“Home Sweet Home: Ancient Israelite Households in Context”

Carol Meyers has argued that in order to better understand daily life in ancient Israel and Judah, our focus must shift from the monumental places (like palaces and temples) to the common stage where daily life occurred—the home. Household archaeology does just that—it focuses on the house, its members, and the activities they engaged it. The recent excavations at Tel Halif utilized household archaeology in order to focus on its 8th century BCE dwellings; as a result, Halif is uniquely placed to help archaeologists and biblical scholars alike to better understand the cultural context of ancient Israel/Judah households. In this presentation, Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott will highlight Halif’s most recently excavated house and how it helps us understand the daily lives of ancient Israelite/Judahite households.

Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott

Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is an Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor University. Her expertise and research focus on the historical, cultural, and social contexts of ancient Israel and Judah as reflected within both the archaeological record and the Hebrew Bible (with a particular interest in the Former Prophets). More specifically, Dr. Shafer-Elliott’s research emphasizes household archaeology and issues of food, gender, religion, and social memory. She is an experienced field archaeologist and is part of the archaeological excavations at Tel Halif and Tel Abel Beth Maacah in Israel.