Potter's field

For other uses, see The Potter's Field (disambiguation).

A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or poverty-stricken people. The term "potter's field" is of Biblical origin, and refers to Akeldama (meaning field of blood in Aramaic), which was stated to have been purchased after Judas Iscariot's suicide by the chief priests of Jerusalem with the coins that had been paid to Judas for his identification of Jesus. The priests are stated to have acquired it for the burial of strangers, criminals, and the poor, as the coins paid to Judas were considered blood money. Prior to Akeldama's use as a burial ground, it had been a site where potters collected high-quality, deeply red clay for the production of ceramics, thus the name potters' field.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.