and remained the predominant fowl in ancient Israel until the end of the Second Temple period. Nonetheless, to avoid the spread of disease, pigeons could only be raised in small numbers and were thus fairly costly and not a regular part of the diet. Geese, originally domesticated in ancient Egypt, were raised in ancient Israel. They are most likely the "fattened fowl" on King Solomon’s table (). Goose breeding is also discussed in the Mishna. Like other animals, birds were fattened for consumption on special occasions, and for the wealthy. It is unclear when chicken became part of the diet. There are some archaeological remains from Iron-Age sites, but these were likely from roosters as a fighting bird, which are also pictured on seals from the period as a symbol of ferocity, such as on the 6th-century BC onyx seal of Jaazaniah. Chicken became common around the 2nd century BC, and during the Roman period, chickens emerged as an important feature of the cuisine, with the Talmud describing it as "the choicest of birds." By Roman times, pigeons and chickens were the principal poultry. Until the domestication of the chicken, eggs were available in limited quantities and were considered a delicacy, as in ancient Egypt. The most common birds—turtledoves and pigeons—were reared for their meat and not for their very small eggs. Biblical references to eggs are only in reference to gathering them from the wild (for example, and ). Eggs seem to have increased in use for food only with the introduction of chickens as food and were commonly used as food by Roman times. Fish The Israelites ate a variety of fresh and saltwater fish, according to both archaeological and textual evidence. Remains of freshwater fish from the Yarkon and Jordan rivers and the Sea of Galilee have been found in excavations, and include St. Peter’s fish and mouthbreeders. Saltwater fish discovered in excavations include sea bream, grouper, meager, and gray mullet. Most of these come from the Mediterranean Sea, but in the later Iron Age period, some are from the Red Sea. Although the Torah prohibits the consumption of fish without fins or scales, archeological evidence indicates that many Israelites flouted or were unaware of these restrictions and ate non-kosher seafood, mostly catfish but also shark, eel, and ray, and that religious restrictions on seafood began to be observed more strictly starting in the first century CE.