Page "Joseph (son of Jacob)" Paragraph 32

After relaying his prophecies, Israel died.

The family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days.

Joseph had his father embalmed, a process that took forty days.

Then he prepared a great ceremonial journey to Canaan leading the servants of the Pharaoh, and the elders of the houses Israel and Egypt beyond the Jordan River.

They stopped at Atad where they observed seven days of mourning.

Here, their lamentation was so great that it caught the attention of surrounding Canaanites who remarked “ This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians .” So they named this spot Abel Mizraim.

Then Joseph buried Israel in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites.