Iron age residents of Judea regularly eat non-Kosher fish like catfish despite it being strictly forbidden under Jewish dietary laws, a new archaeological study found.
Examining fish bones dating back thousands of years, found at 30 archaeological sites in Israel, let Ariel University in Israel researchers uncover the dietary secrets.
The team found no evidence of people following rules banning the eating of fish species without scale or fin until the Roman era in the 6th century CE.
The findings shed fresh light on the origin of Old Testament dietary laws still observed by Jewish people today, that mythology and religious history suggest were first introduced by Moses in the 12th century BCE.