KOSHER QUALITY

A certificate to ensure the cleanliness and purity of the product leaving the temple

production line was necessary.  Inspection and ensuring  bacteria could not multiply or

cause rancid action was a contribution to the health of the community.  Osmosis

and dehydration became the much preferred process over other sealing systems which

inherently left liquids in the tissues to possible decomposition.

 

 

Second Temple Era Seal Discovered


 

    The Israel Antiquities Authority unveiled a rare ancient seal that underscores the bond of the Jewish people to Jerusalem. The tiny seal, that likely certified the purity of ritual objects used in the Second Temple, was discovered in an excavation near the Temple Mount.

    December 25, 2011

    The Israel Antiquities Authority press release:

    A first of its kind find, indicative of activity in the Temple, was recently discovered: a tiny item that was probably used as a "voucher" certifying the ritual purity of an object or food in the Temple Mount compound and in the Second Temple

    The discovery was presented at a press conference at which the Minister of Culture Limor Livnat and Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar participated

    Layers of soil covering the foundations of the Western Wall, c. 15 meters north of the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount, were excavated beneath Robinson�s Arch in archaeological excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden. On top of these layers, dating to the first century CE (the late Second Temple period), was paved the Herodian street which was the main road of Jerusalem at that time. From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park, and is underwritten by the Ir David Association. It was during the sieving process that a tiny object of fired clay, the size of a button (c. 2 centimeter in diameter) was discovered. The item is stamped with an Aramaic inscription consisting of two lines - in the upper line or in Aramaic means pure and below it
    Following the preposition in the word is the shortened form (two of the four letters) for the name of the G-d of Israel.

    According to the excavation directors on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, archaeologists Eli Shukron of the IAA and Professor Ronny Reich of the University of Haifa:

    "The interpretation of the inscription is "Pure for G-d".
    It seems that the inscribed object was used to mark products or objects that were brought to the Temple, and it was imperative they be ritually pure. This stamped impression is probably the kind referred to in the Mishnah (Tractate Shekalim 5: 1-5) as a (seal). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an object or anything similar to it was discovered in an archaeological excavation and it constitutes direct archaeological evidence of the activity on the Temple Mount and the workings of the Temple during the Second Temple period".

    Tractate Shekalim tells of the administration procedures on the Temple Mount in which our object was used, "Whoever required libations would go to Yohanan who was in charge of the stamps give him [the appropriate amount of] money and would receive a stamp from him in return. He would then go to Ahiyah who was in charge over the libations, give him the stamp and receive the libations from him". There can be no doubt that this is a very exciting find.

    The Mishnah also mentions in Tractate Shekalim, "There were four tokens in the Temple and on them were inscribed; calf, ram, kid and sinner [which were issued as a receipt to those who deposited the appropriate funds]. Ben Azzai says: There were five; and they were inscribed in Aramaic." Our object does not belong to this group. It shows that not all of the details concerning the administration procedures of the Temple Mount have come to us by way of the rabbinic literature. Here an artifact from an archaeological excavation supplements our knowledge with a previously unknown detail.

    It is in this context and the spirit of Hanukkah that the Jerusalem District Archaeologist, Dr. Yuval Baruch, mentioned, "It is written in the Gemara (Talmud Bavli, Tractate Shabbat Chapter 2: Page 21) that the only cruse of oil that was discovered in the Temple after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks, "lay with the seal of the High Priest" - that is: the seal indicated that the oil is pure and can be used in the Temple. Remember, this cruse of oil was the basis for the miracle of Hanukkah that managed to keep the menorah lit for eight days".

    In addition to this item, other artifacts dating to the Second Temple period were discovered. Some are even earlier and date to the time of the Hasmoneans, such as oil lamps, ceramic cooking pots and a fusiform juglet that may have contained oils and perfume, as well as coins of the Hasmonean kings, such as Alexander Jannaeus and John Hyrcanus.

    Photographic credit - Vladimir Naykhin

     



     


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Sacrifice - Embalming - Rites & Rituals - Kosher - Slaughter - TAX [tithe]


Sodium salt solution has a desiccating effect of attracting water from the animal tissues since the salt solution water pressure is considerably lower than the tissue liquids. In effect osmosis. The result was to dehydrate the meat to a point where no bacteria could grow and cause decomposition of the meat. The required salt solution for cheese and butter, is 2%, 6% for meat, and 20% for fish. For this additional use of salt, for the preservation of meat, the daily individual consumption of salt could be as high as 100 g per day. Jewish "KASHRUT" [health] laws, involve the dehydration of meat for its preservation, or the draining of all liquids including blood from the carcass.   The requirement in ancient times, and to this day, was to prevent the meat from deteriorating so that it could be kept long enough, to allow its gradual consumption over a period of time after the slaughter of the animal. Kosher salt crystal


Kosher salt crystals have large surface areas and large crystal form 


What is Koshering ?
Deuteronomy 15:3 Excluded are those species "that only chew the cud, or them that only have the hoof cloven: the camel and the hare...because they chew the cud, but part not the hoof...and the swine, because he parteth the hoof, but cheweth not the cud."
Deuteronomy 15:21 " Thou shalt nor seethe a kid in its mother's milk."
Deuteronomy 14:21 " Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself.
Deuteronomy 15:23 "Thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it on the ground as water." 


Following the animal slaughter Draining the carcass, of the blood, was a relatively easy process By slinging the animal up in a hanging position the blood could flow by gravity . But the last  of the blood and the remaining body fluids could only be drawn off by osmosis in a second stage:

# stage 1:                Gravity drainage .

These fluids ares known as "hanafesh" in Jewish law : by hanging the carcass in such a way as to enhance drainage of the blood.:

    The remaining body liquids in the carcass tissues could only be drawn off by osmosis:

# stage 2:        Osmotic effect,.


By increasing the liquid pressure, with salt, either with solid salt crystals, or by soaking in a concentrated brine, and attracting the remaining liquids with a pressure difference [these liquids are known as "hamatitz"], very similar to the process our own bodies employ to retain the required ratio between salt and water.

CERTIFICATE OF HYGIENE ?

There are a number of ways of achieving meat and fish  preservation. The dehydration process includes soaking the carcass in a "natrum" brine [ salt solution] or washing the carcass with salt brine, or placing the carcass in a bed of salt crystals. Other methods involved, for example the 'anointing' of oils, and "broiling" with vinegar and water, to 'seal' the carcass, if complete drainage was not possible.

BATHS in most Abattoirs [Temples] were were used to to soak the carcasses and precise quantities of salt were required to ensure the Osmosis process dehydrated the tissues to a point where bacteria would no longer be a polluting factor.    Jars were used to measure the salt content.  

See LMLK jars and the methods of controlling this hygiene process

 
The process of dehydration was well known to most ancient civilisations, and although the 'salt' process was not exclusive to all communities, it was recognised as the easiest and the most efficient, provided that salt was in good supply. The Chinese prepared a "spice" which typically was a recipe of mainly salt, but with small amounts of pepper called "fu-la" to ensure the meat would not become too salty, but neither would it go rancid .  The mixed powder with only 75% salt and small amounts of pepper are familiar to all who frequent Chinese restaurants called "chiou yen" an aromatic salt mixture for keeping general chi fula.jpg (12522 bytes)
 
The preparation and the concentration of the salinity of the brines, was not so easy and it required a sophisticated water supply and a drainage system. A typical example of such a system designed for this purpose was Hezekiah's centralising of an hygienic hydraulic system in the Temple in Jerusalem, from a fresh water source, the Gihon spring, amongst others, into a reservoir called the Pool of Siloam [Shiloach] The water was cleverly directed through the Temple by gravity, and exiting the Temple as waste at the southern side. 2000 ritual baths were reputed to have been available in the Temple, with a hydraulic circuit for feeding and draining the baths and reslurrying the salt.
The requirement in ancient times, and to this day, was to prevent the meat from deteriorating, so that it could be kept long enough, to allow its gradual consumption over a period of time after the slaughter (or sacrifice) of the animal. This basic law , to ensure the hygienic distribution and consumption of the meat, was also a central ritual for many other religions. The ritual of sacrifice, and salting, which was the basis for a healthy, life sustaining meat and protein diet, at the same time fulfilled critical physiological needs.
 It became part of a "covenant", particularly for the Jewish religion, and around which, most other religions, and many religious traditions developed:- -and  their "abattoir", became their temple  

This community "service" was not without cost and the "tithe" system of payment later became the community tax

 
salting poultry.jpg (128120 bytes) Salting and storing poultry in amphorae
.
RULES   Laws of Religion Judaism and Islam




The dictates of "Kashrut" law have always confined Jews to living, within an accessible proximity of salt supplies and have had a sense of its importance for every day living essential to Jewish philosophy. This is not a coincidence and down the ages Jewish communities have always been close to salt trading routes, nor is it coincidence that Jews have always been directly connected with those allied industries to KASHRUT  involving uses of salt, such as tanning and leather and many other bye-products, Not least of these, was the use of salt sometimes, as "money" and as a means to pay tax or as a prime taxable item. 
 
Since the Jewish literacy rate has always been high, close  involvement in the collection of taxes for and on behalf of the local administrations probably contributed greatly to anti-Semitism.  Paying tax to Jewish bureaucracy clearly could not have been popular

It might
also  be possible to correlate the resulting consistently high physiological salt intake by Jewish populations to high standards of hygiene and health, in spite of periodical famine.  and also possibly to the high cultural and "thinking" reputation of these Jewish communities.

Herodotus reveals the secret of the Egyptian 'mummies' - Not less than 70 days soaking in a Natrum' bath.

Was this a Jewish technology -- The same process used for dehydrating meat to Kosher standards ?


MITHRAISM, MARII, ZOROASTRIANISM

- under construction

Mithraism - the slaughter of the bull

"Mithraism - the slaughter of the bull" In each mithraic temple there was a central scene showing Mithras sacrificing a bull (often called a tauroctony)

Mithraism was very much a cult for Roman soldiers, who possibly spent their "salarium" in return for salted meat after the rituals. ROMAN GODDESS "Salus" - of - "Health" Health, represented by the serpent.- Salus in Roman religion, the goddess of safety and welfare, later identified with the Greek Hygieia . Her temple on the Quirinal at Rome, dedicated in 302 BC, was the scene of an annual sacrifice on August 5.

CATHOLIC SALT

Always used for the seasoning of food and for the preservation of things from corruption, had from very early days a sacred and religious character. The Prophet Eliseus employed it to make palatable the waters of a well (IV Kings, ii, 19 sqq.). The Orientals used it to cleanse and harden the skin of a newborn child (Ezech., xvi, 4); by strewing salt on a piece of land they dedicated it to the gods; in the Jewish Law it was prescribed for the sacrifices and the loaves of proposition (Lev., ii, 13). In Matthew 5:13, salt symbolizes wisdom, though perhaps originally it had an exorcistic signification.
Its use in the Church belongs exclusively to the Roman Rite. The Ritual knows two kinds of salt for liturgical purposes, the baptismal salt and the blessed salt. The former, cleansed and sanctified by special exorcisms and prayers, is given to the catechumen before entering church for baptism. According to the fifth canon of the Third Council of Carthage it would seem that salt was administered to the catechumens several times a year. This use of salt is attested by St. Augustine (Conf., I. 1, c. xi) and by John the Deacon. St. Isidore of Seville speaks of it (De off., II, xxi), but in the Spanish Church it was not universal. The other salt is exorcized and blessed in the preparation of holy water for the Asperges before high Mass on Sunday and for the use of the faithful in their homes. The present formula of blessing is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary (P.L., LXXVIII, 231). Both baptismal salt and blessed salt may be used again without a new benediction. The appendix of the Roman Ritual has a blessing of salt for the use of animals and another in honour of St. Hubert. The Roman Pontifical orders salt to be blessed and mixed in the water (mixed in turn with ashes and wine) for the consecration of a church. This is also from the Gregorian Sacramentary. Again salt (not specially blessed) may be used for purifying the fingers after sacred unctions. FRANCIS MERSHMAN Transcribed by Charlie Martin from the Catholic Encyclopedia


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