Excerpts from:
The Dictionary of Daily Life
in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity

Edited by Edwin M. Yamauchi and Marvin R. Wilson
 
Dear Walt and Ginny,

I recall many wonderful memories of our time together on the ASA Council, with gratitude to you for your dedicated service as the editor of our Newsletter. You encouraged many students and younger colleagues in pursuing science as Christians. I note that our acquaintance goes back to the time when you were at the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Iowa State University in Ames. I enjoyed receiving your annual letters from 762 Arlington Avenue in Berkeley, with reports about Ginny's editing for InterVarsity Press and other publishers, and the many visitors you entertained in your home.

I have just finished editing (with Marvin Wilson of Gordon College) a unique four-volume Dictionary of Daily Life in Biblical and Post-Biblical Antiquity for Hendrickson Publishers in Peabody, Massachusetts.
            Vol. I (A - Da), 400 pages, 2014.
            Vol. II (De - H), 480 pages, 2015.
            Vol. III (I - N), 504 pages, 2016.
            Vol. IV (O - Z), about 500 pages, forthcoming.

Unlike most Bible references which are keyed to the text, this reference work concentrates on the context of the Old and the New Testament in the Near Eastern World, and the Greco-Roman World, and extends the coverage to the Jewish World and the Christian World.

I am pleased to dedicate some Excerpts from the DDL to you. 
                                                                             
                                                           Yours truly,
                                                           Edwin Yamauchi
                                                           President, ASA 1983

PS: G&N readers may be interested in learning that they can purchase these volumes at a considerable discount through CBD.com.
 
--BEGIN EXCERPTS FROM VOLUME A-D--

1. ABORTION

• Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy resulting in the intended death of the fetus. Abortifacient drugs that induce miscarriage were known to many ancient cultures, but due to the danger of abortion to the pregnant mother, prior to modern times mechanical methods of intentionally terminating a pregnancy were relatively uncommon. Only in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire was abortion widespread. Most other cultures were governed by law codes appointing severe retribution for killing a fetus while it was still in the womb. (I.5)
• The Bible does not directly address the issue of abortion, but passages such as Job 10:8-12, Ps 51:5-6, 139:13-16, Jer 1:5, and Luke 1:39-44, have been cited to support the belief that the fetus is a human being bearing the image of God. (I.5)

2. ADOPTION

• Adoption is an act controlled by law or custom placing a person under the parentage of someone who is not his or her natural parent.  Adoption includes a change in status and often provisions for inheritance.  There is a difference between adoption and fosterage, with the latter suggesting a temporary or informal agreement, ultimately lacking provisions for inheritance. (I.11)

• The Hebrews did not have any laws formally regulating adoption.  A number of explanations might be suggested for this apparent lapse.  The Hebraic notion of an extended family and the institution of the Levirate marriage may have obviated the need for adoption. (I.11)
•    In contrast to the Roman practice which involved the adoption of male adults for political advantage, Christians adopted abandoned children, sometimes rescued from exposure by their parents.  Justinian’s Institutes I.1.11 stresses that the primary consideration of the laws should be the protection of the child involved. (I.16)

3. ADULTERY

•    Sexual intercourse between a married or betrothed woman with someone other than her husband was regarded in all societies as a serious offense, since it compromised the paternity of any heirs. (I.18)
•    Though not found in the early NT manuscripts, the pericope of the adulterous woman (Jn 7:53-8:11), is regarded by most scholars as a genuine tradition.  Such a story was known to Papias (2nd c. AD), the Didascalia Apostolorum (3rd c. AD), and to Didymus the Blind (4th c. AD).  (I.19)

4.         AGE & THE AGED

•    As infant mortality was very high in antiquity, few people lived to a "ripe old age, although some societies associated extremely long life spans with their ancient forebears. Prior to industrialization the average life span generally did not exceed 40 years. While some writers demeaned the elderly and infirm, most authoritative texts from antiquity require that the aged be treated with respect. (I.27)
• The Greek word presbus or presbutēs meant “older man,” presbuteros “elder,” and gerōn “(venerable) old man.”  From the latter word are derived the words “gerontology” and “geriatric.”  In general presbus could mean a man between the ages of 29 to 59.  Post menopausal women beyond 40 were considered old, as were men beyond 50. (I.30)

5. AGRICULTURE

• This term means literally the cultivating of fields, and must therefore be distinguished from pastoral activities, which involve the care of flocks and herds. While the growth of grain crops was the predominant concern of the agriculturalist, the tending of vines and the care of orchards was frequently included in this form of activity. (I.36)
• Most farming was done at a subsistence level.  Monasteries would develop self-sufficient communities with some surpluses for trade.  The fact that farms owned by monasteries and churches were exempt from taxation (in kind), allowed them to accumulate surpluses to feed the poor. (I.41)

6. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

• Because water was often of poor quality, alcoholic drinks were popular at every level of society. Alcoholic beverages were often associated with religious life and sometimes with particular deities, but both religious and wisdom literature warned against drunkenness. (I.43)
•    The argument has sometimes been advanced that tîrôš, often translated “new wine,” refers to unfermented grape juice.  But it is far more likely that “new wine” refers to the first juice—sweet and of high quality—that oozed from the piles of grapes, under the pressure of their own weight, before the treaders entered the wine press.  New vintage fermented rapidly, and texts such as Hos 4:11 (cf. Acts 2:13, Gr. gleukos), indicate that tîrôš must be understood as intoxicating. (I.44)
• In the ancient Greek world, pure wine was considered strong and unpleasant. Flavoring such as absinthe, mint, violets and rose petals were often used.  Wine was customarily diluted in the proportion of three/four parts of water to one of wine.   (I.48)

7. ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

• Raising domesticated animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs was second only to farming in importance for ancient man. Cud-chewers such as cattle, sheep, and goats are of the greatest value to humans because they did not compete with humans for food, and provided byproducts such as wool and milk. Typically animals were more valued for their byproducts than for their meat. (I.53)

8. APHRODISIACS & EROTIC SPELLS

• The etymologies of many words which are still used in romantic discourse reveal the role that magic once played in the art of love. That should be quite apparent when a man calls a woman “bewitching” or “spell-binding.”  But it is also true when one calls her “charming,” “enchanting,” and “fascinating.”  The word “charm” comes through the French from the Latin word carmen, which could mean “song” but which also meant “spell.”  “Enchanting” comes from the Latin incantare, “to cast a spell.” “Fascinating” comes from the Latin fascinare “to bewitch,” which in turn is borrowed from the Greek baskainō, which originally meant “to cast the evil eye” (as in Gal 3:1).  (I.60)

9. AQUEDUCTS & WATER SUPPLY

• Vitruvius (27 BC) gave detailed instructions for the construction of aqueducts, prescribing “a gradient of not less than a quarter of an inch for every hundred feet.” . . .  He was aware of the possible deleterious effects of lead (Lat. plumbum): “Water from clay pipes is much more wholesome than that  which is conducted through lead pipes, because lead is found to be harmful” (De architectura 6.10). (I.70)

10. ARCHIVES

• Archives are collections of documents such as records, sales contracts, and letters.  Archives were kept by palaces, temples, and governors, and also by family businesses and individuals.  Private archives are already attested in the third millennium BC. but become more numerous and substantial after 2000 BC.  Such private collections sometimes extend back two centuries and six generations, but usually go back about 50 years or abouttwo generations.

            (I.75)

• In various writings Tertullian appeals to the archives of Rome.  Of Jesus’ nativity, he spoke of “His enrollment in the census of Augustus--that most faithful witness of the Lord’s nativity, kept in the archives of Rome” (Marc. 4.7).  Of the darkness at the crucifixion, he wrote, “You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives” (Apol. 21). (I.80)

11. ARMIES

• Most "Roman" troops in Palestine were actually Syrian or Samaritan recruits.  In Judea, governors such as Pontius Pilate had five cohorts of 500 to 600 troops each at Caesarea and one at Jerusalem, as well as one ala  or cavalry wing, a rather modest force with which to control Judea. Soldiers from the Jerusalem cohort abused and mocked Jesus, and a centurion (hekaton-tarchos) was in charge of his crucifixion (Matt 27:54). (I.84)

12. ART                                                        

• It was formerly believed that the Aurignacians produced the earliest paintings (c. 20-13,000 BC) of animals such as bisons, deer, horses, cows and bulls on the ceilings and walls of the famous caves of Altamira in northern Spain and of Lascaux in southern France.  But in 1994 the Chauvet Cave in southeastern France yielded stunning wall and roof paintings of horses, lions and bisons, which have been dated as early as 30,000 BC.  (I.91)
• Tertullian and Origen held that Jesus was ugly and repulsive from their literal reading of Isaiah 53:2.  Early depictions of Jesus rendered him beardless.  Later Christ was portrayed as a bearded philosopher.  (I.98)

13. ASTROLOGY

• A method of divination using the stars and planets, astrology originated in Mesopotamia, and was then developed by the Greeks.  The Mesopotamians recognized beside the sun and the moon five “planets” or wandering celestial objects in contrast to the fixed stars. (I.101)
•    While church fathers (such as Chrysostom) viewed the Christmas star in Matthew as a supernatural phenomenon, since the Greek astēr (Mt 2:2) “star” could also indicate any luminous celestial object, scholars have speculated that the phenomenon could have been a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC, first suggested by Kepler, the retrograde motion of Jupiter on April 17, 6 BC, a nova appearing in February or March, 5 BC, or a comet of 5 BC.  As Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC, was the king visited by the Magi, Jesus must have been born prior to this date. (I.101)

14. ATHLETICS

• The word “athletics” is derived from Greek athleuein “to contend for a prize,” and is thus associated with the contests developed by the Greeks in such activities as running, boxing, and wrestling.  On the other hand, the word “sport” is derived from the Latin disportare  “to remove from labor, i.e. to amuse oneself” by physical endeavors.  In the narrow sense, athletics appeared only after the Greek games, but in the broader sense sport was attested earlier in the Ancient Near East. The Olympic games were held every four years for over a thousand years from 776 BC until they were ended by a Christian emperor in AD 393. (I.109)
• Paul’s most extended use of athletic metaphors is 1 Cor 9:24-27: “Do you not know that in a race (stadion) all the runners run (trechein), but only one gets the prize (brabeion)? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes (agōnizein) in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown (stephanos) that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly, I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I strike (hupōpiazein  “to strike under the eye, i.e. to beat black and blue”) a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Paul was in Corinth in AD. 51, the year that the Panhellenic games were held in nearby Isthmia, an may very well have witnessed them. (I.110)

15. BANKS & LOANS

• The term “bank” derives from the bench (Middle High German banc, Anglo-Saxon benc) of the money changers. Banks, in the modern sense, did not exist in the biblical world, although many of the functions of banking did, such as money changing, and loans on interest. *I.118)
• Prohibitions against predatory lending and caps on legal interest rates were declared by rulers and writers across the ancient world. Greek, Jewish, and Christian teachers all denounced charging interest on loans. The frequency and prevalence of attempts to control lending suggest that the general trend was toward economic gain for the lender. Usury, which originally simply meant “interest,” came to mean exorbitant interest. (I.118)

16. BANQUETS

• Banquets were meals of sumptuous proportions which were held either as regular celebrations or on special occasions throughout the ancient world. Banquets traditionally included entertainment and featured singers, musicians, and dancers. While the feasting of many cultures involved unrestrained indulgence of the appetites, Jewish and Christian writers in some traditions urged that gatherings and banquets be conducted with moderation and sobriety. (I.127)
• The largest banquet of all was probably that held by Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) in Calah (Nimrud), a festival which lasted for ten days and which was attended by 69,574 guests. A famous relief of Ashurbanipal (668–627 BC) depicts the [Assyrian] king reclining on a couch and his queen seated with musicians in attendance in a palace garden. This is the earliest evidence of reclining, a posture which was later widely ad- opted by the Greeks, Romans, and Jews. (I.129)

17. BARBERS & BEARDS

• The main task of a barber (a word derived from Lat. barba, “beard”) was to shave or trim the beard, or to cut or shave men’s hair. Shaving was a common custom in the biblical world whether for reasons of personal appearance, or religious significance. Customs varied widely from culture to culture and across time. Specific instructions on cutting hair ranged from some traditions and groups requiring the complete removal of body hair, as in the case of Egyptian priests, to others religions that prohibited any shaving at all.
• The Hebrews normally had full rounded beards (cf. Lev 19:27). The Heb. term for “beard” (zāqān) is a cognate of the word “elder” or “old man” (Heb. zāqēn). (I.136)

18. BATHS & BATHING     

• People in antiquity washed themselves for hygienic and ritual reasons, using various sources of water, including rivers, springs, and baths. Basins, lavers and tubs were used by most cultures, and are often the most revealing evidence of bathing practices from the ancient world. Bathhouses and dedicated rooms for bathing were used as early as 2300 BC. Many representations of bathing from the ancient world show bathers assisted by servants or slaves. (I.146)
• What remained objectionable to Christian leaders was the mixed bathing of women with men, which was sometimes unavoidable. Clement of Alexandria warned, “The baths are opened promiscuously to men and women, and there they strip for licentious indulgence” (Paed. 3.5). The Syrian Didascalia counseled women, “But if there is no women’s bath, and thou are constrained to bathe in a bath of men and women—which indeed is unfitting—bathe with modesty and shame and with bashfulness and moderation” (Didascalia Apostolorum 1.19). (I.154-55)

19. BEGGARS & ALMS

• Greek and Roman writers generally held beggars in contempt and described them as reprobates, though some Roman rulers mandated governmental provision for the destitute. (I.157)
• Almsgiving was a hallmark which distinguished Christians from pagans, though the satirist Lucian thought that their generosity was sheer stupidity (Peregr. 11). What is most striking is that Julian the Apostate (AD 361–363) recognized that pagan priests needed to emulate the “Galileans” in their practice of benevolence. He wrote, “For it is disgraceful when no Jew is a beggar, and the impious Galileans [i.e. the Christians] support our poor in addition to their own, everyone is able to see that our coreligionists are in want of aid from us" (Letter to Arsacius). (I.165)

20. BELLOWS & FURNACES

• The earliest instruments used to increase air in furnaces were blow-pipes. In the smelting process, smiths later used bellows to increase the temperature of a fire by forcing a strong blast of air directly into the coals. Experiments have shown that a single set of bellows would replace 24 men with blowpipes. The invention of the bellows appears to be closely connected to the further development of ancient metallurgy. (I.166)
• Bellows were used for other purposes than in smelting, refining, and melting metals. Ctesibus of Alexandria invented a water-organ to play music ca. 250 BC. The Romans, as described by Vitruvius, invented a pneumatic (air) organ, using bellows. Such organs became quite popular in the early Roman Empire; they are depicted on the coins of Nero. THe bronze pipes of such organs were found at Pompeii.  (I.173)

21. BIRDS     

• No culture, be it ancient or modern, has remained insensitive to the inherent beauty of birds. Their ability to inhabit the heavens has fascinated mankind from time immemorial, leading to the belief that these feathered creatures maintained some special connection with the divine. (I.176).
• No birds are more frequently mentioned in the Bible than the dove and the pigeon. Both wild (Columba livia; Streptopelia turtur) and domesticated species (Columba livia domestica) were considered to be clean.  (I.177)
• In the non-canonical The Infancy Story of Thomas, the five-year old Jesus “made some clay and fashioned from it twelve sparrows. And it was the sabbath when he did this.” When the Jews objected, “Jesus clapped his hands and cried to the sparrows: ‘Off with you!’ And the sparrows took flight and went away chirping.”  (I.186)

22. BOATS & SHIPS

• Jesus used boats on the Sea of Galilee in his ministry (e.g., Matt 9:1; Mark 5:21; John 6:17). The intact hull of such a boat was recovered from its muddy grave in 1986 after a drop in water level exposed it near Kibbutz Ginnosar in Israel. The kibbutz has built a special museum to display it. (I.191)
• Since 1954 five boat pits have been discovered near the Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) at Giza dating from 2650 BC. One of the disassembled funeral barges, which consisted of 1200 pieces of cedar wood, was reassembled after a decade of work. It is 144 ft. long, with a shallow draft of less than six feet.  (I.192-93)

23. BONES & OBJECTS OF BONE

• Ossuaries are small rectangular receptacles used to store the bones of bodies after the flesh had decomposed and the tombs were in need of new burial space. These containers were deposited either on the floor of the tomb-chamber or in niches (kokhim), also called loculi. Ossuaries were used by Jews from the reign of Herod (37 BC) until the end of the First Revolt (AD 73) with sporadic examples until the 3rd c. AD. (I.203-04)
• In 1968 at Givat ha-Mivtar on the outskirts of Jerusalem an ossuary was discovered of a young man called Yehohanan, the bones of which yielded the first physical evidence of crucifixion. His heel bones were still pinioned with an iron nail. The leg bones were broken, perhaps from the coup de grace, a blow designed to hasten death, as in the case of the malefactors crucified with Jesus. A crease in a bone may indicate that the nail pierced not the hand but the forearm. (I.204)

24. BOTTLES & GLASS

• Bottles are usually small containers for storing, carrying, and dispensing liquids. A characteristic feature of bottles is a narrow neck that can be tightly closed. While glassmaking was discovered before 2500 BC, as indicated by glass beads recovered in both Egypt and Mesopotamia, its use for making bottles occurred much later. They were a luxury item until the blowing of glass was invented in the first century BC. (I.208)
• Hexagonal bottles similar to those for Jewish pilgrims were later manufactured for Christian pilgrims in the Byzantine era. These were somewhat taller, and bore symbols of crosses. . . .Christians also treasured ampullae, small bottles of lead in which pilgrims brought back from the Holy Land water or holy oil from the lamps that burned at the shrines. (I.215)

25. BRIBERY

• Thee background myth for Homer’s Iliad involves the bribing of the Trojan prince Paris, who was to judge who among three goddesses was “the fairest.” Hera offered him power, Athena wisdom, and Aphrodite the most beautiful woman in the world, “Helen,” the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. It was Helen’s abduction which touched o the Trojan War.  (I.221)
• The buying of votes with money was a widespread practice in the late Roman Republic. Caesar resorted to the “most lavish bribery” to obtain the office of pontifex maximus. Sallust, commenting on politics in the first century BC, found that “recklessness, bribery, and greed flourished” (Catiline 3.4). (I.221)

26. BUTCHERS & MEAT

• In NT times, most table meat had been sacrificed to pagan deities (eidōlothuton). But if someone raised the point that it was hierothutos “offered in sacrifice,” then the Christian should abstain for the sake of the person who had scruples over the source of the meat. It is probable that meat from sacrificed animals was superior and cost more, so that only the wealthier Christians could afford to buy it. (I.228-29)
• In the Roman persecution of Christians from Decius (ca. AD 250) on, Christians were required to sacri ce to the gods of the Empire, pour a libation and eat sacrificial meat on pain of death if they did not. Some Christians sought to compromise by purchasing a libellus, certifying that they had done these acts, even when they had not done so. (I.233)

27. CALENDARS

• Since a year of 12 lunations or cycles of the moon comes to only 354 days, years were kept in relative order by the intercalation or addition of an extra month periodically. Most ancient calendars were so-called “lunisolar,” that is, reckoning both by the phases of the moon and by the cycles of the solar year. (I. 236)
• A major controversy over the date of Easter arose between Christians of Asia Minor and Christians in Italy and Egypt. The former who were called quartodecimans celebrated Easter regardless of the day of the week by linking it to the Jewish Passover, celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar month of Nisan, whereas most Christians insisted that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday.  (I.243)

28. CAMELS

• Though the camel has been derided as an animal designed by committee and with a nasty disposition, it is an amazingly useful animal for desert conditions. . . . They can drink up to 20% of their weight in water, and then go three to four days without drinking. Camels are capable of carrying over 400 lbs. and traveling 20–25 miles in a day over ground impas-sable for wagons. Their metabolism is such that they can withstand body temperatures up to 104°F.  (I.247)
• The two-humped Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) was used on the Silk Route in Central Asia. It was the one-humped dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) which was found in the Near East. (I.247)

29. CELIBACY

• Celibacy is a word derived from the Latin caelebs “alone or single.” As marriage between men and women for reproductive purposes was the norm in all ancient societies, the decision to remain celibate or unmarried was quite exceptional. Abstinence from marriage to dedicate oneself wholly to God became widespread only with the development of Christianity.  (I.253)
• As reported by the Syrian father Aphrahat, the Jews berated Christians for their celibacy: “You are impure for you don’t take wives. But we are holy and more virtuous for we bear children and multiply seed in the world" (Boyarin, 139). (I.358)

30. CENSUS  

• These large totals result from taking the Hebrew word ʾelep literally as 1000. Many commentators have regarded the resulting numbers as impossibly large, as one would have to multiply the numbers of Moses’ census by a factor of three to account for women and children, yielding a figure of close to two million departing in the Exodus. Scholars have therefore suggested that the Hebrew term ʾelep, in these passages about military manpower meant a “tent group” or a military unit of a much smaller size, resulting in an estimated total of about 20,000 Israelites fleeing Egypt.  (I.263)
• Augustus introduced provincial censuses outside of Rome, the first of which took place in Gallia Comata in 27 BC. This process may have been introduced in 10/9 BC, into Egypt.  . . .The census declarations had a standard format including: addressee, declarant, list of inhabitants, land, house, oath, signature, date, and subscription.  (I.268)

31. CERAMICS & POTTERY

• Clay, which is composed principally of hydrous silicates of aluminum, becomes pliant when moistened, and can then be shaped into desirable shapes and baked hard. The term “ceramic,” which designates materials like clay which have been baked, comes from a Greek word keramikos, meaning “of pottery.”  (I.272)
• Though pottery is easily broken, the pieces do not disintegrate like wood or basketry, so they are found in abundance at tells, and are very important for a variety of diagnostic purposes, including ascertaining trade patterns, culture, and site chronology. The latter use of pottery for dating was first proposed in 1890 by Flinders Petrie at his excavation at Tell el-Hesi in southern Palestine. Petrie, who had been digging for a lifetime in Egypt, was able to associate different types of pottery found at that site with firm Egyptian dates.  (I.274-75)

32. CHILDREN & CHILDBIRTH

• As young women were married soon after puberty and often bore multiple children, the danger of childbirth lessened their life expectancy by about ten years, from the 40 years that were expected for men to only 30 years.  (I.280)
• In every culture, children were considered precious, especially as so many died in infancy. Throughout the ancient world a variety of prayers, charms, spells, and talismans were used to protect both pregnant women and vulnerable children, both during pregnancy and once the children were born. Most births in the ancient world were supervised by midwives while men were prohibited from being present.  (I.280)

33. CITIES

• In antiquity only a small percentage of the population lived in cities, but cities were noted for their wealth and importance. The dense and differentiated population of cities included a wealthy elite and the mass of the poor. Estimates of city populations are often based on speculation, but where their area can be deter̦-mined, scholars estimate between 100 persons per acre or 250 persons per hectare (ha. = 2 1⁄2 acres), with possibly higher densities.  (I.290)
• The largest city in the ancient Near East was Babylon, with 2500 acres (approximately 4 square miles). As Herodotus, who visited the city in the fifth century observed, it was bisected by the Euphrates River and protected by moats and walls with towers at 65-foot intervals. It was most resplendent during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (604–561 BC), who boasted of his palace as “the marvel of mankind, the center of the land, the shining residence, the dwelling of majesty.”  (I.296)

34. CITIZENS & ALIENS

• Citizens were the privileged members of a city or a country who had religious, civic, and economic rights, such as the right to own land. Non-citizens included aliens, immigrants, sojourners, and their de- scendants, and also indigenous peoples who had been conquered. Our earliest extant texts from nearly every culture testify that the ideas of citizenship, sojourning, and foreignness were used universally to create boundaries around the accumulation of wealth, political in uence, and social power.  (I.306)
• Paul was proud of the fact that he was “from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city” (Acts 21:39). Paul was a Roman citizen from birth (Acts 22:25) through either his father or grandfather, who had obtained this privilege for some individual or community service for the Romans. Or, his father may have been a slave who obtained his liberty and Roman citizenship upon the death of his master. Paul may have carried with him a small wooden diptych to prove his citizenship.  (I.308)

35. CLOTHING

• Skirts, kilts, and cloaks were used to cover the lower body until the 7th century BC when trousers were introduced to the Biblical world. Sandals were worn universally until closed shoes were invented by the Romans. Some cultures included specific features in their clothing that were meant to distinguish them from surrounding peoples, such as the tassels that Hebrews wore on the four corners of their outer garment.  (I.322)
• The garment of the Roman citizen, par excellence, was the toga, a heavy, expensive wrap made of fine white wool, which required frequent cleaning by fullers. The toga was made of a large semicircular sheet (about 18 by 7 feet), which was wrapped in a complex fashion, so that the end of it rested on the le shoulder. This large mass had to be held in place, so that orators were able to gesture only with the right hand.  (I.330)

36. COMMUNICATIONS & MESSENGERS

• The most famous ancient courier system was the Persian “Royal Road” from Susa in southwestern Iran to Sardis in western Anatolia, established by Darius I, as described by Herodotus, “It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey, and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed. . . .” (Hist. 8.98). Thousands of years later, the italicized words would be engraved on the U.S. Post Office building in New York City.  (I.343)
• At the time of the Persian invasion of Greece by Xerxes in 490 BC, the Athenians sent the famed runner, Pheidippides, to ask for help from Sparta (Her. Hist. 6.105–106). He covered the 160 miles over mountainous terrain in less than 48 hours. . . . Another Athenian, Eucles, a er ghting in the battle at Marathon, ran the 25 miles to Athens, collapsing in death a er he had uttered the words, “Rejoice, we conquer.”  (I.347)

37. CONTRACEPTION & CONTROL OF BIRTHS

• Individuals in antiquity had a variety of reasons, often economic, for wishing to either prevent or limit births. Contraceptive materials or methods were used by some as a means to avoid pregnancy. These means of contraception varied widely. Some ancient writers suggest applying honey, saps, and oils to the genitals before intercourse, while others prescribe douches or exercises to remove semen following intercourse.  (I.358)
• Augustine, who as an ex-Manichaean, was well acquainted with their practices, condemned their avoidance of procreation by coitus interruptus. . . . Augustine defined marriage in terms of procreation: “But there is no matrimony where motherhood is prevented: for then there is no wife.”  (I.364-65)

38. COSMETICS

• Cosmetics were powders or pastes used on the eyebrows, cheeks, and lips to make the wearer more attractive. The word “cosmetics” is related to the Greek word kosmos or “orderly universe” through the verb kosmeō, “to adorn.” Archaeological evidence of cosmetics comes primarily from grave sites, where containers for paints, perfumes, and oils were buried with their owners.  (I.367)
• The ideal [Roman] woman had a pale smooth complexion achieved by using creams of cosmetics (medicamentum). They whitened their faces by using a variety of powders including white lead (cerussa), white marl (melinum), or white chalk (creta). They rouged their cheeks with red ochre (rubric), red dye from a weed (focus), and lees of wine (faex). The poet Horace even reports that some women wore mud packs of crocodile dung to improve their complexion.  (I.370-71)

39. DANCE

• The Greek verb “to dance” was orcheomai; dance was orchēsis. The orchēstra was the circular dancing floor in a theater. The word choros meant either a ring dance or a group of dancers; choreia meant a choral dance. The word patizō “to play,” could also mean “to dance.” The word schēma meant a dance posture or step. Conventionalized hand gestures were cheironomia. Over 200 names of different dances have been preserved in Greek.  (I.379)
• At weddings all were commanded to dance to make the new couple happy. Rabbi Judah bar ‘Ilai danced waving a myrtle branch, while Rabbi Isaac danced with three myrtle twigs. Rabbi Aha even lifted the bride on his shoulder and danced with her, which raised the question of whether others could follow his example. The answer was: “If carrying (the bride) is to you like carrying a wooden beam, you may, but otherwise it is forbid- den.” (b. Ketub. 17a)  (I.384-85)

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Edwin M. Yamauchi was born in Hilo, Hawaii. He received his Ph.D. in Mediterranean Studies in 1964 at Brandeis University, taught in the History Department at Rutgers University until 1969, and at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, until his retirement in 2005. He joined the ASA in 1962, served on the editorial board of its journal, and as its president in 1983. He has also served as the president of the Conference on Faith and History (1974-76), the Institute of Biblical Research (1986-89), the Evangelical Theological Society (2005-06), and the Near East Archaeological Society (2008-13).
His wife, Kimie, is also from Hawaii. They have a son Brian, who received his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence from Case-Western Reserve University and is a senior roboticist with I-Robot. Their daughter Haruko is a librarian at a City College in the Bronx.