The inscriptions on the Hellenistic and Roman Jewish tombs have not provided sufficient data to enable us to draw any conclusions. Egyptian mummies from various periods to Roman times demonstrate that the average life span of the common people rarely exceeded thirty years.
We can conclude from this very brief survey that the status of the elderly during this four-hundred-year period remained high; that age was not connected with disability; and that old age remained undefined.
THE TALMUDIC PERIOD
Honor for parents and the obligation to support them both fiscally and psychologically was thoroughly discussed in the talmudic period but without any definition of age." There are some interesting developments in this literature. We find extensive discussions of the elevated position of elders, principally in the role of judges. A system of judges from the lower courts to the higher is outlined is some detail in Sanhedrin. Appointments were made from a lower court to the higher courts according to ability and maturity. The great Sanhedrin of seventy made major decisions and was a legislative body. Individuals moved through the ranks by demonstrating their acumen and understanding of the law. No maximum ages are given and no one retired, although if someone“too old” made an incorrect decision, he was not liable for his error(Hor 1.4).:
a thorough discussion of the rebellious“elder”(Deut. 17:12), a matter also discussed in later legal literature. The zaken mamre is
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