Year: 2018
Type: reference-entry
Abstract: Bath/Mikveh"Mikveh" (pl.mikva'ot), literally referring to a "gathering" as in a "gathering of water" (mikveh mayim; Lev 11:36), is today commonly used to designate a manmade deep, stepped pool that is being used for ritual immersion and purification from the state of impurity caused, for instance, by contact with sexual fluids or diseases.Archaeological excavations and surveys have uncovered hundreds of such water installations in the southern Levant, mainly in modern Israel but also in the West Bank, southern Lebanon, and western Jordan. Textual sourcesThe Hebrew Bible records that "bathing" in water was necessary for purification from the state of ritual impurity Num 19).This could be obtained through various means, such as contact with carrion, childbirth, skin diseases, and bodily discharges (e.g.seminal, menstrual, illness-related).Such impurity affected not only humans, but also clothing, vessels, and other objects.As testified by the accounts of Josephus and Philo, as well as in the Dead Sea scrolls, the act of ritual bathing -and, with it, a focus on ritual impurity -received more interest during the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE.While these later accounts referred to ritual washing as described in the Hebrew Bible, they tended to gloss over the various details of purification, as if all were handled similarly (e.g.Jos.Ant.3.261-265, 269; Philo, Spec.1.261-262).At the same time, they also introduced ritual uses of washing that are not mentioned in earlier texts, such as hand washing (Let.Aris. 305-306; Jos.Ant.12.106; Philo, Cont.66, 89), washing in preparation for prayer (Jdt 12:7-9; Jos.Bell.2.128-129), and washing after defecation (Jos.Bell.2.149).The wider range of practices during this period associated with ritual washing suggests a greater diversity and innovation than before, but also hints towards the greater significance of this practice during this period.It is difficult to deduce from these texts how ritual bathing was practiced.Josephus (Bell.2.161) notes that Essenes remained clothed for washing, while the Dead Sea scrolls offer some information on how ritual bathing was carried out (see Lawrence, 2006, 141-149).What is clear is that these later accounts emphasize full immersion in respect to ritual bathing (e.g.Jos.Ant.3.263; CD X: 10-13; Mark 7:3-4; Luke 11:38), as well as the amount and nature of water in which one immersed (CD X: 10-12; 4Q270 6 iv 21).The use of "living water," such as that of rivers, lakes and springs,
Author: Rick Bonnie
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4213044033