Death and Burial in the Near East from Roman to Islamic Times

This book is based on a German-Arab colloquium held in Amman in September 2013, where current excavation and research results on death and burial from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt were presented. For the first time, Arab and Near Eastern scholars were able to discuss the main features and differences in the development of funerary practices of the dead in Roman, Byzantine and Islamic times, mainly based on archaeological sources. It also reports on the processing of old excavations and summary studies on local or regional burial customs. Apart from ten lectures presented in the colloquium, five other contributions by international scholars have been included. Among the more prominent places presented here are Palmyra, Beirut, Petra, Gerasa, Alexandria, Hermupolis and St. Paul's Monastery of Deir el-Bakhît (Thebes-West).