“so much more advanced that it couldn’t be from that time.”
From what I have read, it was not common in Cannan, but was in use in Europe at the time. And not hard to believe that some rich guy might have some. And if he was a believer that Christ was the King, then would probably give the body the royal treatment with the fanciest stuff.
I just learned that the spices and stuff were only reserved for the burial of VIP’s back then. Most folks just got wrapped up and buried (no ceremonies, no waiting, just get them in the ground before they start to stink).
[21twelve:] From what I have read, it was not common in Cannan, but was in use in Europe at the time.
An herringbone twill is a very old pattern, going waaaay back among the Celts, and present in Italy and Egypt earlier than Christ. It is hardly imaginable that it wasn't available in the middle-east, which was the trade center between east and west, not to mention it's popularity due to it's durable nature. I read somewhere that the 3/1 twill weave of the cloth was probably Italian by origin... Roman products were no doubt available on the local market.
But let's not forget that Joseph of Arimathea was Jesus's uncle - a wealthy man indeed.p>Also, in Jewish law at that time, ONLY a relative could petition and get permission for the body of a criminal.
In addition, It has been credibly postulated that 'Joseph the "carpenter" was more probably a builder or mason, the word for it interchangeable - and it's quite possible that Joseph and the young Jesus walked the hour's distance to the 'shining city on the hill' being rebuilt about 4 miles from Nazareth -and made a better living than would only a carpenter - a splendid cosmopolitan city of white marble...Zippori, called Sepphoris in Greek, a crossroads of trade and where Latin, Greek and Aramaic were freely spoken.
The culture that Jesus grew up in was not as backwater as some would have us think.
As well, after Joseph, the 'carpenter/mason" died, by custom, the next male kin would have assumed guardianship over the family - Joseph of Arimathea again.