Performance Frozen in Time: A New Iron Age II Female Ceramic Figurine from Jneneh, North Central Jordan

The History of the Judahite Bench Tomb

10.1093/oso/9780190844738.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew Suriano

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Hebrew Bible ◽

Cultural Practices ◽

Seventh Century ◽

Mortuary Practices ◽

Iron Age Ii ◽

Gradual Development ◽

History Of ◽

The Dead ◽

Insight Into

The history of the Judahite bench tomb provides important insight into the meaning of mortuary practices, and by extension, death in the Hebrew Bible. The bench tomb appeared in Judah during Iron Age II. Although it included certain burial features that appear earlier in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, such as burial benches, and the use of caves for extramural burials, the Judahite bench tomb uniquely incorporated these features into a specific plan that emulated domestic structures and facilitated multigenerational burials. During the seventh century, and continuing into the sixth, the bench tombs become popular in Jerusalem. The history of this type of burial shows a gradual development of cultural practices that were meant to control death and contain the dead. It is possible to observe within these cultural practices the tomb as a means of constructing identity for both the dead and the living.

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The Element שלם in Hebrew Personal Names in the Land of Israel during the Iron Age ii Period

Vetus Testamentum ◽

10.1163/15685330-12301214 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 567-587 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Mitka R. Golub

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Political Affiliation ◽

Personal Names ◽

Iron Age Ii ◽

The Bible ◽

Deceased Child ◽

Divine Name ◽

Biblical Sources ◽

Land Of Israel

In this study, I investigated all personal names with the element שלם in the Land of Israel during the Iron Age ii period. I collected the names from archaeological and biblical sources, analyzed and compared their distribution according to geography, chronology, and political affiliation. The results show that while שלם is a popular element in Judah from the eighth to the early sixth centuries, it is absent from Israel. The element שלם in unvocalized names from archaeological sources is interpreted mostly as ‘replacement, substitute’ (for the deceased child). However, the popularity of the element שלם solely in Judah may indicate that שלם was used more often than we assume as a divine name referring to YHWH, as do all other Judean popular names. In addition, the comparison between the names from archaeological and biblical sources may be interpreted to indicate that the Bible reflects Judean and not Israelite onomastic traditions.

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