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Daily Life in Biblical Times
Oded Borowski
ISBN
9781589830424
Volume
ABS 5
Status
Available
Price
$24.00
Publication Date
August 2003
Paperback

$24.00

While the history of Israel during the period from ca. 1200 to 586 B.C.E. has been in the forefront of biblical research, little attention has been given to questions of daily life. Where did the Israelites live? What did people do for a living? What did they eat and what affected their health? How did the family function? These and similar questions form the basis for this book. The book introduces different aspects of daily life. It describes the natural setting and the people who occupied the land. It deals with the economy, both rural and urban, emphasizing the main sources of livelihood such as agriculture, herding, and trade. These topics are discussed in relation to the family in particular and the social structure in general. Other topics include urban society, the bureaucracy and the military. Beyond material culture, the book delves into daily and seasonal cultural, social and religious activities, art, music, and the place of writing in Israelite society. Drawing on textual and archaeological evidence, and written with nontechnical language, the book will be especially helpful for undergraduates, seminarians, pastors, rabbis, and other interested nonspecialist readers as well as graduate students and faculty in Hebrew Bible.

Oded Borowski is Associate Professor of Biblical Archaeology and Hebrew at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and co-director of the Lahav Research Project, Phase III. He is also the author of Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (Eisenbrauns) and Every Living Thing: Daily Use of Animals in Ancient Israel (AltaMira).