Ancient Israelite cuisine was similar to other contemporary Mediterranean cuisines. Dietary staples were bread, wine, and olive oil; also included were legumes, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, and fish and other meat. Importance was placed on the Seven Species, which are listed in the Hebrew Bible as being special agricultural products of the Land of Israel.

Like many cultures, the Israelites abided by a number of dietary regulations and restrictions that were variously unique or shared with other Near Eastern civilizations. These culinary practices were largely shaped by the Israelite religion, which later developed into Judaism and Samaritanism. People in ancient Israel generally adhered to a particular slaughter method and only consumed from certain animals, notably excluding pigs and camels and all predators and scavengers, as well as forbidding blood consumption and the mixing of milk and meat. There was a considerable continuity in the main components of the diet over time, despite the introduction of new foodstuffs at various stages. Sources Information about the food of the ancient Israelites is based on written sources, archaeological records and comparative evidence from the wider region of the ancient Levant. The primary written source for the period is the Hebrew Bible, the largest collection of written documents surviving from ancient Israel. Other texts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocryphal works, the New Testament, the Mishnah and the Talmud also provide information. Epigraphic sources include ostraca from Samaria and Arad.

The Bible provides names of plants and animals that were used for food, such as the lists of permitted and forbidden animals (for example, and ), and the lists of foods brought to the king’s table (for example, ) or the foods that the Israelites are said to have longed for after leaving Egypt (). These lists indicate the potential foods that were available, but not necessarily how regularly the food was eaten or how significant it was in the cuisine, which needs to be derived from other sources.

Archaeological remains include the items used for the production of food, such as wine or olive presses, stone and metal implements used in the preparation of food, and amphorae, jars, storerooms and grain pits used for storage. Animal bones provide evidence of meat consumption, the types of animals eaten, and whether they were kept for milk production or other uses, while paleobotanical remains, such as seeds or other carbonized or desiccated plant remains provide information about plant foods.

Using both written and archaeological data, some comparisons can be drawn between the food of ancient Israel and its neighbors. Although there is much information about the foods of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the inferences that can be made are limited due to differences in topography and climate; Israelite agriculture also depended on rainfall rather than the river-based irrigation of these two civilizations, resulting in the preference for different crops. Ugarit and Phoenicia were closer neighbors of ancient Israel, and shared a topography and climate similar to that of ancient Israel. Thus, conclusions about the food and drink in ancient Israel have been made with some confidence from this evidence.

History Significant milestones in the availability and development food production characteristic of Israelite cuisine occurred well before the Israelite period. On the other hand, vestiges of the cuisine and the practices associated with it continue to resonate in later Jewish cuisine and traditions that developed in Israel and Babylonia during the Talmudic period (200 CE-500 CE), and may still be discerned in the various culinary styles that have developed among Jewish communities since then.

Pre-Israelite period Wild species of barley and emmer wheat were domesticated and cultivated in the Jordan River Valley as early as the 9th millennium BCE. Archaeologists have found the carbonized seeds of two kinds of primitive wheat, einkorn and emmer, and two-row barley, in the earliest levels of digs at Jericho, one of the first cities in the world.

During the Pottery Neolithic period (6000-4300 BCE), the development of pottery enabled people to produce portable containers for the transportation and storage of food, and an economy based on agriculture and herding developed. Archaeological evidence indicates that figs, lentils and broad beans were being cultivated from Neolithic times. During the Chalcolithic period (4300-3300 BCE), large pottery containers, indicative of settled peoples, appear in the archaeological record. Date palm cultivation began in the Jordan River Valley, and the earliest date pits have been discovered at Ein Gedi by the Dead Sea. In the Golan, olives trees were grown and olive oil was produced there.

Chickpea cultivation dates back to the Bronze Age (3300 – 1200 BCE) and grapes and olives became important crops in the hill country. Wine and oil were traded for wheat with the cities on the coastal plain, and for meat and skins with semi-nomadic herders. Wine and carobs were also exported to Egypt during this period. At Arad in the northern Negev, the remains of wheat, barley and legumes have been found, along with stone-lined storage pits for grain from this period. Pottery was imported from Cyprus and Mycenae in Greece for the first time, probably for use as good-quality tableware. After the Bronze Age collapse of urban culture, there was an increase in herding and the disappearance of smaller agricultural communities.

Israelite period

The Israelite presence emerged during the Early Iron Age (1200-1000 BCE), at first in the central hill country, Transjordan and the northern Negev, and later in the Galilee, while the Philistines and other Sea Peoples arrived at roughly the same time and settled in the coastal regions. Pastoralism and animal husbandry remained important, and walled open spaces in villages that probably served as paddocks have been discovered. The construction of terraces in the hills, and of additional plastered cisterns for water storage, enabled more cultivation than before. Storage pits and silos were dug into the ground to hold grain. Under the united Israelite monarchy, central store cities were built, and greater areas of the northern Negev came under cultivation. The Gezer agricultural calendar, detailing the crops that were raised, dates from this period.

After the division of the Israelite kingdom, Jerusalem and a number of other cities expanded, supported by the surrounding villages and farms. These were called “daughters of” the major towns in the Hebrew Bible (for example, and ). Large food storage facilities and granaries were built, such as the city of Hazor. During the later Iron Age (Iron Age II) period, roughly the same period as the Israelite and Judean monarchies, olive oil and wine were produced on a large scale for commerce and export, as well as for local consumption.

The ancient Israelites depended on bread, wine and oil as the basic dietary staples and this trio is often mentioned in the Bible (for example, and ) and in other texts, such as the Samaria and Arad ostraca. Written and archaeological evidence indicate that the diet also included other products from plants, trees and animals. Seven basic agricultural products, called the Seven Species, are listed in the Bible: wheat, barley, figs, grapes, olives, pomegranates, and dates (). The Bible also often describes the land of Israel as a land "flowing with milk and honey" (for example, ).

The cuisine maintained many consistent traits based on the main products available from the early Israelite period until the Roman period, even though new foods became available during this extended time. For example, rice was introduced during the Persian era; during the Hellenistic period, as trade with the Nabateans increased, more spices became available, at least for those who could afford them, and more Mediterranean fish were imported into the cities; and during the Roman period, sugar cane was introduced.

Post-Temple period The symbolic food of the ancient Israelites continued to be important among Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE (AD) and the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora. Bread, wine, and olive oil were seen as direct links to the three main crops of ancient Israel—wheat, grapes, and olives. In the Bible, this trio is described as representing the divine response to human needs () and particularly the need for the seasonal rains vital for the successful cultivation of these three crops. (). The significance of wine, bread and oil is indicated by their incorporation into Jewish religious ritual, with the blessings over wine and bread for Shabbat and holiday meals and at religious ceremonies such as weddings, and the lighting of Shabbat and festival lights with olive oil.

Characteristics The daily diet of the ordinary ancient Israelite was mainly one of bread, cooked grains, and legumes. Bread was eaten with every meal. Vegetables played a smaller, but significant role in the diet. Legumes and vegetables were typically eaten in stews. The Israelites drank goat and sheep’s milk when it was available in the spring and summer, and ate butter and cheese. Honey, both from bees and date honey, was also eaten. Figs and grapes were the fruits most commonly eaten, while dates, pomegranates, and other fruits and nuts were eaten more occasionally. Wine was the most popular beverage and sometimes other fermented beverages were produced. Meat, usually goat and mutton, was eaten rarely by most Israelites and was reserved for special occasions such as celebrations, festival meals, or sacrificial feasts. However, goat meat was consumed more than sheep meat since sheep were valued. The wealthy ate meat, including beef and venison, more frequently. Olives were used primarily for their oil, which was used raw and to cook meat and stews. Game, birds, eggs, and fish, especially fresh and saltwater fish, were also eaten, depending on availability. Non-kosher fish consumption was also very common until the first century CE.Bad Judeans? Despite biblical ban, non-kosher fish were eaten in ancient Israel

Most food was eaten fresh and in season. Fruits and vegetables had to be eaten as they ripened and before they spoiled. People had to contend with periodic episodes of hunger and famine; producing enough food required hard and well-timed labor, and the climatic conditions resulted in unpredictable harvests and the need to store as much food as possible. Thus, grapes were made into raisins and wine; olives were made into oil; figs, beans, and lentils were dried; and grains were stored for use throughout the year.

An Israelite meal is illustrated by the biblical description of the rations that Abigail brought to David's group: bread loaves, wine, butchered sheep, parched grain, raisins, and fig cakes ().The text also mentions five sheep, but ordinarily, meat was reserved for special occasions.

Foods

Grains and bread

Grain products constituted the majority of the food consumed by the ancient Israelites. The staple food was bread, and it was such a vital part of each meal that the Hebrew word for bread, lehem, also referred to food in general. The supreme importance of bread to the ancient Israelites is also demonstrated by how Biblical Hebrew has at least a dozen words for bread, and bread features in numerous Hebrew proverbs (for example, , ). Bread was eaten at just about every meal and is estimated to have provided from 50 to 70 percent of an ordinary person’s daily calories. The bread eaten until the end of the Israelite monarchy was mainly made from barley flour; during the Second Temple period, bread from wheat flour become predominant.