Ancient Israelite cuisine aside, and the loaves were baked on the heated surface. People also began placing a convex dome, initially earthenware and later metal, over the pit-oven and cooking the flatbreads on the dome instead of on the ash-covered surface; this type of oven is probably what was meant by the biblical "machabat", often translated as “griddle”. The Persians introduced a clay oven called a tanur (similar to the Indian tandoor), which had an opening at the bottom for the fire, and through which the bread was placed to be baked on the inner wall of the upper chamber from the heat
The Oven of Akhnai At this moment, Rabban Gamaliel died. Rabbi Eliezer asked his wife how she knew that this would happen if he were to pray while in such pain. Ima Shalom explains the sentiment expressed in the discussion preceding the story of the Oven of Akhnai, she says, "This is the tradition that I received from the house of the father of my father: All the gates of Heaven are apt to be locked, except for the gates of prayer for victims of verbal mistreatment." There are many different themes in the story of the Oven of Akhnai. In the backdrop of