Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East

by Max D. Price

Pigs are among the most peculiar animals domesticated in the Ancient Near East. Their story, from domestication to taboo, has fascinated historians, archaeologists, and religious studies scholars for decades. Rejecting simple explanations, this book adopts an evolutionary approach that relies on zooarchaeology and texts to unravel the cultural significance of swine in the Near East from the Paleolithic to the present day. Five major themes are The domestication of the pig from wild boars in the Neolithic period, the unique roles that pigs developed in agricultural economies before and after the development of complex societies, the raising of swine in cities, the shifting ritual roles of pigs, and the formation and development of the pork taboo in Judaism and, later, Islam.

The origins and significance of this taboo have inspired much debate. Evolution of a Taboo contends that the well-known taboo described in Leviticus evolved over time, beginning with conflicts between Israelites and Philistines in the early part of the Iron Age, and later was mobilized by Judah's priestly elite in the writing of the Biblical texts. Centuries later, the pig taboo became a point of contention in the ethno-political struggles between Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures in the Levant; later still, between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Through these conflicts, the pig taboo grew in power. As this rich account illustrates, it came to define the relations between pigs and people in the Near East and beyond, up to the present day.

Genres: History, Religion, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Sociology, Ancient History, Agriculture

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2020

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best histories of pork prohibition out there. Definitely a niche book but for those interested in the humble pig in the Middle East this is the book for you.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.

[Maher Razouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

كانت الخنازير نادرة للغاية في شبه الجزيرة العربية. تشير بيانات علم آثار الحيوان إلى غياب شبه كامل أو كامل للخنازير في كل موقع تقريبًا من شبه الجزيرة العربية منذ العصر الحجري الحديث . أشارت المؤرخة المسيحية سوزومين من القرن الخامس إلى أن "المسلمون" (أي العرب) لم يأكلوا لحم الخنزير. ومع ذلك ، تُظهر الأدلة الأثرية الحيوانية بوضوح أن الحيوانات الأخرى التي تحظرها الهالاخا (الشريعة اليهودية الدينية) ، مثل الإبل ، كانت تؤكل في شبه الجزيرة العربية. لذلك ، في حين أن نبي الاسلام قد يواجه صعوبة في إقناع العرب المحليين بتبني جميع محرمات الطعام في سفر اللاويين ، إلا أنه لم يواجه مقاومة تذكر في إعلان لحم الخنزير حرامًا (ممنوعًا).
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Max Price
Evolution Of A Taboo
Translated By #Maher_Razouk

[Tony Gualtieri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought there must some single reason for the establishment of the pork taboo, but this book quickly debased me of that idea. After sifting through all the zooanthropological evidence, it seems the prohibition on pork is as complex in its origins as the history it arose from. Unlike most domesticated food animals, pigs have few biproducts such as eggs or milk. They can't assist with agriculture by pulling a plow. At the same time, they're not well suited to grassland, doing better in forests or urban environments. These factors contributed to the rise of the prohibition, but Price suggests that it was traditional and cultural separateness that strengthened the taboo. Abstaining from pork distinguished the Jews from the Greeks and Romans. That the Romans used Jewish revulsion of pig meat as a method of dominance had the paradoxical result that the Jews clung more strongly to the ban.

Christianity's focus on faith rather than works (orthodoxy vs. orthopraxy) contributed to its spread amongst poor Gentiles by relaxing inconvenient laws. At the same time, circumcision and dietary laws solidified the uniqueness of the Jews and later the Muslims. Price shows that the latter abstained because it was an easy commandment to follow for the Arabs, whose climate was unfavorable to pig farming.

I enjoyed seeing how what would seem to be a minor difference between cultures gives an insightful window into historical development.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

In rabbinical school, my research papers focused on different aspects of Jewish dietary laws. One year, I explored the biblical commandments concerning forbidden animals. There were many theories about why Judaism forbids the consumption of animals who do not have cloven hooves and chew their cud. Yet, there was something unsatisfying about them because they were theoretical ideas, usually based on theology or philosophy, rather than factual evidence. Max D. Price’s dry, but fascinating, “Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East” (Oxford University Press) explores a wider range of material to focus on one aspect of these laws: the taboo against eating pork products. To examine why this occurred, he offers theories that include evidence from zooarchaeology to explanations from sociology to show how the taboo may have developed. Where Price’s work differs from many in the field is that he doesn’t offer just one theory. Rather, he explores different possibilities and notes there is not yet enough evidence to decide if any one particular theory is correct.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/past...

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that should disabuse people of the idea that the Israelites were accomplished microbiologists concerned about parasitic diseases. Should, but of course won't. Price covers humanity's relations with swine from the Paleolithic on, noting that the Middle East has never been prime habitat for the beasts -- they don't lend themselves to pastoral or nomadic life in arid regions, not being grazing animals, although hunting wild boars was considered a kingly pastime in Mesopotamia and domesticated pigs turned out to be right at home in ancient cities, requiring little care and feasting on garbage (and worse). They were sometimes used in sacrificial rituals, perhaps because of their "sin-eating" talent, turning refuse into tasty meat, though the flip side was that by the Bronze Age they seem to have been shunned for ritual use, priests presumably having concluded that you are what you eat.

The Israelites of the early Iron Age were mainly villagers in Palestine's hill country, and thus weren't pork eaters in the first place. Price suggests the Biblical ban, ostensibly based on the animals' anatomy and lack of cud-chewing, was an attempt to find a God-given rationale for an accidental feature of the local diet. In any case, it was merely one of the Pentateuch's hundreds of commandments. Its rise to the most famous feature of early Judaism began with the arrival from the Aegean or elsewhere of the Philistines, who did keep pigs, at least for their first few generations in the Levant -- followed a few hundred years later by the dominance of pork-mad Greeks and Romans. Here was a bright line separaing Jew from Gentile, much remarked on at the time. (For the Jews, the ban also harked back to the somewhat mythical days when their ancestors herded ruminants -- cattle, sheep and goats, but not pigs -- on the desert fringes.) Muhammad, in turn, lifted the idea from Judaism; it was no hardship for his early followers, who came from a region even less hospitable to swine than central Palestine.

Price is a zooarchaeologist, so much of his account is based on the painstaking, and not automatically fascinating, study of bones from ancient homes and garbage heaps. You could say he's made a silk purse out of a sow's clavicle, but only if you were inclined to stupid jokes.

[Anjar Priandoyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evolution of Taboo (Price 2020)

Power vacuum: Between AD 602 and 628, a final and largely inconclusive war between the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires left both sides weakened. The story of swine, from wild boar to domestic pig to forbidden flesh, encapsulates complexity

Ch 1
The lesson that the story of swine imparts to readers will vary. But one essential point is that taboos, food preferences, and other elements of culture—“social facts,” to use the terminology of Durkheim—evolve along complex trajectories and in relation to many factors. One cannot pinpoint a single cause located at a discrete moment in time for such social facts, nor can one identify a specific historical figure responsible for their genesis. For culture and its evolution exist beyond the individual person or his or her ability to truly comprehend it. Culture is a cradle and a medium; it creates each human being. Lest this philosophical approach to history appear too much in line with Tolstoy’s fatalism, let me be clear that human agency plays a vital role. To paraphrase Marx, individual humans do themselves create culture and history, but they do not do so in the ways that they think or hope. Actions, social facts, and events that may appear to their direct observers as trivial often radically reshape the conditions of future generations.

Ch 6
While taboos can apply to just about anything, they often surround three types of behaviors: eating, sex, and speaking. The reason that these three behaviors are subject to taboos is perhaps not surprising. Food, sex, and language are among the most basic elements of the human experience. They sustain people, bind them together, and enable them to create the next generation.

[Bastien DZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring read. Boils down to : They ate a bit more porc, then a bit lesss, then a bit more, etc... Some people stop eating porc, we don't know why exactly, and some people kept an eating porc anyway.
The one chapter about ancient jewish history was interesting, although that wasn't the point of the book.

[Alan R · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very biased account by an atheist of the evolution of the Jewish rules of Kosher. I find it ironic and sad since he has Jewish ancestry

[Samaira]

got a 7777 on my assignment thanks to this

[Karrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating.