The Jewish at Jericho1
Necropolis tranceswereindividuallysealed withlargestones.Some of the
by RACHEL HACHLILI, BARUCH ARENSBURG, PATRICIA SMITH,
and ANN KILLEBREW
University of Tel Aviv,Tel Aviv (Hachlili and Arensburg)/ large heaps of disarticulatedbones in the loculi and on the
HebrewUniversity, Jerusalem(Smithand Killebrew),Israel.
9 III 81
Under the impetusof a suddeninfluxof stoneossuariesin the
antiquitiesmarket,suggestingtomb robberiesin the Jericho
region,a surveywas carriedout on behalfoftheArchaeological
Staffofficer forJudea and Samaria whichresultedin the dis-
coveryof a Jewishnecropoliscoveringsome 10 km along the
foothills to thewestofJericho.A smallportionofthenecropolis
was excavatedand foundto date fromthe 1st centuryB.C. to
the 1stcenturyA.D. (Hachlili 1979,1980).
The cemeterywas locatedoutsidethetown,as was theusual
Jewishpractice.The tombswerecut intothebedrock,and each
consistedof a square chamberwitha smallrectangularpit cut
into the floorand surroundedby ledges. From one to nine
loculiapproximately
2 m long,80 cm high,and 55 cm widewere
cut into the chamberwalls (fig.1). The loculusand tomben-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o:: mawQJx cm
300
200
100
FIG. 1. Floorplan of a tombfromtheJewish necropolisat Jericho tombsin Jerusalemthat had been lootedand damagedin the
(top)andsectionofwallat bottomofplanshowing loculusentrances course of construction(Kloner 1980). Our excavationshave
(bottom).
1 The anthropologicalanalysiswas supportedin part by grants-in- coffins; suddenly,at thebeginningofthe 1stcenturyA.D., they
aid fromthe Israel Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 22 * No. 6 * December1981
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tombscontainedprimaryextendedburialsin wooden coffins,
dated to the 1st centuryB.C.; others contained secondary
burials in limestoneossuaries,dated to the 1st centuryA.D.
A thirdtypeofburialwas foundin threetombswhichcontained
floorof the central chamber; these were probably contem-
poraneous withthe ossuaries.
The coffins weremade oflocal wood-cypress,sycamore,and
Christ's-thorn. They were rectangular,made of planks held
togetherwith woodenpegs and hinges,and had gabled lids.
Fromone to threeindividualswerefoundin each coffin, usually
an adult and a childbut occasionallytwo or even threeadults,
each lyingon a leathermattressone above the other.Cooking
pots werefoundbesidethe coffins or in frontof the loculi,and
small pots and woodenvessels and, in fiveinstances,leather
sandalswerefoundin thecoffins ofwomenand children.In one
coffina coin of Herod Archelaus(4 B.C.-A.D. 6) was found.
Outside some of these tombs were large storage jars which
probably containedwater used for washingthe hands after
visiting the tomb.
The ossuarieswererectangular and carvedfroma singlepiece
of limestone,with a separate stone lid. They were usually
incisedwith various motifs,the most frequentof whichwas
fromone to threerosettesset in a frame.The name and other
details,suchas familyoriginand personalhistory,wereincised
on someof the ossuariesin Jewishand Greekscript.These in-
scriptionshave helpedto establishthe familyrelationshipsof
theinterredand to checktheanthropological findings (Hachlili
1978,1979;Hachliliand Smith1979).The ossuariesvariedfrom
50-70 cm in lengthand were 25 cm wide. They usually con-
tainedthedisarticulated bonesofoneindividual,whoseremains
had been placed in the ossuaryafterprimaryintermentand
decomposition oftheflesh.Occasionallytheremainsofas many
as threeindividualswerefoundin the same ossuary.The very
smallossuariescontainedinfantburials.Onlya veryfewvessels
werefoundin the tombswiththe ossuaries;thesewereusually
in the centralpit.
Brokenpotteryofthe 1stcenturyA.D. and twocoinsofHerod
AgrippaI (A.D. 41-44) werefoundwiththe piles of disarticu-
lated bones.
In sex and age distribution, physical characteristics,and
skeletalpathology,no differences werefoundbetweenthethree
burialtypes.Approximately one-third oftheremainswerethose
of infantsand children,whilenearlyone-fourth had survived
beyondtheage of50. These figures comparefavorablywiththe
mortalityfiguresfor Hellenistic Greeks and 19th-century
Bedouin fromthe Beer Sheba regionand are slightlybetter
thanthoseforJerusalemJewsofthe same period(see table 1).
The Jerichopopulationalso enjoyed good health throughout
life.Even in the olderindividuals,veryfewdegenerativejoint
changeswere found,and the major health problemseems to
have been periodontaldisease and consequenttoothloss.Most
individualsaged 40+ had lostseveralteethfromthiscondition.
The physicalcharacteristics of the Jerichopopulationwerein-
distinguishable fromthoseofJewsof the timein otherregions
(Ein Gedi,Jerusalem,and Meiron). The Jewishpopulationof
200 B.C.-A.D. 400 was characterizedbyshortto mediumstature,
fairlylargebrachycranic to mesocraniccrania,and short,broad
faces (Arensburg1973,Arensburget al. 1980,Smithand Zias
1980,Smithand Arensburg1982).
Until now, our knowledgeof the Jewishburial customsof
thisperiodhas beenmainlyderivedfromsalvageexcavationsof
revealedtwodistinctburialcustomsamongtheJewsofJericho.
Duringthe 1st centuryB.C. theyburiedtheirdead in wooden
began to practicesecondaryburialin limestoneossuaries.No
701
 TABLE 1
AGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF VARIOUS SKELETAL POPULATIONS

PERCENTAGE IN EACH AGE GROUP

POPULATION NUMBER 0-5 6-11 12-19 20-29 30-49 50+

Jericho Jews (present material) ................ 244 24 t0 5 5 33 23

Jerusalem Jews (1st century B.C.-lSt century
A.D.; Smithand Zias 1980).... 98 25 7 8 17 29 13
Meiron Jews (4th century A.D.; Smith and
Bournemann1976)......................... 108 32 9 6 6 32 15
HellenisticGreeks(Angel 1969)................ 144 38 8 3 8 33 10
Beer Sheba Bedouin (19th-century A.D.;
Goldstein, Arensburg, and Nathan 1976) ...... 216 23 10 50 17

completelysatisfactoryexplanationof this change has been
found,althoughseveral suggestionshave been offered(see,
e.g.,Rahmani1961:117-18;Meyers1971:80-89;Hachlili1979:
34-35; 1980: 239; Kloner 1980:247-53). Because of pressure
exertedby minoritygroups,we have been unable to continue
this importantexcavation,whichwe hoped would providea
detailedpictureofpaleodemography and diseaseprevalencein
thispopulation.(We estimatethatat least 100,000individuals
wereinterredin the necropolis.)The excavationswerestopped
two years ago, and we have heard that the tombsare once
again beinglooted.
Cited
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702 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY

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