Hekhalot literature (sometimes transliterated asHeichalot), from the Hebrew word for "Palaces," relates to visions ofentering heaven alive. The genre overlaps withMerkabah mysticism, also called "Chariot literature", which concerns Ezekiel's chariot, so the two are sometimes referred to as the "Books of the Palaces and the Chariot" (ספרות ההיכלות והמרכבה). Hekhalot literature is a genre of Jewish esoteric and revelatory texts produced sometime betweenlate antiquity (some believe fromTalmudic times or earlier) to theEarly Middle Ages.
Many motifs of laterKabbalah are based on the Hekhalot texts, and Hekhalot literature itself is based upon earlier sources, including traditions about heavenly ascents ofEnoch found among theDead Sea Scrolls and theHebrew Bible pseudepigrapha.[1] Hekhalot itself has many pseudepigraphic texts.[2]
Hekhalot Zutartey "Lesser Palaces" or "Palaces Minor," which details an ascent ofRabbi Akiva through theseven heavens, seeking revelations regarding the holy name of God
Hekhalot Rabbati "Greater Palaces" or "Palaces Major," which details the ascent ofRabbi Ishmael when he sought to examine the validity of the decree regarding the execution of theTen Martyrs
Maaseh Merkabah "Account of the Chariot," a collection of hymns recited by the "descenders" into the holy chariot, and heard during their ascent
Hekhalot literature is post-rabbinical, and not a literature of the rabbis, but since it seeks to stand in continuity with the Rabbinic literature, it is oftenpseudepigraphical.[5]
^Judaism in late antiquity: Volume 1 - Page 36 Jacob Neusner, Alan Jeffery Avery-Peck, Bruce Chilton - 2001 "The Hekhalot literature is "not a literature of the rabbis, yet it seeks to stand in continuity with the Rabbinic literature" (p. 293); this literature is deeply pseudepigraphical and as such post-rabbinical."
