Rock-cut tombs commonly contained benches or niches. After decomposition, remains might be collected for secondary burial, including placement in ossuaries among families who practiced the custom.
Customs & Culture
Tombs, Ossuaries and Secondary Burial
In Second Temple Judea, some families buried their dead in rock-cut tombs, and during part of the period bones could later be gathered into stone ossuaries.
Primary Scripture
Historical and Cultural Background
Biblical Examples
Jesus refers to whitewashed tombs, Lazarus is placed in a cave-like tomb, and Jesus is buried in a rock-cut tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea.
Biblical Significance
Archaeology helps readers visualize Gospel burial scenes and explains why tombs could be entered, sealed with stones, and revisited.
Related Images
Common Misconceptions
Ossuary use was neither universal nor characteristic of every biblical period. It belongs especially to a limited Second Temple context.
Historical Setting and Evidence
Culture: Judean/Jewish
Period: Hellenistic Period, Hasmonean Period, Roman / Second Temple Period
Evidence: Well Attested
Interpretive Importance: Major
Exceptionally well attested archaeologically in Jerusalem and Judea.
Scripture References
Related Information
Sources
Matthew 23; Matthew 27; John 11; John 19