2 Chronicles 16:14, 21:19 and Jeremiah 34:5 talk about the practice of funeral burnings for the deceased kings of Israel.
I read in an essay by professor Rudiger Schmitt (Munster University) published in "The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures" that such "special ritual actions ... may have had an apotropaic function like similar rites in Mesopotamia".
Anyone has more info on this practice, its possible meaning and/or similar rites in the Ancient Near East cultures?
You can access the text of the essay here:
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_88.pdf
Behemot