Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit

Magness (early Judaism, U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) explores what the archaeological record reveals about Jewish daily life in late Second Temple period Palestine, with an emphasis on correlations between literary and archaeological evidence for the purity practices of the major Jewish groups. Her topics include purifying the body and hands, dining customs and communal meals, Sabbath observance and fasting, clothing and tsitzit, toilets and toilet habits, and tombs and burial customs. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)