Food

She gets up while it is still night and provides food for her household.

Proverbs 31:15

Woman demonstrating the use of an ancient saddle quern at Tell en-Naßbeh, ca. 1930 C.E. (Courtesy of the Badè Museum, Pacific School of Religion)

Bread was eaten with every meal, and making bread was a daily task. Women of the house would scoop up some of the family's store of wheat or barley to make flour for bread. A scoop is sitting in the basket of grain by the millstones. The grain was ground on a saddle quern consisting of a large lower stone (the saddle) and a smaller upper stone (the rider). The flour was then mixed with water and kneaded. Thin, flat circles of dough were slapped onto the hot interior wall of the bread oven in the courtyard. When done, the bread came loose from the wall and fell into the ashes below.

The main meal was eaten in the evening. In the hearth on the ground floor a stew of lentils or other vegetables seasoned with herbs like cumin, black cumin or coriander has been prepared in a blackened cooking pot. It will be served on the upper floor, along with bread, goat cheese, olives and green onions. Fruits include fresh figs and melon, as well as dried pomegranates and dates. Wine, water and curdled milk, similar to liquid yogurt, accompany the meal. Meat, typically mutton, was eaten only on special occasions.

Reconstruction of typical meal. (Israelite House, 2nd floor, Semitic Museum: Houses of Ancient Israel Exhibit)

Small bowls are used for both eating and drinking. Juglets contain condiments like olive oil, vinegar and honey. Wide-mouthed pitchers hold water and milk, while decanters with narrow, ridged necks contain wine. A spouted decanter has a built-in strainer to remove dregs from the wine as it is poured. In the ground-floor hearth soot-smudged cups hold a heated beverage, perhaps spiced wine.