerings of food and other gifts, and the proper
stewardship of family land. Upon death, males, at
least, seem to have joined the ranks of their
ancestors. Ideas regarding the nature of life after
death are not well developed in either the Hebrew
Bible or in ancient Near Eastern texts. Death was
clearly frightening, and the dead were associated
with the underworld, but the implications of these
connections were not spelled out clearly. The most common burials in the Bronze
and Iron
Age are in family tombs located in
natural caves or hewn chambers, approached by a
shaft or passageway and closed with a single stone
or pile of rubble. These tombs were used as burial
vaults for the family over several generations. As
each new body was placed in the tomb, previous
burials were displaced, creating a jumble of
intermixed bones and old offerings on the
periphery. Funeral offerings typically included
jars containing grain, wine and oil, items of
personal apparel and occasionally beds, tables,
gameboards and other items of everyday life. These
varied offerings point to a belief in the
afterlife. An Iron Age tomb from
the Baq'ah valley in Jordan contained the skeletal
remains of at least 227 individuals. These communal
tombs, and the associated burial rituals, may have
helped solidify kinship ties within lineages
(extended families) and mark land
ownership. What else was inside
the tombs? |
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