Nazir 51: Imparting Tamei: The Dust of a Corpse; Two Bodies Buried Together

A nazirite has to shave and bring offerings if s/he comes into contact with a source of ritual impurity. One of those sources of impurity is at least two handfuls of dust from a corpse.  The rabbis suggest a number of different situations to better understand the limitations of this guideline.

The rabbis question the source of the dust.  If a person was wearing a shroud or any clothing whatsoever, the dust could come from that source, too.  If a person was buried alongside another person, the dust could be from either corpse.  The rabbis question the significance of a mixture of two or more different sources of dust, including hair or nails ready to be cut.  They also consider dust from the heel, which was thought of as different from other parts of the body as its callous allowed it to tolerate pain.  

Futhur, the rabbis wonder whether a pregnant woman who dies is counted as two bodies buried together or whether the fetus is considered to be "like a women's thigh," and only one person.  One of the arguments understands that the fetus is not part of the woman's body because it will eventually leave the womb.  The other argument understands the woman's body as the 'creator' of the fetus and thus the fetus is part of her body.  The rabbis even ask whether a woman buried with semen in her body creates dust that does not impart ritual impurity, for her body contains a foreign substance.  And what about spittle and phlegm?  Are they external to a person's body.

The rabbis note that a corpse can be free of any additional matter in one way:  one would have to consume palm water as a powerful laxative, use a depilatory, and then soak in the hot springs of the Tiberius just after death to remove his skin.  As well, a copse chopped into small pieces would not impart ritual impurity through it's dust.  A corpse that was missing a limb cannot impart ritual impurity, either.  

As much as this material is macabre and disturbing, it raises questions about the process of Talmudic discussion.  First, how many corpses of dust were known by the rabbis?  Next, were any of these heinous scenarios - the skin being removed from a corpse, for example - actually based on true events?  And if not, did the rabbis encourage each other to use their imagination to create unusual scenarios?   It would be wonderful to understand which parts of these conversations were based on experience and which were based on conjecture.