burial

burial disposal of a corpse in a grave or tomb . The first evidence of deliberate burial was found in European caves of the Paleolithic period. Prehistoric discoveries include both individual and communal burials, the latter indicating that pits or ossuaries were unsealed for later use or that servants or members of the family were slain to accompany the deceased. Both practices have been followed by various peoples into modern times. The ancient Egyptians developed the coffin to keep bodies from touching the earth; this burial practice was continued by the Greeks and Romans when they used the burial form of disposal. The word burial has been applied to funerary practices other than interment, such as sea burial, or tree burial (which usually precedes later interment). Secondary burial frequently occurs to terminate a period of mourning (see funeral customs ). See also cemetery .

burial Because of the high temperatures in Palestine, it was desirable to dispose of dead bodies as soon as the appropriate customs could be organized. The corpse was washed, anointed, and wrapped in linen cloth and carried in procession on a bier to the grave or tomb. There could be professional mourners and even flute-players (Matt. 9: 23). For some, graves were dug, but caves were also convenient, and Abraham's family are said to have been buried in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron (Gen. 23: 19). Wealthy individuals arranged for their tombs to be cut out of the rock in a garden, as did Joseph of Arimathaea (Matt. 27: 60), and sealed with a stone which rolled on a kind of track. Cremation was not practised by the Hebrews. In the NT era ossuaries made of limestone were used in Palestine; after bodies had disintegrated, the bones were collected and stored in chests, sometimes giving the name of the deceased.