Livestock

Where there are no oxen there is no grain. Wealth comes by the strength of the ox.

Proverbs 14:4

Palestinian woman using a goatskin churn, ca. 1900 C.E. (Courtesy of the Israel Trust of the Anglican Church, Jerusalem)

Sheep, raised primarily for their wool, were the most important animal in the rural economy. Goats, frequently herded with sheep, provided hair and milk, though they, as well as sheep, were sometimes killed for food. Goatskins were commonly used as containers for water, milk and wine. A goatskin churn for curdling milk is set up on the ground floor of the house.

Then, as now, cows were a source of milk, while oxen were the main draft animals. They were too valuable to be slaughtered. However, young bulls were sacrificed daily in the Jerusalem Temple, and veal from fatted calves was an expensive delicacy.

Donkeys and mules were widely employed as beasts of burden, but kings and princes also rode them in preference to horses. The primary use for horses was to pull chariots in battle.