Bishop Wrong has an interesting take on the whole ‘Messiah before Jesus’ spin recently provoked by Knohl’s intriguing essay. Even further back than the Dead Sea Scrolls is a Ugaritic text which also contains the trope.

The Bishop writes

However, the idea that it takes the messiah three days to come back to the world of the living employs a very familiar mytheme. The idea that the dead take three days to return to the world of the living is a familiar one. The time period of three days is often given as the distance between the netherworld and earth. A very relevant example is in the Ugaritic Rephaim Texts (KTU 1.20-22) from ca. 1200 BC. It is very relevant, because the Ugaritian and biblical traditions share a broadly common geographical locale, many common beliefs and traditions, and a broadly similar language (although are separated by some 500+ years). The traditions about the Rephaim (Saviours) are included in the biblical books with very similar accompanying mythological themes (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah).

Again, for those interested, I commend to your attention Tom Thompson’s The Messiah Myth where the trope is discussed at great length.