THE FINAL DWELLING: FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE AND BURIAL CUSTOMS AT HELLENISTIC-PERIOD MARESHA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14795/jaha.12.2.2025.1279Keywords:
Hellenistic Maresha, Rock-cut tombs, Funerary architecture, Alexandrian influence, Family hypogea, Hellenistic wall paintings, Greek epigraphy, Idumea, Funerary practicesAbstract
The rock-cut tombs of Hellenistic Maresha, dating to the 3rd–2nd centuries BCE, offer vital insights into burial architecture, funerary customs, and the multicultural composition of this urban center. Over fifty tombs, predominantly of the “Alexandrian model,” feature rectangular halls with symmetrically arranged kokhim (loculi), often gabled and tall, accessed via stepped passages and sealed with stone slabs. A unique architectural repertoire at Maresha includes standing pits with surrounding ledges, apsidal recesses with kokhim, and two-tiered halls layouts—elements absent in other contemporaneous burial sites in Israel. The tombs reflect careful planning, facilitated by the local soft chalk and influenced by Alexandrian prototypes, particularly in the elaborate painted tombs (e.g., the Sidonian and Musicians’ tombs). Greek inscriptions name the deceased, often with Hellenistic royal or theophoric names, although the population comprised Idumeans, Phoenicians, Arabs, and others. This elite segment adopted Greek names and cultural forms, likely to align with prevailing norms of Hellenistic urban society. The architecture and names reflect both assimilation and local continuity. Burial practices involved primary interment in kokhim, with later reuse and ossilegium indicating Jewish presence in the Roman period.Tomb inscriptions span the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras, with the latest dated to 112/111 BCE, aligning with John Hyrcanus’s conquest. Subsequent civic activity is attested until 108/7 BCE. Though looted, tomb contents—pottery, lamps, coins, jewelry, and coffin fittings—support this chronology. The Maresha necropoleis, especially their architectural and artistic features, strongly influenced later kokhim tombs in Second Temple Jerusalem. These tombs attest to the transmission of Alexandrian funerary models into Coele-Syria and reveal the cultural integration and social stratification of Maresha’s inhabitants prior to its destruction.
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