Biblical Archaeology 101: Storage and Staples in Biblical Israel

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In 1942, Earl Tupper created his first bell-shaped storage container. A few years later, Tupperware was introduced to the public and changed the way we store the things we eat. But how did people in ancient Israel and Judah store their food?

Storage jars have been excavated in great quantities from sites throughout Israel. In addition, storage installations, such as pits, storage rooms, and storage bins, have been unearthed. Looking at food storage broadly and comparing storage practices offers us a window into household organization and life.

I first became interested in household food storage when I studied a food preparation area at Tel Halif, a prominent site in southern Israel likely to be identified with biblical Rimmon (Joshua 15:32; Joshua 19:7).^a At Tel Halif, we were able to establish where different items would have originally been placed within a house—before its sudden destruction 048 by the Assyrians. Storage jars were found beside other artifacts, such as an oven and a grinding installation, but also put together in little groups. The location of storage jars and other items was not random; there was purpose in how the household was organized.

The study of food storage is part of “household archaeology,” a field of study with some established, though contested, methods to recognize patterns at the household level. Artifacts and their particular setting in the house are considered in detail to determine “activity areas.” Traditional households from related cultures provide some comparison in determining the possible use of space.

Modern ethnographic accounts allow us to interpret artifacts, recognize activity areas, and suggest how different activities would have been part of household organization. Other relevant information from ethnographic sources must be treated with more caution—because ideas and ways of life have changed over the millennia. Nevertheless, such information should encourage us to look at the significance and meaning of household food storage in the ancient world. Gustaf Dalman, for instance, observed and described the life of Palestine’s peasant farmers in the early 20th century. He related his observations to important aspects of daily life in the ancient world, particularly the biblical period, describing in detail the storage of grains, legumes, oil, wine, processed fruit, dairy products, and water.

In early 20th-century Palestine, grain was most commonly stored in chests made from unfired clay or mud. The fact that the name used for these storage chests in southern Palestine (Arabic: habie) was used in the north to describe a ceramic storage jar shows that pottery jars were once commonly used to store grain. It may also suggest that 049 across time words sometimes follow the function of an item, rather than the form.

When we consider ethnographic descriptions from various parts of the Middle East, such as Cyprus, Iran, Syria, Jordan, or Egypt, we find both differences and commonalities between these various traditional households.

To supplement the ethnographic studies and bridge the gap to the ancient world, we need to turn to written and iconographic sources.

The Mishnah and Talmud provide information about household food storage in the late Roman period (second–fifth centuries C.E.). Although the aim of the Mishnah is to provide rules for the right interpretation of biblical law, not to describe daily life, conclusions can be drawn about household food storage from what the texts imply. Written mostly in Hebrew, the Mishnah contains many indigenous words that denote storage vessels, but it often interchanges the Hebrew terms with words drawn from other languages, such as Greek, making it sometimes difficult to correlate precisely specific vessels and their names. Over time, the specific objects to which words refer may have changed, but the more general function of those objects remained. The Mishnah emphasizes adequate control over stored produce so that it would be “clean.” This was the responsibility of the male head of the household, who had to ensure that his household adhered to the precepts of the law.

Greek and Egyptian sources stress the different responsibilities of the husband and the wife in food storage. While it mainly was the responsibility of the husband to bring in foodstuffs from the field, it was the responsibility of the wife to organize the stored food in the house. In Greece, storage jars as well as sacks were used to store grain.

Artistic portrayals of food storage appear throughout the ancient Near East. Figurines from the Levant and Cyprus show food containers particularly in relation to transport. Pottery jars were frequently used to transport liquids, and therefore household storage in similar vessels is likely. Donkeys also carried baskets and sacks, suggesting that some produce was kept at least for the short term in these containers. Chests (probably wooden) modeled in Cyprus may have been used for household storage, but it is not clear that they were used for food storage.

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Egyptian art abounds with portrayals of royally administered food storage, where the produce is clearly shown alongside the means of storage. Liquids, such as wine, beer, and honey, were stored in pottery jars. Meat and fruit were also stored in jars. Bowls were used for spices and cakes. Barley, wheat, and beans were stored in bulk. Bulk storage may occur in compartments or rooms in houses, special storehouses, domed silos, or heaps protected by earthen ramps and branches.

References to food storage also appear in the Hebrew Bible, most frequently in the context of blessings and curses. To have full storage bins is a blessing; to have empty storage bins is a curse (e.g., Leviticus 26:10; Deuteronomy 28:4-8; Psalm 144:13; Proverbs 3:9-10; Joel 1:17; Haggai 2:19). These blessings and curses relate particularly to the storage in individual households as part of the whole people of Israel. This understanding is present in books across different genres and time periods. Food storage is also mentioned in relation to royal administration, but this is a particular feature of late biblical books, such as Chronicles.

It is not possible to associate the terms in the Hebrew Bible with particular vessel forms or functions known from archaeology. Nevertheless, the biblical references allow us to determine the broad meaning of the different terms. They indicate that vessels were considered very common household items and that putting one’s crop in jars and storing them gave a sense of permanence and living in the land.

In the books of Samuel, gifts of food (kept in a variety of containers) play a key role in defining and establishing social relations. They may be seen as a transition between food storage for subsistence and a more centralized administration of food storage.

Turning now to the archaeological record, archaeologists can recognize different activity areas, based on the reported finds. These include food preparation areas, food consumption areas, living rooms, domestic work areas, food storage areas, goods storage areas, fodder and fuel storage, stables, agricultural production areas, and craft production areas. Through analogy with ethnographic reports, most excavated spaces fit one of these categories, and most excavated houses have food 051 preparation and food storage areas.

Detailed investigation of house spaces and vessels from 22 buildings at 13 sites in the territory of ancient Israel and Judah allows for the following generalizations:

Houses from the Iron Age I (1200–1000 B.C.E., before the Israelite monarchy) had greater overall storage capacity than houses from the Iron Age II (1000–586 B.C.E., during the monarchy), especially if outside storage pits are taken into account. During the Iron Age II, there were more storehouses and storage facilities that were presumably centrally administered. This indicates that there was a shift between the Iron Age I and the Iron Age II from subsistence living to more redistributive storage. Exactly how this redistributive storage was administered cannot be determined from archaeological material alone.

Another difference between Iron Age I and Iron Age II houses was the size of the storage vessels. Houses had a similar number of vessels per area, but the jars from the Iron Age I were larger. Nevertheless, significant amounts of foodstuffs could still be stored in houses from the Iron Age II, indicating that household food storage remained important.

Most houses had separate food storage areas, often in side or back rooms. Nevertheless, considerable amounts of food were also stored in food preparation areas. Apart from their marginal location in houses, food storage rooms were no different in size or architecture to any other rooms, suggesting that they were not specifically built as storage rooms. In addition, there is evidence in some houses that the use of rooms changed over time.

There is normally little indication of storage jars’ contents. Large holemouth jars were often associated with grinding installations, indicating that they contained grain or legumes. But they were also found in other locations. There is some association between lmlk-type jars (jars similar to those with handles stamped with the phrase lmlk—“[belonging] to the king”) and wine storage, but these jars also seem to have stored other products. Many of these jars, including stamped jars, were found in what seem to be normal small households.

Because storage containers made of organic material—such as sacks, skins, and baskets—generally do not survive, any conclusions can be only tentative. While storage chests may have been used in ancient Israel and Judah, no remains have been found, suggesting that if they were present they might have been wooden, not made of dried mud or clay as was common in later millennia. There is some evidence of storage bins made out of stone slabs and of indoor storage pits—in addition to the well-known outdoor storage pits. A room partitioned off to enable storage of grain is another example of a storage practice.

We can learn a few other things about food storage in ancient Israel and Judah from archaeology. The location of stored food inside the house points to strong domestic control over food, separate from direct shared control by other households or some higher authority. Households were at least partially autonomous in relation to food supply, even though community storage in the Iron Age I and redistributive storage in the Iron Age II point to a dependence on and cooperation with wider society.

The constant presence of food storage among many other household activities points to a clear awareness of food security and the relative precariousness of food supply. The strong association of food storage with food preparation may also indicate at least partial control by women over the household food supply, contributing to our understanding of gender roles in the household.

Storage jars are not just interesting artifacts. If we read them together with ancient texts and art, they can tell us something about the cares and concerns, the hopes and fears of ancient people—including the people of ancient Israel and Judah.

Securing and storing food was just as essential in biblical times as it is today. Across Israel, archaeologists have unearthed containers and installations used to store essential staples and foodstuffs, shedding light on everyday life in the biblical world.