Everyday Life in Ancient Israel

What if the Bible wasn’t written from palaces and pulpits—but from kitchens, courtyards, and cramped two-story homes?

Join Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott—field archaeologist and biblical scholar—for a rare, behind-the-scenes journey into the everyday lives of ancient Israelites. In this four-part course, you’ll explore the archaeology of ordinary people: how they lived, what they ate, how they worshiped, and why it all matters for understanding the Bible today.

Forget abstract theology—this is the Bible in dust and dishes. Through real excavation footage, fascinating finds, and rich storytelling, you'll uncover a world where survival depended on grinding grain, tending goats, and trusting the divine in the dirt.

What was it like to wake up, work, worship, and raise a family in ancient Israel? In this immersive four-part course, Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott—archaeologist, biblical scholar, and expert on household archaeology—takes you beyond the palaces and temples to uncover the daily rhythms of ordinary people living in Iron Age Israel.

Drawing on decades of excavation experience, Dr. Shafer-Elliott brings the archaeological record into conversation with the biblical text. You’ll explore the concept of the “tell,” the layers of life hidden beneath the soil, and the tools archaeologists use to uncover ancient homes, tools, shrines, and foodways. Through artifacts, architecture, and real-life examples from fieldwork, you’ll come to see the Old Testament not as a remote, abstract world but as something tangible—rooted in soil, sweat, family, and faith.

Each session focuses on a key aspect of daily life: household structure, food production, domestic religion, and social dynamics. The result is a vivid, textured understanding of how ancient Israelites lived—and how that context can deepen our reading of Scripture today.

The foundational principles of field archaeology and how archaeologists identify and excavate ancient tells.
How stratigraphy and material culture help reconstruct the lives of ordinary people in ancient Israel.
The distinction between monumental and mundane in biblical and archaeological records—and why daily life matters.
What an ancient Israelite household looked like, who lived in it, and what everyday life entailed.
How food was grown, prepared, and consumed—and how it reflected identity, gender roles, and theology.
Insights into domestic religion, including the use of figurines and household shrines in spiritual practice.
How skeletal remains, animal bones, and organic residues contribute to our understanding of ancient health, economy, and belief.
Ways that archaeology and biblical studies can work together to illuminate the historical and cultural world behind the biblical text.

Dr. Cynthia Shafer-Elliott is an Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Baylor University and a leading expert in the archaeology of ancient Israel and Judah. With a Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield, her work focuses on household archaeology—examining food, gender, religion, and daily life in the biblical world. Her research combines rigorous textual analysis with firsthand excavation experience at sites like Tel Halif and Tel Abel Beth Maacah.

Passionate about making the ancient world accessible, Dr. Shafer-Elliott is the author of Food in Ancient Judah and a frequent speaker on how archaeology brings the Bible to life. Whether she's analyzing cooking pots or biblical texts, her goal is to illuminate the gritty, lived experiences of ordinary people in Scripture—and help modern readers see the Bible with new eyes.

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