The first step in God’s holy design was to create the world. With this great act of God, the history of the world and of mankind began. God created the world in order to reveal His unbounded goodness and to share it with others. God created the birds, animals, fish and plants as food and the seas and rivers to derive water and sustain man.
Food is a basic human need. It is extremely important to all humanity and it promotes our survival for good health. Food and water are a primary necessity for life. Food is the main energy supply and essential for growth, movement, repairing and maintaining the body. We need food for a living. Including healthy food in our regular diet is of utmost importance as it will assist in building a stronger immune system. The food we eat is a major determinant of our health, vitality and longevity.
Sir Robert McCarrison, a well-known nutritionist, aptly remarks, “The right kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of health and the wrong kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of disease.
What did the people in Biblical times eat?
- Biblical texts provide innumerable examples of how ancient life was centred around meals.
- Abraham prepares for his divine visitors – [Genesis 18:1-8]
- Passover meal – [Exodus 12]
- The stew with which Jacob deceives his aged father, Isaac- [Genesis 27]
- The wedding Feast at Cana- [John 2:11]
- Celebration for the return of the prodigal son – [Luke 15:11-32]
- The Last Supper- [Matthew26; Mark 14; Luke 22]
In the pre-historic times, the diet of the ancient Israelite was mainly bread, cooked grains and legumes. Vegetables played a role in the diet too. In spring and summer, they drank goat and sheep milk and ate butter and cheese. Honey was used as a sweetener and meat was kept for special occasions.
The main meal was consumed in the evening. It probably consisted of lentil stew seasoned with herbs like cumin, black cumin or coriander. It was accompanied with cheese made from sheep or goat’s milk, olives, onions and bread. Wine, water and curdled milk which is similar to liquid yoghurt was served with the meal.
Grain for bread was ground by the women. It was mixed with water, flour, yeast and a bit of honey and the fermented dough was flattened and baked on the hot stones in the fire or in a bread oven.
The term tannur [type of oven] made of clay and the fire was lit using straw and pine cones by kindling and animal dung was used to bake bread.
Bread could have been made perhaps of wheat, rye, millet, oat or barley.
An adequate water source was located at the western edge of the village, and it gave people the opportunity to grow their own food in small patches of land.
Fruits included fresh figs, melons, dried dates and pomegranates which were a staple diet in the Middle East. Dates were cultivated in the second millennium B.C. Ancient Egyptian farmers harvested Papyrus from the mid-third millennium B.C. in Saqqara, Egypt about ten miles South of Cairo. Almonds and Pistachio nuts were common. Bitter almonds were used as oil and sweet almonds were eaten as dessert. Dates and raisins were baked into cakes.
Fruits are one of the oldest forms of food known to man. The people in ancient times revered them and dedicated them to their gods and goddesses. They also used their designs in decorating temples, vestments, ceremonial garments and sacred vessels. Fruits were much more than a food for the ancient Israelites. It was a symbol that appeared prominently in the cultures, names, laws, proverbs, traditions and as curses and blessings.
- Many people were named after a fruit- Tamar in [Genesis 38:6] which means “date”.
- Cities and towns were named after a fruit- Rimmon in [Joshua 15:32] which means “pomegranate”.
- Fruits were used as decorations – Engraved date palm trees in Solomon’s Temple [1Kings 6:29].
- Fruits were the subjects of laws – The law in [Deuteronomy 24:20] that one may eat from an olive tree once [the remaining olives are for the poor].
- Fruits were used in a number of metaphors such as “Your breath is like the fragrance of apples” [Song of Songs 7:8]
- Fruits appear in curses and blessings such as “Your olives shall drop off (the tree)” – [Deuteronomy 28:40].
- Fruits were used in proverbs such as- “He who tends to a fig tree will enjoy its fruit” – [Proverbs 27:18]
- Fruits appear as objects in narratives- Eve eats the forbidden fruit and is cast from Eden [Genesis 3]
The ravines in the slopes and the rocky ground were suitable for the cluster of trees where olives were gathered, crusted with large grinding stones, pitted and pressed for oil. Olive oil was used in cooking, as a condiment and for burning lamps. Terraces were built and irrigated along the sleeper slopes for grain harvest and promoted the growth of fig and pomegranate trees.
Various grains like wheat, barley and millet were grown in the fields on the slopes. The husk was separated from the seeds on the threshing floors with winnowing. In the south of the village the alluvial soil was found to be fertile and suitable for the growth of vegetables and legumes.
People living in the Galilee region of pre-historic Israel loved their beans. The Neolithic diet favoured fava beans but also included other types of legumes, such as lentils, peas and chickpeas. The fava seeds were the oldest domesticated seeds.
In the pre-historic site near Ramla, Israel animal bones of an extinct type of wild cattle along with the bones of rhinoceros, horses, fallow deer, gazelles and land turtles were discovered.
In the Neolithic period introduction of agriculture and domestication of animals took place.
Fish was common and dried fish industry was a source of income for the people around the Sea of Galilee. The town of Magdala, not far from Nazareth, was a centre of the dried fish industry.
The Gezer calendar highlights the seasonal patterns of the agricultural year. The produce mentioned in the Gezer calendar is consistent with the Biblical description of the Promised Land as “a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where Israelites may eat bread without scarcity”. [Deuteronomy 8:8-9]
Family and kinship relationships were organized largely around agrarian activities. In ancient Israel nearly everyone even those living in royal cities such as Jerusalem and Samaria, was involved in agriculture and had encounters with animals wherever they went.
Rituals feasts and banquets proved to be important social and political tools throughout Israel’s history.
The foundation of organic and traditional food is today hailed as miracle foods. In the last century, the use of chemicals and pesticides have poisoned our fields and our food. This knowledge of the past generations has helped to develop an understanding, respect and love for MOTHER NATURE. If you value your health and well-being, you can’t do better than to return to these time-honoured organic foods.