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Old Crater Jewish Cemetery, Aden, Yemen
History:
The Old Crater (Kraytor) Cemetery is located near the old Jewish Quarter in the city of Crater (also Kraytor or Qrater). It is one of the oldest of the four cemeteries in Aden. The cemetery was used until 1860, when the British closed down the cemetery to construct a new one, the Ma’alla Cemetery (1). However, the British Administration did give permission to the family of Menahem Messa, the head of the Aden Jewish community, to use the cemetery for burials for their family members. The greater Jewish Community had to use the Ma’alla cemetery (2). Some scholars believe that the original Crater cemetery was much larger, due to the abundance of tombstone slabs discovered surrounding the border of the cemetery (3).
For Yemenite Jews, the word for cemetery is me‘ara (pl. me‘arot) which means cave. In Aden, ancient cemeteries are referred to as me‘ara yesana, old cave (4).
Tombstones:
Some of the oldest tombstone discovered in Aden, along with their inscriptions, date back to the 12th century. Some inscriptions actually refer to people found in the Geniza Documents, a collection of documents that provide a detailed outlook on Jewish life in the 12th and 13th century. There are also many inscriptions from the 16th and 19th centuries. The older the inscriptions, the more stark and concise is the wording on the slabs. For women, the tombstones contain the name of their father and some are referred to as ishah hashuvah ("an important lady") (5).
(1) A. Klein-Franke, "Tombstones Bearing Hebrew Inscriptions in Aden." Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 16, no. 2 (2005): 161
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid., 164.
(4) Ibid., 161.
(5) Virtual Jewish World: Aden, Yemen." Aden, Yemen Jewish History Tour. Accessed July 04, 2016.
Description
Burial rites:
The Yemenite definition of cemetery, me‘ara, translating to “cave”, may come from a Jewish history of using caves as ritual burial sites. In Judaism, the soul remained “alive” death only if the body of the dead was not destroyed. Thus, in order to properly honor the dead, the body was usually buried or kept in a cave or tomb as not to harm it, until it naturally started to decompose (1). For example, one of the curses for breaching the covenant made to God was "Thy carcasses shall be food unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth" (Deut. 28:26), implying that true punishment for the dead was a mutilated, not respected, corpse (2).
The dead are buried as soon as possible, as per the Torah (3). Furthermore, a common desire in burial practices is a want for the dead to remain close to their community, even after death. Most cemeteries were located next to Jewish villages. Family tombs, commonly located in caves, were built outside the village borders as well, and people could bury family generation after generation, laying side by side to each other (4).
(1) Fletcher, Elizabeth. "ANCIENT TOMBS: Archaeology, Death and the Bible." Ancient Tombs: Archaeology, Death and the Bible. Accessed July 24, 2016.
(2) Berenbaum, Michael, and Fred Skolnik, eds. "Burial." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit, USA: Macmillan Reference, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
(3) "Religious Traditions: Judaism Funeral Customs." Judaism Funeral Traditions- Religious Traditions: The Funeral Source. Accessed July 24, 2016. http://thefuneralsource.org/trad0203.html.
(4) Berenbaum, Michael, and Fred Skolnik, eds. "Burial."
Sources
Bibliography:
Berenbaum, Michael, and Fred Skolnik, eds. "Burial." Encyclopaedia Judaica. 2nd ed. Vol. 4. Detroit, USA: Macmillan Reference, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Fletcher, Elizabeth. "ANCIENT TOMBS: Archaeology, Death and the Bible." Ancient Tombs: Archaeology, Death and the Bible. Accessed July 24, 2016. http://www.bible-archaeology.info/tombs.htm#BENCH BURIAL CAVES.
Klein-Franke, A. "Tombstones Bearing Hebrew Inscriptions in Aden." Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 16, no. 2 (2005): 161-82. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0471.2005.00256.x.
"Religious Traditions: Judaism Funeral Customs." Judaism Funeral Traditions- Religious Traditions: The Funeral Source. Accessed July 24, 2016. http://thefuneralsource.org/trad0203.html.
"Virtual Jewish World: Aden, Yemen." Aden, Yemen Jewish History Tour. Accessed July 04, 2016. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Aden.html#6.