Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

MEYERS:WHERETIlEGIRL'iARE 39

aspeclSofwomen'srolesinhouseholdlife:one\viththehouseholdecon-

omy,theotherwithhouseholdreligion.Iamnotcertainhowaccessible

thesestudiesaretoundergraduates.^16 Perhapspansofthemcould be

re-del,andLht=im;tructorl-vuklexplaintherQ!.Inanyl-""3se,Iwillsumma-

rizethesetwostudiessothatIcandemonstratetheuseofarchaeologyfor

recoveringallthoseinvisiblewomenofancientIsraelandforunderstand-

ingsomethingabouttheirlives.

CASESnrDYI:WO.\IENANDFOODPNEPARAll0N

Arecentissueofmycollegealumnaeassociationfeaturedseveralarti-
clesonfoodandfood-ways. Oneofthemiscalled"FoodMatters."The
author, a prominent food journalist, assertsthatthosewhocontrol the
preparation and allotment of food have "both actual and symbolic
power."17If thatistnlein2002,howmuchmoresointheIronAge,when
therewasno recoursetogrocerystores, microwaves,and refrigerators!
Thusanyattempttounderstandwomen'shistory--orhumanhistory,for
thatmauer-withoutconsideringtheenldalroleoffoodcannotsucceed.
Feministresearch isfinally pickinguponthatfac!. By turningasidethe
presentnOlionthatkitchenworkismenialandmarginal,importantaspects
ofwomen'srolesinfoodpreparationinpremodernsocietiescanbeascer-
t~ined.Ihavedonesofor IsraelitewomeninanarticlecalledhHaving
TheirSpaceandEatingThereToo-BreadProductionandFemalePower
inIsraeliteHouseholds,~appearinginNashim.^18
CerealproduclSwerearguablythemostimportantnutritionalsources
inthebiblicalperiod.Indeed,ithasbeenestimatedthatpeopleobtained
some 50 percentoftheirdailycaloric intakefrom bread.Soimportant
werecerealcropsthatthewordfor"bread~intheIlebrewBible,letJem,is
oftenusedforfoodmoregenerally.Becausedailygrain-processingactivi-
ties wereessential tothe survivalofvirtuallyall families in Iron Age
Palestine,Idecidedthatanexaminationofbreadproductionasa gen-
deredactivitywouldallowmetoidentifya centralcontributionofwomen
tothehouseholdeconomy.Ithenwoulcltaketheinterpretiveprocessfur-
ther byconsidering the implications for female powerofIhe roleof
breadmaker-verydifferent from theidea ofbreadwinner, a rolethaI

16 However,IcanreportlhalI recently\'lSitedaSffi;IlIliberalanscollegeandmetwi(h
anundergraduateclassstudyingthefamilyin:.anc)en!tsrael.11lestudentShadreadlhese
papersbeforeImelwilhlhemandapparentlyhadnodiffkull)'withthem
11 f';ancyHannonJenkins,~foodManers.-~ellesJey 81 (2002): 24
18 11leentireissueofI\'asbi",S isdevOled 10 "Gender,FOIXI.andSurvival.·SeeCarol
Mt.-yen,"Having1lteirSpaceandEatingl1len:Too:BreadProduaionandfemalePowerin
AncientIsraeliteHouseholds.·!\asJmnS (2002),14-44.