Women as Ritual Experts in Ancient Israel with Dr. Carol Meyers

Who were the most important religious figures in ancient Israel? Most people would probably say that the priests were. But they would be wrong. The main arena of religious life for most people in the biblical period was not the Jerusalem temple nor a regional shrine. Rather, it was the family household, and women were major figures in household religious activities. Those activities are largely invisible in the Bible with its focus on the priesthood and sacrifice. However, the use of an array of archaeological materials—and also some carefully selected and fascinating ethnographic data—can reveal many aspects of women’s household religious culture and its meaning for the lives of ordinary ancient Israelites. Dr. Meyers will begin with some comments about feminist biblical hermeneutics and then give this presentation as an example of one kind of feminist biblical interpretation. This event will be offered by the Interfaith Center at Miami University on March 10th. See event page here.