The Relationship between the Dwelling Place and the Family in Ancient Israel / הזיקה בין מבנה-המגורים ובין המשפחה בארץ-ישראל מאז תקופת המקרא ועד תקופת התלמוד

The dwelling is among the most important archaeological artifacts in the study of ancient societies. Through physical and functional analysis, the new archaeology tries to understand the social structure of ancient society on the basis of its dwellings. The dwelling was an integral part of ancient settlement structure. The character of society and make-up of the ancient family can be reconstructed through analysis of individual dwellings and their relationship to other structures in a settlement. Ever since biblical times, the extended family has, alongside the nuclear family, been referred to in ancient Israel as the basis of well-being. The extended family was the legal and secure framework for assuring the rights of the individual in the courts, in the economy and in his relation to the society. The extended family includes three or more generations: The head of the household, his women, his children and their wives and children, single daughters, converts, residents and slaves of both sexes. The number of individuals in the extended family may have run from a dozen to a few score. All its members participated in the maintenance and cultivation of the family estate. However, it is possible that the nuclear family within the extended one had its own private assets, the purpose of which is not clear. Where did the extended family reside? Did the economic activities of the family estate require joint occupation of a residence by the entire family? This subject has not yet been properly examined, and we must assume that contemporary domestic architecture reflects the biblical extended family. That is to say, the four-room house which was common in the biblical era from the Galilee to the Negev was suited to the biblical extended family. Together with this four-room building are also Canaanite courtyard structures. The buildings, too, would have been suited to the extended family. The disappearance of the four-room building as the primary structure indicates social and familial changes in ancient Israel, although these changes haven't yet been examined on the basis of archaeological data. In the final days of the Second Temple, the extended family framework was still prevalent. Socio-economic processes which followed the Roman conquest of the country brought about a break-down of the extended family. It should be possible to follow the trend toward nuclear families through "courtyard houses" which are often referred to in the Mishnah and Talmud, and examples