Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History - International Voices ...

HIDE AND SEEK: MISCELLANEOUS WOMEN | 229
3 and 4 appear the only feminine plural participle and one of the two nouns from
this same stem (הנחט). 193 The Sage does not say much about the grinders
themselves; however, when the noise of their grinding ( תונחטה לוק)
fades
because their number has faded, it signals disaster. The context does not allow
for an unambiguous decision for a domestic or a professional allusion here; the
“voice of grinding” to cease could either be that of the women of the household
or the slaves working for the large households. References to “guardians” or
“strong men” and to the door-gates in the streets (קושׁב םיתלד) make one think
larger than the household, at least the village is in focus here.
Aside from being eaten as porridge or bread, barley was fundamental for the
whole industry of beer brewing. In the Bible there is the noun רכשׁ, which often
appears in translations and commentaries as “strong drink.” Noteworthy is also
the total absence of terms for males as performers and for expenditure centers
(taverns or inns) in the Hebrew Bible. Unless, as discussed in the previous
chapter, several references to תו/הנוז would be to tavern keepers and inn
keepers, together with or instead of, “harlots.” We go for a drink now.
Beer Brewing
Beer is well attested both as a staple food and as an offering to the deities. 194
Beer was the daily drink of most people for several reasons, from its caloric and
proteinic value to the fact that water was usually not very safe to drink. Bread
and beer went together, since brewing “was an offshoot of bread production.
Beer was a dietary staple in this region.…” 195 Since much of bread and beer
preparation was women’s work, such as grinding grain, fetching water, and
193 In Lam 5:13 there is a complaint that involves, again, a reversal of fate: the young men, who
would usually be the young Lords or warriors, are obliged to take mill-stone (ואשׂנ ןוחט םירוחב)
and the dependents (םירענו) stumble under the weight of wood. Another expression is “the two
stones” (םיחר, dual).
194 Gary Beckman, “Hittite Literature,” in From an Antique Land: An Introduction to Ancient Near
Eastern Literature (ed. Carl S. Ehrlich; Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009), 247
translates what he calls (245) “arguably the single most moving piece of surviving Hittite literature,
… the better part of The Prayer of Kantuzzilito the Sun-god,” from which the pertinent line is: “O
Sun-god, sustain this mortal, your servant, so that he might begin to offer bread and beer to the
Sun-god regularly. O Sun-god, take him, your just servant, by the hand.” In Egypt, an ancient
legend attributes its origins to Osiris, as part of civilization’s gift, but Hathor held the title of
goddess of beer and wine. That beer and other supplies were provided to the dead is attested in
the first chapter of the Book of the Dead and by archaeologists; see Ildefonso Robledo Casanova,
“Los misterios de los egipcios. El hombre, sus componentes y el Más Allá,” Antigua: Historia y
Arqueología de las Civilizaciones (web), n. p. [cited: 20 December 2010]. Online: http://213.0.4
.19/servlet/SirveObras/13538363212820165754491/021575.pdf#search=%22cerveza%20osiris%22
&page=15.
195 Ebeling & Homan, “Baking and Brewing Beer,” 46.