The use of rock-cut cave tombs in the region of ancient Israel began in the early Canaanite period, from 3100–2900 BCE. The custom lapsed a millennium, however, before re-emerging in the earliest Israelite tombs, dating to the 9th century BCE in Jerusalem. The use of rock-cut tombs reached its peak in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, before rapidly declining and eventually falling out of use in the 6th century BCE in some regions. It reappeared during the Second Temple period and continued into the Late Roman and Byzantine periods. Use of the tombs has been recorded as recently as the late Roman period around the 3rd century CE. Rock-cut tombs were a form of burial and interment chamber used in ancient Israel. Cut into the landscapes surrounding ancient Judean cities, their design ranges from single chambered, with simple square or rectangular layouts, to multi-chambered with more complex designs. Almost all burial chambers contain a platform for primary burial and an ossuary or other receptacle for secondary burial. There is debate on if these tombs were originally intended for secondary burials, or if that practice arose later. The use of such tombs was generally reserved for the middle- and upper-classes, and each typically belonged to a single nuclear or extended family.
In the Hebrew Bible
Genesis A number of rock-cut tombs are mentioned in the Bible. Possibly the first, called "Cave of Machpelah", was purchased by Abraham for Sarah from Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:20). Traditionally, this tomb, which may have been either a rock-cut or a natural cave, is identified with the Cave of the Patriarchs in modern Hebron. According to very old traditions, Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah were also buried there (Gen. 25:9; 49:29–33; 50:12). The New Testament reaffirms this tradition: "Their (Jacob and his family) bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money" (Acts 7:16).
Judges through Kings Rock-cut tombs are also mentioned in the Book of Judges (Judges 8:32), the Second Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 2:32), and the Second Books of Kings (2 Kings 9:28, 21:26, 23:16, 23:30).
Bronze Age precursors: Early Canaanite tombs Early Canaanite I (3100–2900 BCE) period tombs are the earliest rock-cut tombs yet discovered in Israel; several have been found beneath the Ophel in Jerusalem. The custom had lapsed by the second millennium.
Iron Age: First Temple period Further information: Architecture of ancient Israel#Funerary architecture
Jerusalem Rock-cut tombs from the late First Temple period have been discovered in several locations in Jerusalem, the capital city of the Kingdom of Judah. These include the Silwan necropolis, Ketef Hinnom, the Garden Tomb, and St. Etienne.
Silwan Necropolis
The Silwan necropolis, the most important cemetery of the First Temple period, is located in the Kidron Valley across from the City of David, in the lower part of the ridge where the village of Silwan now stands. Assumed to have been used by the highest-ranking officials residing in Jerusalem, its tombs were cut between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE. David Ussishkin wrote that the architecture of the tombs and the manner of burial is different "from anything known from contemporary Palestine. Elements such as entrances located high above the surface, gabled ceilings, straight ceilings with a cornice, trough-shaped resting-places with pillows, above-ground tombs, and inscriptions engraved on the facade appear only here." The stone benches on which bodies were laid out and the small square entrance doors are similar to those found elsewhere in Judah. Ussishkin believes that the architectural similarity to building styles of the Phoenician cities validates the Biblical description of Phoenician influence on the Israelite kingdoms. There are three different types of tombs in the Silwan necropolis, each type concentrated in one specific area. Seven of the tombs feature gabled ceilings and extremely fine stonework. Ussishkin described them as "among the most beautifully rock-cut tombs known in the Jerusalem area even when compared with tombs of later periods." In contrast with the extensive family tombs of later periods, these are for single or double burials, with only one of the seven having room for three bodies. Later destruction has effaced the original doorways. A second tomb type described by Ussishkin has flat ceilings and one, two, or three chambers of well-dressed stone carefully squared into spacious rooms. One features a rear chamber of especially "impressive" scale and quality. There are tombs combining characteristics of the two described here above. The third type consists of just three "magnificent" monolith tombs, now located in the northern part of the village. These have been carved out of the cliff to create free-standing buildings above the underground burial chambers. Hebrew inscriptions survive on these three tombs; these are the only ancient inscriptions that survive in Silwan.
Second Temple period Rock-cut tombs, which had been absent from Judea since the First Temple period, made a comeback during the Hasmonean era of the Second Temple period, but they were only used by the elites.
Primary burials At the beginning of the Hasmonean period, under the influence of Hellenistic burial customs from Marisa, members of the elite were buried in wooden coffins inside shafts known in Latin as loculi and in Hebrew as kokhim. Later, in the area of Jerusalem, primary burials took place either in kokhim, or in arched niches known in Latin as arcosolia. However, the regular type of burial during the Early Roman period (c. 63 BCE – 70 CE), used by the non-elite population, was done in trenches. Trench burials were quite varied, with one or two bodies, either in primary or secondary burial, with even a case of an infant buried in a jar coming to light. If such a simple grave was hewn into the rock, archaeologists speak of a cist tomb (Keddie 2019, p. 227). Some support the theory that in the Galilee, rock-cut tombs only had a comeback after the destruction of Jerusalem and the influx of refugees from Judaea after 70 CE (Keddie 2019, p. 237).
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