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

66 | WOMEN AT WORK IN THE DTRH
well-known, but are by no means the only ones. 30 Since claims made especially
by Pitt-Rivers and Peristiany in the 1960s form the basis of a supposed
Mediterranean dyad of honor and shame, which has serious effects on women
and which is contested in this work, this particular use of anthropology was
explored in detail in chapter 1.
STUDIES ON LABOR
Studies on labor available to me have been few. Those at hand are helpful in
what they provide, but it would be an exaggeration to say that they are the basis
of my work. There is nothing that I know of that would treat female workers in a
comprehensive way. Perhaps difficulty of the theme should be partially blamed
for this dearth, since it intersects at too many disciplines.
Dictionary and encyclopedia entries have not offered much in this line
either, perhaps for the reasons just stated; and collective works usually forget the
topic as well. Nonetheless, there are two articles to mention. One is Bernhard
Lang’s “Arbeit (AT)” in WiBiLex, “the scholarly Internet Bible lexicon” from
the German Bible Society. He starts with a Medieval painting on Adam and Eve,
which somehow sets the tone of the article; it looks generally at its
characteristics related to men’s and women’s areas of work, at forced labor, and
Sabbath rest. The second one is an article by Warburton on work in Egypt. This
one helped me by opening the depths of the Egyptian bureaucracy and helping
me imagine that at least some of those occupations could be in female hands: I
had never thought of confectioners or bitumen collectors!
One useful collection of papers is that edited by Marvin Powell on labor in
the ANE, which is further discussed in the next sub-section, as it deals with
definitions of slavery. It does not focus much on women, unfortunately (it is
twenty-five years old, at that time androcentrism wasn´t even an academic
concern). It does bring, on the other hand, a panoramic view as scholars reflect
on working conditions in the different kingdoms and periods they survey.
30 Some of the most comprehensive books and articles are B. Malina & J. Pilch, The New Testament
World; (already quoted); K. C. Hanson, “BTB’s Reader’s Guide to Kinship,” BTB 24 (1994): 183–
94; C. Osiek, “Slavery in the Second Testament World,” BTB 22 (1992): 174–79; idem, What Are
They Saying about the Social Setting of the New Testament? (rev. ed. New York: Paulist Press,
1992); Victor Matthews, “Social Sciences and Biblical Studies,” in Honor and Shame in the World
of the Bible (ed. Matthews and Benjamin; Semeia 68; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996), 7–21;
Matthews, “Honor and Shame in Gender-Related Situations;” Olyan, “Honor,” 201–18; K. Stone,
“Gender and Homosexuality in Judges 19: Subject-Honor, Object-Shame?” JSOT 67 (1995): 87–
107. I have included some more recent contributions (Zeba A. Crook, “Honor, Shame, and Social
Status Revisited” and Brayford, “To Shame or Not to Shame”).