Writing for the March/April 2019 issue of BAR, archaeologist Avraham Faust [Director of the Tel ‘Eton archaeological expedition] explores what we know about how the ancient Israelites dealt with issues of religious purity and impurity during the Iron Age—long before ablution in a mikveh became the norm. In his article “Purity and Impurity in Iron Age Israel,” Faust explains that restrictions of movement of the impure necessarily have “a spatial dimension, and rules governing impurity had to be formulated in relation to space.”As usual, the BAR article itself is behind a subscription wall. But this BHD essay gives you a taste of it.
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