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...

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主要作者: Cradic, Melissa S. (Author)
格式: 電子 Article
語言:English
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Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
出版: 2017
In: Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2017, 發布: 377, Pages: 219-248
IxTheo 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
在線閱讀: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
實物特徵
總結: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.
ISSN:2161-8062
Reference:Errata "Erratum (2017)"
Contains:Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5615/bullamerschoorie.377.0219