The story of Ruth begins in the land of Moab, where Elimelech's family has sought refuge from a famine in Bethlehem. The Moabites were descended from Lot and lived on the east side of the Dead Sea. Elimelech and Naomi may have traveled around the northern end of the Dead Sea, or a more direct route would have taken them across the Judean wilderness, underneath the shadow of Masada, and across the shallow waters to the Lisan peninsula. Once in Moab, they settled down and their sons married Moabite women. The photo above shows the village of Humud in a scene that might not look all that different from the way it was thousands of years ago.

Naomi returned to Bethlehem as the barley harvest was getting underway, probably during the month of April. The relief above comes from the tomb of Ounsou in Thebes, bought by Champollion and shipped to the Louvre in the early 19th century. The middle register shows the workers harvesting the grain with sickles. Behind them, women pick up the fallen ears of grain. The top register shows the men carrying baskets full of grain to the threshing floor. The scene dates to 1450 BC, several centuries before the time of Ruth. 

This photo is one of a group of images taken by American Colony photographers in the first half of the 20th century. The scene shows Arab residents of Bethlehem harvesting the grain in the fields on the outskirts of their village.

Once the grain was harvested, the workers carried it to the threshing floor where a sledge was used to separate the kernels from the stalks. Then the process of winnowing began. Threshing was done in the day when the air was warm and the straw more easily crushed. Winnowing typically took place later in the day when a breeze came up to blow the chaff away. This photo shows a man using a winnowing fork and the seated woman using a winnowing tray.

After the winnowing, the piles of grain remained on the threshing floor. The farmer would often spend the night there on the threshing floor, protecting the grain from thieves who might try to rob him of his year's labors. This photo, taken by David Dorsey in the 1970s, shows a threshing floor at Gibeon, about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Jerusalem.

After the night meeting with Ruth, Boaz went to the town's gate because this was where the village elders gathered to decide matters. The photo above shows a recently excavated gate in the land of Judah west of Bethlehem. Since no ancient gate has yet been uncovered in Bethlehem (most of the city is covered by modern buildings), this gate at Khirbet Qeiyafa provides an illustration that is about 100 years after the time of Ruth. This gatehouse includes four chambers, two on each side of the passageway, where the elders could have sat. Here in the gatehouse Boaz agreed to take Ruth as his bride and raise up an offspring for the family of Elimelech and Naomi.

For more free images, download this PowerPoint presentation with 30 slides illustrating Ruth 2:1-4. To learn more about the Ruth collection, go here.