wwh> About dining horizontally...
During what we call here the Second Temple Period, when Judea was occupied by Rome, the 'normal' way of dining was, in fact, almost horizontally... propped up on cushions, with the food in front most probably on low tables. In fact, all those wonderful European painters who pictured the "Last Supper" as a long table with everyone on one side and Jesus in the middle were, in a word, WRONG!
In fact, the type of 'dining' was called a triclineum - a three-sided table, in a U-shape, low to the floor, so that the diners were, as mentioned above, propped up on cushions, around both the outside and sometimes the inside, as well, of the table(s).
A good place to see how this was arranged is at Zippori (Sepphoris) in the Lower Galilee (just 6 kms north of Nazareth). If you have seen any information on any of the archaeological excavations there, you will have seen a mosaic floor which contains what we fondly call "the Mona Lisa of the Galilee" - a beautiful woman with a stark expression looking straight out (at the camera, so to speak). It's a beautiful example of the type of mosaic work that was prevalant in wealthy Hellenistic homes of the period. Anyway, the floor that contains this small piece is in what would have been the 'main' room of the home. The entire mosaic design is a tribute to Dionysus and only one portion contains the face of the woman but it also has a plain white mosaic section that forms a U-shape around the outside of the design at one end of the room. On this white section is where the tables would have been placed. The mosaic floor, then, was the forerunner of our carpets!
BTW - since the designation for Joseph, the father of Yeshua (Jesus), as "capenter" in translation is not exactly correct - he was more likely a 'tekton' which would have been either a stone mason or general handyman or both - I offer that he worked, not in Nazareth which was a poor village of only 200-300 people, but in that grand wealthy gleaming white city on the hill just outside of Nazareth called Zippori (Hebrew for "bird in a nest" as it sits comfortably on the hill overlooking the vast valleys all around it).
The place to EXPERIENCE this type of dining is a terrific and fun restaurant called The Cardo Cullinaria which is located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Upon entering, you are greeted by trumpets announcing your entrance, asked to don typical Roman garb (which is provided), to sit at a triclineum table and enjoy 2,000-year-old food - actually not bad considering...
Hope y'all don't mind - just practicing!
Shoshannah
*One footnote - this 'villa' in Zippori was undoubtedly NOT a Jewish home, as it is doubtful that a Jewish home would have included images of people or animals in the design since it is against Jewish law (the Torah) to do so. As well, no Jewish home would have included a tribute to Dionysus in the design, obviously!
