|
|
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| Sacks
of lentils, beans, nuts and grains awaiting the customer in the
market. |
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| After
harvesting cereal, it was beaten to separate out the
grains. These were then tossed in the air,
allowing the lighter chaff to blow away leaving the
heavy grains behind. This process is called
"winnowing". |
 |
| The
date palm provided a mainstay of the diet of early
people in the area. Jericho is referred to in the
Old Testament as the "city of palm trees". |
 |
 |
| Fresh
grapes provided a popular and refreshing fruit. |
|
 |
| The
Olive was cultivated for its delicious fruit and its
oil. |
Almonds |
Pistachios |
The
Pomegranate was prized for its bitter-sweet juice. |
|
 |
| Circular
flaps of unleavened bread were made, as they still are
today, by slapping the dough against the inside wall of
a simple cylindrical oven, called a tannûr. Such
bread flaps could be used as edible platters. |
|
 |
| In
the early days of agriculture, fruit trees were often
introduced from neighbouring countries. Apples
were probably brought to the Holy Land from Syria or
Turkey around 4000BC. Figs were eaten fresh
or dried (dried they kept for months as a reserve supply
in times when other foods were scarce). Olive oil
was usually kept in large storage jars but would have
been served at the table in small juglets. |
|
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| Leeks
and Spring Onions were valued for their distinctive
flavourings. |
|
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| It
is not known when cucumbers were introduced into
Palestine, but it was probably during the 2nd millennium
B.C., by which time they were a common food in Egypt. |
|
|
 |
The
water melon was widely grown in ancient Egypt and was
probably eaten in Palestine from about 2000 BC. It
was prized as a source of water during dry periods.
Water melon seeds could be eaten as a food. |
|
Bread
Baking:
Bread was the basic ingredient in every meal. In
Hebrew "to eat bread" means "to have a
meal". |
A
Millstone used for grinding grain into flour for bread.
|
 |
Limestone
figure of a baker kneading dough - Egypt circa 2000BC
|
 |
Druze
girl baking a pancake type of bread on a metal plate
over a fire.
|
Baking
in a chimney oven |
|
