Domestic Architecture, Ancient Israel
- LAST REVIEWED: 22 August 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 22 August 2023
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0096
- LAST REVIEWED: 22 August 2023
- LAST MODIFIED: 22 August 2023
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0096
Introduction
Since the advent of agriculture, all humans have lived in built environments, and traditional societies typically produce living spaces that exhibit considerable uniformity. Domestic architecture, ancient Israel refers to the typical structures that housed most Israelite families in the Iron Age (c. 1200–587 BCE). Although some house forms that existed in the pre-Israelite periods continued into the Iron Age, mainly in enclaves of non-Israelites, one house form came to dominate in settlements identified as Israelite. This type is called by various names. It was first identified as a rectangular space divided into three longitudinal spaces and, at the back, one horizontal space, creating four rooms; it was thus designated a “four-room house” (and more recently a “longitudinal four-space house”). However, as more excavated examples became known, it became clear that this house type had many variations, some having fewer than four rooms and many, especially when second stories are taken into account, having considerably more. Thus, because a row of pillars typically separates two of the longitudinal spaces, they are sometimes called “pillared” houses or “pillar-courtyard” houses. Either way, the location of courtyard space in these buildings is not clear. The function of these structures was not only to provide shelter from the elements or from enemies; it was also the workspace for many of the activities that were essential for the survival of the agriculturalists who comprised the great majority of the Israelite population. Houses served as places to sleep and eat and also to carry out basic economic functions: preparing food, making and using essential household items (e.g., textiles, pottery, baskets), and storing provisions and implements. They also were the settings for religious activities and local social and political as well as familial interactions. In addition, the organization of space in a dwelling probably embodied and communicated cultural values.
General Overviews
Very little information about Israelite dwellings appears in biblical texts. Thus, the remains of dwellings, which are commonly found in archaeological investigations, are the most important source of information. The typical Israelite dwelling is described as an architectural type in Braemer 1982, Hardin 2010, Netzer 1992, and Wright 1985. Holladay 1992 and Holladay 1997 describe the dwelling and also include a consideration of the functions of household space. Faust 2013 adds suggestions about the social meaning of spatial arrangements. Many of the sources in Identification and Origins also contain general descriptions of the Israelite dwelling.
Braemer, Frank. L’Architecture domestique du Levant à l’Age du Fer. Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations 8. Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les civilisations, 1982.
Comprehensive corpus of dwellings known up to 1982 and a suggested typology, with variants of the four-room house considered discrete types. Written mainly for architectural specialists and amply illustrated with plans and diagrams. Also see Identification and Origins.
Faust, Avraham. “Domestic Architecture. Bronze and Iron Age.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology. Vol. 1. Edited by Daniel M. Master, 301–310. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Describes the four-room house, reviews past interpretations, and focuses on the social aspects––including family structure and size, social class, and meaning––of this type. Also see Ancient Israel.
Hardin, James W. “The Iron Age Pillared Dwelling.” In Lahav II, Households and the Use of Domestic Space at Iron II Tell Halif: An Archaeology of Destruction. By James W. Hardin, 44–55. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2010.
Introduction to the plan, origin, construction, components, and design of the pillared house, the typical Israelite dwelling.
Holladay, John S. “Four-Room House.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Vol. 2. Edited by Eric M. Meyers, 337–342. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Shows how the design and layout of the four-room house reflects the agrarian economy, ethnicity, and social structure of ancient Israel.
Holladay, John S., Jr. “House, Israelite.” In The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Vol. 3. Edited by David Noel Freedman, 308–318. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Detailed description of the typical Israelite dwelling and its structural components and one of the first studies to consider functional and socioeconomic aspects of Israelite dwellings. See also Household Economy and Identification and Origins.
Netzer, Ehud. “Domestic Architecture in the Iron Age.” In The Architecture of Ancient Israel: From the Prehistoric to the Persian Periods. Edited by Aharon Kempinski and Ronny Reich, 193–201. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1992.
Architectural description of the four-room house as well as the few examples of another type, the larger courtyard house, which probably developed from Canaanite prototypes and may have served administrative purposes. Suggests that courtyard space was on the second story.
Wright, G. H. R. Ancient Building in South Syria and Palestine: Text. Vol. 1. Handbuch der Orientalistik 7. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1985.
See pp. 86–87 and 293–297. Situates the “Israelite house” in a discussion, by a leading archaeological architect of the last generation, of architectural forms at Iron Age sites in Palestine.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Nabataea and the Nabat...
- Aaron
- Acts of Peter
- Acts of the Apostles
- Adam and Eve
- Aelia Capitolina
- Afterlife and Immortality
- Agriculture
- Alexander the Great
- Alexandria
- Altered States of Consciousness in the Bible
- Ancient Christianity, Churches in
- Ancient Israel, Schools in
- Ancient Medicine
- Ancient Mesopotamia, Schools in
- Ancient Near Eastern Law
- Angels
- Anti-Semitism and the New Testament
- Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
- Apocryphal Acts
- Apostolic Fathers
- Aram
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Ammon and the Ammonite...
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Aram and the Arameans
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Judah and the Judeans ...
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Moab and the Moabites
- Archaeology and Material Culture of Phoenicia and the Phoe...
- Archaeology and Material Culture of the Kingdom of Israel ...
- Archaeology, Greco-Roman
- Art, Early Christian
- Asceticism
- Astrology and Astronomy
- Athaliah
- Atonement
- Augustus
- Babylon
- Baptism
- Barnabas, Epistle of
- Benefaction/Patronage
- Bible and Film
- Bible and Visual Art
- Bible, Exile, and Migration, The
- Biblical Criticism
- Biblical Studies, Cognitive Science Approaches in
- Caesarea Maritima
- Canaanites
- Canon, Biblical
- Ceramics
- Cherubim
- Child Metaphors in the New Testament
- Children in the Hebrew Bible
- Children in the New Testament World
- Christian Apocrypha
- Christology
- Chronicles, First and Second
- Cities of Refuge
- Clement, First
- Clement of Alexandria
- Clement, Second
- Clothing
- Colossians
- Conversation Analysis
- Conversion
- Corinthians, Second
- Cosmology, Near East
- Covenant
- Covenant, Ark of the
- Crucifixion
- Cyrus
- Daniel
- Daniel, Additions to
- David
- Death and Burial
- Deborah
- Demons
- Deuteronomistic History
- Deuteronomy
- Diaspora in the New Testament
- Didache
- Digital Humanities and the Bible
- Divination and Omens
- Domestic Architecture, Ancient Israel
- Early Christianity
- Ecclesiastes/Qohelet
- Economics and Biblical Studies
- Edom
- Education, Greco-Roman
- Education in the Hebrew Bible
- Egyptian Book of the Dead
- Election in the Bible
- Elijah
- Elisha
- Enoch
- Ephesians
- Epistles, Catholic
- Epistolography (Ancient Letters)
- Eschatology of the New Testament
- Esther and Additions to Esther
- Ethics
- Evil Eye
- Exodus, Book of
- Exorcism
- Ezekiel
- Ezra-Nehemiah
- Faith in the New Testament
- Feminist Scholarship on the Old Testament
- Flora and Fauna of the Hebrew Bible
- Food and Food Production
- Friendship, Kinship and Enmity
- Funerary Rites and Practices, Greco-Roman
- Galatians
- Galilee
- Genesis, Book of
- Gentiles
- Gilgamesh
- Gnosticism
- God, Ancient Israel
- God, Greco-Roman
- God, Son of
- Gospels
- Gospels, Apocryphal
- Great, Herod the
- Greco-Roman Meals
- Greco-Roman World, Associations in the
- Greek Language
- Hagar
- Heaven
- Hebrew Bible, Biblical Law in the
- Hebrew Language
- Hebrews
- Hell
- Hellenistic and Roman Egypt
- Hermas, Shepherd of
- Historiography, Greco-Roman
- History of Ancient Israelite Religion
- Hittites
- Holy Spirit
- Honor and Shame
- Hosea, Book of
- Idol/Idolatry (HB/OT)
- Idol/Idolatry (New Testament)
- Imperial Cult and Early Christianity
- Infancy Gospel of Thomas
- Interpretation and Hermeneutics
- Intertextuality in the New Testament
- Isaiah
- Israel, History of
- James
- Jeremiah
- Jeroboam
- Jerusalem
- Jesus of Nazareth
- Jewish Christianity
- Jewish Festivals
- Jezebel
- Job
- Joel, Book of
- John, Gospel of
- John the Baptist
- Joshua
- Jubilees, Book of
- Judaism, Hellenistic
- Judaism, Rabbinic
- Judaism, Second Temple
- Judas, Gospel of
- Jude, Epistle of
- Judges, Book of
- Judith, Book of
- Kings, First and Second
- Kingship
- Lamentations
- Latino/a/e and Latin American Biblical Interpretation
- Letters, Johannine
- Letters, Pauline
- Levi/Levittes
- Levirate Obligation in the Hebrew Bible
- Levitical Cities
- Leviticus
- LGBTIQ Hermeneutics
- Literacy, New Testament
- Literature, Apocalyptic
- Lord's Prayer
- Luke, Gospel of
- Maccabean Revolt
- Maccabees, First–Fourth
- Man, Son of
- Manasseh, King of Judah
- Manasseh, Tribe/Territory
- Mari
- Mark, Gospel of
- Martyrdom
- Mary
- Matthew, Gospel of
- Medieval Biblical Interpretation (Jewish)
- Mesopotamian Mythology and Genesis 1-11
- Messianism
- Metaphor in the New Testament
- Midian
- Midrash and Aggadah
- Minoritized Criticism of the New Testament
- Miracle Stories
- Modern Bible Translations
- Moses
- Music
- Mysticism in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
- Myth in the Hebrew Bible
- Nahum, Book of
- Names of God in the Hebrew Bible
- New Testament and Early Christianity, Women, Gender, and S...
- New Testament, Feminist Scholarship on the
- New Testament, Men and Masculinity in the
- New Testament, Rhetoric of the
- New Testament, Social Sciences and the
- New Testament Studies, Emerging Approaches in
- New Testament, Textual Criticism of the
- New Testament Views of Torah
- Numbers, Book of
- Nuzi (Nuzi Tablets)
- Old Testament, Biblical Theology in the
- Old Testament, Social Sciences and the
- Orality and Literacy
- Otherness in the Hebrew Bible
- Pain and Suffering in the Hebrew Bible
- Parables
- Paraenesis
- Passion Narratives
- Pastorals
- Paul
- Pauline Chronology
- Paul's Opponents
- Pentateuch
- Performance Criticism
- Period, The "Persian"
- Peter
- Philemon
- Philippians
- Philistines
- Philo of Alexandria
- Piety/Godliness in Early Christianity and the Roman World
- Poetry, Hebrew
- Pontius Pilate
- Priestly/Holiness Codes
- Priest/Priesthood
- Prophets
- Proverbs
- Psalms
- Pseudepigraphy, Early Christian
- Pseudo-Clementines
- Q
- Qumran/Dead Sea Scrolls
- Race, Ethnicity and the Gospels
- Revelation (Apocalypse)
- Romans
- Ruth
- Sacrifice
- Samaria/Samaritans
- Samuel, First and Second
- Satan
- Scriptures
- Second Baruch
- Sects, Jewish
- Septuagint
- Sermon on the Mount
- Sexual Violence and the Hebrew Bible
- Sin (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament)
- Sirach
- Slavery
- Sojourner
- Solomon
- Solomon, Wisdom of
- Song of Songs
- Succession Narrative
- Synagogue
- Synoptic Problem
- Tales, Court
- Talmud
- Targum
- Temples and Sanctuaries
- Temples, Near Eastern
- Ten Commandments
- The Bible and the American Civil War
- The Bible and the Qur’an
- The Bible in China
- The English Bible: History and Translations
- the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Egypt and
- The New Testament and Creation Care
- Thessalonians
- Thomas, Gospel of
- Tobit
- Trauma and the Bible, Hermeneutics of
- Twelve Prophets, Book of the
- Ugarit
- Virtues and Vices: New Testament Ethical Exhortation in I...
- War, New Testament
- Wisdom
- Wisdom—Greek and Latin
- Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testa...
- Worship in the New Testament and Earliest Christianity
- Worship, Old Testament
- Zadok
- Zechariah
- Zoology (Animals in the New Testament)