ANE 170: Food, Identity, and the Biblical World

How did ancient people decide what to eat, and what not to eat? And why do the ancient texts of the Bible continue to shape the way many people think about diet and identity today? This course will explore the importance of diet in establishing social bonds and ethnic boundaries in the ancient Near East, as well as the role food played in mediating relationships with God, animals, and the environment, according to the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Tanakh/Christian Old Testament). 

This course is highly interactive. We visit the Boston Museum of Fine ArtsLinks to an external site. to see how food featured as part of burial rituals in ancient Egypt; we explore the archaeology of food and everyday life at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East; and we even try cooking some ancient recipes together. Students will also be introduced to anthropological approaches to food, diets, and commensality, and learn to reflect critically on how such theoretical lenses might be applied to the study of ancient dietary patterns, biblical interpretation, and contemporary dietary practice. 

No prior knowledge of the Bible or ancient history required.