This groundbreaking study looks beyond biblical texts, which have had a powerful influence over our views of women's roles and worth, in order to reconstruct the typical everyday lives of women in ancient Israel. Carol Meyers argues that biblical sources alone do not give a true picture of ancient Israelite women because urban elite males wrote the vast majority of the scriptural texts. Also, the stories of women in the Bible concern exceptional individuals rather than ordinary Israelite women. Drawing on archaeological discoveries and ethnographic information as well as biblical texts, Meyers depicts Israelite women not as submissive chattel in an oppressive patriarchy, but rather as strong and significant actors within their families and in their communities. In so doing, she challenges the very notion of patriarchy as an appropriate designation for Israelite society.

PrefaceNotes on Translations, Transcriptions, and Documentation1. Eve and Israelite Women: Understanding the Task2. Resources for the Task3. Setting the Scene: The Ancient Environment4. Eve in Eden: Genesis 2-35. Eve out of Eden: Genesis 3:166. Eve's World: The Household7. Women and Household Maintenance, Part I: Economic, Reproductive, and Socio-Political Activities8. Women and Household Maintenance, Part II: Religious Activities9. Excursus: Professional Women10. Gender and Society: Reconstructing Relationships, Rethinking SystemsEpilogue: Beyond the Hebrew BibleNotes