Contents | Index
GRAVECLOTHES (Gk. keiria, "winding sheet").
From early times the body was washed (Acts 9:37), then wrapped in a linen cloth (Mt 27:59), or the limbs
separately wound with strips of linen (Jn 11:44).
BURIAL CUSTOMS IN ANCIENT PALESTINE
In Jesus' day, the dead of wealthy families were typically laid to rest in
family burial places in use for generations, either caves or tombs cut into soft
Although criminals were usually buried in the trench graves where the poor
were laid to rest, Jesus did not receive a criminal's burial. Since his own family would not have
owned a burial spot near Jerusalem, a follower named Joseph of Arimathea arranged to bury Jesus in his own unused tomb in a garden near Golgotha.
Such tombs usually had one or more irregular chambers with ledges where the
bodies were placed and were accessible only by a short, low-ceilinged, ramplike
No coffin was used.
As suggested in the Gospels, a rough boulder or a specially cut closing stone
blocked the entrance, basically to protect the corpse from jackals.
The dead were usually buried promptly, as Jesus was, because the Jews did not
embalm their deceased and bodies decomposing rapidly in the Middle Eastern heat
created a health hazard.
Normally, the corpse was immediately washed and anointed with spices,
including aloes and myrrh, then wrapped in linen graveclothes , with special care taken to bind the chin to keep it from lowering. In
funeral processions, which were arranged by the nearest of kin, the bereaved cried
aloud or sang ritual lamentations and beat their breasts, sometimes wearing
sackcloth or rolling in the dust, while hired musicians and professional mourners
added to the public demonstration of grief.