HOUSE (בַּ֫יִת֒, H1074, Hebrew and Aramaic; bîtu, Akkadian; bt, Ugaritic; bayt, Arabic; οἶκος, οἶκία, Gr.). The word house occurs more than 2,000 times throughout the Bible, denoting a dwelling place, including references to the rudest huts, the palace, and the Temple of God.
Earliest houses found to date in the Near E occur at Haçilar in Anatolia from the 7th millennium and already were rectangular in plan, indicating the early solution to roof framing, whereas in the area near the Persian Gulf and in Egypt where reeds were plentiful, the natural shape was a round plan, having woven reed walls with the tops of tall reeds bent over dome-like to form the roof. A later variation was the row of center posts formed of bundled reeds with woven reed walls on either side, with the tops bent over to form the roof and fastened to a pole set atop the center posts (Conteneau, Everyday Life in Babylonia, 26). Only with the advent of the rectangular plan and the use of tree poles as roof beams could expansion of living space occur, for reeds grow only to limited height and have little inherent strength. In Egypt stone was plentiful, but the houses of the lower classes in all ages, after mud brick was developed c. 3500 b.c., were always constructed of brick. In Mesopotamia, the situation was reversed: there was no native stone and thus stone had to be imported, whereas mud was everywhere available and mud brick was developed earlier here than in Egypt (cf. Gen 11:3). In Pal., though stone was available, it was never, until the Gr. period, used in constructing public buildings except by Solomon, Ahab, and Omri. However, buildings were erected either of rubble stone set in mud, plastered or unplastered, or mud brick on stone base courses and plastered over with mud, and in some cases whitewashed (see Architecture). In Mesopotamia, asphalt was the mortar, whereas in Egypt it was fine clay, with the brick laid when three-quarters dry to form a tight bond between brick.
Jericho, however, provided the earliest usage of mud brick in the plano-convex shape; although these came later in Mesopotamia, it is not known whether Jericho builders influenced the Mesopotamians.
After the 4th millennium b.c., houses with rooms enclosing an inner court, frequently two stories high, were developed in Mesopotamia, providing for a self-contained unit to carry on family and craft occupations within the shelter of the home. A porter would have had charge of the gate from the street. Family quarters were on the second floor and animals were housed on the first floor where were also rooms for storage and the craft rooms. Second floor rooms were served by a wood balcony with access gained by a wooden stair from the court.
Two-story houses occurred already in the 5th millennium b.c. at Haçilar, well before those of UR III. Poorer houses usually consisted of one room, with people and animals sharing the space.
Roof structures were formed of tree poles or palm tree trunks, over which smaller branches, brush, reeds, or palm fronds were placed to form a base for a packed clay layer rolled into place with stone rollers, some of which have been found in house ruins. In some areas marly stone was pulverized and spread over the clay and this provided a much more impervious surface. This area, accessible by an outside stairs, became a favorite sitting area in the evening to enjoy cooling breezes (1 Sam 9:25, 26; 2 Sam 11:2; Acts 10:9). Representations of awnings demonstrate attempts to protect the roof terrace during the heat of the day. It was also a place where flax was easily spread out to dry (Josh 2:6) and prob. other field products were stored there. In cases where roofs were occupied, parapets (OT, battlements) were to be supplied to prevent persons from falling off (Deut 22:8).
In Assyrian reliefs, some houses are pictured as having a cupola that served as a shelter (summer parlor, Judg 3:20). In NT times, roofs were gabled as well as flat; for the gabled type of the better houses, roof tiles formed the covering. In the case of the palsied man (Luke 5:18ff.) the type of roof, whether flat or pitched, is uncertain.
Floors for ground levels were of beaten clay and in some cases given a thin lime plaster coating. Second floors were framed and formed as for roofs with the addition in some cases of the lime plaster topping.
Cooling effect was obtained in Mesopotamia by facing the houses toward the NE and providing for drafts of cooler air to work through the rooms. In Egypt, houses were oriented northward to cut off the southern heat. Frequently they had a device on the roof to deflect the breezes into the house.
Doors were generally made of wood panels from imported wood in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and the forests of Pal. adequately provided for local needs. In other cases, cloth or hide hangings were used. Enough houses have been excavated from the time of David lacking sockets at sill and lintel to indicate that the need of doors was not pressing, and revealing general social and political safety. It would appear that David had organized the military forces to act as a police force (J. P. Free, Archeology and Bible History, 62).
Windows in walls fronting inner courts, were of larger size, while any occurring in street walls were most likely small with a protective lattice to prevent ingress (2 Kings 1:2). In Rahab’s house, a window looked out over the city wall, a convenient place to observe an attacker as well as to escape, hence the query addressed to her about the spies (cf. Josh 2:15). At Damascus, the window was high enough above ground to dispense with the lattice, allowing Paul’s friends to lower him to the ground (2 Cor 11:33).
Sanitary systems occurred sporadically. In many cases in Egypt, sanitary systems discharged into the sand outside the houses. In preplanned towns and fortresses in Nubia, drains ran down the streets and emptied outside the gates (Badawy, Architecture in Ancient Egypt and the Near East; hereafter BAAE). A Ugarit house of c. 1400 b.c. had cesspools (ibid., 156). In poorer quarters, the gutter in the street was more frequent than the cesspool. In Mesopotamia, in other cases, an aperture in the floor received wastes which were conducted off through clay pipes to cesspools. (BAAE, 160).
Water was transported to the houses and evidence indicates that for better homes, storage jars set in courtyards provided the immediate storage facility.
Furniture varied with the economic status of the householder. Cooking was done over an open hearth, the smoke finding the best way out. A stone mill of base and quern was a certain item in any kitchen to provide flour. Ovens occurred in outer courts, the poor using a community oven in a public court. In Egypt, the living room was furnished in some cases with a bench on one wall. Better class homes contained (in different periods) chairs, stools, tables, and beds. In poorer homes, mats on the floor served for sleeping. Chests of various sizes, some highly decorated, provided closed storage for some household items. Pottery of various shapes and sizes served as dishes. Metal bowls and basins have been recovered from the better houses. Babylonians had short-legged tray-like tables as well as the usual types. Houses of Haçilar from the 6th millennium b.c. had plastered wall cupboards, in addition to fire boxes, which were safer than the open hearths.
If storage room was provided in the house, large storage jars with lids were sunk in the floor for storing oil, grain and wine. Other rooms stored rough goods, i.e. field produce. Where occasion demanded, rooms provided for crafts, i.e. weaving, as shown in tomb models from Egypt.
Lighting for the house was a clay dish with a wick, set either in a pinched rim or in its own spout, the latter the lamp of Matthew 25:1. Fuel was olive oil, but in Mesopotamia, frequently a crude oil provided better light. Sesame oil was sometimes used. Methods to shield or cover the candle were suggested (Matt 5:15). Torches were secured by the use of pitch on a stick.
Heating for houses varied according to the climate. Egypt required little, furnished by simple means. In Mesopotamia, braziers were used for both cooking and heating in winter. In Anatolia, palace remains indicate a few cases of movable hearths (BAAE, 133). Where the kitchen hearth occurred it furnished heat for one-room houses.
Decoration varied from mere whitewashed walls to painted plaster in the better houses, often a painted wainscot, dark in color with a top stripe. Ceilings in some cases were finished with plaster or painted lath. In wealthy homes in Egypt, gold and electrum were used on a stucco base as a lining on low relief. In Mesopotamia elaborately painted plaster was frequent. Door frames at times were painted red, and in other cases stone slabs as wainscots provided the only decorative elements.
Bibliography G. Conteneau, Everyday Life in Babylon and Assyria (1954); H. E. Winlock, Models of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (1955); A. Badawy, “Architectural Provision Against Heat in the Orient,” JNES, XVII (1958), 123; National Geographic Society, Everyday Life in Ancient Times (1964); A. Badawy, Architecture in Ancient Egypt and the Near East (1966).