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Ipsley
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:11 am Post subject: Life expectancy |
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A general query: are there any biblical or related texts that provide any information about average life expectancy?
If there is some detail, how accurate will it be?
What specific biblical times and areas will it refer to?
For example, in the time of Moses did most people live to at least 35 years old?
During New Testament times were things any better in Rome compared to Jerusalem?
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Ipsley
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rgoode
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Joined: 24 May 2007
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Location: Tysoe, Warwickshire
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| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, that's a really interesting question.
Ps 90:10 suggests a 70-80 year span as typical ("the days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong"). However, how this fits with archaeological data I have no idea.
There must be some stuff on this out there somewhere. I'll try and dig some out, but in the mean time, if anyone else has something (a little more helpful) to add, please feel free to enlighten us.
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Ipsley
Joined: 11 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
If 70-80 years is typical everyone must have been very healthy.
Have you discovered any archaeological data to give more insight into life expectancy during Biblical times?
Happy New Year.
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Ipsley
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rgoode
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Joined: 24 May 2007
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Location: Tysoe, Warwickshire
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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Apologies for the delay. A combination of festivities and a recurring bout of winter bug have conspired against me from properly dealing with your question.
The simple answer is, much to my embarrassment, I still can't give you a definitive answer. There doesn't appear to be much research on this question - which I think probably suggests that I'm not looking in the right places. I find it difficult to believe that at a time when detailed statistical analysis is being published on the fishing economy of Galilee at the time of Jesus, that we do not have stats on life expectancy.
Perhaps one problem is that 'average' life expectancy can be notoriously misleading. I remember as a schoolboy being told that that because of the average L.E. at the time of the Roman Empire was something like 35, Julius Caesar was an old man at 40 - which of course he wasn't, it was only that the average was skewed by the high infant mortality figures.
Nevertheless:
Roland De Vaux (Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, 1962) briefly touches the subject. He comments on the biblical stats relating to the Exodus. For example; Numbers 3:39 refers to 22,000 Levites over a month old and Numbers 4:48 describes 8,580 Levites between 30 and 50 years old. Infer what you will as to how many of those left over of the 22,000 were under 30 and over 50! However, as he points out this was written long after the event and could possibly be inflated.
Slightly more helpful for Roman Palestine is Kenneth Hanson and Douglas Oakman (Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts, 1998). They (1998, 14) state that life expectancy at the time was "approximately twenty years for live births, and approximately forty years for those who lived past five." However, they do not state their sources!
I suspect you are absolutely right in suggesting that the place to find the answers would be from archaeological data - however, I have, as yet, to find any. If anyone knows of such data could you let us know?
Sorry I still can't really be much help - I'll still keep digging. But it really does go to show the shocking fragmentation that is so badly hindering academic research today. This sort of material should be at our fingertips.
Richard
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