Death and Afterlife in Ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible

Since the decipherment of hieroglyphics and cuneiform, scholars of the ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible have debated the ways in which the afterlife in ancient Israel compared to that of its neighbors. The debate focuses on how unique Israelite afterlife views really were. Older questions surround...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Garroway, Kristine Henriksen (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Currents in biblical research
Year: 2025, Volume: 23, Issue: 3, Pages: 243-263
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Death / Hereafter / Ancestor cult (motif) / Funeral / Grave / Purity / Social culture / Old Testament / Israel (Antiquity) / Ancient Orient
IxTheo Classification:BC Ancient Orient; religion
HB Old Testament
HH Archaeology
KBL Near East and North Africa
Further subjects:B Tombs
B Ancient Israel
B Hebrew Bible
B Ancient Near East
B Afterlife
B cult of the ancestors
B Purity
B Death
B Social Memory
B burials
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Since the decipherment of hieroglyphics and cuneiform, scholars of the ancient Near East and Hebrew Bible have debated the ways in which the afterlife in ancient Israel compared to that of its neighbors. The debate focuses on how unique Israelite afterlife views really were. Older questions surrounding cults of the dead have been met with newer questions examining purity and impurity in burials, the place of women and children in the afterlife, and how grave goods functioned. The current consensus is that Israel had similar, but distinct practices that welcomed the entire family into a cult of the dead kin.
ISSN:1745-5200
Contains:Enthalten in: Currents in biblical research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/1476993X251336248