Bava Basra, chapter 6, Mishnah 8 - the final Mishnah of the chapter. The Mishnah deals with a person who wants to establish a burial place for himself. Similar to the previous Mishnayos, where we discussed someone who buys land to build a house or hires a contractor to build a house for him, and we established the minimum dimensions considered a house - so too here: for one who buys a burial place or commissions its construction, what are the minimum dimensions to which he is entitled?
The Structure of a Burial Place During the Second Temple Period:
To understand the Mishnah, we must first examine the layout of burial places during the Second Temple period. Generally, they would dig a room in the ground that could hold several bodies or collections of bones of different deceased individuals. The structure included three parts:
The Courtyard: The entrance area from which one accesses the burial place, literally like a regular courtyard, and its dimension is six by six amos - a size sufficient for the bier and those engaged in the burial.
The Cave: From the courtyard, one enters one or more burial caves, and each is called a cave. The cave itself is an open space.
The Niches: In the walls of the cave, niches called kochin were carved out, in which a coffin or bone box was placed. The depth of each niche is four amos, its height is seven tefachim, and its width is six tefachim.
During the Temple era, secondary burial was often practiced, meaning burying a person twice: initially, he was buried in an open space, and after a year, once the flesh had decomposed, they would gather his bones and place them in a small box called a gluskema - a sort of ossuary made of earthenware or clay, and sometimes even stone. The ossuaries were almost all the same size: their internal width was the width of the skull, which is the widest bone, and their length was the length of the femur, the longest bone. Once all the bones were placed into the ossuary, the ossuary was placed into the niche in the wall.
From the courtyard, several caves could branch out underground - from both its sides, right and left, and sometimes even in all four directions - and in each and every cave, the niches were carved out. This is the arrangement that the Mishnah discusses.
The Wording of the Mishnah and Its Dimensions:
"Hamocher makom lachaveiro la'asos lo kever, vechein hamekabel meichaveiro la'asos lo kever" - one who sells a place to his fellow to make a grave for him, and similarly, one who receives from his fellow to make a grave for him. We have two cases before us: one who sells a plot of land to his fellow so that he can establish a burial place and family tomb on it, and one whose land it is and who hires a contractor to carve out the burial chamber for him. In both cases, the cave must be four by six amos (about two by three meters), and its walls must have eight niches.
How are the eight niches distributed? If the entrance is on the south side, then from south to north is six amos, and from east to west is four amos. In the eastern wall and the western wall, which are the long sides measuring six amos, three niches are carved out in each; and in the northern wall opposite the entrance, which is shorter, measuring four amos wide, another two niches are carved out - a total of eight.
The dimensions of the niche itself: its depth is four amos, a size sufficient for a whole coffin with the deceased inside it; its height is seven tefachim; and its width is six tefachim, which is one amah. Hence the calculation: in a wall measuring six amos long, one can carve out three niches, and in a wall measuring four amos long, only two niches, since alongside the niches one must leave rock partitions that support the walls, and it is impossible to use the entire length.
The Opinion of Rabbi Shimon:
Rabbi Shimon holds that burial caves are larger: the inner space of the cave - not the walls and not the niches, but the standing area itself - is six by eight amos (about three by four meters), and it has thirteen niches.
How so? One who enters from the south finds a length of eight amos on the eastern wall and the western wall, and in each of them are four niches six tefachim wide - making eight. In the northern wall, which is six amos wide, three more are hewn - making eleven.
And how do we reach thirteen? Through diagonal hewing: in the northeastern corner and in the northwestern corner, an additional diagonal niche can be hewn. And this is what the Mishnah said: "Echad miyemin hapesach ve'echad min hasmol" - a niche is added on both sides of the entrance, making a total of thirteen.
The courtyard and the caves extending from it:
"Ve'oseh chatzer al pi hame'arah, shesh al shesh, kimlo hamitah vekovreha" - before the cave a courtyard is made, a subterranean area through which one enters the burial chamber, and its measurement is six by six amos - a size sufficient for a whole bier and the people burying the deceased.
"Ufose'ach lesochah shtei me'aros, achas mikan ve'achas mikan" - according to the Tanna Kamma, two caves are opened on both sides of the courtyard, one to the east and one to the west, and in each of them there are eight niches, so that in total sixteen deceased can be buried.
"Rabbi Shimon omer: arba le'arba ruchoseha" - according to his view, not only are there thirteen niches in each cave, but four caves extend from the single courtyard, in all four of its directions. Thus, in his opinion, there are four caves multiplied by thirteen niches, whereas according to the Tanna Kamma, there are two caves multiplied by eight niches.
And it is further said: "Hakol lefi hasela" - and with this, the entire numerical determination is rejected. One cannot arbitrarily determine how many niches can be squeezed into a cave and how many caves can be opened from the courtyard, since the matter depends on the quality of the rock and its foundation: if the rock cannot be hewn because of its hardness, it is impossible to add more. Everything is therefore measured according to what can actually be produced from the rock in practice, in terms of the number of plots handed over to the contractor for development.
Halachah: The halachah follows the Tanna Kamma, insofar as this has practical relevance: the burial plot includes a courtyard of six by six amos, and on its two sides a cave of four by six amos, and in each of the two caves there are eight niches - a total of sixteen burial places.
And from here comes the calculation of the entire land area: The length is twelve amos - four amos of the cave itself, and another four amos for the depth of the niches in each of the two directions. And the width is twenty-six amos - four amos for the depth of the niches on one side, six amos of the cave, six amos of the courtyard in the middle, six amos of the second cave, and four amos for the depth of the niches on the other side. Thus, the area of land required for the buyer, according to the Tanna Kamma and as ruled in halachah, is twelve by twenty-six amos.