Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Dear All:

This is just a little curiosity—what evidence from archaeology is there to suggest that ancient Israel houses were built grass growing on the roofs? I’m familiar with such construction from Scandinavian history, particularly Norwegian, but was the same practice done in ancient Judea?

Linguistic reason for the question comes from 2 Kings 19:26, Isaiah 37:27 and Psalm 129:6 where mention is made of the grass of the roofs. From other contexts, this is not short grass, but the type found in pastures where cattle graze.

Another possibility that these verses refer to thatch roofs, but the contexts seems to say that these are living roofs with green grass. A very different picture of houses than what I had pictured over the years.

Karl W. Randolph,