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Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity PDF

273 Pages·1999·1.85 MB·English
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DEATH, BURIAL AND REBIRTH IN THE RELIGIONS OF ANTIQUITY Christianity came into existence in a world in which religion was of central importance. In any religious culture, the treatment of death is of central importance. In Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity, Jon Davies charts the significance of death in the religions and cults of the pre-Christian and early Christian world. He analyses varied funerary rituals and examines different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered are: • Isis and Osiris, Baal and Ahura Mazda: the thanatologies of Ancient Near East • Burying the Jewish dead • Roman religion and Roman funerals • Christian burial • The nature of martyrdom Jon Davies also draws on the sociological theory of Max Weber to present a comprehensive introduction to and overview of death, burial and rebirth in the first Christian centuries which offers insights into the relationship between social change and attitudes to death and dying. Jon Davies was until recently Head of Department of Religious Studies at the University of Newcastle, where he now teaches part- time. RELIGION IN THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CENTURIES Edited by Deborah Sawyer and John Sawyer, Lancaster University Too often the religious traditions of antiquity are studies in isolation, without any real consideration of how they interacted. What made someone with a free choice become an adherent of one faith rather than another? Why might a former pagan choose to become a ‘godfearer’ and attend synagogue services? Why might a Jew become a Christian? How did the mysteries of Mithras differ from the worship of the Unconquered Sun, or the status of the Virgin Mary from that of Isis, and how many gods could an ancient worshipper have? These questions are hard to answer without a synoptic view of what the different religions offered. The aim of the books in this series is to survey particular themes in the history of religion across the different religions of antiquity and to set up comparisons and contrasts, resonances and discontinuities, and thus reach a profounder understanding of the religious experience in the ancient world. Topics to be covered will include: women, conversion, language, death, magic, sacrifice and purity. Also available in this series: WOMEN AND RELIGION IN THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CENTURIES Deborah F.Sawyer THE CRUCIBLE OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY J.Ian H.McDonald SACRED LANGUAGES AND SACRED TEXTS John Sawyer DEATH, BURIAL AND REBIRTH IN THE RELIGIONS OF ANTIQUITY Jon Davies London and New York First published 1999 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. © 1999 Jon Davies The right of Jon Davies to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Davies, Jon, 1939– Death, burial, and rebirth in the religions of antiquity/Jon Davies. p. cm. —(Religion in the first Christian centuries) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Death—Religious aspects—History of doctrines. 2. Funeral rites and ceremonies, Ancient. 3. Future life—History of doctrines. 4. Middle East—Religion. 5. Rome—Religion. I. Title. II. Series. BL504.D295 1999 291.2’3’093–dc21 98–49845 CIP ISBN 0-415-12990-7 (hbk) ISBN 0-415-12991-5 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-03050-8 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20358-5 (Glassbook Format) TO JEAN, MY WIFE, FOR THE SOCIETY, HELP AND COMFORT WHICH SHE HAS AFFORDED ME, AND TO MY CHILDREN, DANIEL, JACOB AND ESTHER, MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ANNABEL, AND MY GRANDDAUGHTER JESSIE, FOR THE CHEERFULNESS THEY BRING TO MY LIFE CONTENTS List of plates ix Preface and acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 PART I Death in the Ancient Near East 23 1 Osiris and Isis: The life-theology of Ancient Egypt 27 2 Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda and Ahriman 40 3 Canaanites and Mesopotamians 47 4 Mere texts or living realities? The possible influence of the older thanatologies on Judaism and Christianity 60 PART II From caves and rock-cut tombs to Judaism 69 5 The general archaeology of the Ancient Near East 71 6 Judaism: Towards the common era 84 7 Burying the Jewish dead 95 8 Good luck with your resurrection! Opening the heavens and raising the dead 110 vii CONTENTS PART III Romans and Greeks: A theodicy of good fortune? 125 9 Roman and Greek philosophies of death 127 10 Roman religion and Roman funerals 139 11 Ovid’s ‘ever-varying forms’: Greek mythologies, sarcophagi and the boundaries of mortality 155 12 Ovid’s ‘bonds of love and duty’: Funerals, epitaphs, orations and death in the arena 167 PART IV Christians, martyrs, soldiers, saints 187 13 Christian burial 191 14 The nature of martyrdom 201 Epilogue 217 Sacrificial living and sacrificial dying: Christians in the world 217 Appendix 221 Bibliography 225 Index 240 viii LIST OF PLATES Following page 124 1 ‘Hail and farewell, Dionysius! Hail and farewell, Paramon!’: c. fourth century BCE grave slab, depicting a funeral meal, placed in the entrance to the thirteenth century BCE tomb at Orchomenos, Boeotia. Inside the main tomb is a second or third century BCE Macedonian altar. 2 Termessos, Lycian-Galatia. Fifth to first century BCE necropolis, sarcophagi with roof-shaped lids used for primary burial. 3 Telmessos, Lycia (now Fethiye, Turkey). Fourth century BCE extramural necropolis. The tombs, all for men, are cut into the rock-face. Upper right is the tomb of Amytas, whose name is incised inside a benched chamber behind the façade. 4 Beth Shearim, near Tel Aviv, Israel. Jewish catacombnecropolis, second to fourth centuries CE. 5 Jericho, Second Temple. Monumental tomb, together with ritual bath supplied with water by aqueduct. The courtyard was probably used for mourning and memorial services. 6 Jericho, Second Temple. Primary coffin burials in loculi, with one coffin in the ‘pit’ of the sealed tomb. 7 Jericho, Second Temple. Secondary burial with no trace of coffins or ossuaries, with the skulls placed on top of the piles of bones. 8 Alexandria, Tegran tomb, second century CE. Representation of a mummified corpse, under the winged sun-disc and attended by Isis and Nephthys. ix

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In Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity, Jon Davies charts the significance of death to the emerging religious cults in the pre-Christian and early Christian world. He analyses the varied burial rituals and examines the different notions of the afterlife. Among the areas covered a
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