Daily Life in the era of the Shoftim

Country LifeCity LifeReligion

" א' תשע מרחשון וOctober 14, 2010

Country lifeThe VillageAgricultureAnimal HusbandryDiet

The Village Structure

Village Evolution Village Design Villages were a result of

common need for protection and shared commerce they were close to farmland that was worked by the villagers

They were close to larger cities for the same reasons

They were not placed on arable land so as to maximize output

They were located close to perennial water sources like springs

They typically had a population of about 75 – 150 people

Ring Shaped villages◦ Laid out for protection and for

the keeping of animals

Agglomerated ◦ Were not planed in any way

but every family built where he wanted

Farmsteads◦ A single farm owned by one

person along with attendant building like barns and workers quarters

◦ It had a low wall to keep the animals in

House Structure

The Four Room House

Model of four room house from the front

The typical home found in Israel was limited by technology and by resources

Wood and metal were not common enough in the Near East to use as building material

They were built with stone and sun dried mud brick

There were two parallel rooms and one in the back

There was a courtyard and second story

The roofs were used collect rainwater in the winter, to sleep during the summer, drying fruit or to keep a grindstone

House Structure

The Concept of the Four Room House

Four Room House From BAR28:04

This was the dominant form of all buildings constructed in Israel from the Shoftim to the Destruction of the Beis Hamikdash then disappears

Shlomo Bunimovitz and Avraham Faust (Bar28:04) make the case that the four room building was a functionally adaptation to the laws of Tumah and Tahara

Every room could be accessed from the center courtyard which allows for the separation of people and vessels who are tahor and those who are tamei

Agriculture

Agriculture During the Shoftim and Monarchy

A contour map of the Tabaq Farm. Wall A contains the sluice gates which controlled the floodwaters as they entered the farm. Walls B through H are terrace walls around which the water flowed after being partially absorbed behind each terrace wall. The enclosure wall surrounds the farm. The pare military outpost where the farmers lived was on a hill north of the farm, marked by a rectangle. BAR3:03

The land is dry and rocky and difficult to farm

The villagers worked together try and expand arable land by using◦ Terrace farming◦ Runoff irrigation◦ Forest clearing

Agriculture

Making the Desert Bloom Area of Tabaq Farm now

BAR3:03

These communal activities allowed farming to be productive that simple subsistence

Depending on the year and the rainfall farmers could produce surpluses which they used to invest in land reclamation

They could also purchase luxury goods

Agriculture

Field Crops Fruits and Vegetables

Cereals◦ Wheat

◦ Barley

◦ Millet

Legumes◦ Peas

◦ Chickpeas

◦ Sesame

Spices◦ Dill

◦ Cumin

◦ Coriander

Fruits◦ Olives

◦ Grapes

◦ Figs

◦ Pomegranates

◦ Dates

◦ Carobs

◦ Almonds

◦ Pistachios

Vegetables◦ Cucumbe

rs

◦ Gourds

◦ Leeks

◦ Onions

◦ Garlic

Animal Husbandry

Herding Draft Animals In less populated areas

herding was a major industry

The herded goats and sheep which were used for their milk, cheese, butter, meat, hair/wool, and skins/leather

Shepherds would lead their flock around the area grazing unfarmed land

Cattle ◦ Males – Bulls or Oxen used

for plowing and hauling

◦ Females – Cows – for plowing with mild and hide as secondary products

DonkeysCamelsHorses

◦ delicate small Arabians which were used primarily for people

Diet

The Mediterranean Triad

Biblical Diet

Daily diet was made up of ◦ Grain – in the form of bread or דגן

porridge◦ Grapes- wine תירוש◦ Olives – olive oil יצהר

They are the products that the תורה requires one to take off תרומה and מעשרות

Other crops grown locally were eaten but because they were not primary food less land was dedicated to their production and therefore more scarce and expensive

Meat would only have been eaten on special occasions like Shabbos

Fowl – also for special occasions would have been chicken, duck, goose and pigeon

Summary of Country LifeCountry life remains constant from

the period of the judges to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash

The basis of the Village economy was agriculture, growing mostly of staples with some cash crops

Animal husbandry and small crafts were a small part of rural life

Diet was almost entirely made from locally grown crops

City lifeCity PlanningPopulationHygiene and SanitationTrade

View of Megiddo

How City Life Changed from the Period of the Shoftim to the

MonarchyCities started out as commercial centers in

the Bronze Age as the Iron Age progressed and the Monarchy assumed more control the cities became the center for the bureaucracy.

Most residence moved out to smaller villages and the cities were filled with ever more governmental structures

Since we are in the period of the Shoftim we will be discussing city life during the Iron Age

CITY PLANNING

FortificationWater

City Planning

Pre-Planning City Types that Develop During the Monarchy

Public structures are the key feature used in differentiating between a city and a village

The city was primarily an administrative and commercial hub of a larger area made up of several villages and farmsteads

There seems to be some central lay out of the city which is seen by the planning of the fortifications, the houses, roads, marketplaces and public structures

This is hinted to in the "ך תנwhere various leaders are said to construct cities and in

Capital Cities◦ Samaria

◦ Jerusalem

Regional Cites◦ Lachish

◦ Megiddo

◦ Hazor

◦ Dan

Towns ◦ Be’er Sheva

◦ Taanach

◦ Beth -Shemesh

City Planning

Fortification

Tell-Dan City Gate House

Outer Fortifications◦ Glacis – sloping rampart in

front of the Fosse or wall

◦ Fosse – dry moat near the wall

City walls ◦ Solid

◦ Casemate – two thin parallel walls filled with rubble

Gates – and Gate Houses◦ Outer gates

◦ Several parallel inner gates

◦ Doors made from wood covered with metal sheets

Water Systems Shaft and Tunnel leading to

a perennial water source outside the city

Shaft and Tunnel leading to a water source in the city

Tunnel from outside water source meets with a vertical shaft inside the city

Tunnels diverting water into reservoirs

External approach to water at the base of the Tell

Cut out of Jerusalem showing tunnelBAR34:05

Contour map showing path of tunnelBAR34:05

Courtesy of the Tower of David Museum (Permanent Exhibition)FINDING THE RIGHT PATH. Shimron and Frumkin believe that a third team working on the surface pounded out acoustic signals on the bedrock to guide the underground work of the tunneling teams (see section drawing). Initially, the southern team planned to take a fairly direct route northeast from the Siloam Pool so they would intersect the northern team as quickly as possible. The northern team, however, began by excavating almost due west, a course the geologists believe was either a gross miscalculation in direction or a deliberate attempt to extend the tunnel to a well shaft in the heart of the city.Both teams quickly realized, however, that the nearly 160 feet of bedrock and soil overburden in their respective areas made sound communication with the surface impossible, so they decided to adjust the tunnel’s course. Hezekiah’s engineers directed the tunnelers to the shallower eastern slope of the city instead (which has a more manageable overburden of between 25 and 80 feet), where the guiding signals of the surface team could be more easily heard. Partial shafts in the bedrock may have aided in the sound communication. From here the tunnelers followed the surface signals until they were finally within earshot of the other team’s voices and pick axes, as described in the Siloam Inscription. On the plan, areas in yellow have a shallow overburden and gradually progress to the deepest areas (shown in red) where it was impossible to hear the surface signals.

View of Megiddo

Plan of Megiddo

POPULATION

Population

Who Lived in the Cities?

Dionysus – Roman "ז of עdrunkenness (uncg.com)

As the cities became centers of administration most non-government employees moved out

Those who remain were bureaucrats and the upper classes who would have kept a town house in addition to a country estate

Foreigners were in the cities as ambassadors and for trade

The new upper class mixed with foreign cultures and were affected by them

They did not feel a connection to the population of the country who were poorer and less cultured

HYGIENE AND SANITATION

Hygiene and Sanitation

Personal Hygiene Sanitation Limited water was not to wasted

on bathing more than necessary Hand washing and feet washing

were common Washing hands face and feet

would prepare one for Shabbos Clothes were seldom washed

since it would involve a trip to a river

There were soaps but very caustic Halachos of Tumah and Taharah

which were widely practiced demanded that men and women go to mikvah often so the observant Jewish people were much cleaner than most others

No sewers Few latrines or outhouses –

people generally used chamber pots that they dumped in the street

Household garbage was swept into the street

This is not healthy It builds up the street level It contaminates drinking

water and leads to the spread of disease

COMMERCE AND TRADE

Local Long distanceMaritime

Local Trade

What was traded?

Ox cart relief from the wall of Assur

Mostly one crop was bartered for another

A villager would haul his crop to the market in a larger town by ox or donkey pulled cart along dirt trails

Wholesale middlemen would bring crops into the city in exchange for manufactured goods or precious metals

In the city one would by from a retailer who bought it from the wholesaler

Long Distance Trade

Trade

Camel caravan in the Sahara

Luxury goods since the prophet had to be good and the items small◦ Jewelry

◦ Spices

◦ Exotic food (such as fish from Egypt)

There were established trade routes

Usually run by Canaanites so the term Canaanite was synonymous with trader

Israel was on the major trade routes from Arabia to Syria and from Egypt to Mesopotamia

Used camels and donkeys to haul the loads

Maritime Trade

Trade Phoenician ship Ship travel was dangerous

and seasonal Conducted mostly by the

Phoenicians It was Mediterranean centered

with the "ך telling us about תנsome expeditions to the Red Sea with success during the time of Shelomo and failure during the time of Yehoshafat

Based on shipwrecks it seems that the objects of trade were grain, oil, wine, wool, and purple dye ארגמן

ReligionThe Prevalence of Avodah ZarahSyncretistic Worship

Religion

Shrines and Avodah Zarah and Syncretistic Worship

This shows a temple in Gezer where the idolaters have two altars one of the two back stones is for Hashem the other for his wife Asherah

Shrines to Avodah Zara and idols are commonly found at archeological sites shows its prevalence

Personal alters or במות are also found

Is the inclusion of Hashem into the pantheon of idols and pagan "ז ע