Foods of Ancient Israel

On this page you will find a list of recipes, ingredients, and other info about food in ancient Israel.  

 

COMMON MEALS
Two daily meals were usually eaten.   Here are an example of common meals eaten:

Late Morning Meal:  Could include roaster grain, olives, figs or grapes, and bread with garlic, onions, or black radishes.   Water or wine were drunk.

Evening Meal:
A vegetable stew, served in a common pot, that family members would dip their bread into.   Sometimes small bowls would be used.   Occasionally fresh or dried fruit, or cheese, would be served alongside the soup.   Water, wine, or milk was drunk.


RECIPE IDEAS



Lentil Soup and Barley Flatbread
A common daily meal throughout Isreal.

Ashishim
This was a fried lentil cake...honey-dipped pancakes made from crushed red lentils and sesame seeds.


Pressed Dried Fruit
While I don't have a "recipe" for this, this seems easy to do, and pressing dried fruit into blocks or clusters might be something you could do with kids as an activity.

• Raisins were pressed together into clusters and dried, which kept the interior raisins softer.
• Dates were sun dried and pressed into blocks to dry more, then used throughout the year
  

Meaty Stew
Cuts of meat (see meat section) were boiled with garlic and leeks, and flavored with cumin and coriander (it was Babylonian dish thought to be used in Israel too).  Stewed meat was considered a dish worthy of serving to honored guests (Judges 6:19-20).   Here's some recipes I found that used only ingredients they had at the time.

Stewed Lamb with Cumin and Coriander

Babylonian Stewed Meat

INGREDIENTS
Here are some ingredients available in ancient Israel.  There may be more ingredients they had access through trade, or which I just haven't found through my sources.  I've tried to note which one I know were introduced later, or were only available through trade.

Meats
Storing meat was difficult, so larger animals were often saved for special occasions.  Goat and mutton was often eaten during celebrations, festivals, and sacrificial feasts.  Beef was regarded as a delicacy, and served at royal banquets.  Dried fish was also eaten by wealthy in inland cities, and fresh and dried fish were eaten by rich and poor living near the sea.  Chicken and pigeon were the principal poultry in Roman times (NT). 

Meat was often cooked in a stew, but also roasted over an open fire (always done for passover lamb).  Meat was preserved by smoking, dryng and salting.

Many meats were forbidden by the Torah, but the meats below were, to my knowledge, available and allowed.   I am not including meats such as pork, that while available, were not allowed to be eaten.

Goat
Lamb (mutton)
Fish (fresh and dried)

• sea bream
• grouper
  
• meager
  
• grey mullet 
• Nile perch (imported dried)
  

Beef/veal (only eaten by wealthy)
Deer (red and fallow deer, wild game)
Gazelle (wild game)
Chicken (domesticated, became common around 2nd century BC)
Pigeon (wild and domesticated, but could only be raised in small numbers)
Geese (domesticated)
Turtledoves (domesticated and available wild April to Oct)
Partridges (wild)
Quail (wild)
Other wild game
Some types of locusts

Dairy
Until the domestication of the chicken (2nd century BC), eggs were considered a delicacy.  

Milk (goat and sheep's milk)
Butter
Cheese (mostly from goat and sheep's milk)
Eggs (from domesticated chicken, pigeon, turtledoves, ducks, geese, and also wild birds such as quail and partridge)

Grains/Flours
Bread was eaten with every meal.   Porridge was made from ground grain, water, salt, and butter, to which oil and fruits was sometimes added.   Click links for more about threshing grain, and bread making.  The cooking methods used produced flat loaves of bread that were broken, not cut.  Matza (unleavened bread) was eaten at Passover.  In Roman times (New Testament era), other cooking methods were introduced that allowed for thicker loaves.  The Mishna (Hallah 2:2) mentions one type of bread made with fruit juice substituted for water (which worked to leaven the bread and added sweetness).   Fennel and cumin were sometimes added to bread for flavoring, and bread was sometimes dipped in oil or vinegar.  Unripe grains were also eaten fresh, or roasted over a fire and eaten. 

Barley (two-row)

Wheat  (various types...see below)
 - Emmer - earliest native wheat domesticated in Canaan, time consuming to de-husk
 - Einkorn - another early cultivated wheat
 - Duram - a descendant of emmer that largely replaced it during the Iron age, as it was easier to remove the husks, though it was more difficult to grind (and had to be sifted to obtain fine flour).  Primarily used for porridge, though also used for bread.
 - Common Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum), became popular for making bread after the Greek conquest (so, in New Testament era)

Carob (can be ground into flour)

Rice (introduced during Persian period sometime after 539 BCE, so was not used before the Isrealites were allowed to return to Jerusalem after exile in Babylon)

Lentil/Bean flour - Ezekiel 4:9 mentions a bread made with barley, lentils and bean (presumably ground into flour).


Fruits
Grapes, dates, and figs were the most commonly used fruits.

Apricots (fresh and dried)
Carob
Dates (from date palm,)
Figs (fresh and dried)
Grapes and Raisins
Mulberry (black mulberry)
Pomegranates
Apple or Quince (possibly...there's some disagreement about this)
Watermelon (sweet, but with yellow-orange flesh)



Vegetables/Legumes
Legumes (peas and beans) were the main source of protein in ancient isreal.  Legumes and other vegetables were usually eaten in stews, which often contained garlic, onion, and leek for flavor.   Legumes were also eaten roasted.

Broad Beans (fava beans)
Carob
Capers
Chickpeas
Chicory (leaf, one of the bitter herbs commonly eaten at Passover)
Cucumber
Dandelion Greens
Endive (one of the bitter herbs commonly eaten at Passover)
Fennugreek
Garden Rocket (leaves)
Garlic
Gourds (unsure of type, eaten raw or flavored with vinegar)
Leeks
Lentils
Lettuce, wild (chazeret)
Lettuce, head-lettuce (introduced by the Romans, available in NT times)
Mallow (Corchorus, young leaves eaten, or made into tea)
Onions
Olives
Peas
Radishes (black radish)
Saltbush/Orach (leaves)
Vetch, bitter


Seeds and Nuts

Carob
Mallow seeds (can be used as a flavoring, but not sure if it was)
Sesame Seeds
Almonds (eaten primarily by the wealthy)
Walnut (very common)
Pistacios (eaten primarily by the wealthy)

Herbs and Spices
Note, there were more herbs and spices used for medicinal purposes, or for perfumes or other uses, but I'm only including spices used for food here.

Anise (used to season meats, breads)
Bay Leaf (seasoned stews and stewed meat)
Chicory (dwarf)
Cinnamon (imported)
Coriander Leaves (flavoring in soups, stewed meat, pudding and wine)
Coriander Seeds (sprinkled on breads, rolls, and fish...possibly crushed first)
Cumin (regular and black, used to season unleavened bread)
Dill
Fennel
Fenugreek
Garlic
Ginger (imported)
Hyssop
Majoram
Mallow seeds (can be used as a flavoring, but not sure if it was)
Mint (grows wild in Palestine)
Mustard (black)
Pepper (imported)
Reichardia
Salt (sea salt from dead sea, and mined salt)
Saffron (imported)
Sesame
Thyme

Oils

Olive Oil
Sesame Oil
Radish seed oil

Sweeteners
Date Syrup (also called date honey)
Carob
Grape Honey (syrup left after grape juice is boiled)
Honey


Other
Vinegar
Wine
Mushrooms (including Boletus edulis )



Sources
Wikipedia:   Ancient Israelite Cuisine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Israelite_cuisine

Cattle in the Ancient World
http://womeninthebible.net/bible_daily_life/cattle_ancient_world/

Food in the Bible
https://womeninthebible.net/bible-extras/food/

History of Cucumbers
http://www.vegetablefacts.net/vegetable-history/history-of-cucumbers/

History of Watermelon
https://ipm.missouri.edu/MEG/2020/7/watermelon-DT/

The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/150821-watermelon-fruit-history-agriculture

Foods of Ancient Athens

Below is some information about foods in ancient Athens (some of it is just general to all of Greece, but I tried to focus on Athens specifically when I could).  Recipes and sources are at the end.

Before I get into the foods themselves, I'd like to talk about the hospitality culture in Ancient Greece.  The idea was called Xenia, and was summarized by these two principals.

1. The respect from hosts to guests. Hosts must be hospitable to guests and provide them with a bath, food, drink, gifts, and safe escort to their next destination. It is considered rude to ask guests questions, or even to ask who they are, before they have finished the meal provided to them. 

2. The respect from guests to hosts. Guests must be courteous to their hosts and not be a threat or burden. Guests are expected to provide stories and news from the outside world. Most importantly, guests are expected to reciprocate if their hosts ever call upon them in their homes.

 (Xenia (Greece), Wikipedia, Accessed Sept 10, 2024...and the source of this passage was cited as...Reece, Steve. 1993. The Stranger's Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.) 

While they had all of the food listed below (save a few of the more modern ingredients in some of the recipes), grapes, olives, and grains are what is know as "The Mediterranean Triad" as it makes the backbone of the diet of Ancient Greece and Rome.  So, you'll want to highlight these foods in the samples and dishes you share when exploring Ancient greek food with kids.

BREAD and GRAINS
Wheat didn't grow well in Greece, but Barley did (the Romans even called the Greeks "Barley Eaters."). But Athens imported wheat from other countries, and became known for its white wheat bread.    Its commercial bakeries ran all night.   The poor still ate millet and emmer bread (and whole grain barley porridge and maza) which was looked down on by the upper class.  Socrates called whole grain bread "pig food."   Spelt was also available in Greece, and in greek myth was a gift from the Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and the harvest.   Many of these grains were also used in various porridges, drinks, and in other recipes.  Like meats below, small samples of breads and grains were often sacrificed to the gods, especially to Demeter and her daughter Persephone.

In the summer, the drought season in Greece, farmers would burry grain in underground granaries and  large vases called pithos, and unearthed in the fall when planting begun.  

(Note, the imported wheat was Triticum aestivum...commonly known as "Bread Wheat" and used all over the world today.)

MEAT
In Athens, you couldn't eat most domesticated meat (cows, pigs, sheep, goats) unless the animal was sacrificed to the gods.     During festivals cows and pigs were sacrificed and the meat was cooked and handed out to the public.   For banquets the wealthy would also sacrifice a large animal.   A piglet was attainable for the middle class (it cost about 3 days wage of a public servant).  

Wild caught foods such as fish, rabbit, wild foul like duck and pheasant and smaller domestic animals like geese, quails, chicken, however didn't have to be sacrificed to the Gods before they were eaten.

Fish was the most common meat.  Tuna, sea bass, grey and red mullet, grouper, and eel were esteemed and expensive.  Carp, catfish and pike were common, and parrotfish was one of the cheaper fish.  Small fish like anchovies were cheep but not as desirable.   Dried fish of various sorts were common. (And it was a meat Christians could eat without worrying whether it had been sacrificed).  They also had shellfish like oysters and scallops and ate things like squid and octopus as well.

Meat was prepared in various ways.   Sausage (usually from pigs)  was common for both rich and poor.  Ground meat such as meatballs were also used.  Larger pieces of meat were often roasted, though whole legs, or hams, were rubbed with salt and smoked by hanging high over a fire.   Meat was also pickled with herbs in wind vinegar.  (Dawson pg 10)







DAIRY
Eggs from geese, chickens and quail
   (cooked soft or hard boiled, and used as ingredients)
Cheeses 
- feta cheese (may have even been mentioned in Homer's Odyssey)
- something like cottage cheese
- yogurt (also used as skincare)
- various other cheeses

Milk was not usually not drunk except as a medicine, but it was made into cheese.  Butter was considered "barbaric."

Even in the cities, most households kept hens, so they would have fresh eggs to eat.  (Dawson pg 19)



VEGETABLES AND LEGUMES
(vegetables were eaten fresh and sometimes dried)

A greek myth tells that Athena and Poseiden, god of the sea, each wanted to make the region of Attica their own, and so they had a competition as to who could provide the best gift.  Athena's gift of the Olive tree was considered the better gift, and she became the city's patron goddess.

Olive oil was not only important to the Greeks for food, but also for fuel in oil lamps, and bathing and skincare.  It was also used for anointing during rituals and special occasions.

Artichokes
Asparagus*
Olives*
Lettuce
Cabbage
Cucumber
Celery
Onions
Leeks
Garden Peas
Lentils (lentil soup was a commoners typical dish)
Black Beans
Broad Beans
Fava Beans
Chickpeas
Lupin Bean

*Hippocrates used this as a diuretic
*Olives were eaten as a fruit only after being conserved in brine or vinegar (and the process of brining took months)

FRUITS
Grapes (and raisens)
Dates
Figs
Pomegranate
Plum
Apples
Pears
Quince
Muskmelon/Cantaloupe (Cucumis melo, introduced in 3rd Century BC)
Watermelon (yellow rind by the 1st century, not yet red until early middle ages)

NUTS/SEEDS
Beechnuts
Chestnuts
Walnuts
Almonds
Sesame
Flax

(Acorns were often consumed by the poor.  WARNING:  Only edible if processed so that tannin is removed)



SPICES
I've noted common uses for spices, and which spices I know were imported (but others listed might be as well).   Imported spices would be more expensive than things that grew in Greece.  Some longer notes are also included below where you see asterics *).

Anise
Cardamom***
Caraway Seed
Cassia (imported)
Celery Seed
Cinnamon (imported)****
Coriander (condiment in food and wine)
Cumin
Dill
Fennel (imported, used in vinegar sauces)
Garlic (widely used)
Ginger (imported)**
Lavender
Marjoram
Mint (flavoring for meat sauces)**
Mustard
Oregano**
Parsley
Pepper, black and white (imported)****
Poppy Seeds (imported, used on breads)
Rue
Saffron
Salt
Thyme**

The works of Hippocrates (459–370 BC) contain 300 medicinal plants classified by physiological action: Wormwood and common centaury (Centaurium umbellatum Gilib) were applied against fever; garlic against intestine parasites; opium, henbane, deadly nightshade, and mandrake were used as narcotics; fragrant hellebore and haselwort as emetics; sea onion, celery, parsley, asparagus, and garlic as diuretics; oak and pomegranate as adstringents.[10,11]
****Ancient Greeks wore crowns of parsley and marjoram to prevent drunkenness while feasting.


*Many herbs, including those used for cooking, were also considered to have medicinal uses.   

Garlic - intestinal parasites, diuretic (Hippocrates)
Celery - diuretic (Hippocrates)
Marjorum -  crowns of parsley and marjoram were warn at feasts to prevent drunkenness
Parsley - diuretic (Hippocrates), crowns of parsley and marjoram were warn at feasts to prevent drunkenness




**Residue of DNA of these were discovered in amphora in sunken ancient Greek trading ships.   I don't know if the items were being imported or exported.  But still, if they were being traded they probably would have been available in Athens, a major trade destination.


***The ancient Romans and Greeks used Cardamon in their perfumes.


****Peppercorn and cinnamon was imported from India.   Pepper was common enough that ordinary people could use it, at least in small quantities (though Pliny complained about the price, and noted that white pepper cost twice as much as black). 







DRINKS
Wine & Grape Juice
Water (usually with a little wine mixed in, to kill germs)
Barley Tea


OILS/SAUCES/OTHER
Vinegar
Olive Oil
Honey (also used in skincare)




RECIPES

Chrysocolla (Flaxseed candy)

Honey Fritters

Pasteli (Sesame Honey Candy)

Honey Cheesecake
This has a lot of extra info about Ancient Greek deserts as well.

Petimizi/grape molasses
You can also sometimes find this in Greek or mediteranian markets.  Several recipes below use this this.  Moustokoulora, Mustalervria, and the Grilled Quail.  You could also try it on the Tagenites (greek pancakes).

Moustokouloura (Grape molasses cookies)
This recipe is time consuming but supposedly easy to make (less time consuming if you have a really good Greek market where you can buy the petimizi/grape molasses in stead of making it yourself).    The recipe uses alcohol but it bakes out (and I've read you can use grape juice in stead).   It does use one spice they definitely wouldn't have used (Allspice), but I've found other versions of this recipe without it, so you could omit that for a more authentic ancient Greek version.   Cloves (which which were in every Moustokouloura recipe I found)   reached the Roman world by the 1st Century AD, so they could have been a new delicacy.   Find more history of these here.

Grape Must Pudding - Mustalevria

Tagenites/Attanitai  (Pancakes With Honey)
Usually a breakfast food, just like today.   Site has history.

3 Easy Ancient Greek Recipes - Pancakes, Lentil Soup, and Nut Cake
 
Maza (Barley Bread Balls)
Served with olives, cheese, and eggs.
(Dawson pg 6)

Ptisane /Kykeon (Barley Tea with Mint) - Two different blogs have similar recipes, under two different names.  

Koulouria/Kollyra (Bagel Shaped Bread Rolls With Sesame)
A bread that was around since ancient times, but is still popular in modern day Greece.  The traditional greek Easter bread known as cuddura is believed to be etymologically linked to kollyra.

Greek Mushroom Bread 
It's named after shape...and contains no mushrooms.

Greek Style Country Bread 

Ancient Greek Trieme (Ship) Shaped Bread (CONTENT WARNING)
The article this recipe is in talks about some innuendo related to how the Greeks wrote about this particular loaf of bread.  But while I don't suggest having your kids read along with you on this, I highly doubt that kids will see anything in the bread itself except a Grecian ship, especially if you show it with a picture or model of one.  So, I wanted to share this in spite of the content warning.  You can always skip down to the end for the recipe, and skip the description of the dicey history.

Spelt Honey Cakes and Tuna Steak 
This one talks about these cakes as sacrifices. 

Barley Porridge
Barley porridge was a common meal in greece.  This recipe mentions vikings, not the Greeks, but porridge was pretty similar wherever it was made.    For a more authentic Greek porridge, use honey, not sugar.


Ancient Greek Lentil Soup
Another site (here) has the same recipe, but contains more historical background


9 Greek and Roman Recipes
Greek recipes included:

• Athenian Cabbage
• Garlic Cheese
• Olive Relish
• Honey Glazed Prawns
  

Skewered Meat
- Meat was often cooked on skewers, over a fire, like shish kabobs.  Might be glazed with Petimizi/grape molasses or served with Garum.

Grilled Quail (or chicken) Glazed with Grape Syrup (Petimizi)
Could be used on chicken but cooking times might need to be changed.  I don't know for certain this was an ancient recipe, but I do know that it includes ancient ingredients including Petimizi/grape molasses (which can sometimes be found in Greek markets).

Ancient Greek Fish Recipe
Scroll to the bottom for the recipe.

Home-made Garum (Roman Fish Sauce)
While it was a "roman sauce" it was actually derived from an earlier Greek sauce, and was popular in Greece more than Rome.  Garum was "used as condiments for literally everything: from meat and fish to vegetables, salads, desserts, bread, and wine dipping."    This is a modern version that feasible to make at home...if you're brave enough to try it. 

Cheesy Mackerel with Roasted Barley Flour Dough

SOURCES
I've cited books in the text as I wanted to share page numbers and this was info added later.   I am sorry I didn't directly cite the online sources in the text above. I can't remember now which info came from which source below, unfortunately.  In addition to this list there are some other sources linked directly in the text above.

Food In Ancient Greece
What Did the Ancient Greeks Eat
Ancient Meals and Eating Habits Part I: Greeks
Ancient Greek Food
Ancient Greek Cuisine (Wikipedia)
The History of Greek Bread 
History of Mushrooms
Lemon Trees in Greece
Chickens and Religion
Spices the Flavored Greek Cooking
Foods and Feasts in Ancient Greece by Imogen Dawson, Published 1995, Zoe Books, England (affiliate link to amazon)
History of Spices:  McCormic Spice Institute
Historical Review of Medicinal Plant Usage
Muskmellons Originated in Persia
The History of Cucumbers
The History of Artichokes
The History of the Watermelon
History of Cucumbers
Tavola Mediterranea - Last checked posts for greek recipes Sept 2024
Silk Road Gourmet - Last checked posts for greek recipes Sept 2024

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Shared on Little's Learning Link-up

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History Round-Up

Some of the most interesting (sometimes for the text, sometimes for the photos) history articles related to the Bible I've stumbled on since the last History Round-Up.  Enjoy!

Old Testament

Is the Syrian Today the Assyria of the Bible?

Ein Gedi - A Testimony of God's Grace and Provision

Cash of 3,000 Year Old Canaanite Gold Found

Did the Old Testament Offer Only One Way to God? 

50 People in the Bible Confirmed by Archeaology


New Testament

Under a Jail - Possibly Herod's Palace

Unsealing of Christ's Reputed Tomb Turns Up New Revelations 

New Digs to Take Place at Masada (and pics of old finds)
 

Nazareth in Jesus' Day

Where was Nazareth? Among Bible scholars and archaeologists there is much disagreement on that point. I chose one of the traditional locations, a small area in the middle of modern Nazareth, to focus on when I decided to research what daily life would have been like there. While we don’t know for sure that that particular spot is the same place where Jesus spent his childhood, it is representative of what we know about Nazareth from the Biblical accounts, and much like other small towns in the hills of Galilee.

During the time of Jesus, there’s evidence that this location was a Jewish community with less than 400 people living there. Archaeologists found a stone quarry there, terraced farmland, a wine press, and watch-towers like the ones which Jesus describes in the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers in Matthew 21 and Mark 12. They also found a house with a cistern and stone and chalk vessels that Jews typically used at that period to preserve purity of food. But what wasn’t found there was just as telling. No glass, mosaics, frescoes, paved roads, or imported materials were found in this town from the 1st century, suggesting that this was a simple, rural village at that time. (This is typical of many small towns in Galilee at this time.)

Would you like to learn more about what life was like in Nazareth?  I've written a series which covers various aspects of life in this small town in Galilee, and also collected some historical crafts and activities you can use with your church group, for homeschool, or just do with your family for fun.  Click the links below to read on...

A House In Nazareth

A Meal in Galilee

The Synagogue at Nazareth

Joseph, The Carpenter

Nazareth Pictures

CRAFT IDEAS:  Making Thread, Weaving, and Dying

ACTIVITY:  A Galilean Garden

Nazareth VBS Resources

Biblical History Resources


This series was originally housed on Squidoo, but when they merged with HubPages I decided to move it here because their link policy didn't allow enough links to properly credit my sources.  I've tried to site my sources throughout, on each post, but I want to give a special thanks to See the Holy Land, a company which organizes tours of various Holy Land Sites, for the use of many of the photos in this series (and for the wonderful Biblical timeline shared there, which I wish I had discovered earlier in my research), and to James Emery and Ian W. Scott who made their photos available through Creative Commons on Flickr. And I want to thank all the people who offered help on the Group Forums, and for all the people who answered my questions on Yahoo Groups and Squidoo (which now is a part of HubPages).

SOURCES
The Nazareth Village Website
Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus by Jonathan L. Reed.
Bible Places.org Blog: First-Century House Excavated in Nazareth


SHARED ON
Dear Homeschoolers Bookshelf
Encouraging Hearts and Home 
Throwback Thursday

A House In Nazareth

A house in Nazareth might have been one roomed or have several small rooms opening into a central courtyard. Stairs on the outside of the house led up to the roof, which was used as an outdoor room partly shaded by matting or something like a tent.

Larger Image Here

Inside, small windows (sometimes covered by lattice or shutters) made for dark rooms. Niches and wooden shelves were used for storage. Most houses had a cistern for water. There would be a wide bench made of mud brick or stone at one end with pillows and mats to sleep on or sit on. People also sat on the floor or on cushions. You might have a table, couch, or bed if you were more well off (but generally only the wealthy had this).

Things you might find in a house in Nazareth:
Woven Blankets
Woven mats
Cushions/pillows (often decorated with embroidery)
Rough mortar and pestle (usually in courtyard)
Jars for oil, olives, water.
Cooking utensils.
Pottery for eating on
Oil lamps
Wineskins
A loom
Baskets
Food like garlic, onions, dried beans, grain, squash, figs, watermelon, grapes
Herbs (possibly hung up to dry) like coriander, dill, chicory, hyssop, marjoram, mint, thyme.
Jewelry (beaded glass, gold, silver or bronze, hoop earrings )

SOURCES
Bible Lands and Cities
Follow the Rabbi: A Galilee Home
Women in the Bible: Clothes, Jewelery, Houses
Houses in Bible Times
Wikipedia: Ancient Isrealite Cuisine

Picture of Nazareth Villiage shelf provided by See the Holy Land.

Printable Version of This Post
Printable Galilee Version of This Post  - This is identical to the Nazareth version except that it also has info about houses of the wealthy, and refers to Galilee in stead of Nazareth.

If you are recreating a 1st century home, you might find this tutorial on making faux rock walls useful.

A Meal In Galilee

According to Bible Lands and Cities, a typical meal in Galilee would consist of lentil soup and flatbread (usually barley bread). With this they might have had fresh fruits in season (grapes, melon, cantaloupe, figs, apricots, pomegranates, and olives) or dried fruit (dried apricots, figs, and pomegranates). They also might have cheese made from goats milk, and curdled milk (similar to yogurt) sweetened with honey. Meat was rarely eaten except on special occasions. The most common meat was probably dried fish. Other meats eaten included goat, lamb, chicken, geese, duck, pigeon, and quail. Beef was only eaten by the elite.

Here are some recipes you can use when recreating a Galilean meal:


Lentil Soup with Flatbread
(You will need to multiply this for a large group)

7 ounces red lentils

15g (1 tablespoon) rice

1 flat bread

1 tbsp cumin

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, sliced

Salt

Rinse the lentils and rice and put them in a saucepan. Cover lentils with water. Add salt and cumin. Bring to a boil and cook 1 hour.

Fry or grill the sliced onions until blackened. Scatter the onions on the soup and serve immediately.

Flatbread can be used with the soup in two ways:
1. Serve with soup for dipping, either toaster or untoasted.
2. Cut into bite sized pieces and toast, then sprinkle on soup right before serving.

From a recipe found at www.gods-cookbook.com, a website which no longer exists.   But I believe the recipe was a sample from the book God's Cook Book: Tracing the Culinary Traditions of the Levant*.

*(The link is an amazon link through which I can earn commission, which is donated to a charity of my choice.)

Rice was first introduced in Isreal by the Persions, and by the Roman period was a common food and major export.  

Barley Flatbread
This recipe makes 8 loaves. If participants are helping you make this bread, you can also get some barley seed or wheat kernels and have them grind it into flour between two rocks (or a flat rock and a stone rolling pin, which was somewhat like women in Galilee did). I suggest having them grind a small amount and add that to pre-ground store bought barley and wheat flour, since grinding enough to make an entire loaf could be time consuming.

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup fat free plain yogurt at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup barley flour
1 cup wholewheat flour (or other whole grain)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Stir the yogurt until it is smooth, then stir in baking soda. The yogurt will froth. Combine salt, barly flour, and wholewheat flour (or alternative) in a large mixing bowl. Stir in yogurt yeast/water mixture. Knead for 10 minutes by hand.

Cover the bowl with saran wrap or wet towel and let rise for 1 to 1.5 hours in a warm place. It should doubled in size. Remove the dough from bowl and kneed on a breadboard. Divide into into 8 small balls. Flatten each ball into a 6″ circle. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes.

Have cloth ready for pressing the dough and wrapping the finsihed loaves (something you won’t mind getting oil on). Coat a frypan with oil or cooking spray (olive oil would have been used in Galilee, but other oils work just as well). Place dough in the pan (how ever many will fit without touching…and a little room between). Press each circle of dough with the folded cloth to squeeze out air bubbles and prevent air pockets from forming. Cook 1.5 minutes, flip, and cook another minute more. When the bread is cooked the edges of the bread will look moist. Remove from pan and wrap in cloth to keep warm.

From a recipe found here. (Recipe modified to add 1st century details).

PRINTABLE: This coloring page from Bible Printables features women making flatbread.

In rural villages like Nazareth, women would often wake up 3 hours before dawn to grind grain.

Historical source for Rice Fact: Wikipedia:  ancient Israelite Cuisine.  Other sources sited in text.

The Synagogue at Nazareth

Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him.
- Matthew 13:54-58 (NIV)

Three of the Gospels mentions Jesus preaching in the Synagogue in Nazareth (Matthew 13:54-58; Mark 6:1-6; Luke 4:16-30). Though Nazareth was a small town, it is not surprising that it would have a Synagogue, as it only took 10 Jewish men to start one, and the population of Nazareth was most likely primarily (if not completely) Jewish. This, however, did not necessarily mean that Nazareth had a synagogue ‘building.” According to Biblical scholar Jonathan L. Reed, the term synagogue “refers primarily to a gathering and only secondarily to a structure in the earlier periods of Palestine.” (Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-Examination of the Evidence” By Jonathan L. Reed, Pg 154-155) But if there was a synagogue building in Nazareth at the time of Jesus, what would it have been like?

Inside a First Century Synagogue
Most synagogues of the first century shared the following common features:

• Benches lining the walls.


• An open central space.


• Rows of columns on each side of the central space.

The walls in many synagogues were decorated with carvings or frescoes. Most synagogues contained a chest to hold scrolls of God’s word, and in the center or at one end of the communal meeting room there was something like a podium, where the scriptures would be read.

A Sabbath Service
A Sabbath service could start once there were ten people present. The service may have opened with a communal prayer, then the people gathered would stand as the scriptures were read. Passages from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms would be read in Hebrew first, often followed by a translation into Aramaic (the language most people spoke then). Following this the reader or another Jewish male would offer a commentary on what was read. Others were then free to offer their opinions. A communal prayer may have closed the meeting.

Women attended synagogue, and unlike in the temple, they were not always segregated from the men (though sometimes men and women did sit separately). Pious Gentile “God-fearers” who had not fully converted to Judaism could also attend the Synagogue.

Synagogue School
Synagogues also served as schools. As early as 75 BC education for boys in Israel began to be considered compulsary. Children were taught reading and basic arithmetic, and once a child could read they were given parchment rolls with passages of the Scriptures to memorize. The primary passages they learned were:

• The Shema (Deut 6:4-6)


• The Hallel (Ps 113-118)


• The Story of Creation (Gen 1-5)


• The Essence of Levitical Law (Lev 1-8)

Students were also asked to seek out and memorize a personal text…one that began with the first letter of his name and ended with the last letter of his name.

To teach was a high honor, and the moral character of a teacher was considered more important than his academic qualifications. A teacher had to be an even-tempered married male who had another way to support himself, since he must teach for free.

A Community Meeting Place
Synagogues also served as a court of law and community center where festivals and political assemblies would be held.

SOURCES
Donald D. Binder, “Second Temple Synagogue FAQs”
The Synagogue
Education in Ancient Isreal
Nazareth Village Synagogue
Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-Examination of the Evidence” By Jonathan L. Reed, Pg 154-155
Jesus Went to Synagogue
Jerusalem Synagogue

Joseph, the Carpenter

The greek word translated “carpenter” used to describe Joseph in our Bible was a very broad term that could also be translated “building-tradesman.” It could describe someone who worked with wood, stone, plaster, or tin and could even be used to describe an unskilled building worker.

One common job a carpenter did was to make planks of wood for a roof. The carpenter had to first cut down trees for timber with an axe or primitive saw, then either saw down the length of the wood or shape the wood into suitable beams with a hand adze (an axe-like tool used primarily for shaping wood). (You can see some pictures of first century carpentry tools here. )

Carpenters also made smaller items for the home like doors, window lattices, stools, low tables, and chests. In Nazareth Joseph most likely supplied farmers with agricultural tools like yokes, ploughs, and shovels. But it’s unlikely he would have found enough work in Nazareth alone, and probably often traveled to nearby towns to work on building projects or sell his craftwork.


PRINTABLE: : This coloring page by Bible Printables features various trees that grew in Isreal. These are examples of the trees Joseph may have used for wood for his carpentry.
PRINTABLE: : A coloring page of an Olive Tree, another tree that Joseph might have used wood from.

SOURCES
The Biblical Wood Shop
Isreal Pages: Sepphoris and Nazareth
Photo by Andrew Dowsett

Nazareth Pictures

Nazareth Villiage is a recreation of Nazareth as it was 2,000 years ago, located just 500 yards from where some believe the town of Nazareth was at the time of Jesus. Thank you to James Emery and Ian Scott for the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

And here's a video tour of Nazareth Village...

CRAFT IDEA: Making Thread, Dyeing, and Weaving

This is part of my series on 1st Century Nazareth.
This page contains some affiliate links through which I can earn commission. 

The picture to the right shows a woman spinning thread like a woman in 1st Century Isreal might have done. They would start by making yarn using a drop spindle, then might dye the yarn, and then weave it on a loom. All of these activities make great crafts, though some of them are not as easy for young children.

MAKING THREAD ON A DROP SPINDLE
I have not tried this out but it looks as if this is a craft which could be done with older children and teens, but might be too hard for younger children. A drop spindle can be made from a dowel and a door pull, wooden car wheel, or even a an old CD. There is a good video showing how to use a drop spindle here, and you can find some detailed written instructions here (though it looks like two different types of spindles were used, one with a weight at the bottom and another with a weight at the top). Making enough string for even the coaster sized weaving project below would probably be too time consuming for a typical VBS marketplace session or Sunday School class, but it looks like making enough for three strands for a braided bracelet might be possible.

DYEING
While it’s possible to dye with the same natural materials used in the first century, most methods require boiling and some considerable time.  So, if you want to dye wool or cloth with large groups of children children commercial dyes may be preferable (though you can use grape juice or kool-aid).   Solar dying is an another option that doesn't involve boiling water but can take a week or more of the jars sitting in the sun (though kids can take their jar home to leave in the sun...you just need a lot of jars).   

 

Click on the links below to find out how to make various dyes which might have been used in first century Galilee:

Overview of Dying With List of Natural Materials You Can Use
(not all materials listed were available in 1st Century Isreal...however, the main mordant used with these, alum, was availible since ancient times). 

Plants Used in Dying (Includes historial info on some plants)
(Page sometimes refers you to Medical Uses of Plants and other sections of its site, which can be found from its main page here.)

Chicory and Walnut Dye
(Also has a Goldenrod Dye, which is Native to the Americas and wasn’t in Isreal at that time.  But chicory and walnut were both available in Isreal).

Dandelion Root Dye

Grape Juice Dye

Other Fruit Dyes

Marigold/ Calendula Dye

Onion Skin Dye

Pomegranate Dye

Picture of weaver from Nazareth Villiage provided by See the Holy Land.

WEAVING
Making coaster sized rugs or woven bracelets with cardboard looms is a craft children can do, and which many adults would enjoy as well. You can find a tutorial here or check out the video below.  You can make the looms yourself from scrap pieces of cardboard, though if you are doing these with a large group it might be worth it to buy them (you can find a variety of sizes for sale here and some wide-notched varieties that work well for kids here). To make it easy for children to weave, you can glue popsicle sticks to the end of pre-cut pieces of yarn for them to use as a “needle” to pull the thread over and under the strings, or you can purchase plastic needles. Unfinished projects can be taken home, but make sure to first demonstrate what to do when finished (and possibly send home printed instructions). Another option is a straw loom which is sometimes easier for little hands.

The picture above is the weaving craft we did for VBS (in process of course...it often took kids more than the 20-30 minutes we had to finish this one, though some older kids did).  We purchased notched cardboard looms from Dick Blick.  As you can see, the kids pulled these a little tight (in one case EXTREMELY tight), so that's something to talk to kids about before you do this, and watch for so their weaving is of uniform size.  We stuck balls of yarn the children had chosen to use next in the loom to save it for later.  It can be helpful to pre-cut several small balls of yarn so kids can just grab them and go.

HOW TO WEAVE ON A CARDBOARD LOOM



This video covers all the basics. I will note that I've never done the step they show where you weave the loose ends on the side back through...usually I just cut those off, and sometimes I even end those in the middle of the row, and I've never had a problem with it. If I were to do that technique, I think I would try to end some of my rows on the other side so that both sides had a little extra thickness, not just the one side. But with kids, I think just having them cut it off is simpler. 

HANGING LOOM (Group Project)

At our VBS we had a large hanging loom which kids could try out.   It consisted of two poles of equal length, attached by thick twine (needs to be thick to hold the weight of both sticks and the finished project.)...the whole thing was hung on the tent.  I wasn't the one who constructed it, and I wish I had paid a little more attention.  While obviously it is tied at both ends, I remember she looped the twin over both sides first before tying and I think this was to make sure the length of the twine was even when tied.   

We used mostly strips of old t-shirts  to weave with, and a few plastic bags too (though I think for authenticity I might have left those out if doing this again, though they do make an interesting texture.). 

Here's how the loom looked in our "marketplace shop."  

Activity: A Galilean Garden

(NOTE:  This was originally an activitiy primarily for Nazareth VBS, but to my knowledge these grow throughout Galilee, or at least in the mountains of Galilee, so I changed it to Galilee for wider use).

"Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?"

Matthew 6: 29b - 30a

 

Planting something which grew in Galilee can be a fun activity to connect kids with Bible stories, especially since Jesus mentioned the plants that grew and were cultivated there so often in his parables and teachings.  There are common garden plants you can find at most garden shops which are similar to varieties that grew wild in the Galilean hills (or which were cultivated in 1st century gardens).  I’ve listed some below which have short germination times (which is important when planting with children, who can loose interest if a plant takes too long to sprout).  The varieties which grew wild in Galilee then were, in many cases, a little different then the modern varieties grown in the US...but it's still a fun connection to make.

 

FLOWERS
Alyssum, (germinates 4-8 days) – type in Isreal is yellow
Aster (germinates 7 – 14 days)
Calendula/Pot Marigold (germinates 5-7 days) .
Pink Dianthus (germinates 5-7 days)
Morning Glory (germinates 7 – 14 days)
- NOTE: the seeds of morning glory are poisonous if eaten in large quantities.
Portulaca (one site said 6-10 day, another said 14 – 21 days)
Scabiosa/Pincusion Flower/Bachelor Button – (germinates 8 – 12 Days)
Snapdragons (germinates 7 – 12 days)
Viola (germinates 7 – 14 days)


FUN FACT: Calendula flower was used for medicine, and a dye can be made using it’s petals. The type which grows in Isreal looks more like a daisy and less like a mum (I’ve seen something similar sold in garden centers in the US).


VEGETABLES and HERBS
Cucumber (germinate 4-6 days)
Squash (germinates 4-6 days)
Canteloupe/Muskmellon (germinates 4-6 days)
Garlic (plant cloves)
Dill (germinates 5 days)

Since none of these vegetables grow well on a windowsill (except possibly garlic or dill, though dill grows tall), you may want to check here to see when is the best time to plant in your area. Cantaloupe may be an issue with parents, since they take up a lot of garden space.



READ MORE:

FARMING TOOLS PRINTABLE: You can share this free coloring page from Bible Printables featuring farming tools from Bible times to teach children even more about farming.

THRESHER PRINTABLE. This coloring pages features a thresher used to thresh wheat in ancient times.

Biblical History Resources

Bible Lands

This is a wonderful source for learning about daily life in various ancient cities.

The Nazareth Village Website

Nazareth Villiage has been a great resource both for photographic inspiration and for the informative articles on their site.

Historical Timeline

This timeline is great for putting the events of the New Testament in context.

Biblediagrams.com - Bible Timelines

This site has very good color coded visual timelines of the 4 Gospels as well as a 2000 year timeline that puts the Gospels in context.

Gospel Harmony - 4 Gospel Timeline

This site attempts to put the individual stories in the four Gospels in chronological order. Though I'm not sure if I agree entirely with their ordering (for instance, they split Jesus' trip to Nazareth where he was rejected into two separate visits, where it seems to me like these were describing a single event) I found this a valuable resource.

Life of Jesus - First Century Context of Palestine (Israel)

An overview of political and daily life in first century Palestine.

Bible Resources - Local Governments

I found this a clear, concise description of the structure of government under the Romans in Jesus' time.

Bible Archetecture

I found the "housing" section of this site extremely helpful.

All Things In the Bible

You can preview a lot of the pages of this book online, including pages showing agricultural and carpentry tools.

Sabbath Meals - Ancient History

I found this answer to a question about the type of meal Jesus would have eaten extremely helpful. He not only laid out wonderfully the first century diet and eating habits, but related it to it's practical application in a 5th grade classroom.

Primitive Skills and Wilderness Crafts

Though this lens doesn't have anything specifically to do with 1st Century Palestine, some of the skills it describes (rope making, fire starting) were things that were part of daily life in all ancient cultures).

Inside First Century Home | That the World May Know

Summary of what it was like in a first century Jewish home.

Luv Shmuli

This fictional diary of a first century Galilean boy is a fun way to learn about daily life in this time period.

Ancient Jewish Coins

A reference listing of coins used by the Jewish people in ancient times - Calgary Coin.

Map of 1st Century Judea and Galilee

A good reference.

Bible Printables - Bible Life and Times Coloring Pages - Biblical Headdress - 6

This site contains not only coloring pages depicting Biblical stories, but many pages that help kids learn about daily life in Biblical times.

Cooking With the Bible

A good source of Biblical recipes.

Roman Social Structure in the 1st Century

Roman Families
You can't talk about social structure in Rome without talking about the Roman family.  Legally, in Rome, people were not treated as individuals, but as family groups.  The paterfamilias (the oldest male member of the family--father or grandfather), controlled all the assets of all of the family, even of grown sons and grandsons (male heirs).   He could choose whether each child born in the family was kept or abandoned to die.  He was held responsible if one of the members of his family committed a crime. When the paterfamilias died, men who lived in their own households at the time of the pater's death became the paterfamilias of those households.

Women had a choice when they married to remain financially under their “pater” or transfer control to their husband.  Most choose the former, since it gave them some financial freedom from their spouse, and a chance of a future inheritance of their own.  Even so, Roman law required that a women have a male guardian of some sort until she had born three children (four for freedwomen).  During the  empire women could replace their guardians at will.

Social Class in Rome
Roman social class was written into Roman Law, and affected all areas of life.  Your social class defined everything from who you could marry,  where you sat at a theater, and what quality of food and wine you might be served at a dinner party.

Senatorial Class
Though the 900 members of the senate were the most powerful class under the Emperor.  Membership in the Senate was generally limited to those those with a pedigree of distinguished ancestors and considerable wealth (one million sesterces to be exact).  Senators were prohibited from engaging personally in non-agricultural business, trade or public contracts.  They wore a white toga with a dark purple trim.

Equestrian Class
Those who could claim two generations of free birth and possessed 400,000 sesterces could become an Equestrian (and Equestrians who fell short of that amount of wealth lost the status).  Unlike senators, Equestrians were allowed "unlimited participation in commerce, trading, and governmental contracts," though they often choose to rest on their wealth and land-holdings and not engage in business.

Common Citizens (Plebeians)
The common citizen class included both those who were quite well off to the poorest of the poor. Citizens were allowed to wear the white toga.

Freedmen
Some freed slaves received rights similar to those of citizens, while others were treated legally more like foreigners, depending the manner in which they were free.  There were ways for some slaves to receive full rights as citizens (such as serving 6 years at a Vigeles, or Roman Firefighter).  Freed slaves still had some obligations to their former masters.    Children born after they had been freed became full citizens.

Slaves
Between 25 to 40 percent of the Roman population were slaves, whose work ranged from hard labor, menial work,, work as skilled tradesman, and even managers and teachers.    Not all slave masters were servants of the upper class--many were employed by merchants in their businesses.  Private slaves had no rights, and their masters could subject them to whatever abuse they wanted (though treating your slaves cruelly was frowned on, so there was some social ramifications to abusing a slave even if there were no legal ones).  Slaves were also employed by the government both for public building projects and administrative work.  Some higher level government positions for educated slaves even included a salary, and some legal rights that private slaves didn’t have.

Foreigners
All other freeborn people who lived in Rome.  They had less rights and privileges than Roman Citizens.

Part of this post is available in pdf form.


My Sources for the Roman Families
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pater_familias
http://when-in-rome.tumblr.com/

My Sources for the Roman Class System
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/socialclass.html
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=46&chapid=250
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/social_structure_01.shtml

And For Slavery Speicifically
http://vroma.org/~plautus/slaverysheridan.html
https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~wstevens/history331texts/slavery.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_battles

Pictures from Vroma.org