2 A Note on Ossuary Burial and the Resurrection of the Dead in First-Century Jerusalem

Chapter Summary

The resurrection of the dead has been a major focus of scholarship on the religion of Jews in the Greco-Roman period. Secondary burial in ossuaries became part of the religious norm of Jerusalem during the century before the Temple's destruction. Bar Adon and Rubin are completely correct in ascribing economic elements to the development of secondary burial. Lack of burial space cannot be the sole reason for the development of ossuary burial. Ossuary burial was, on a local level, dependent upon the development of the local stone carving industry, which is itself largely a result of the greater wealth of Jerusalem after the rise of the Herod the Great. The rise of ossuary burial and the decline of charnel burial seem to be related to developing notions of the individual's place within the family unit.

Keywords: Herod; Jerusalem; Jews; Ossuary burial; resurrection; secondary burial