India, Feb. 18 -- Ashes have long served as a powerful cultural symbol of mourning, repentance and human frailty across the ancient Near East. In civilisations such as Mesopotamia, Canaan and Egypt, people commonly expressed grief and remorse by sitting in dust or ashes, sprinkling dust on their heads, wearing sackcloth and tearing their garments.

These actions conveyed a deep sense of brokenness and humility. Ashes, often the only remains after devastation by fire, came to represent mortality, sorrow for wrongdoing and complete dependence on God. Israel later adopted this symbolic language, though it was not originally a uniquely Jewish religious ritual but a broader cultural expression of repentance.

Scripture consistently emphasises ...