Embodiments of Death: The Funerary Sequence and Commemoration in the Bronze Age Levant
This article presents an archaeological model for Levantine funerary rituals performed in the context of commingling inhumations. Using the case study of a masonry-constructed chamber tomb from Middle Bronze Age Tel Megiddo (Israel), the funerary sequence is reconstructed in three main phases: (1) p...
| Published in: | Bulletin of ASOR |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago Press
2017
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
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| RelBib Classification: | HB Old Testament HH Archaeology KBL Near East and North Africa |
| Further subjects: | B
Commemoration
B Memorials B burial taphonomy B ancestor veneration B deathways B Embodiment B Tel Megiddo B Tombs B MORTUARY RITUAL B archaeology of the Levant B Funerals B Death B Bronze Age B Personhood |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article presents an archaeological model for Levantine funerary rituals performed in the context of commingling inhumations. Using the case study of a masonry-constructed chamber tomb from Middle Bronze Age Tel Megiddo (Israel), the funerary sequence is reconstructed in three main phases: (1) pre-interment; (2) interment; and (3) post-interment. The sequential performance of funerary rituals in this shared burial space resulted in a high degree of skeletal fragmentation as previously interred corpses were moved aside to accommodate subsequent inhumations. However, rather than merely representing a functional aspect of burial, the repositioning of deceased bodies constituted a ritually meaningful practice that involved continuous physical interactions between the living and the dead. Drawing on theories of embodiment and methods of burial taphonomy, this article argues that mourners' close encounters with deceased bodies played a major role in transforming the status of the dead after burial. Ritualized fragmentation and intermingling of human skeletal remains were integral components of becoming an ancestor. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8062 |
| Reference: | Errata "Erratum (2017)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5615/bullamerschoorie.377.0219 |