Page 100 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Revised

sugar. An average diet in Persia for both rich and poor consisted of staples of bread, fish, oil, and wine,
with the rich obviously affording more.
Partially free slaves worked large estates attached to the land in the empire at large, but in Persia, free
peasants worked the land. Wheat, barley, grapes, and olives comprised the chief crops, and donkeys,
mules, and horses were bred. 147

As may be expected, classes of people were also marked by their quality of clothing and how many
articles of clothing they could afford. The poor usually put on a single layer of plain wool or goat hair
tunic and mostly went barefoot. The wealthier often managed another layer, usually of dyed fabric, with
sandals.

Jews living in Babylonia under Persian control had houses and furniture much the same as during the
days of the Babylonian Empire (see the last chapter). Those who settled in Judah once more tended to
pattern their houses after those of the people they found living in the land. It appears that some still
went back to the models of houses of the people of Judah before the Babylonian captivity.

Trade and Economics

As indicated before, Darius I developed trade routes across the Persian empire, both on water and land.
Sea routes linked the Indus, Tigris-Euphrates, and the Nile river valleys. These linked valleys were a hive
of most economic activities, including agriculture, and were the most populated regions of the empire.
On land, he built roads, notably the great royal road extending 1,600 miles from Susa to Sardis. Thus, the
whole vast area from the Indus to the Aegean and the Mediterranean and across a chunk of North Africa
became a single political and economic unit under central control.

Other boosters of trade included the introduction of a common standard of weight and measure across
the empire and the usage of one language, Aramaic, as the official language. Although money was
gradually replaced by goods as a means of payment for other commodities, Darius adopted a bimetallic
money system of gold and silver.

Persia also increasingly grew in its forestry ventures. New species of trees were introduced and supplied
the need for wood in the building of houses, war chariots, carts, weapons, furniture, etc. Coupled with
ongoing explorations of mineral deposits of gold, silver, copper, and iron, the empire became self-
sufficient in supporting industrial activities and crafts.

Given such an economically viable environment and the vastness of the empire, opportunities also
opened for others to go out as business personnel, government representatives, sailors, or soldiers.
It was indicated in the “government” sub-section that keeping the borders of the Persian empire from
external invasion was increasingly becoming expensive, especially in the last century. Heavy military
funding was required. This, in turn, meant huge taxes for the subjects. The cost of living soared for the
peasants of the empire while wages were heavily depressed, keeping most of them in perpetual debt.
Vos. H. F. notes that “Judah experienced serious economic distress in the days of Nehemiah. Heavy
Persian taxes and poor crop yields forced many of the poor into bankruptcy, and together with their
children they were reduced to slavery. Some of the wealthy took advantage of the situation (Nehemiah

147 Ibid.

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