medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

A few bits of classical bibliography might be relevant:

A. Burford *Craftsmen in Greek and Roman society* (Thames & Hudson 1972)

R. Meiggs *Trees and timber in the ancient mediterranean world* (OUP
1982)

R. Sallares *The ecology of the ancient Greek world* (Duckworth 1991)

P. Hordern & N. Purcell *The corrupting sea* (Blackwell 2000) - not
purely classical, as some will know

Roger Brock (Classicist Lurker)

-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of rochelle
altman
Sent: 21 December 2007 06:45
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] Climates and Wood availability [was Re: [M-R] St. Joseph
misunderstood]

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture

Seems to be a bit of confusion about the topography of the area.

Jerusalem and Nazareth, although only around 60 kilometers apart, do not
have the same climate or vegetation. (Everything is condensed in that
strip of land roughly the area of New Jersey -- including climates.)

Nazareth is located in the mountains of the lower Galilee halfway up
between the fertile coastal plain of the Sharon Valley to the West and
the Upper Galilee to the North and North-East. (Mount Hermon is the
North-East end of the Upper Galilee.) Much of the Galilee is on its side
and covered with (mostly) coniferous forest (lots of pine). 
It does get heavy rains in winter and in many ways has a climate similar
to the Pacific NW -- except that Seattle has (or had) rain almost every
day -- not just in winter.

The road from the coast to the Galilee was, and is, the pre-historic
Salt Road from the Mediterranean Sea inland and climbs up to the Beit
HaKerem plateau. This section is what is called the Carmel Mountain
range. The name Carmel is from "kerem" -- vineyard. Land good for
vineyards is not particularly fertile and is on the arid side. The other
major crops on the plateau are olives and pasturage. Again, not
particularly fertile and on the arid side, but certainly not desert. 
These have been the major crops on this plateau for at least 4,000
years.

At the end of the Carmel plateau is the Biblical village of Rame (which
village, like the road itself, is still there). The salt road then
starts climbing again to the Upper Galilee (ending at Rosh Pina [ancient
name -- literally head of the corner] where it turned South to descend
to the Sea of Galilee and went around the Sea to climb back up. No
trading caravan or sane traveler would take the direct route that
climbs/descends to Damascus; it is very steep and long. 
So, we know which road Paul took to Damascus.)

What about Rame? It was a major turn off point from the salt road to the
lower Galilee and a short-cut to get to Jerusalem. The North-South
track/road between Rame and Nazareth was, and is, a crest road. (You do
not need a permanent to curl your hair; just take public transportation
on this road and hope you do not meet an on-coming truck. Its width is
limited by being a crest-road.) From Nazareth, you were then at a
mid-level point in the Galilee and had by-passed the Upper Galilee en
route to Jerusalem (and this route was also the only reasonable way to
get to the Sharon Valley from the Galilee).

To go from Nazareth to Jerusalem you took the Eastern track/road and
descended to the Sea of Galilee -- meeting the old Salt Road that came
down from the Upper Galilee and went around the Sea -- then turned
South, passed through Samaria, and then climbed up to Jerusalem.

While Nazareth is part way up in the hills, Jerusalem was, and the
ancient core still is, an acropolis in the Judean hills. As in all such
natural fortresses, nothing much grows (then or now) on an acropolis.
(Photographs from the late 19th-century from another hill show a
collection of plastered stone buildings in the distance and shepherds on
large vacant areas of pasturage strewn with rocks and broken stone in
the foreground.) The hills to the South-West around Jerusalem are
terraced -- many ancient and repaired -- and are planted with olive
trees. The olives indicate the climate in terms of rain fall and many of
these olive trees are more than a thousand years old. To the West,
descending from the acropolis, are mainly reforested hills. To the
South, the continuation of the Judean hills are extremely arid; however,
the extreme aridity of full desert dates to the Roman era and later. To
the North you run into the Galilee.

The Galilee was, and still is, forested with fertile plateaus and arid
rocky sections (particularly in the vicinity of Tel-Dan) among the
tilted mountain sides. It is not at all a desert. (I rather doubt
Josephus' description of 100 rich villages of 30,000 people each -- it
would have been a continuous metropolitan area squeezed into the
plateaus. I do accept fertile and populous.)

In other words, in the time of Jesus, there were forested mountains and
fertile plateaus to the North -- including Nazareth, fertile plains
towards the coast in the West, and arid lands to the South.

So, yes, there was wood available. Olive wood, however, is available
only in small portions good for small boxes and other small
manufactures. Conifers, in general, yield lumber good for chairs,
stools, shelves, doors, door-frames, bed-frames, etc. Most conifers (not
Douglas Fir or Redwoods -- neither available there and then) also are
limited in the width of the lumber and are not the most durable of
woods. The cedars of Lebanon were prized for their girth, height,
strength, and durability. The lumber made excellent pillars, and, as it
could yield wide widths as well as having a pleasant odor, it also made
excellent panelling -- but it was very expensive.

Herod's new town of Sepphoris was about 20 km from Nazareth. So, there
was plenty of wood -- and work -- available for a jointer, a
cabinet-maker, but not much for a general carpenter. (Separation of
types of areas of expertise in every field -- artisan or farmer or
household -- dates back to Sumer and Akkad. A place for everything and
everything in its place meant exactly that. To call someone a
"jack-of-all trades" is not a compliment. So, the translation does make
a difference.)

To answer your question, George, the dominant building material was
stone. Mountains of that around between Jerusalem and the Lower and
Upper Galilee. That's not any type of adobe-like mud-brick construction;
it's plastered stone. Wood was not used in general construction. Wood
framed construction of Northern Europe and the US was never common in
the Middle-East -- not many forested areas away from the coast.  Wood
was used in door and window frames, doors, furniture, shelving, and
household items. etc.

Hope this helps clarify the wood issue somewhat,

Rochelle

>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and 
>culture
>
>In the 1st C. probably a reasonable amount although between desert and 
>a couple millenia of deforestation certainly it was not like being in 
>the Pacific NW of the US.
>
>Lebanon was famous for its cedar groves, and I seem to recall there 
>there were still a fair number of groves and modest woodlands further 
>south, particularly closer to the coastal areas.  Then there would have

>been imports of wood, much like today, from places like Egypt and 
>Persia.
>
>"Jointer" does actually make a fair bit of sense, too.  What was the 
>dominant construction material of the Nazareth/Galilee/Jerusalem region

>during the period in question?  I see a lot of "adobe" type structures 
>(yes, I know its not adobe like in the American Southwest).  I know 
>wood figured in construction, but to what extent?
>
>George (speculation is the Romantic's friend)
>
>On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:03:07 -0800, Diana Wright wrote:
>
> >medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and 
> >culture
>
> >Given that the only reference we have is one word in the NT, what 
> >proof could there be?  Please.
>
> >And how much wood would there have been around Nazareth anyway?
>
> >A tekton would have done any working with wood there was to be done 
> >-- fixing a door, making a box, repairing a wagon or a barrel, making

> >a yoke or a stool, carving a spoon.
>
> >DW

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