Deir Ain Abata excavations reveal animal use, monastic economy

AMMAN — Excavations at Deir Ain Abata provided evidence about the animal use in the area. The residents of Deir Ain Abata may very well have kept sheep/goat and pigs, if we accept the presence of very young individuals as being accidental deaths or the slaughtered by-product of husbandry strategies. 

"In the case of cattle, this is not as clear as the sample size is inadequate. Were sheep and goat kept primarily for their meat, milk and/or wool? Comparison of the dental mortality profiles with the idealised models of Payne indicates that the meat was certainly an important concern," noted Konstantinos Politis. 

The number of older animals present implies that milk and wool were also of crucial importance. Milk and cheese would have been important food items within the monastery," noted Politis, adding that wool production was undoubtedly also a significant economic activity. 

“Documentary sources describe how among typical possessions owned by monks were sheepskin capes and sheepskin rucksacks, which they took with them when they went out to seclude themselves in the desert. Pigs would have provided meat and fat to the residents, and judging from the butchery evidence they exploited almost all parts of the pig,” Politis said. 

He added that documentary evidence supports the idea that monasteries were involved in pig farming.

John Moschus reports that one monastery near Phasael in the Jordan Valley owned a pig farm.

"This suggests that monasteries may have been involved in a whole range of economic activities. As pork seems to have been more expensive than beef during the period in question, it may have been economically profitable to maintain a pig farm. In the Edict of Diocletian, dated to AD 301, one Italian pound of beef cost eight denarii and of pork twelve denarii," Politis underline. 

He added that in Tanhuma Balak 15, a text dated to about AD 303-304, it is reported that a pound of kosher meat (probably beef) costs eight maneh, while the same amount of pork costs 10 maneh. 

Cows may have been kept within the monastery primarily for their milk, although their meat would have also been consumed. One has to also consider that their hides may have been exploited, although no typical skinning cut marks were observed on any of the Deir Ain Abata cattle bones. 

The larger oxen were probably retained for use as traction animals to pull ploughs or wagons. The equid remains found at Deir Ain Abata represents animals that were probably used as beasts of burden to transport goods and heavy items. 

Stables for the raising and tending of horses were identified in excavations at Byzantine Shivta and Rehovot. However, according to documentary sources, in the majority of cases traders owned large caravans of donkeys. 

“Usually, each monastery had its own deputy or steward. The job of this steward involved the purchase of food and various other items, including beasts of burden,” Politis said, noting that documentary sources report that the steward of the monastery of Euthymius purchased pack animals for the community. 

"An important role within the monastery would have been that of mule-driver, who was in charge of the transport of goods and delivery of communications with the outside world. It is reported that Sabas served as a mule-driver in his camels were sometimes also used for the transportation of important goods," Politis underlined.

He added that among the papyrus documents found at Nessana in the Negev, there is an autographed letter from Moses, Bishop of Aila, on the Red Sea, sending a money gift to two sanctuaries of the Negev through an Arab, "a Saracen" bedouin camel rider.