PODCAST: In ancient Israel, a woman’s place was in the home making beer
Through careful analysis of oven placement and grindstones, archaeologist Prof. Jennie Ebeling shows how women in antiquity had much more agency than previously thought
Welcome to Times Will Tell, The Times of Israel’s weekly feature podcast.
This week, host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaks with archaeologist Prof. Jennie Ebeling about women’s live in ancient Israel.
In addition to leading and participating in archaeological excavations in Israel and Jordan, including the Jezreel Expedition, Ebeling is sculpting the next generation of scholars through her teaching at the University of Evansville in Indiana.
She has written extensively about ancient food and drink technology which can offer a deeper look at women in antiquity, including a book, “Women’s Lives in Biblical Times.”
Some of the pottery sherds which were used to isolate strains of thousands of years old yeast to produce new batches of ‘ancient beer,’ on May 22, 2019 in Jerusalem. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
Ebeling has edited several books and today she is also an acquisitions editor-at-large for academic publisher Eisenbrauns, an imprint of Penn State University Press that specializes in the ancient Near East and biblical studies.
One of the ways we can learn about women’s agency is through studying ancient ovens, said Ebeling, which in part has led her to hypothesize that women were the master brewers of ancient Israel.
LIMITED TIME OFFER: Join The Times of Israel Community today and you'll receive a physical book of your choice, carefully curated by our editors.
Choose between two must-reads: When We See You Again by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, a searing portrait of a mother’s grief and strength following unthinkable tragedy;
Or Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe by Matti Friedman, the gripping and surprising tale of a forgotten moment during World War II.
As a Community member, you’ll also enjoy our DocuNation series of outstanding Israeli documentary films, an ad-free experience of our site and podcasts, commenting privileges, and more.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel