108. Bread in Bible Lands

Bread in Bible Lands

(John 6:35) Our Lord’s frequent references to Himself as the Bread of Life were full of meaning to the people to whom He spoke. Bread is sacred in Palestine, as the main article of food. An Arab would stop in the road to pick up a bit of bread that had fallen there, touch his forehead with it in token of respect, and carefully place it in a cleft of the wall or a rock, so that it would be safe from passing feet.

Native bread is usually a round, flat cake, from a quarter of an inch to an inch thick. Leavened bread is very little used among the peasants. The women cook the bread fresh for each meal. The oven is often a piece of sheet iron, slightly convex. It is upheld on three stones and a fire burns underneath. The woman puts a very thin, large piece of unleavened dough on the oven and after being cooked it looks much like a huge pancake. Sometimes they build a fire in a hole in the floor of their tent and fill the hole with small stones. The bread is placed on the hot pebbles. Sarah baked her bread on hot stones on the hearth in her tent.