Echoes of Ossilegium: A Secondary Mortuary Practice in Iron Age Judah

This paper examines the possible connection between the mortuary practice of ossilegium during the Second Temple Period and the mortuary practices of the Iron Age in ancient Judah. The previous literature has made light of the use of bone repositories during the two periods, but a possible connection between mortuary practices has been under-researched. This study directly compares the Iron Age cemeteries of Gibeon, Azor, and Aitun with the Second Temple Period necropoli of Jericho, Jerusalem, and Qumran using four metrics: structural layout and characteristics of the tombs, mortuary practices, grave goods, and miscellaneous details. These specific sites were selected in order to account for the impact of geological conditions on the tomb type used. This study has shown that aside from some structural similarities stemming between the Second Temple necropoli and Iron Age tombs located around the Highlands region, there is not enough evidence from these selected sites to support a connection between the mortuary practices of the Iron Age and Second Temple Period.