Chapter 1

IRON AGE BURIAL TYPES FROM THE SOUTHERN LEVANT

AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION
Tomb Types
Eight different burial types are distinguishable from among the
approximately 850 burials reported from the southern Levant.1 Body
treatment, grave goods and the receptacle holding the body orin the
absence of a receptaclethe tomb plan are the primary determinants
of the types. Strong correlations among the various factors enable
labelling some types on the basis of the receptacle containing the body:
jar, anthropoid coffin and bathtub coffin burials. Lacking such a vessel,
the space designed to house the deceased characterizes the burial type:
simple grave, cist grave, cave tomb and arcosolia or bench tomb.
Cremation so differed from the other practices that it constitutes a
distinctive type.
Simple Grave
Simple or pit graves were usually dug into coastal sand near a settlement, such as at Azor or Tell er-Ruqeish, or into debris around a tell,
such as at Lachish or Megiddo. However, in some instances graves
were hewn out of bedrock, notably Lachish 222 and Megiddo 17, 62
and 71 (fig. 1). Within cemeteries, most graves were oriented in the
same direction, but from cemetery to cemetery the orientation differed. In Afula the heads were oriented towards the north-northwest,
at Megiddo towards the southwest, at Azor generally towards the east,
and at Tell es-Saidiyeh towards the west. In the Lachish graves most
bodies were oriented north-south and at Deir el-Balah east-west. No
1. In 1979 J. Abercrombie produced a computerized catalogue of burials arranged alphabetically by site, including burial number, location, publication details,
dating, method of interment, context, pottery pattern and other artifacts (Abercrombie
1979).