How did the pork taboo come about?

[Faeelin]

I always tought this explanation to be quite weak, giving that there's a lot of desertic and semi-desertic cultures that eat pork : Egyptians, Phenicians, Cannanites, Mesopotamians, Berbers...
So what? Only Hebrews were clever enough to find out?

Yes. Given how little the Phoenicians influenced the modern world, they probably weren't that bright.

(I 100% agree with you).

 

[Falecius]

Honestly, maybe the stupid agnostic answer has the greatest probability to be the "truth" afterall...

Moses choked on Pork when he was still the Prince of Egypt, so after rediscovering his hebrew root, he decides to enact a religion-wide ban on pork. Same goes to the "unclean" lists of meat, Moses didn't like them, so he ban it...

Since Moses, in all likelihood, never existed, this explanation is problematic to say the least. Furthermore, the dietary laws of Judaism are far more complex than "banning pork".

 

[Space Oddity]

Since Moses, in all likelihood, never existed, this explanation is problematic to say the least. Furthermore, the dietary laws of Judaism are far more complex than "banning pork".

Ohhh, yeah.

I love reading Leviticus and the rest of the regulations sections of the Pentateuch, believe it or not. Simply for the sheer... scope of proscribed behaviors.

 

[Oracle of Sobek 𓆋]

Actually, here's an interesting wrinkle--Egyptian priests didn't eat pork.

Interestingly, that seems to be because pigs were loosely associated with the god Seth, who takes on the form of a pig in at least one account of his tangles with Horus. Some have speculated that the "Seth animal" is itself a pig, or at least part pig.
Archaeological evidence suggests that pork in ancient Egypt was considered a low-class food - pig bones are found associated with peasant/artisan communities, but not with elites (though nobles and even some temples managed herds of swine).

 

[DG Valdron]

Tasted too much like human flesh. Somebody feeds you pork, you have to start wondering about what or who you are eating. That tends to discourage things. People who eat Pork, you got to keep an eye on. People who like Pork too much?

 

[riggerrob]

Trichinosis is too easily spread by poorly-cooked pork.

The ban on pork is similar to the Orthodox Jewish ban on eating shell-fish, because red tide can also kill you.

Finally, the ancient Jewish practice of circumcision reduces the spread of sexually transmitted diseases after the mass rapes that followed biblical battles. If you doubt my logic, look at recent African studies relating circumcision and the spread of AIDS.

 

[Fabius Maximus]

Ohhh, yeah.

I love reading Leviticus and the rest of the regulations sections of the Pentateuch, believe it or not. Simply for the sheer... scope of proscribed behaviors.

Try comparing it to the legislation currently in force in whatever country you're from, and the Pentateuch will suddenly seem far less extensive.

Archaeological evidence suggests that pork in ancient Egypt was considered a low-class food - pig bones are found associated with peasant/artisan communities, but not with elites (though nobles and even some temples managed herds of swine).

Also in Ancient Rome, pork was considered a peasant's food, probably because it was cheaper. (Pigs can, as mentioned above, be fed on scraps.)

 

[riggerrob]

Pork costs about 1/5 as much as beef (see a recent issue of National Geographic magazine).

 

[altwere]

What's wrong with a little long pig between friends?. I had never heard that one. As Heinlein said,when the price of meat goes up watch your neighbors

 

[Cash]

The taboo, at least in the Jewish tradition, isn't absolute. They are allowed to eat pork in extreme circumstances, when the alternative is death by starvation, for example. There were cases during WWII when rabbis lifted the ban on pork in the ghettos during times of food shortages. Perhaps someone on the board who is an observant Jew might have a particular insight into the taboo.

 

[Falecius]

Ohhh, yeah.

I love reading Leviticus and the rest of the regulations sections of the Pentateuch, believe it or not. Simply for the sheer... scope of proscribed behaviors.

I concur that it is fascinating, although, both as a Catholic and as a teacher of vaguely related things (including, sometimes, basic Semitic philology) I have probably a very different perspective than yours.

 

[Falecius]

Tasted too much like human flesh. Somebody feeds you pork, you have to start wondering about what or who you are eating. That tends to discourage things. People who eat Pork, you got to keep an eye on. People who like Pork too much?

I don't think that it was ever an issue in Early Iron Age Near East, where the taboo most likely emerged. As far as I know, there is no clear evidence of significant cannibalism anywhere near the relevant areas in either space or time.

 

[Falecius]

Trichinosis is too easily spread by poorly-cooked pork.

The ban on pork is similar to the Orthodox Jewish ban on eating shell-fish, because red tide can also kill you.

Finally, the ancient Jewish practice of circumcision reduces the spread of sexually transmitted diseases after the mass rapes that followed biblical battles. If you doubt my logic, look at recent African studies relating circumcision and the spread of AIDS.

While there are indeed studies that prove a significantly lesser likelyhood of STD transmission associated with circumcision, the vast majority of "biblical" battles are probably legendary, and I don't know of any significant evidence for widespread mass rape. Furthermore, we can assume that rape was pretty commonly associated with warfare about everywhere, so one would wonder why the practice wasn't and isn't nearly universal.

 

[Falecius]

What's wrong with a little long pig between friends?. I had never heard that one. As Heinlein said,when the price of meat goes up watch your neighbors

Or just find a suitably high-protein crop . "Delikatessen" is a good movie, but pretty crappy as far as realistic dystopias go.

 

[Falecius]

The taboo, at least in the Jewish tradition, isn't absolute. They are allowed to eat pork in extreme circumstances, when the alternative is death by starvation, for example. There were cases during WWII when rabbis lifted the ban on pork in the ghettos during times of food shortages. Perhaps someone on the board who is an observant Jew might have a particular insight into the taboo.

The same applies in Islam.

 

[Cash]

The same applies in Islam.

Thanks. I didn't know that. Interesting.

 

[Cahaya Purnama]

They bath in mud.
They eat everything even human's feces!

In Islam Pigs are considered dirty...

I think you get where they got this

 

[Jonathan Edelstein]

The taboo, at least in the Jewish tradition, isn't absolute. They are allowed to eat pork in extreme circumstances, when the alternative is death by starvation, for example. There were cases during WWII when rabbis lifted the ban on pork in the ghettos during times of food shortages. Perhaps someone on the board who is an observant Jew might have a particular insight into the taboo.

Under the doctrine of pikuach nefesh, nearly any Jewish religious prohibition may be broken in order to save one's life or the lives of others. There are a few exceptions - murder isn't permitted - but the dietary laws are among the great majority that may be abrogated in case of emergency.

As Falecius says, there's a similar concept in Islam.

 

[Falecius]

Thanks. I didn't know that. Interesting.

Well, it's about basic survival. Impurity can be cleansed and/or atoned for, death pretty much cannot. Islam generally (and often officially) holds a "necessity trumps law" approach, which is, by the way, pretty close to universal common sense when survival is at stake. Interpretation may vary a lot, but generally speaking this principle is formalized into legal opinions stating, (exemples are from Medieval texts), that it is preferable to eat pork than starve to death, that it is allowed to use alcohol in medicines (although it is preferable not to if possible), that you can burn trees in enemy gardens as an extreme warfare option (where it is normally forbidden to do so in war), that you can kill enemy elderly noncombatants if they incite the enemy to continue the fight they'd otherwise cease (where killing noncombatants is generally forbidden), and so on.

 

[Midnight-Blue766]

I read somewhere that another reason why pigs were considered unclean was that unlike mutton-providing sheep, which you can shear for wool, or beef-providing cows that you can milk, the only thing pigs were good for were pork, and so the Israelites and Arabs forbade keeping them because it was more economical to raise other animals that have multiple uses besides food.