Ovens in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What are Ovens?
OVENS
Ex 8:3. In the Eastern cities the ovens at the present day are not materially different from our own. The more common way of constructing them in the country, however, is to take a jar or pot of a cylindrical shape, and, after having partly filled it with pebbles, to apply heat and use it for baking. The dough is plastered upon the outside, and, when baked (as it is almost instantly) comes off in thin cakes. All Eastern bread is of this thin sort. The bread made in this way is clean and white. The Bedouin Arabs use three or four different ovens, the description of which may throw some light upon the oven of the Bible. 1. The sand oven. - This is nothing more than the sand of the earth, upon which a fire is made until it is supposed to be sufficiently heated. The fuel and fire are then cleared away, and the dough is laid on the hot sand in flat pieces about the thickness of a plate. Isa 44:15, Acts 1:19. These are the "ash-cakes." Gen 18:6; 1 Kgs 17:13; 1 Kgs 19:6. See Cake. 2. The earth oven is a round hole in the earth. Stones are first put into this, and a fire is kindled upon them. When the stones have become thoroughly hot, the fire is removed and the dough spread in thin flakes upon the heated stones, and turned as often as may be necessary. The ovens used in Persia are about 2 1/2 feet wide and not less than 5 or 6 feet deep. They resemble pits or wells, and sheep are hung lengthwise in them and cooked whole. These may lie what are rendered in our version "ranges for pots." Lev 11:35. 3. Portable oven. - This is an earthen vessel without a bottom, about 3 feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay and placed upon a frame or support. Fire is made within it or below it. When the sides are sufficiently heated thin patches of dough are spread on the inside, and the top is covered without removing the fire, as in the other cases, and the bread is quickly baked. To this we may refer the phrase "baken in the oven." Lev 2:4. Convex plates of iron, pans or plates, flat stones, etc., are often used for baking. See Bake, Bread.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'ovens' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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