In the course of clarifying the expectations in place when someone purchases land to build a structure, the Mishnah has incidentally shared the normal dimensions of various types of buildings: cowsheds, homes, banquet halls, roads, etc. The mishnah at the beginning of today’s daf continues in this vein by discussing the case of one who buys land in order to build a catacomb:
One who sells a plot of land to another to construct for himself a catacomb, and similarly a contractor who receives a plot of land from another to construct for him a catacomb: If not otherwise specified, he should make the inside of a chamber four cubits wide by six cubits long and open up into the chamber eight burial niches. Three niches should be opened up from the wall here, along the length of the chamber, and three from there, along the other side, and two niches from the wall facing the entrance. And these niches should be formed so that their length is four cubits and their height is seven handbreadths, and their width is six handbreadths.
In Genesis, Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah so that he can bury his wife, Sarah. This was, arguably, the first Jewish catacomb — a burial system also well-attested in the rabbinic period. Today’s mishnah provides some insight on what these underground vaults looked like. The initial clauses describe an underground chamber, four cubits by six cubits, with niches in the wall in which people would be buried. Rashbam explains that it wasn’t then common for people to be buried individually; rather, families were typically buried together in tombs. Each tomb described here could hold eight family members.
We see that the norms in size and numbers ranged, as Rabbi Shimon observes:
He should construct the inside of each burial chamber six cubits wide by eight cubits long and open up into the chamber 13 burial niches. Four niches should be opened up from the wall here, along the length of the chamber, and four from there, along the other side, and three niches from the wall facing the entrance, and one from the right of the entrance and another one from the left.
Rabbi Shimon agrees with the general structure of rectangular underground tombs with burial niches lining the walls, but he thinks each individual structure should hold up to thirteen bodies. The mishnah continues by describing additional structures of the catacomb:
And he must fashion a courtyard at the entrance of the chamber that should be six cubits by six cubits, which is equal to the combined length of the bier and those who bury him.
In addition to the underground chamber, the mishnah says there should be a courtyard at the entrance large enough to facilitate an easy burial. The Tosafot point out that it’s unclear the exact location of this courtyard — some sources indicate that it’s aboveground, while others seem to indicate that it’s below normal ground level. They ultimately conclude that it’s below ground level, but above the tomb.
The mishnah then presents a disagreement about how many burial chambers each courtyard should serve:
And he should open up two burial chambers into the courtyard, one from here and one from there. Rabbi Shimon says: He should open up four burial chambers, one on each of the courtyard’s four sides.
According to the anonymous opinion of the mishnah, this burial courtyard is situated between two chambers, such that the whole arrangement could hold 16 bodies. Rabbi Shimon, meanwhile, envisions each courtyard serving four caves, with one on each side. As the Gemara will go on to point out, given his already more crowded vision of the larger, 13-niche chambers, at first glance it seems that this set up would involve certain niches overlapping at the corners. All of this points to the idea of increasingly complex underground caves.
The mishnah concludes with a qualification:
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Everything is dependent on the nature of the bedrock.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel offers a voice of practicality: Each chamber will vary in size depending on the nature of the bedrock. Softer and more fragile bedrock will require greater space between each niche so as to remain structurally sound, while stronger bedrock could potentially contain even more than thirteen niches. The mishnah’s conclusion presents an interplay between standardized norms and tolerance of variability: Standardization is preferred, but sometimes the natural world gets in the way.
Is this really what ancient Jewish catacombs looked like? Turns out, you can actually visit some for yourself. The Jewish catacombs in Rome are famous for their labyrinthine layout. And in the north of Israel, you can visit the grave of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who compiled the Mishnah, in Beit Shearim.
Read all of Bava Batra 101 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 4, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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