Editor’s Note: This essay covers: Abraham’s negotiation to buy Cave of Machpelah; Abraham’s servant’s pledge to find a wife for Isaac in Abraham’s land of origin; the custom of nose-rings.
Hayyei Sarah Genesis 23-25:18
LA JOLLA, California — I have chosen three passages, for comparison, via the internet, with writings attributed to ancient Israel’s neighbors.
I. Genesis 23:7-9 “…Abraham…to…the Hittites…with Ephron…’Let him sell me the cave of Machpelah…at the full price, for a burial site…’”
I found no analogous burial purchase negotiations in other ancient cultures.
The closest analogy to such an ancient pagan negotiation comes from a recent (2018) archaeology discovery of a ‘funeral industry’/necropolis at Saqqara, less than 20 miles from Cairo.
Excavators emptied a shaft, going down 100 feet from surface sands, and entered a high-ceilinged chamber, a mummification workshop. There were a large number of tombs, the most elaborate at the lowest level, the more modest ones above them.
This was an embalmers’ enterprise, a carefully designed business, catering to various expense accounts and tastes. Writings testified to a sophisticated entrepreneurial sense.
Burial masks’ prices ranged from the elegance of pure gold and silver, to plain white plaster. Organs stored could be variously in lustrous alabaster jars down to ones of painted clay.
Ceramic sherds were restored into their original shaped jars, and found to be labelled with various ingredients and embalming instructions.
Processing a body took 70 days. Steps included:
i. removal of the internal organs and placement in jars
ii. drying of the body with special salts
iii. anointment with fragrant oils
iv. wrap in linens, with placement of amulets and spells in the folds
v. placement of the mummy into a purchased tomb, with provisions for the afterlife.
The embalmers were also ‘real estate salesmen,’ who traded services for land, etc. They had discount packages, to meet every budget. These included ongoing attendance duties for the body/soul.
The most expensive/elaborate spaces were at the lowest level of the shaft, 100 feet below ground level. A typical most expensive site housed a sarcophagus with weight of 7-1/2 tons.
Higher up were the graded less expensive sites, the cheapest at the 40 foot level. Such ‘working stiffs’ were in wooden coffins or simply wrapped in linen.
Egypt had a designated class of priests devoted to care of spirits of the dead, who were commissioned via legal contracts. Families of the deceased brought in weekly offerings for their dead, i.e. ‘to keep them alive.’
Notably, this remarkable recent discovery, hidden under sand, is located less than three feet from where French and Egyptian excavators stopped searching in 1899! Archaeologists now think there must be similar funeral industry sites in multiple sites in Egypt, yet to be discovered. [1]
I note that modern mortuary/cemetery businesses have analogous features.
As to other ancient societies:
Mesopotamia: Burials date to 5000 BCE in Sumer, where food and tools were interred with the dead. They believed in an after-life, pictured the other world as a dark abode, below the earth. Cremation was uncommon, as the belief was that in such an instance the dead soul ascended sky-ward toward an unwelcoming by the gods.
Egypt (other source details): Burials included ‘shabti dolls,’ to help with chores in the afterlife. Sacred spells from “The Book of the Dead” were recited to direct the soul toward the Hall of Truth and the judgment of the god Osiris.
Osiris then would weigh the heart of the deceased against the white feather of Ma’at, of truth and harmony. If the heart was found lighter than the feather, the deceased was given passage to the Field of Reeds, i.e. paradise. If the heart was heavier than the feather, it was thrown to the floor, to be eaten by at the god Amenti, and the soul then ceased to exist.
As to royalty, burial was in pyramids, where their deeds were inscribed.
Greece: Burial was in the earth, with afterlife existing below ground. Greeks provided their dead with carefully carved stones, a reminder to the living of the deceased, and the names and honors due them.
Mayans: Their belief was life after death was dismal, fraught with peril and darkness. Rites centered on directing the soul in the right path to avoid the underworld. The dead were buried with maize placed in the mouth as a symbol of rebirth of the soul and as a nourishment for its journey through the dark lands of the nether world. Bodies were positioned in underground graves, aligned in accordance with the directions of the Mayan paradise. Corpses were sprinkled with shavings of red (symbol of death) cinnabar, then wrapped in cotton for burial. Mayan afterlife was terrifying, with demons determined to harm the soul on its journeys toward paradise.
An example of sacrifice was that of a player who scored a goal in their peculiar ball game, the goal being the rare kick of a stone ball through a high overhead hoop.
Rome: Romans honored those who killed themselves, in the belief that it was preferable to disgrace and dishonor. They had a belief in the continual presence of ancestors. This led to guilt/suicide as the antidote to shame attaching to the family name.
Burials took place at night, to prevent disruptions of the daily activities of the city, A funeral procession began in the city and ended outside at the cemetery. The corpse was then either burned and the ashes gathered in an urn, or it was buried in a tomb.
Burials had to be proper, with appropriate rituals, or the person could return as a terrifying ghost. [2] [3]
II. Genesis 24:2-4 “…Abraham said to…servant…’Put your hand under my thigh and…swear…to go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac…”
Scholars believe such a process was an oath. There is an etymological association between testicles and testimony in ancient Greece, carried through into modern civilizations.
To swear by one’s testicles was an ancient form of an oath. Under Roman law, no man was admissible as a witness unless his testicles were displayed/touched. It was ‘witness’ of one’s virility because only ‘verified men’ were allowed to give witness, or testify, in legal matters.
To detest [was] . . . ‘to bear witness against;’ therefore, to curse, and implicitly, to hate to the bottom of one’s testicles.
As to sending an agent to find a wife for someone, I found no report on the internet of such a reported happening. [4]
III. Genesis 24:29-30 “…Laban ran out to the man at the spring…saw the nose-ring and the bands on his sister’s arms…”
Nose piercing is over 4,000 years old. It started in the Middle East. Over time, different people from around the world have graced themselves with beautiful nose rings.
It was a part of the nomadic tribes of Barber and Beja. Barber was an African tribe, while Beja was an ancient tribe of the Middle East. Nose rings were used by families as gifts, and the size of the ring usually represented the wealth of the family. The husband gives his bride a nose ring after their marriage. This ring was said to represent financial security in the event of divorce. [5]
NOTES:
[1] www.nationalgeographic.com Ancient Egyptian ‘funeral home’ in Saqqara was one-stop…May 3, 2020, Andres Curry
[2] Ancient History Encyclopedia: https://www.ancient.eu/burial/Joshua J. Mark
[3] The history of Funeral Rites and Rituals Of The Ancient World: https;//choicemutual.com/funeral-rituals-ancient-world/Anthony Martin
[4] Testimony & Testicles-The Oath of Abraham’s Servant, by Dr.
Taylor Marshall
5] 2016 Salamander Jewelry. All Rights Reserved
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis. He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.