[Avodah] Likut Atzomos

[Akiva Blum]

>Akiva Blum wrote:
> The Mishna in pesachim perek 8 mishna 8 mention someone who is melaket
> atzmos oviv, gathering bones, as tomeh. This also appears in perek 1 of
> moed katan. The Tiferes Yisroel in pesachim says that people would bury
> their dead in a temporary grave, and after the meat had rotted, the
> bones would be reinterred in their ancestral cemetery. Can anyone point
> to a source, and perhaps also an explanation for this practice?

On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 04:13:09PM -0400, David Riceman wrote:
: See Martin Goodman, "Rome and Jerusalem", p. 248. It's well documented
: archaeologically and in literature....

Micha:
More than well documented, they're commmonplace. Most tourists encounter
them in a number of places that they visit, including some of the earlier
tannaim. Google "Israel ossuary" (without the quotes) for numerous
pictures. (An "ossuary" is an aron for bones.)

: Goodman says "there is no certain
: explanation."

The uncertain one I was left thinking was the standard is that they
wanted to minimize tum'ah in EY. Liqut atzamos minimizes burial space.

<<<

I was hoping for some sort of Jewish source. I see that it was done, but could it have been a Saducee thing (or Roman, Greek, etc.)? Did the everyone do it? Was it continued after the churnan?

The gemora in Bava Basra describes the system of burial caves, cuchin. If these are the temporary graves, why did they need such a big set up? Sixteen cuchin! (or 52! acc. To R.Shimon). How many people did they expect to die in a year in this family? And if these are the final graves, why are they so large? They are clearly made for body size?

Can someone help me with mekoros?

Akiva