Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu>]

Dear Vadim,
No Sanhedrin, nope, nada.
You're retrojecting the Talmud into the Persian period.
Still I agree that he would have been buried elsewhere away
from the common folk.
The Zoroastrians had/have a custom of laying the body out
for the vultures to pick the flesh off and then placing the bones
in an above-ground sepulcher so that the bones don't defile
the earth or the air (air, earth, fire and water were holy).
That might be what is going on here.
Best,
Liz

> 
> 
> On a separate field, owned by Sanhedrin, for at least a year. 
> That's the law. Burying of an executed criminal in a normal 
> cemetery area would defile it and raise objections of the 
> other tomb owning families.
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Vadim Cherny
> 
> 
> > Dear All,
> > These are very interesting but bewildering.
> > What sense is it that a rich man would have the same sort 
> of grave as 
> > a criminal?
> > I thought criminals were buried away from everyone else.
> > Liz Fried
> > A2
>