Agriculture in Iron Age Israel

by Oded Borowski

Overview

This book deals with agriculture as practiced in ancient Israel from the settlement to the destruction of the First Temple. It describes crops and trees cultivated by the Israelite farmer and the methods and tools used in cultivation. The information is gathered from both literary and archaeological sources, with the Old Testament supplying most of the literary information. The author attributes several innovations to the biblical peasant: large-scale terracing, runoff farming (i.e. irrigation), restoration of soil fertility, and the invention of the beam oil-press.

Out of print for some time, Eisenbrauns is pleased once again to make this valuable resource available.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575061740
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	06/30/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.74(d)

Editorial Reviews

Borowski has succeeded in synthesizing much valuable information in a manner that places thefruits of his technical research at the disposal of a wider audience. For this Borowski should be highly commended. He has given us another lens through which to view the biblical world.

Thomas V. Brisco

Relying on evidence gathered from archaeological and literary (mostly Old Testament) sources, the author reconstructs the diversity and practice of agriculture in ancient Palestine before and after the conquest by the Israelites. For the most part, it is a static picture that is presented, but some discussion of development and change is presented, including a discussion of the invention of the olive press. Chapters look at land use and tenure, field work and grain production, eight different kinds of crops and agricultural products, and factors in soil fertility and crop yield. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)