Written sources from the period give us clues about what one could find inside a Byzantine house. Wills and acts of transfer give us extensive lists of household items: from cupboards, pots and pans, to jewellery.

 

Only the very rich had a lot of furniture. The average Byzantine sat, ate and slept on wooden or stone benches which rang along three walls of a room. Eating habits were simple; people shared plates and cups and seldom used cutlery.

 

 

Some examples of household items mentioned in documents (after Oikonomides 1990)