Jewish Burial Must Be Within Hours of Death, Even If On The Sabbath

Genesis descriptions of the embalming of Jacob and Joseph show that the Hebrews picked up at least something from Egyptian mortuary customs.

This is not so clear cut. Jacob and Joseph died in Egypt, with the expectation that they would finally be buried in Canaan. That would put them in a different class than the rest of the Israelite funerals. There is an old Jewish tradition, still valid today, that a body has to be placed in the ground within 24 hours, even if that requires burial work on the Sabbath. Any work performed in a burial overrides any other Sabbath keeping laws.

• Hebrew Tombs In Canaan Are Different From Egyptian Burials - mostly because of expectation of the resurrection of the body rather than a continuation of life after death in a different phase.
• Isrealites Belief That Death Is The End Of Life