On the pre-jewish origins of the pork taboo, and the scapegoat concept.

Key Insights

🐖 Initially, pork was widely consumed across civilizations. The pig taboo devleoped in the middle east over centuries, influenced by economic and social factors.

⏳ Pigs were once valued for their waste-eating habits but became associated with lower status.

🌐 The rivalry between Israelites and Philistines (Greek settelers who did eat pork) catalyzed a cultural identity, with pork becoming a symbol of otherness.

📖 The pork taboo became codified in religious texts during the 8th and 7th centuries, reflecting the socio-political dynamics of the time rather than just health concerns.

🧬 Evolution of Identity: The pork taboo became a crucial aspect of Jewish identity, especially during Hellenistic conflicts, reinforcing cultural boundaries.

Bibliography

Hesse, B. and Wapnish, P. 1997. Can Pig Remains Be Used for Ethnic Diagnosis in the Ancient Near East? In The Archaeology of Israel: Constructing the Past, Interpreting the Present, edited by N.A. Silberman and D.B. Small, pp. 238-270.

Hesse, B. and Wapnish, P. 1998.Pig Use and Abuse in the Ancient Levant: Ethnoreligious Boundary-Building and Swine. In Ancestors for the Pigs, edited by S. Nelson, pp. 123-135.

Price, M.D. 2021. Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East. Oxford.

Sapir-Hen, L., Bar-Oz, G., Gadot, Y., and Finkelstein, I. 2013. Pig Husbandry in Iron Age Israel and Judah: New Insights Regarding the Origin of the “Taboo.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins 129 (1): 1-20.

Zeder, M.A. 2009. The Neolithic Macro-(R)evolution: Macroevolutionary Theory and the Study of Culture change. Journal of Archaeological Research 17:1-63.

Zeder, M.A. 2012. The Broad Spectrum Revolution at 40: Resource Diversity, Intensification, and an Alternative to Optimal Foraging Explanations. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31: 241-264.

Zeder, M.A. 2015. Core Questions in Domestication Research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112: 3191-3198.

Dr. Andrew Henry is a scholar of late antique Mediterranean religion. Dr Hendry holds a MA and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Boston University. He is a Lecturer and Scolar at George Washington University, where he specializes in early Christianity, the New Testament, and the historical context of biblical texts.