I didn't live in first century AD, though many might insist I did.I joined the human race a few years later. So when I wrote Martha's Sister, Beloved Prodigal I researched everything about the times.
Join me for dinner at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus when Martha served dinner to Jesus and his followers. She served at least two meals to him. Come with me to crash one of those parties.
What will we eat? Jerusalem farmers, similar to the American Farmer, depended on the weather and prayer. Poor and rich ate plenty in the good years. People dried food for the fruitless years. Fish was a staple. The houses had small rooms that sweltered in the summer, so Martha cooked in the courtyard or on the roof over a fire pit.
Excavated houses from the period include hearths for cooking indoors in cooler weather.
I used two sources to research dinner.
Women in the Bible covers everything in first century Jerusalem.
Nazareth’s Village, in Nazareth, recreates meals from the first century. If you go to Nazareth, stop for dinner.
The site lists fire-baked flat bread, dips, olives and herbal tea as dinner with Martha.
The creators of the site believe people didn’t drink wine often. Other research says they drank wine made of eight parts water or more to one part wine. Surely Jesus drank wine that day.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, ...'Matthew 11:19
Jesus didn't overeat or drink too much, but he ate and drank, or the judgmental couldn't accuse him. They walked miles a day. He needed a hearty meal to keep the body going. And he drank his 1-8 part wine. In his first miracle he made wine.
The guests dipped their bread in olives (left).
Though
Nazareth Village says they rarely meat, except for chicken, on this special occasion when her Messiah visited, Martha served lamb or goat.
Women of the Bible describes meat cut in
small pieces and marinated in garlic, herbs and wine. Cows and goats provided plentiful milk and dairy products so they ate goat cheese flavored with garlic and herbs.
The cook served dinner in the late afternoon or evening. The group ate mid-day snacks of dried fruit and bread. Did the Lord eat a few fried locusts? Tastes like chicken? No. They tasted similar to salty anchovies. Cooks removed the head and tail and fried them in butter. I understand why John the Baptist preferred honey with his.
A good hostess, Martha sent her guests out the next morning with bread and olives in their packs. Onions or fruit such as this pomegranate completed the package.
I’m hungry. But you may have my locusts.
Photos from Women of the Bible.
This article originally appeared on my blog
From what I've read, 2000 years ago, the region around Jerusalem was much greener than today with more rainfall. Lebanon was famous for its cedar trees that were mostly cut to build ships. You didn't mention what the fire source was. If they burned wood, it would greatly impact any trees in the area and probably contribute to it becoming a desert.
Ron