The Cultural Setting of the Times

Question 1

Population

Answer 1

• Jewish: 4,000,000
• Palestine: 700,000 Jews
• More Jews in Egypt

Question 2

Languages

Answer 2

• Latin is legal language
• Greek is common language
• Palestine: Aramaic and Hebrew

Question 3

Foods - Diets

Answer 3

• Palestine: four meals a day, consistency (small meals)
• Rome: grains, lentils, goats milk, vegetables, fruits, salt from sea, fish (eat whole), wine (daily routine)
• Jewish: more fruit (used as sweetener), dates, figs, vegetables, seafood, meals taken at a reclined position servants would feed you

Question 4

Men Clothing

Answer 4

• Tunics: long shirts, shoulder => knee
• White collar
• Coarse sandals
• Cloak in winter
• Overcoat darker
• Roman: shorter hair and shaved beards
• Jew: long hair/ beards
• Latins and Greeks more into fashion than Jews

Question 5

Women Clothing

Answer 5

• Tunics: shorter, shoulders => waist
• Cloth: head => knees
• Sandals: more attractive than men’s
• (silk) scarfs on waist
• makeup/ lipstick/ eyebrow paint
• Wigs: vary in color
  => Traditional = Jew/Arab
• Jewelry: nose or earrings
• Dye hair to look younger

Question 6

Entertainment

Answer 6

- Theater productions: comedy or drama
 => Every city had a theater
- Gladiator shows 
 =>Wild cats, snakes, rhinos, elephant
- Chariot races: similar to car races  
- Olympic games: racing, javelin, wrestling
 => Women not allowed 
 => Part of high school academic training 
- Accessories for dolls 
- Risque strip shows
 => Smaller theaters
 => Not very popular
- children's games did not stop at the end of the day, it continued the next day

Question 7

Medicine

Answer 7

• Wasn’t as advanced
• Rome more advanced than those in Palestine
• Medicine: plants, herbs
• They did have surgery: tracheotomies, amputations, eye surgeries
• No anesthetics, pain was so severe it caused the patients to pass out
• Dentistry: false teeth, brush teeth with salt from the sea, would rob grave sights to find false teeth

Question 8

Morals: Sexuality (eternal sin)

Answer 8

• Pornea: only sexual thing outside of marriage
• 2 types of prostitutes
  => 1) clean: temple prostitutes
  => 2) unclean: common people
• both men and women practiced prostitution

Question 9

Morals: Homosexuality

Answer 9

• Practiced, but wrong
• Men: adopt feminine name
• Women: change name to masculine version

Question 10

Morals: Divorce

Answer 10

• Divorce by men as long as 2-3 witnesses
• Women could only initiate a divorce if men wanted to leave land or worship other Gods (Jews only)
• Greek: distance (for work): could be a reason for women to divorce

Question 11

Morals: Children

Answer 11

• Exposing children: not fully healthy child will have something broken (i.e. arm) to expose them to get more sympathy and for more money
• Begging

Question 12

Business

Answer 12

- Trade guilds (similar to unions)
 => Protected & defended business from government
- Stores were small and specific 
- Shipping was a big industry 
 => Limited to good weather, seasonal
- Banking was also a big industry
 => Currency exchange
- Advanced agriculture
 => Fertilization
 => Crop rotation
 => Rested on sabbath - replenish the land