I've been discussing Proverbs 31 with friends lately. This passage talks a lot about work and various industries. Was this typical work in the era? Was it an agrarian type culture, or is this discussing more "city life"? What was expected of a family at the time?
It's hard finding resources on this without a bias or an agenda. Any sources you can point me to would be great!
Bonus: Does anyone have some historical reference to what it's referring to when it talks about the husband at the city gates? Is this a government type position? Would this be paid? A full time job? Thanks!
My go-to source for discussing daily life in the Old Testament period (known in academic circles as the Iron Age) is King, Philip J, and Lawrence E. Stager. Life in Biblical Israel. Louisville Westminster John Knox Press, 2001
Ancient economies of this time were quite different, and it strongly depended on where you lived, whether it was in a city (and thus earned your daily bread through craft specialization, such as carpentry, jewelry making, weaving, etc), or in the countryside (and thus earned your living through farming or animal husbandry).
At this time, craft specialization was indeed prominent, and there was a significant amount of international trade (such as the Assyrian silver trade. Markets were also present, as archaeologists have discovered an Iron Age market at the site of Ashkelon in grid 50, which you can read about on page 309 to 312 of this site report.
At this location, several industries have been identified, including the manufacture of textiles. So that aspect of work from Proverbs 31 is certainly borne out in the archaeological record.
The King and Stager volume I referenced earlier mentions that vineyards and olive groves were certainly present, and because they took so long to get really going in terms of production (up to a generation before you really got good production out of it), planting a vineyard or olive grove is a sign of/metaphor for providing for your descendants.
As for the city gate, u/farquier is correct in stating that it was not a position, but a mark of status. The city gate basically served the purpose of a town square. This website collates the Biblical references to city gates, so you can see how they for a picture of a communal meeting place where important people sit and decisions are made. You can read about this in the above mentioned King and Stager volume.
At the site of Tel Dan in Israel, the Iron Age gate complex has been excavated, and has an open area with a raised platform for someone to sit in judgment, which you can see here, in the Iron Age gate section.
Does anyone have some historical reference to what it's referring to when it talks about the husband at the city gates?
This isn't really a job per se so much as a honor or position. In many ancient near eastern societies the "city gate" was an important civic and ceremonial location where public rituals were enacted, legal decisions made, and where the elders and prominent men of a city would sit and hold court. So what it's saying is that the husband should be publicly honored and accorded civic stature or office.