The Ancient Household

We tend to imagine ancient women confined to their looms and their kitchens, and these tasks of course occupied a large part of their time, but they also did many other forms of work. 

You can get an idea of these tasks by reading Proverbs 31:10-31,  a poem describing the ‘Woman of Worth’. Proverbs 31 lists all the attributes of an ideal woman, listing her goals and tasks. These included:

✒ finding a respected, learned and well-to-do man to be her husband

✒ spinning and weaving cloth, to make the family's clothing and in the earlier period the tents they lived in

✒ making and selling finished items of clothing  

✒ designing and making suitable clothing for all members of the household, for both winter and summer

✒ dressing herself well and attractively

✒ keeping herself physically and mentally strong and fit

✒ giving religious instruction to her children: she was their first teacher

✒ gathering food and assembling a varied and healthy diet for the members of the household

✒ administering the finances of the family and overseeing the family business, with all the necessary skills

✒ buying investment property wisely

✒ supervising investments and making a profit from them, then re-investing the profits

✒ performing charitable work and caring for the poor

✒ organizing and supervising the tasks of all the servants in the household

✒ overseeing the emotional and physical well-being of all the members of the household

✒being available at all times to anyone who needed her.

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