Cook

Cooking in the ancient world was primarily a domestic female occupation, with specialized royal or priestly cooks serving in institutional contexts. The Hebrew tabbāḥ (one who slaughters and prepares meat) describes the cook or chief of the guard in certain contexts — the same word used for Potiphar's title as captain of Pharaoh's guard suggests the role overlapped with butchering and meat preparation for official households. Abraham prepared a festive meal for his divine visitors, commanding Sarah to bake cakes and dressing a calf himself (Genesis 18:2–8).

Gideon similarly prepared a kid and unleavened cakes for the angel of the LORD (Judges 6:19). The preparation of food for sacrifice — boiling the flesh of the Passover lamb or the offerings — was carried out by the Levites in the temple (Ezekiel 46:20–24). Samuel's warning that a king would take daughters to be cooks (1 Samuel 8:13) reflects the conscription of women into royal kitchen service. The extensive food preparation for Solomon's court, requiring tens of thousands of measures of flour and meal daily (1 Kings 4:22), indicates the scale of royal cooking operations in the united monarchy.