בית הקברות של תל עיטון: עדכון לשנת 2021 והערה על התפתחות הקבר היהודאי

The cemetery that surrounds Tel ‘Eton is one of the largest burial grounds in ancient Israel. This burial ground has a unique history. While the earliest known caves appear to be dated to the Intermediate Bronze Age, most of the caves are later, and the evidence suggests that the cemetery was used continuously from the Late Bronze Age to at least the 8th century BCE. This continuous use encompassed the Iron Age I, from which hardly any burials are known in the region, and the Iron IIA, from which only a few burials have been discovered. Therefore, the remarkable continuity revealed in the Tel ‘Eton cemetery is of great importance to the study of this era at large, and especially for an understanding of the “Judahite Burial”, the unique type of burial that developed in Judah and was popular in the 8th–7th centuries BCE.The cemetery was first studied as part of a large-scale salvage operation carried out in 1968; a few additional caves were excavated over the years. Alongside the excavations on the mound, the Tel ‘Eton expedition is conducting a survey in the mound’s immediate vicinity, and has also taken upon itself to publish the previously unpublished findings of earlier salvage excavations. The first part of the article briefly presents the cemetery, describes the excavations that have been carried out in the cemetery over the years and introduces the results of the current expedition. The paper then analyzes the initial results, summarizes the development of the cemetery in time and space, and briefly presents the changes in burial practices over the years, as well as the connection between the Tel ‘Eton cemetery and the popular Judahite burial of the Iron IIB–C.