Goose Keeping, Elite Emulation and Egyptianized Feasting at Late Bronze Lachish

Abstract

The paper examines an assemblage of goose (Anser sp.) bones found in Late Bronze levels at Lachish and discusses its historical and cultural context. The appearance of an Egyptian trait-the keeping and consumption of waterfowl-is not surprising at Lachish, where a vast amount of Aegyptiaca was unearthed. The assemblage is interpreted not according to the common assumption regarding an Egyptian presence at Lachish but rather as attesting to the local elite that was influenced by the long-term Egyptian hegemony over Canaan. Based on contemporaneous comparanda, the author argues that this local elite adopted the Egyptian trait of goose keeping and adapted it to its own needs of communal feasting-and thus presented themselves as Egyptian.

Genetic and Phenotypic Characterization of Domestic Geese (Anser anser) in Egypt

“…Globally, domesticated geese were derived from two wild species: (1) the greylag goose ( Anser anser ), a progenitor of many domestic breeds, including the current native geese in Egypt; and (2) the swan goose ( Anser cygnoides ), an ancestor of the Chinese and African goose breeds [ 1 , 2 ]. Historically, the goose was one of the first birds domesticated in Egypt more than 3000 years ago [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. It was used for meat, fat and down, as well as in the cultic sphere [ 6 ].…”

“…Historically, the goose was one of the first birds domesticated in Egypt more than 3000 years ago [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. It was used for meat, fat and down, as well as in the cultic sphere [ 6 ]. Ancient Egyptians invented a force-feeding technique for producing fatty liver (around 2686–2181 BC) and introduced the feather plucking technique of geese [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Animal husbandry from the Middle Bronze Age through the Iron Age in the Shephelah—faunal remains from the new excavations at Lachish

“…Map of Lachish showing the location of the excavation areas P and S (Lernau and Golani 2004). We can see Egyptian influence in the material culture (Koch 2014;Ussishkin 2004). Around 1130 BCE, Lachish was destroyed and burned by an unconfirmed enemy (Tufnell 1958;Ussishkin 2014).…”

“…The results are published in five volumes (Ussishkin 2004) and a public interest book (Ussishkin 2014). Several zooarchaeologists analyzed the material (Bar-Yosef Mayer 2004;Croft 2004aCroft , 2004bDrori and Horowitz 1989;Koch 2014;Lernau and Golani 2004). The analyses included fauna from area P and area S, which gives us a baseline for comparing the results from our current study.…”

Chickens, Partridges, and the /tor/ of Ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible

“…Geese were utilized throughout the Levant for their meat, fat, and feathers (Houlihan 2001: 189-91). In the previous Late Bronze Age, geese were associated with the elite, and their consumption was linked to Egyptian emulation (Koch 2014). Chicken was not widely consumed with only 6 %, and it was only identified at Tel Dor and at Shiloh (Figure 1, Appendix 2).…”