7812tj+Ancient+Civ

** 7812tj **
 * The Ancient Israelites: Meals**
 * Reading/Language Arts, Marking Period 4, Class 7/8 **
 * Mr. Schoch **
 * June 7, 2012 **


 * Have you ever wondered what people ate during biblical times? The ancient Israelites, whose name means “God perseveres,” were the people from the bible. They lived in an area called Palestine, which is east of the Mediterranean sea, west of the Dead Sea, and north of the Red Sea. The Israelites lived in Palestine between 2100 BCE and 200 BCE. Today we remember the Israelites as the people who started the idea of monotheism. **


 * An interesting part of Hebrew culture was their cuisine. Meals were important for the Israelites was that they needed to eat, and they ate whatever they could find. We can learn more about the Hebrew’s meals by studying many things. Three of those things are lunch, dinner, and snacks. **


 * For the ancient Hebrews, lunch was the meal that kept them full until the evening, when they had dinner. One type of lunch was Ful Mudammas, which was a bean dish ( [] ). Ful Mudammas get their name because they keep people full. Another ancient Israelite lunch ****  staple was mutton. Israelis seldom ate meat, but when they did, it was usually mutton ( [] ). Mutton comes from sheep. The most common kind of lunch was porridge (MacDonald, 160). Israelites ate porridge all the time. Lunch successfully kept the Israelites full while working on the farm.  **


 * By far, the most important meal for the Hebrews was dinner. One thing the Hebrews had for dinner was lentil stew ( [] ). In fact, in one bible story, one sibling, Jacob, tricks his brother, Esau into giving him his birthright for a bowl of stew. The Israelites also had charcoal roasted fish for dinner ( [] ). On Friday evenings, which **


 * as the Sabbath, the holy holiday that is every Friday evening and Saturday morning. For Shabbat, the ancient Hebrews had Challah, a braided bread eaten only on Shabbat( [] ). Those were foods that they ate for their biggest meal. **


 * In between meals, the Hebrews had snacks, just like we do. They sometimes had snacks of dates, pomegranates, and figs. Those fruits were the main fruits that grew in ****  Palestin  ****  e. They also had olives and cheese as snacks ( [] ). Olive trees were numerous in Palestine and cheese came from goats. The Hebrews also had manna, which was a bread that fell from the sky in the Torah ( [] ). Mannah  ****  means “what’s this” in Hebrew. It was what the Israelites ate in the Bible while they wandered around the Sinai Peninsula in the Torah. That’s what the Hebrews had for snacks.  **

** After the Romans conquered Palestine, the Israelites dispersed to other areas across the globe. The people who are the Jewish people today are most likely descendants of the ancient Israelites. The lasting effect of the Israelites is the idea of monotheism, the belief in o ** **ne god. Many religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have only one god. The Israelites can teach us that you might need to overcome a lot to succeed. The Israelites and their descendants overcame lots of persecutions and genocides over the years, but still survived.**

** Glossary  **
 * Israelites- descendants of Jacob ** wordnik
 * Palestine- region between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River ** wordnik
 * Hebrew- descendants of Jacob; language of the Israelites ** wordnik
 * cuisine- style of cooking ** wordnik
 * ful mudammas- Middle Eastern dish of cooked and mashed fava beans ** Google dictionary
 * staple- a basic dietary item ** wordnik
 * seldom- rare ** wordnik
 * Sabbath- a day of rest and free of work ** wordnik
 * challah- traditional bread eaten on the Sabbath ** wordnik
 * manna- bread that God gave the Israelites during the Exodus ** wordnik
 * Torah- first five books of the Israelite Scriptures ** wordnik
 * Sinai Peninsula- peninsula in northeast Egypt bordering Israel ** wordnik

Image Sources


 * Image 1: [] **


 * Image 2: [] **


 * Image 3: [] **

** Works Cited  **
 * "3 Bible Tips: Miracles of Bread." Miracles of Bread 3 Bible Tips Free Bible Study Guides. Web. 15 May 2012. < [] >. **
 * "ALL ABOUT THE BIBLE." Â» FOOD AND MEALS IN ANCIENT TIMES â Daily Life in the Bible. Web. 15 May 2012. . **
 * "Easy Israeli Recipes." - Free Ethnic Recipes Collection. Web. 15 May 2012. < [] >. **
 * "Israel: Recipes and Cuisine." Jewish Recipes and the Cooking of Israel. Web. 15 May 2012. < [] >. **
 * "Jewish Food 101 - My Jewish Learning." Jewish Food 101 - My Jewish Learning. 16 May 2012. < [] >. **
 * MacDonald, Nathan. Not Bread Alone: The Uses of Food in the Old Testament. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. **
 * "What the Ancient Israelites Ate: Ful Mudammas." The Shiksa Blog. Web. 16 May 2012. < [] > **