Embalming

Embalming—the preservation of a body through the application of aromatic spices, oils, and occasionally more elaborate techniques—was practiced in the biblical world primarily under Egyptian influence. In the Old Testament, only two individuals are explicitly said to have been embalmed: Jacob and his son Joseph, both of whom died in Egypt. The account in Genesis 50 notes that Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father, a process that took forty days and was followed by seventy days of Egyptian mourning.

Joseph himself was embalmed at death and his body kept in a coffin in Egypt until Moses carried his bones out at the Exodus, fulfilling Joseph's sworn request. Among the Hebrews generally, burial rather than embalming was the norm, typically accomplished rapidly and with simpler preparations of washing, anointing, and wrapping. The New Testament references to wrapping the bodies of Lazarus and Jesus in linen with spices represent a form of honorable burial preparation, though not necessarily the elaborate Egyptian process. The anointing of Jesus's body was additionally associated with messianic consecration in early Christian thought.