Culinary Traditions in the Borderlands of Judah and Edom during the Late Iron Age

Abstract

Cooking pots and culinary practices can be used as a sensitive proxy for social identities. Through an analysis of culinary traditions in the northeastern Negev—the borderland region between the Iron Age kingdoms of Judah and Edom—a complex narrative of social interaction between diverse social groups can be identified. This article demonstrates patterns of social and economic alliances, migration and intermarriage through spatial and temporal analyses of the distribution of cooking pot types. The resultant portrait is the outcome of opportunities afforded by the South Arabian trade network traversing the borderland region.