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

234 | WOMEN AT WORK IN THE DTRH
scholarship has placed on macro-economic and prestige-laden objects (i.e., wine
international trade, inheritance) over against family-related and domestic
aspects. This is not new, although there start to appear works on gender
archaeology, ethno-archaeology, and other areas besides those specifically
theological.
Since iconographic and textual sources from the ancient Near East and Egypt
show that beer was often produced from bread cakes, the spatial correlates of
brewing in the areas where bread production was carried out can now be
identified. In the “four-room houses” found in Iron Age sites in Israel, for
example, the central open space on the lower level may have been the main
locus of baking and brewing activities. 211
Behind these words, there is what could be termed “household archaeology”
or “domestic archaeology,” which pays special attention to particular areas and
corners usually neglected in reports and journals and reads them with an interest
on gender issues, especially on gendered use of space. For instance, some
studies relate the four-room houses with female needs and constrictions:
More recently a third proposal suggests that the layout of the “four-room”
house reflects the Israelites’ ethnic behaviors that evolved from the laws of
impurity that applied to the relationship between a man and his wife during her
menses. Hence, the spatial division of the dwelling enables a woman to move
more freely while avoiding contact with the men of the house. A contextual
study of artifacts can shed light on domestic gender-interactions and their
meanings, including the ways in which inhabitants of the “four-room” house
used their space, and divided their activity areas. 212
Around them, several women and children met and shared resources,
knowledge, concerns, and time—much time—daily. These remains help
understand how domestic space could be variously used according to needs and
resources, locating grinding, food processing, cooking, brewing, child-care
activities, all at once at the center of women’s networking spaces. Because
women spent so much time and effort on these joint activities, they could also
spatially shape the domestic space and social relationships. 213 And—as is still the
case around the globe—most of them could, if chance allowed, make a little
extra income by selling the best products of their hands.
In summary, I have included “beer brewing” for the reason that bread was
the first step in brewing this popular drink according to ancient technology.
Since this is not a philological study on Hebrew terms for professions or
211
Ebeling and Homan, “Baking and Brewing Beer,” 61.
212
Cassuto, “Bringing the Artifact,” 71–2.
213
See Meyers, “Archaeology—A Window” 83–91 on evidence for shared spaces and tools and
103–106 on women’s networks.