Heads or Snails? A Rustic Feast at Hellenistic Philoteria (Tel Bet Yeraḥ, Israel), circa 150 BCE

Abstract

The contents of a small trash pit discovered in the recent excavations in Hellenistic Philoteria (Tel Bet Yeraḥ/Khirbet el-Kerak) offer a unique opportunity to study the components of what appears to have been a single festive meal. Extant remains include numerous mammal bones, mollusc shells, and ceramic tableware; they suggest a rustic Mediterranean cuisine, compatible with the presence of Greek settlers in pre-Hasmonean Galilee.

Food in a colonial setting: the flora assemblage of a short-lived Seleucid-founded site in the Near East

“…Yet, the analysis of organic remains from archaeological sites provides a unique insight into the dietary preferences of their inhabitants. Thus, for example, when it comes to the study of animal bones, the relatively few reports from secure contexts in the Hellenistic southern Levant suggest that sheep and goats were widely preferred for consumption, supplemented with cattle, chicken, pigs and fish, with other species quite underrepresented (Perry Gal 2019; Pines et al 2020). While the faunal remains in the Levant have received some attention, our knowledge on the consumption of cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables is far less conclusive, given the fact that botanical remains have hardly been studied in Levantine settlements such as cities, towns and villages.…”