Abstract
This article deals with Josephus's retelling of the Bible story of the incineration of the bones of Saul and his sons in 1 Samuel 31. In several places in the biblical text, researchers have found echoes of the practice of cremation, a practice borne out in archaeological excavations. The question dealt with in the Bible is: How does Josephus treat the practice of cremation? This question is examined through comparison of earlier texts that retell the biblical accounts. It is argued that Josephus (Ant. 6.375-77) omits cremation from his account in order not to draw similarities between Israelite burial practices and pagan ones.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 285-292 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2009 |
Keywords
- Burial practices
- Cremation
- Jewish antiquities
- Josephus
- King Saul