The oven was heated on the interior using dung for fuel flat breads were baked against the interior side walls. Archaeologists have excavated ancient ovens which were usually made by encircling clay coils or from re-used pottery jars. It was a very laborious process and had the disadvantage of producing basalt grit which got into the bread and gradually wore down the teeth.īread was baked in small domed clay ovens, or tabun. The grain was ground on the course surface to break down the soft center of the kernel into flour. The quern was made of basalt, a course volcanic stone, which was preferred for the process because of its rough surface and relatively light weight. The grinding of grain was done by hand, using a quern: this consisted of a fixed lower stone, called a metate, and a moveable upper stone or mano. An individual typically consumed 50 - 70 % of calories from these cereals - mostly eaten in the form of bread. People in Canaan and Ancient Israel consumed between 330 - 440 lbs. Since it was prepared almost every day, bread-making was one of the main activities of a household.
In the Bronze and Iron Age, bread was the staple food. Numerous finds from along the Mediterranean coast of Israel and in the highlands of Jordan make it clear, however, that this house type also was used in Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia. This style of house is extremely common throughout the Iron Age, especially in the territory of Israel and Judah. The walls of the houses were built of roughly-hewn blocks of stone and the roof (5) consisted of wooden beams covered with layers of branches and smoothed down clay. The second floor may have been reached by a flight of stairs or wooden ladders. Space for sleeping and entertaining guests probably was located on the second floor (4).
The long broad room at the back of the house (3) was used for long-term storage. This space was used for stabling animals and for the storage of agricultural produce. A row of pillars divided this room from a cobblestone paved area (2) to the side of the house. In larger houses, this area may have been a courtyard surrounded by rooms and open to the sky above. PhotoĪ doorway entered into a white-plastered area (1), which served as a space for food processing and other household tasks. The house is divided into three parts, each with a distinct function.Įxcavations at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan. The full-scale model presented in the gallery is based on a "three-room" variant from the Museum's excavations at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh in Jordan. One typical type of dwelling in the Iron Age was the "four-room" house. Although extended families might have occupied more than one house, high mortality rates probably kept most families from achieving the biblical ideal. Excavated houses from the Bronze and Iron Age are small and suggest an average family size of four to eight people. The extended family or beit 'av (father's house) consisted of three generations (father, married sons, grandchildren) living together. According to the Bible, the ideal family in Ancient Israel was large and patriarchal. Paragraph numbers apply to this excerpt, not the original source.Įducation, work and leisure were concentrated in and around the home. The Iron Age was from about 1200BC to 590BC. The Bronze Age in the Middle East (referred to below) was from about 3300BC to 1200BC. Excerpted and reformated from the OriginalĮlectronic Text at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.