Evolution of a Taboo: Pigs and People in the Ancient Near East

Max D. Price follows the changing relationship between pigs and people across the ancient Near East, asking how an animal that formed part of early farming economies became the focus of powerful dietary prohibitions. Drawing on zooarchaeological evidence as well as ancient texts, he rejects simple single-cause explanations and instead traces how husbandry, environment, identity and religious practice interacted over the long term.

The story begins well before the taboos, with wild boar, early villages and the spread of animal husbandry. In Bronze Age towns pigs occupied a different place in the economy from sheep or cattle; in the Iron Age southern Levant, their absence from some diets became bound up with emerging group identities. Greek and Roman rule brought new clashes over pork consumption. Price follows these changes beyond antiquity, showing how a food prohibition acquired meanings that cannot be explained by climate, hygiene or religion alone.