The role and status of women during the pre-monarchic period (1200-105 BC)

Abstract

The lives of women are largely hidden in the Old Testament. New archaeological investigationsinto the households of Iron Age I have brought forward new evidence that sheds light on theauthority status and roles of women in the pre-monarchic tribal community. Conventional theory perceives that women were always oppressed and marginalised under a malevolentsystem of male rule in the Bible. The evidence indicates differently. Investigations in thedomestic sphere, where the household processes were under women’s control and management, imply that women held authority that was equal to male power in the public domain. It has been revealed that women held significant positions in the public sphere as well.This study, therefore, is an investigation into women’s status and the wide-ranging socioeconomicand religious roles they held within a system of male rule that allowed women theirauthority and autonomy in a unique period of Israelite history.