August, Dictionary of the Bible.

From: Good News for Young and Old: Volume 14 (1872)

Burial. — This, amongst the Israelites, was considered a sacred duty to the dead, and to be deprived of it was regarded as a great dishonor and a real calamity (2 Sam. 21:9⁹And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the Lord: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. (2 Samuel 21:9) — 14; 2 Kings 9:31³¹And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? (2 Kings 9:31); Psa. 79:2²The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. (Psalm 79:2); Eccl. 6:3³If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. (Ecclesiastes 6:3)). Before burial, the body was usually washed in warm water (Acts 9:37³⁷And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. (Acts 9:37)), after which it was swathed round with numerous folds of linen, with a napkin about the head (John 11:44⁴⁴And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. (John 11:44)), and anointed with a mixture of aromatic substances, the principal of which were myrrh and aloes (John 19:39, 40³⁹And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. ⁴⁰Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (John 19:39‑40)); in some instances a shroud was used. When thus dressed, the corpse was laid out in an upper chamber, open to the view of all visitors (Acts 9:37³⁷And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber. (Acts 9:37)). From the moment that death took place, the females of the house uttered loud cries, and hired mourners were employed by the more wealthy to make lamentation (2 Chron. 35:25²⁵And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations. (2 Chronicles 35:25); Matt. 9:23²³And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, (Matthew 9:23); Mark 5:38³⁸And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. (Mark 5:38)). The burial took place within a few hours after death, the corpse being sometimes put into a coffin, but most commonly carried to the grave on a bier or bed (2 Sam. 3:31³¹And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. (2 Samuel 3:31) [margin]; Luke 7:14¹⁴And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. (Luke 7:14)), which among the poor was nothing but a board supported by two poles, the nearest relatives being usually the carriers. Where hired mourners followed the procession, they every now and then lifted the covering of the corpse as a signal to the company to renew their loud cries and lamentations.

The tombs were outside the cities and towns, with very few exceptions (1 Kings 2:10¹⁰So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. (1 Kings 2:10); 2 Kings 14:20²⁰And they brought him on horses: and he was buried at Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. (2 Kings 14:20)). The public cemeteries of Palestine are supposed to have been very similar to those of the present day in the East, which occupy a large space of ground, in which every family has a portion walled round like a garden, where each grave is distinct, having a stone at the head and feet, with the name of the deceased upon it; the rest of the space is planted with flowers, &c. Caves were also very commonly used for sepulchers, and the sides of vast caverns were cut into niches one above another, or ranges of shelves were made, on which the bodies of the dead were laid, while the lowest places were reserved for the servants in family vaults. Kings and wealthy persons were often laid in stone sarcophagi; others, simply wrapped in grave-clothes, were laid on the ground, and the mouth or entrance-porch was secured by an immense stone (John 11:38³⁸Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. (John 11:38); Mark 16:3, 4³And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? ⁴And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. (Mark 16:3‑4)). It was not at all unusual for some to build a sepulcher during their lifetime, in which they were afterward laid. This practice still continues in Africa and eastern countries, and will probably explain the words, “buried in his own house,” meaning not his dwelling, but a sepulcher or family vault, erected by himself or carved out of a rock while living (1 Sam. 25:1¹And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran. (1 Samuel 25:1); 1 Kings 2:34³⁴So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. (1 Kings 2:34); Isa. 14:18; 22:16¹⁸All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. (Isaiah 14:18)
¹⁶What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? (Isaiah 22:16)).

Some of these houses for the dead were built of stone, and highly ornamented; others, carved out of the rock, had entrance-porches of tasteful mason-work, supported by colonnades. The valleys around Jerusalem abound with sepulchral caverns, often the retreat of lawless characters. Elegant monuments were often built by religious zeal in memory of prophets and holy men (Matt. 23:29²⁹Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, (Matthew 23:29)), and it was the custom at certain seasons to paint or whitewash all the tombs in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, in order to make them plainly visible to all, and thus prevent ceremonial defilement by any persons accidentally coming in contact with them (Matt. 23:27²⁷Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)). The time chosen for this was shortly before the Passover, when “the latter rains” were over, and fine weather had set in. During the first few weeks after a funeral the female members of the family paid frequent visits to the tomb, a practice still continued in the East (John 11:31³¹The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. (John 11:31)).

Bricks. — These, in Egypt, were made of clay brought in baskets from the River Nile. Being thrown into a heap with chopped straw, and saturated with water, it was kneaded with the feet till properly tempered. This kind of work, in a hot climate, must have been very laborious and unhealthy; more fatiguing and painful than the treadmill. Brickmaking formed the chief employment of the Israelites when in bondage in Egypt, and the malice of the enemy of God’s people was shown in setting Jewish taskmasters over their brethren, to compel them, by stripes, to labor on in the burning heat, footsore and weary. When properly tempered, the clay was cut by an instrument like a hoe, and then moulded in an oblong trough. The bricks thus formed were dried in the sun, although some have been found which, from their color, appear to have been baked or burned. On ancient Egyptian monuments, captive foreigners are represented engaged in this work, and it is a curious fact that more bricks of the time of Tothmes III. have been found than of any other. This Tothmes is supposed to have been the Pharaoh who knew not Joseph. The Tower of Babel is thought by some to have been built of sun-burnt bricks; but as the people proposed to “burn them thoroughly” (or, “to a burning”), it would seem that they must have used fire, as the heat of the sun, though great, would hardly have burnt the bricks thoroughly. They were cemented with a slime, which grew harder with time, until it became like stone.

Brook. — The brooks of Palestine were, for the most part, more properly torrents, numerous in winter and early spring, but dried up in the heat of summer (Job 6:15,17¹⁵My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; (Job 6:15)
¹⁷What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. (Job 6:17)). Such is the River of Egypt, so often mentioned as the southern boundary of Palestine (Num. 34:5⁵And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. (Numbers 34:5); Josh. 15:4, 47,⁴From thence it passed toward Azmon, and went out unto the river of Egypt; and the goings out of that coast were at the sea: this shall be your south coast. (Joshua 15:4)
⁴⁷Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border thereof: (Joshua 15:47) &c.). Some streams rising from subterranean springs, and flowing through deep and shaded valleys, continued throughout the year.