HANDBOUND AT THE

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

EASTERN CUSTOMS IN BIBLE LANDS

H. B. TRISTRAM, LL.D., D.D., F.R.S.

CANON OF DURHAM

Author of" The Great Sahara*' "Land of Israel" "Land of Moab," "Bible Places" "Natural History of the Bible" etc., etc., etc.

HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27 PATERNOSTER ROW

MDCCCXCIV

Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.

PREFACE

One day, last month, I was sitting under the I J " shadow of a great rock in a weary land," hard by the khan immortalized through its connection with J the parable of the Good Samaritan, in the brown j and desolate wilderness of Judea. A few yards in I front was the ancient well, to which the khan owed M its existence, sunk, perhaps, before the age of Joshua, \ its rim deeply scored all round by the cords of the water-drawers of centuries. An Arab woman came jdown from the hills above, to draw water ; she un- folded and opened her goat-skin bottle, and then J!untwined a cord, and attached it to a very small 'leathern bucket which she carried, by means of which she slowly filled her skin, fastened its mouth, ^placed it on her shoulder, and, bucket in hand, climbed the mountain. I thought of the woman of (Samaria at Jacob's Well, when an Arab footman, ^toiling up the steep path from Jericho, heated and jwearied with his journey, turned aside to the well> knelt and peered wistfully down. But he had J" nothing to draw with, and the well was deep." |He lapped a little moisture from the water spilt by

VI

Preface

the woman who had preceded him, and, dis- appointed, passed on.

The incidents were very simple and natural, yet how full of Scriptural illustration to a stranger from the West !

In the hope that a number of not less simple illustrations, drawn from the observation and ex- perience of many months passed during a series of years in that hallowed land, may prove interesting, or, at least, useful, to many a stay-at-home student of the word of God, the notes which compose the following chapters have been put together by the author, who will feel richly rewarded if any obser- vations of his may be permitted to subserve to the better understanding of the descriptions and allu- sions of Holy Writ. To that book, the country, its features and its inhabitants, their ways and customs, are what the frame is to the picture. The accurate truthfulness of that picture is borne in upon the mind with an ever-deepening conviction the more we study the minute details of Oriental life on the spot.

College, Durham,

ioth Aprils 1894.

CONTENTS

I

j JESUS AS TEACHER AND HEALER .... 3

II

SOME INCIDENTS IN THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD

j JESUS 27

III

JOURNEYING IN THE EAST 49

IV

(EASTERN DWELLINGS AND EASTERN FEASTS . . 69

! MARRIAGE AND BURIAL CUSTOMS . . . .89

VI

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL LIFE . . . 1 09 vii

viii

Contents

VII

agricultural life {continued)

PAGE

131

VIII

EASTERN COSTUME

iS5

IX

MILITARY SYSTEM : WARS AND SIEGES

177

SOME SOCIAL FASHIONS

20I

XI

EASTERN JURISPRUDENCE

223

XII

TRADE AND MONEY; TAXATION; DOCUMENTS; SEALS 245

EASTERN CUSTOMS IN BIBLE LANDS

I

JESUS AS TEACHER AND HEALER

I

I

JESUS AS TEACHER AND HEALER

" 'TT*HE unchanging East." The Biblical student -L must often be thankful that so it is. Other- wise much which has explained or illustrated many an obscure allusion in the volume of sacred writ would have been long since lost and utterly forgot- ten. But that East, though still unchanged, is be- ginning to change. The restless West is invading it ; and many an old landmark is crumbling away Customs and fashions, stereotyped in the daily life of centuries, are becoming modified through Western influences ; and now, when the shriek of the iron horse is heard, not only among the ruined churches of Asia Minor, but at the very gates of Jerusalem itself, we are warned that the monotony of Western civilisation is overspreading the lands of the past as well as those of the future. Let us photograph then every feature of Eastern life and custom ere it fades into the historic past ; for there

3

4 Eastern Ctistoms in Bible Lands

is no time to be lost. Many eyes have looked on Palestine : the eye of the antiquarian ; the eye of the geographer ; the eye of the historian ; the eye of the geologist ; the eye of the naturalist ; the eye of the theologian. And on the retina of each as he gazes is reflected a different picture. The eye of the Biblical student clothes the narratives of the past with the surroundings of the present. With such an eye as this we would gaze on that frame- work which once enshrined the most hallowed incidents of the world's history.

We may take as our first illustration the method of our Lord's public ministry. There was nothing in the manner of the commencement of His min- istry which was not in accordance with what the men of His time and nation would look for in one who began to present himself as a great teacher. He went into the synagogue of His own city, and there, in accordance with the custom of the Jews, when the exposition of the Law and the Prophets was open to any one after the usual prayers and psalms had been recited, unfolded and developed the prophecy of Isaiah. He then went round the neighbouring villages teaching in the same fashion. Having thus attracted many followers, He selected His twelve Apostles, and, as it were, enrolled them in His service. Thus had the prophets of old

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 5

gathered their disciples. We must remember that long before the coming of Christ — indeed, from the earlier times of the settlement in Canaan — the pro- phetic had been separated from the priestly office. It was so in the time of the judges. The Aaronic priests might perform with more or less exactness the rites of the Law ; but plainer and more directly- hortatory or minatory teaching was needed to rouse the people in times of deadness or ignorance.

The prophets were therefore raised up from time to time sporadically and by no unbroken suc- cession in time or place, but by direct inward call from God. Their authority was impressed by their teaching alone, sometimes, but not always, by the endowment of wonder-working power. Thus they were, above all else, teachers. In this capacity they gathered followers and founded schools — the schools of the prophets. These schools were rather peripatetic than stationary, and they* continued under various leaders during the whole period of the monarchy. We must not imagine a Hebrew Oxford or Cambridge, but a company of young men drawn together by their devotion to their teacher, and accompanying him as he travelled* from town to town in his circuit, stirring up the religious life from place to place by his teaching. These fol- lowers gathered the people together to hear him,

6 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

secured him hospitality, prepared quarters for him, and acted as his attendants. The more experienced and trusted scholars were sent into the neighbouring villages to teach and prepare for his coming. After the Captivity the continuity of these peripatetic prophetic schools was interrupted, and the formal instructions of the rabbis at fixed centres took their place. But the tradition was not forgotten in that epoch of cold formality ; and as Wesley in an age of dead formalism gathered followers and pupil- preachers everywhere through the length and breadth of England, so the new Teacher of Naza- reth arrested the attention of the thousands who were all waiting for Him, for their spiritual yearn- ings were unsatisfied by the dry husks of a legal teaching which had lost all its spirit and life. It was in accordance with the ideas of the time and country that He should select from those who sur- rendered themselves to His teaching a band of assistants, in short, a new school of the prophets.

Not otherwise acts the dervish or prophetic teacher among the Mohammedans at the present day. While the Mollahs, known in India as the Moulvies — ie.t the priests or regular teachers of the Koran — are trained like the rabbis and scribes of old in regular seminaries, there arises from time to time some dervish, very often a half-crazed fanatic,

fesus as Teacher and Healer

7

proclaiming himself some great one, one of those concerning whom our Lord uttered the warning, ' Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ ; and the time draweth near : go ye not therefore after them." Such a one is fresh in all our memories as having within the last few years been the cause of ruin and desolation in a vast tract of Africa, the Mahdi of the Soudan, who proclaimed himself the Messiah of Islam, and an- nounced as his mission the overthrow of the Turk- ish Khalifat, which he declared had abandoned the purity and strictness of the Prophet's teaching, and had for generations held alliance with the in- fidel. A still more real, because more sincere and spiritual, Moslem Messiah arose a few years ago in Persia, calling upon the Shiah sect to reform, and also foretelling union with Christians as the result of reformation. In the organisation of his followers he endeavoured to imitate the methods of our Lord as recorded in the Gospels. Like most other Mos- lem reformers, after a time he incurred the ven- geance of the authorities, was put to death, and his followers dispersed. Ten years ago I met the last of his apostles, an exile at Acre. But, without such high pretensions as these, we continually meet with self-constituted prophets in the East, who claim some special sanctity, and gathering a few

8 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

followers, move about with them from place to place and from tribe to tribe, generally enforcing some special and perhaps neglected precept of the Koran, and so extending their influence through a wide district. Thus we see that our Lord adopted the method of promulgating His doctrine which was suited to the habits and ideas of His country.

But it was as the Healer rather than as the Reformer that His fame was first spread abroad. Imagine, if you can, the condition of a country in which there is neither trained physician nor skilled surgeon, where the healing art is only practised by a few quacks, who rely more on charms than on physic for their cures. Such is now, and such was Palestine in our Lord's day. There were physicians (St. Luke, we know, was one), but their whole edu- cation was, as we learn from the Talmud, empirical. Doubtless there were then, as now, many kindly nurses, with a knowledge of herbs, embrocations, and simples, but whose knowledge went no further. Imagine a town of twenty thousand inhabitants, like Gaza, with one-third of its population suffering from blindness, partial or total, and not a physician of any kind in the city. Think of the thickly studded villages of Benjamin and Ephraim, and all through that country not a man with skill enough to set a fractured limb, or treat a fever or

Jesus as Teacher and Healer

9

an inflammation ! Yet in the Holy Land, until medical missionaries were sent out by English societies, there was not a physician in the country, and even now there are very few. In such a country as this, with sick and crippled. in every village, we can picture the eager excitement when the news spread that there has arrived a good physician, who is also a holy Man, in a neighbour- ing town ; that He has healed by a touch a cripple who has lain For twenty years helpless on his mat ; that by a word a leper's flesh has become as pure as that of a little child ; that He has stretched out His hand and lifted a poor worn patient from her bed ; that He has given sight to the blind beggar ; that He has done all this and more, simply when asked ! Who has not an ailing friend or kinsman ? The whole village turns out. The invalid of years is hurried off on his pallet by his friends ; the blind and the lame press on to reach the halting-place of the mighty Healer before He may proceed on His journey. So " they came to Him from every quarter, and brought to Him all that were diseased and them that were possessed with devils."

Even now in the remoter parts of the country the rumour of a European who, with a slight knowledge of pharmacy and a simple medicine- chest, pitches his tent outside a town or village,

io Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

will in a few hours bring crowds of sufferers from all the district round. This has often been my case. I well remember on one occasion pitching camp on the plain of Gennesaret, close to Mejdel (Magdala) and not far from Tiberias. The rumour spread that a Frank hakeem had arrived. Soon a crowd had assembled, screeching forth their woes and ailments at the very top of their inharmonious voices. Medicines at once had to be compounded for ophthalmia, ulcers, and dropsy. Of the first we had more than a score of cases, which happily required no great medical skill for their treatment, and we were well supplied with the familiar remedies. No disease should be hopeless to a Frank hakeem, and therefore two men came to be cured of blindness, and a third of a crippled leg, caused by a bullet shot in the knee of twenty- seven years' standing. Many sufferers from ague- fever could easily have been cured had we had time and quinine sufficient. But when a word in season was spoken, and they were told of the good Physician of souls, at once their bigotry was ex- cited, for they were chiefly Jews from Tiberias, which is an almost exclusively Hebrew city ; and the children on the skirts of the crowd kept cry- ing out, " This is our land, and shall be ours again ; why should Nazarenes defile it ? " Nevertheless,

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 1 1

when evening had closed in, several of our visitors returned, and expressed their gratitude for the medicines they had received. Some few, Nico- demus-like, had no objection to receive tracts and even Gospels, provided they were in Hebrew.

No miracles are more frequently mentioned among our Lord's works of Divine power and mercy, than those in which He gave sight to the blind. The giving sight to the blind was one of the signs by which the Messiah should be re- cognised. To the student who knows the East, nothing can be more natural than the frequency of the cases in which the blind appealed for help to the Son of David. There is probably no country in the world, except Egypt, in which this affliction is so prevalent. Blindness is not, and never was there, the rare and occasional visitation that it is among ourselves. Owing to the nature of the climate — the fine dust and sand which floats in the air ; the glare of the sunlight when there is but scanty and occasional shade ; the sudden change in the plains from the heat of the day to the chill of night, causing inflammation to the eyes, especially to those who are sleeping in the open on the housetops ; the swarms of flies, which are attracted to the eyelids of the diseased, and then carry the virulent and infectious discharge on

12 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

their feet to the eyelids of the healthy — all these and other causes render blindness, total or partial, so common that it is computed that one-tenth of the inhabitants of the towns and plains of Palestine are entirely or partially blind. The inhabitants of the higher or hill regions generally escape. At Gaza, where ophthalmia is more prevalent than elsewhere, about one-third of the population have lost the sight of either one or both eyes. Then, in a land where the most elementary methods of the healing art are almost unknown, it is needless to state that oculists do not exist. No native prac- titioner would dream of attempting any operation on the eye beyond the removal of a thorn or a grit of sand and simple fomentation. Sugar of lead and sulphate of zinc are alike unknown. More- over, there is a firm belief, fostered by the fatalism of Mohammedanism, that diseases of the eye are incurable, save by the interposition of God ; so that nothing creates greater surprise than the ease with which the Western hakeem can relieve ophthalmia.

That such cases were not looked upon by the Jews of old as so hopeless as by the modern Moslem may be inferred from the emphasis laid by the man healed at the pool of Siloam on the fact of his having been bom blind. "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 13

1 ,

the eyes of one that was born blind/' Congenital blindness is as rare in the East as in the West. All congenital infirmities were believed by the Jews, as by the Moslems, to be especial marks of God's displeasure. But the question, "Who did sin, this man or his parents ? " implies more than the tendency to hereditary ailments or the en- feebled constitutions and diseased frames of the offspring of dissolute parents.

There was a widespread belief among the Jews 1 of that period in the transmigration of souls from one body to another. It had not perhaps as yet assumed a very definite form, as it did soon after in the mystical teaching of the Essenes. It was probably originally derived from Persia. The first distinct expression of the tenet which we find is in the book of Wisdom (about B.C. 160): "Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled " (chap. viii. 20). It was one of the vain specula- tions which the rabbis were fond of discussing, and which would soon be taken hold of and accepted as a truth by the people.

Seeing how widespread is the affliction, no wonder that not here and there, but everywhere, in the East, the blind beggar is an institution. Sit- ting by the wayside, outside every town and every village, are rows of blind of all ages and both

14 Eastei'n Cttstoms in Bible Lands

sexes, with their black wooden bowl in front of them, piteously raising their voices in inharmo- nious concert, and imploring alms, whenever approaching footsteps are heard. It is needless to state that there is no systematised aid for the blind, and that these poor darkened ones must for the most part beg or starve. But the Mosaic in- junction of sympathy for the blind is not forgotten by the Moslem, and the very poorest will spare of their pittance for these sitters by the wayside. Well can we understand the eagerness with which the blind man, as he heard the tramp of many feet pouring out of Jericho, would cry for alms. Among so many there would be some who would not turn a deaf ear. But when he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, at once the monotonous appeal is changed for a very different one : " Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." It is not for alms — now he asks for a far greater gift. He asks, recognising to the full the character and power of the Traveller, Son of David— i.e., the promised Messiah, by whom " the eyes of the blind shall be opened " ; and they " shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness " — have mercy on me, and give that which no human skill- can give. Whether it were that the multitude looked on the request as preposterous — for no human power could help the

J esus as Teacher and Healer 1 5

blind — or that his persistent cries prevented them from hearing the words they were eagerly gather- ing from those Divine lips, we know not ; but his faith is too strong to be thus overborne, and soon he is bidden to rise and come. At once his prayer is answered, and the blind beggar becomes the attached disciple.

But the blind are not the only sitters by the wayside. Every traveller, when first he visits the East, must be pained and shocked at the display of misery, deformity, and disease that meets his eye at the entrance of every city, and especially about the gateways of all public buildings, mosques, and churches, and round the wells. He may well imagine himself landed in a country peopled by blind, cripples, and lepers. He has, however, seen the worst; for all the suffering of the place is in public. In lands where hospitals and refuges are unknown, and where there is no State aid for poverty and disease of any kind, begging is an absolute necessity, and does not imply any degradation. And this begging is regulated and systematised. The helpless and the crippled are placed in the most frequented thoroughfares. They do not change their posts, which by some prescription or long usage appear to be recognised, like a London street crossing, as

1 6 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the rightful possession of the occupant ; and there they ejaculate their piteous appeal to each passer- by, just as leper or blind man did to Jesus of Nazareth as He passed by. The lepers are always without the walls, and at some distance apart from other mendicants, as we may see to-day at Jeru- salem, where they sit some little way outside the Jaffa and Damascus gates and by the pool of Siloam. Every cripple has some friends who will carry him to his accustomed seat in the morning, and, when they return from work at sunset, will carry him back to his hovel, while the lepers crawl back to their sheds, usually attached to the outside of the city wall.

The duty of almsgiving is recognised and largely practised by all religions in the East ; in the case of the rich by regular daily doles, such as the Pharisees used to distribute when they sounded a trumpet before them, ostensibly to summon the recipients. Most wealthy Moslems, on their daily visit to the mosque, dispense a very small coin to each beggar as they pass ; or in the case of very great men are followed by a servant, who places a para, or quarter-farthing, in the bowl held out by each sufferer. Fortunate indeed among his compeers was the lame man who could, in the days of the glory of Herod's temple, secure a

Jesits as Teacher and Healer 17

-re platform, like the lame man healed by St. Peter,

-r- I close to one of its principal gates,

of Frequently, too, like Lazarus laid at the gate

I of Dives, the sufferers take their station at the

u ; threshold of the courtyards of the wealthy. At

\\ j) the gate of a rich Moslem sheikh, who had a great

e j! reputation for piety, in the ancient city of Nizib in

f }: Mesopotamia, I saw a crowd of wretched-looking

I beggars, carried thither every morning by their friends to receive the dole which their patron i always silently distributed among them on his J daily progress to the bazaar. One could picture I him, like a Pharisee of old, distributing his alms ] to be seen of men.

The cleansing of the leper was an evidence of Divine power no less than the giving of sight to the blind. There is no reason to believe that I modern leprosy differs from that of Biblical days, except that, as in most other diseases, time has i somewhat modified the virulence of its symptoms. Among the unchanged features of the changeless East, few can more impress the stranger from the 1 West, than his first sight of lepers outside the city j gates. At Damascus, the city of Naaman ; at Samaria, where the lepers clustered beneath the I walls during the terrible siege by Benhadad ; at V Shechem (Nablous), not far from the scene of the

2

1 8 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

healing of the ten lepers, on the borders of Samaria and Galilee ; in Jerusalem itself, just east of the Zion gate, — colonies of these poor creatures, loath- some and repulsive, still remain, transmitting to their posterity the awful scourge. All day long they sit by the roadside, with the wooden bowl before them for the reception of alms, raising a loud wail and imploring help from every passer-by, while they display their sickening sores. Some have lost fingefs and toes, ears and nose, others even lips and eyes, their hands eaten off to the wrist ; some as yet show but slight traces of the incurable taint. They will often approach the stranger, but they dare not touch him ; for though it is well known on the spot that the disease is not contagious by slight contact, yet the idea of pollution thereby is strongly held both by Jew and Moslem. In Jerusalem every effort has been made to ameliorate their condition by the provision of a leper hospital, with medical care ; but they refuse to take advantage of it, preferring the good income they secure as mendicants outside, and knowing well that, though medical skill may relieve, it can never cure, them. The curse is hereditary, as denounced to Gehazi ; but years may pass before it shows itself. The children of lepers marry, and too often, going into places where they are not

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 19

\ known, marry into healthy families. Men often 1 5 reach the age of fifty before the inherited taint breaks out, but when it does the sufferer is at once an outcast. The lepers outside Samaria to-day may be the descendants of Gehazi ; and every- 1 where, so far as we know, they are a hereditary J jcaste, like the cretins of the Pyrenean villages. 1 it may be merely an accidental coincidence, but J it is worthy of notice, that all the places where our I Lord is stated to have met with lepers are in the I central districts of Samaria and Galilee. Whether we explain this by His going northwards from the city Ephraim, to which He had withdrawn, to Perea, and thence descending to Jerusalem, or by His coming southward first through Galilee and ; then through Samaria, is immaterial In either ! case, the village where these lepers met Him was in this central region. Now it is just in this district that to this day we find the colonies of lepers most numerous, On the coast line there are few, in the southern regions none, nor have I ever met with them in the wide eastern country south of Damascus. But no towns and few large villages in the central district are without the little lazar colony sitting by the roadside. Samaria* Nablous, Tibneh* Jenin* Tubas, Talluseh, and many I other places have the leper huts clinging to their I walls, or beyond the circle of the village hovels,

20 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

In our Lord's time, though the isolation of lepers was maintained as at present, yet the severest re- strictions had been relaxed. The Talmud gives special directions for the admission of lepers to the services of the synagogue, reminding us of the arrangements in our own mediaeval churches of leper windows, by which the Host could be seen, some of which, as at York, still exist. Grates or bounds were to be made for the leper, ten hands high and four cubits broad. Within these he stood, but he was to be the first to enter and the last to depart, lest they should be defiled that stood in the synagogue. Even in the Temple lepers were admitted to the court of the Gentiles, i.e.y to the part open to the uncircumcised and to those under ceremonial uncleanness. And though the leper was not permitted to enter a city, he was not by the rabbis excluded from villages, on the quaint ground that by the law of Moses he was not to enter " the camp of Israel "; and the camp of Israel was represented after the conquest by every city that had been walled from the time of Joshua, for, said they, Joshua sanctified the walled cities with the holiness that belonged to the camp of Israel, but he did not so to the rest of the land nor to the cities that had no walls.

We know that the social isolation and jealousies

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 21

of jarring faiths have not been mollified in the East; Jew, Christian, and Moslem stand as angrily apart as did ever Jew and Samaritan two thousand years ago. But there is one exception. The old proverb says, " Adversity makes strange bedfellows " ; and thus we find that as, while the Jews had no deal- ings with the Samaritans, yet a Samaritan leper was in the same band with his Jewish fellow- sufferers, so Jewish, Christian, and Moslem victims of the same fell disease herd together in the same cluster of huts outside any town or village of Central Palestine to-day.

Not less conspicuous than the faith of the blind or of the lepers was that of the woman who came to be healed of her infirmity. In order to compre- hend the full grasp of her faith, we must bear in mind the very different position of woman in Eastern lands from that which she holds in Chris- tian countries. Not that women among either Jews or Gentiles were secluded and always veiled in public, as among Mohammedans. The use of the veil covering the face dates only from the pro- mulgation of the Koran, and is not even now practised either by Jews or Christians. The veil spoken of in the Old Testament is rather a light shawl or muffler thrown loosely over the head, and which the wearer instinctively draws half across her

22 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

face if accosted by or speaking to a stranger. Such must have been the veil of Ruth, a shawl large and strong enough to carry six measures of barley, nearly equal to six pecks. But while woman was happily free from the degrading restraints imposed by Moslems, while she could travel alone, while she could mingle freely in the crowd that followed the Preacher, there was, and is, in all modest Eastern women, an inbred shrinking from observation, an avoidance of everything in dress and manner that might attract attention, which would render it hard indeed for this poor timid sufferer to make her affliction known to the Good Physician. Working her way unobserved through the crowd, she draws her mantle or veil across her face, and, unnoticed by human eye, applies her finger to His garment with the touch of faith, and falls back among the throng.

We are told that she had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. St. Luke, himself a physician, while stating the fact that she had exhausted all her means upon physicians, but in vain, expresses the failure of his profession in gentler terms than the other Evan- gelists. "She had suffered many things." Rude and severe was the treatment of disease among the

Jesus as Teacher and Healer 23

Jews, as it still is among Orientals. For such cases as this in question, the remedies are often painful and loathsome, a strange mixture of charms and jugglery with childish specifics. It would be im- possible to understand how intelligent men should have continued to believe in or to use such methods for generations, did wre not know the mysterious connection between mind and body in the effect of remedies, and the wonderful power of faith acting on the patient in many diseases. In such cases as that of this woman, the rabbis tell us that after various medicaments had been drunk the patient was to be placed where two ways met, and then to be suddenly startled from behind. Ten different grotesque ceremonies or performances are pre- scribed. Among them is the following. Seven ditches are to be dug. In each of them vine cut- tings are to be burned, and the patient is to sit astride over each of them successively, while the fuel is burning, till she has endured the heat and smoke from all the seven, while prayers are recited, and then a sort of incantation is pronounced over her. If such had been the treatment in this case, well might the Evangelist record that she had suffered many things, in strange contrast with her present healing and blessing, without money and without price,

II

SOME INCIDENTS IN THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD JESUS

II

SOME INCIDENTS IN THE MINISTRY OE THE LORD JESUS

THE first disciples were called from the fishing- boats of the Galilean lake. There is not an incident in the whole range of Gospel history which is more vividly illustrated by the actual manners and customs of the present day than those which relate to the fisher's craft. The Lake of Gennesaret was always famed for the immense abundance of its fish. In Jewish times the fish of the lake formed an important item in the food of the population of Galilee, and by law the fishing was free to every one without taxation. Josephus tells us that the water of the lake was of the sweetest ; and that it contained great multitudes of fishes of many sorts, which were different from those found elsewhere. In this he was most cor- rect, though the Jews were peculiarly unobservant of the specific distinctions of the fish tribe ; only dividing them into those with fins and scales,

27

28 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

which were clean, and those without fins and scales, among which they reckoned the eel and the silurus, which were unclean. Out of thirty-seven species which we have procured in the Sea of Galilee, no j fewer than sixteen are peculiar to the lake and its I effluent, the river Jordan. Some of the others < belong also to the Nile and the Euphrates ; while only one is found also in the other rivers of Pales- ! tine, which flow into the Mediterranean. It is curious that all the peculiar species are very closely allied to the various fishes which inhabit the great lakes of Central Africa, from the Nyanza to the Nyassa. It is said that in the flourishing epoch of Galilee, under the Roman rule, there were four hundred vessels on the lake, where now there are scarcely a dozen.

The modern boats are all of the same type, doubtless built on the model of those used by the Apostolic fishermen of Galilee. They are broad, with a very shallow keel, are decked at the bow and stern, which are high ; have an open well in the centre, where a mast can be stepped ; and are capable of accommodating from a dozen to twenty men. Under the deck of the bows is a sort of open cabin, where there is room for several men to lie down, and where our Lord was asleep safe from the waves breaking over the prow during

'Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jestts 29

the storm. When needful, the boats are propelled by oars ; but whenever the wind favours, the mast is raised, and the large lateen sail, similar to those in use on the Mediterranean, is hoisted. The shoals of fish in every part of the lake are mar- vellous, and how they find food is a mystery. On a calm day one may see masses, several hundred yards long, with the dorsal fins projecting out of the water, as closely as they can pack. At a little distance one of these shoals has the appearance of a shower of rain pattering on the glassy surface of the lake. The illusion would be complete, were it not that not a shred of a cloud mottles the un- broken azure of the sky. Nowhere else, whether in sea or river, have I ever seen such abundance of finny life.

The fisheries, though so frequently brought to our notice in the Gospels, are never alluded to in the Old Testament. Yet we know from other sources that, though the Jews left the enterprise of fishing on the sea-coast almost entirely to the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon, the inland fishery of the lake had considerable commercial import- ance. The tradition of the Talmud is, that Joshua, in the partition of the land to the northern tribes, enjoined that the fishing in the lake should be free ' to all comers — a franchise long since abrogated ;

30 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

for the Turkish Government farms the fisheries with all the exactions of a publican of old. How- ever, though nearly crushed by extortions, there remain fishermen enough to enable us to illustrate the many familiar metaphors and symbols which the craft and calling of the Galilean fishermen have supplied to the Apostles and Evangelists. T.ie fishing now, as of old, is carried on by various methods, which are alluded to in the Gospels. When St. Peter said, " I go a fishing," the net was a casting-net — the same kind as Peter and Andrew were using when first called to be fishers of men. The casting-net was used either with or without a boat. In the latter case, the fisherman, having thrown ofif his clothing, wades as far as he can into the sea and, with a jerk, throws out a large circular net so that it may fall flat on the surface, and then draws it in towards himself. Sometimes he will swim out a little way with the net neatly folded* and cleverly fling it before him, so that it unfolds evenly as it falls. This is the mode of capture pursued by the poorest fishermen, who cannot afford a boat. The other mode of using the net is from a boat. The vessel, though not moored, is allowed to remain motionless until a shoal of fishes is perceived close by, when the net, attached by a cord to the gunwale, is thrown over them, and the

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 31

es boat gently rowed in a circle, the net, as it moves

v- along, entangling a number of fishes. This mode

re I of fishing is pursued chiefly by night, in order that

te the shoals may not be alarmed by the sight of the

:h I net. Sometimes there is a second boat a few

re 1 yards ahead, with a blazing pine torch at its stern,

e which attracts the fish while the first boat grad-

j3 1 i ually pulls round, and encircles them. This done,

iSi they row to shore, each boat having one end of the

js net attached to it. " They catch them in their net

v 1 and gather them in their drag " (Hab. i. 15). This was evidently the mode pursued on the occasion

a mentioned in John xxi. 6. Even without a torch

(g I there is no difficulty in pursuing this method by

t0 ; night, for the shoals, swimming close to the surface,

ir have a sheen which is visible except in pitchy

,n darkness.

HI I remember once at Ain Tabighah, the ancient

d. Bethsaida, inquiring of the miller (a solitary corn-

jg mill is the only building remaining there) if he had

re any fish. He ran towards what looked like a heap

3j. - of rushes, but was really a fisherman's hovel. A

js naked man crept out* and seizing his net, which

^ ! was lying stretched on the ground, folded it and ,s < i swam with it a little way from the shore, and,

a ' having cast it, returned in a semicircular course^ ]e 1 4 when he gently drew it in with a few small fishes

f 1 1

32 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

entangled in its meshes. I noticed that these fishermen always work without any clothing save a thick felt skull-cap on their heads.

The other mode of fishing, and which has always been the most important, is by the draw-net or " seine," as we term it, — a word ultimately derived from its Greek name aayrjvr), used in the New Tes- tament. This is a large long net, loaded and buoyed, which is carried out by a boat, cast, and then drawn in in a circle, so as to " enclose a great multitude of fishes." This is the kind of net to which our Lord compares the kingdom of heaven — the net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind, which, when it was full, they dre\jv to shore. I

It was very early after the calling of His Apos+ ties — apparently after His first Sabbath at Caper4- naum — that Jesus visited Simon's house, and found) his wife's mother sick of a great fever, as St. Luke terms it. This was in the hot, reeking plain of Gennesaret, and the fever was the well-known1 malarial fever of the district — an exaggerated form of ague. It is a mistake to imagine that th^ natives of these regions enjoy any immunity from .

these fevers, which so often seize travellers from).

I

more northerly climates. Though in the higher lands ; foreigners are the chief sufferers, yet, in the whole-

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 33

Jordan valley, and especially in Gennesaret and about Jericho, the natives rarely escape ; and those whose poverty or avocations compel them to remain there during the early autumn, show the effects in their ague-stricken frames. The women about Tiberias I have noticed to be especially subject to the fever, not having the advantage enjoyed by the men of spending the greater part of their time on the lake, away from the exhalations of the land. Many were the appeals to our medical skill, and for quinine, from these poor sufferers. The words of St. Luke, " a great fever," are a technical expres- sion for this particular malarial fever used by the Greek physicians, and exactly what we might ex- pect from the writer, himself a physician.

Not long after this early miracle was the healing of the paralytic man brought to Him when teach- ing in a house at Capernaum, probably Peter's. If any of us were anxious to get through a crowd which was pressing round a house, the very last method we should dream of adopting would be to mount on to the housetop. But to the Oriental it would be a very natural idea. The houses of all, except the very poorest, are on a much more ex- tensive scale than in our severer climate, where warmth is studied before coolness. An eastern house — such as that in which our Lord was teach-

3

34 Eastern Cttstoms in Bible Lands

ing, and such as may be seen in Nazareth or any other town of Syria — consists generally of a blank wall facing the street, with a narrow doorway in the centre, opening into a courtyard, to which there is no other access. Round three sides of this open square are attached chambers, sometimes wholly or partially enclosed ; sometimes with only pillars supporting the roof, between which curtains may be hung. The principal, or reception, room is on the side facing the entrance, At the further end of it against the wall runs a raised dais, with a few cushions. Besides these, and perhaps a few scraps of carpet, there is rarely any furniture. The poorer houses have no upper storey ; but whether there be an upper storey or not, the roof is invariably flat, covered with earth and lime, whitewashed, and frequently pressed down by the use of a stone roller. This roof is reached by a flight of steps outside the house, and during the heat of summer the family always sleep here, sometimes shading their beds with fragile booths of oleander or other evergreen boughs. From the roof broad eaves project inwards, six feet or more in depth, sup- ported by light rafters fastened to the roof. These are covered with matting, or in the better class of houses with shingles — i.e.9 wooden tiles — lightly tacked together. These eaves afford shelter from

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 35

the sun to persons standing in the court below, and the favourite spot for sitting is just in front of the principal room.

This description of a Galilean house of to-day explains at once all the circumstances of the bringing of the paralytic man before Christ. The preaching of the Lord had attracted great crowds. Pharisees and doctors of the law were there, and we may be quite sure had occupied the principal seats on the platform of the reception room. The listening throng had filled not only the room, but also the whole courtyard. Our Lord would necessarily, in addressing them, stand or sit just in front of the room, where He could be heard and seen both by those within and those in the open court. The bearers of the sick man finding it impossible, from the crowd, not only to approach the great Healer, but even to enter the doorway* turned to the side of the house, and carried their burden up the outer steps on to the roof; and then standing on its edge, just over the chief room, they could easily remove the wooden tiling from the projecting rafters, and let the man down exactly in front of the Preacher. The bed on which the paralytic was borne is described by three different words by the three synoptic evangelists, St. Mark using the word tcpafifiarov) which has come down

36 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

to us very little changed in the French grabat, couch, meaning simply " a little bed." The bed is very different from what we understand by the term, as may be seen by the man taking it up and carrying it away with him. The poorer classes, whether at home or on a journey, use nothing but a sort of mat, or rug, or goatskin, spread on the ground, on which they stretch themselves, covered only by their outer garment, the 'aVeih or woollen cloak. The bed in this passage was one of these, probably of goatskin, with a loop for a handle at each of the four corners. We have often met travellers or pilgrims with such a bed rolled up and slung across their shoulders.

Our Lord's entertainment in the house of the Pharisee Simon (or Simeon) early in His ministry also presents several incidents which modern cus- toms illustrate. A feast or dinner in the East is conducted in a very different fashion from that which holds among ourselves. In some points of domestic life, the Oriental maintains much greater privacy than we do ; in others, where we avoid publicity, he courts it. An ordinary entertainment is a public affair. The gateway of the court, and the door or curtains of the guest-chamber, stand open. The animal which is to provide the staple of the repast is killed and cooked in the open air.

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 3 7

A long, low table, or more often merely the great wooden dishes, are placed along the centre of the room, and low couches on either side, on which the guests, placed in order according to their rank, recline, leaning on their left elbow, with their feet turned away from the table. Every one on coming in takes off his sandals or slippers and leaves them at the door, socks or stockings being unknown. Servants stand behind the couches, and placing a wide, shallow basin on the ground, pour water over it on the feet of the guests. To omit this courtesy would be to imply that the visitor was one of very inferior rank. We can easily understand what a luxury this is to a travel-stained guest, who has walked over the hot sand of a Syrian road in summer. Behind the servants the loungers of the village crowd in, nor are they thought obtrusive in so doing. I have noticed one difference between the ancient and the modern Arab custom. It is evident that here, as in the house of Lazarus at Bethany, the host sat down with the guests. The ordinary rule now is for him to stand by and see that all his guests are duly served.

Besides omitting the water for His feet, Simon had given Jesus no kiss. To receive a guest at the present day without kissing him on either cheek as he enters, is a marked sign of contempt, or at

38 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

least a claim to a much higher social position. Once, in the interior of Tunis, I was asked by an Arab sheikh to eat in his tent. As we were sitting on the ground, round the huge platter of boiled barley and kid, my servant came behind me and whispered, " Trust him not : he has not kissed thee on either cheek." The omission implied that he looked on me as an infidel, and perhaps might not feel bound to keep faith with such. And I soon found that my henchman's caution had been most timely.

Another ordinary attention omitted by Simon, was the anointing the head of his Guest with oil. I have not observed any trace of the survival of this custom, though it is usual to present a speci- ally honoured guest with rosewater or other per- fume in a shallow dish, and sometimes to sprinkle an aromatic essence over his head. Anointing with oil is confined to great ecclesiastical functions among the Christians and Jews. The reason is obvious, since the Mussulmans always shave the head, which the Jews never did, except as a sign of mourning or for a vow. The custom of anoint- ing the heads of honoured guests is frequently represented on Egyptian monuments. Now the woman who came in during the feast could kneel behind the Saviour, and wash His feet without

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 39

being seen by Him. Hence Simon's unspoken thought, which implied that if Jesus had been a prophet He would have felt Himself contaminated by her touch, though He did not turn to look at her ; for by the Divine power of reading the heart He would have known her character. After wip- j ing His feet with her hair, which she loosened for the purpose, she anoints them with ointment from an alabaster box which she had brought. Ala- baster was the ordinary material for boxes of unguents and perfumes, probably because the per- fume slightly exhales through the partially porous substance ; and many small alabaster vases have been found in Egypt, some even retaining traces of the ointment they once contained. Of course, in this case, to anoint the feet was an infinitely higher expression of homage than to anoint the head ; and the use of ointment instead of oil was equally significant. The idea of pouring per- fume on one to whom it was desired to show honour is, perhaps, the last that would occur to a Western mind. But perfumes have a much more important place in the domestic economy of the East than among ourselves.

It has often been remarked that the Teutonic and Sclavonic races are more indifferent to scents than any others. The poorest Orientals spend

40 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

money for the gratification of the olfactory nerves. The woman who goes to market with a few piastres to supply the family needs for the week, would think her purchases incomplete unless she had spent a para, the sixth of a penny, on some tuberoses, or other powerfully scented flowers. The men one meets in the street have a flower in their fingers, at which they are perpetually sniffing. The Jews have a pretty custom which I have noticed when I have been at a synagogue. The worship over, some one at the door hands a fresh citron or lemon to his neighbour, who passes it on, and each one, as he takes it, smells it and says, " Blessed be Jehovah who gives us all things good, even pleasant smells for our noses." When the Orientals remark on the olfactory obtuseness of the Westerns, the latter may retort, as is said of Cologne, that the ordinary odours and filth of Eastern cities are so offensive, that perfumes are absolutely necessary to counteract them. When it is stated that the woman broke the alabaster box, what is evidently meant is the seal by which the lid was secured, and the perfume prevented from evaporating. We see similar boxes, only made of richly coloured glass instead of alabaster, at the present day in the bazaars of Damascus, containing the attar of roses for which that

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 41

city is celebrated, and which are very elaborately sealed.

The manufacture of perfumes and unguents is an important industry in Damascus and many other Asiatic cities. But spikenard is not among these. It is still the most costly of all perfumes in Syria, being imported only from India, where the arom- atic plant, called by botanists Nardostachys jata- mansi, is found in Nepal, by the upper waters of the Ganges. It is curious that the first mention of the Ganges by ancient writers is as the river by the banks of which spikenard is obtained, and at the same time they add that it is a mountain plant.

may well conceive the costliness of an unguent brought in those da^s by Arabian merchants from such an immense distance.

We shall not find a statement in Scripture, how- ever trivial it may at first sight appear, which is not there for a purpose, and has not a meaning. Thus, our Lord's discourse with His disciples as they walked, when He asked them "Whom do men say that I am ? " is prefaced with the remark that they had gone into the parts (i.e., the villages) of Csesarea Philippi. Why should St. Mark be care- ful to tell us that the momentous question was asked in that neighbourhood ? There is much in the topographical setting, if we may so term it, of

42 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the question. I do not mean the natural scenery, though that is among the most lovely and varied in all Syria. It was on one of the southern spurs of snow-capped Hermon, whose dome towers 10,000 feet above the plain. At the base of the mountain here bursts forth the great fountain of Jordan, one of the largest single springs in the world — a river full-grown at birth. On a little knoll, close by that mighty fountain, once stood the temple of Dan, with its golden calf, the centre of the idolatrous worship of the northern tribes. Park-like glades, studded with noble oaks, spread on both sides of the wide valley which slopes down to the plain of Jordan. But it was not on this account that the place is mentioned. It was the northern limit of our Lord's journeyings, just on the frontier of the land of Israel. At Caesarea Philippi He was in one of the holy places of classi- cal paganism. In a lovely glen, where magnificent streams burst from the foot of lofty cliffs, every- where overhung with luxuriant foliage, the Greeks had consecrated a grotto to the worship of their rustic god Pan. Alongside of this a Gentile city had sprung up, named after the heathen divinity, Paneas — a name which it still retains, slightly changed to Banias. But Herod had built a sump- tuous temple ; and Philip the Tetrarch, who ruled

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 43

at this time, had beautified and enlarged it, and changed its name to Caesarea Philippi, combining flattery to his suzerain with the endeavour to pre- serve his own memory. High up, on the face ox the enclosing cliffs, was many a sculpture and tablet deeply chiselled, remaining intact to this day, carved in honour of the deity of the place and his licentious rites.

These rock-hewn carvings must have caught the eye of the Lord and His disciples as they passed up towards the city, above which is the probable scene of the Transfiguration. And per- haps He had them in view, when, thinking of a far more imperishable rock, He said to Peter, " Upon this rock I will build My Church." For our rock is not as theirs. The Master and His disciples were here standing on the very border- line of Judaism and paganism. They looked south on the land of Naphtali, then studded with syna- gogues. Beneath them, where the waters of Paneas joined the Jordan, were the desolate ruins which recorded the former apostasy of the Israelitish kingdom. Behind them were the gorgeous build- ings which illustrated the two most debasing extremes of the sensuous idolatry of the Greek and Roman world ; substituting, on the one hand, for the worship of the Eternal Power and Godhead,

44 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the materialistic worship of nature in its lowest form, and on the other, prostituting the human conscience to the purposes of a tyrannical and brutal government. But around our Lord stood the germ of the living Church — that little band which represented the Israel from whom Christ came, an isolated and lonely race ; alone, too, in their strong faith in a coming Deliverer, who should overthrow all that mighty fabric of idolatry — a faith which, to those who were aliens from their commonwealth, seemed the most crazy of dreams. In such a spot, and amidst such surroundings, does the Lord Jesus elicit definitely, and for the first time, the emphatic declaration, " Thou art the Christ." As though He had in His mind the hopes and wants of the various races of mankind which He alone could meet, on that frontier spot, He would break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. Here He unveiled the power which should free men's consciences from the thrall of pagan superstition and sensuality. Here He fore- told how the hopes of oppressed and downcast Israel should be fulfilled, while all alike should, in the answer to the great question, find light and peace and freedom.

It was after this that we read of children being brought, though not for the first time, to Jesus.

Some Incidents in the Ministry of Jesus 45

There are two beliefs — we may perhaps call them superstitions — rooted in the Oriental mind : the power of the eye, and the power of the touch. We know that many persons have a power of fascinating by the eye, and, riveting their gaze on their subjects, can hold them for a time. Hence arose the superstition of the evil eye. The Western stranger must beware of looking, too, at a child, especially an infant, or he may soon find himself surrounded by a crowd of infuriated women, who fear he is bewitching their little ones. But side by side with this is a faith in the efficacy of the touch of any holy, wise, or pure person. The old city of Askelon is now in ruins, and grand and wonderful ruins they are ; but outside the walls is a large Mohammedan village, or rather town. I had gone into a house to see some antiques which were offered for sale, and left outside in the street my young daughter with a native servant. Hearing an unusual commotion without, I hastily left my antiquarian, and found the whole female popula- tion of the place, with their babes, crowding round my daughter, while my servant was vehemently gesticulating and brandishing a stick to keep off the crowd. As soon as I ascertained the cause of the excitement, I rebuked my man, who, with true Oriental pride, esteemed it a degradation for

46 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

an English lady to notice poor Fellahin, and my daughter gladly complied with their wishes. They had never seen a Western woman before, for Askelon is quite out of the ordinary tourist's route ; and, wonder-stricken by the sight of the smiling, fair-skinned, light-haired girl, perfectly at home on her side-saddle (another wonder for them), they were sure that her touch would bring blessing to their little ones. When she began by taking a babe in her arms and kissing it, they explained that there was no need for that,— the touch of her fingers was quite enough. The babes in arms were touched on the cheeky and the little toddling ones on their head. The ceremony ended, we rode off, amidst the blessings and the grateful looks of these simple women. Salem Aleikum (" Peace be with you ") was ejaculated on all sides, and responded to by AH Selma (" On thee be peace "). Where could we have found or seen a more vivid illustra- tion of the Gospel narrative, " They brought young children to Him that He should touch them, and His disciples rebuked those that brought them " ?

Ill

JOURNEYING IN THE EAST

47

Ill

JOURNEYING IN THE EAST

THE requisites for an Eastern journey are few and simple — scrip, purse, and shoes ; though now, when the country is not under the settled rule which prevailed in the days of the Romans, a weapon of some kind, or at least a stout cudgel, must be added. The equipment was the same many ages before that period : for Homer (" Odyssey," 17-197) describes Ulysses as travelling with a purse, a bag, and a staff, using the same word for scrip or bag which occurs in the New Testament. The purse is a small leather bag, hung round the neck under the shirt by country folk, but concealed in the folds of the voluminous girdle worn by townsmen. It contains the owner's money and other valuables, especially the signet ring so treasured by every Arab, who always carries it in this purse. The scrip is a bag of larger dimensions, slung across the shoulder over the outer garment, generally made of leather, but, in the case of the poorest, of flexible matting, in which

4

50 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

provision for the journey, usually olives, dried figs, and thin barley cakes rolled up, or folded square, is carried. The word used for shoes is different from that for sandals. The latter are simply soles of undressed hide, with the hair on the upper surface, and fastened with thongs, always carried by the traveller, who walks barefoot on sandy or grassy ground, but who finds them absolutely necessary for the rocky and stony paths of the hill country. Shoes, or rather, as we should call them, slippers, have upper leathers and heels, and are made of softer material. They are worn by horse- men, and for use in the house are frequently brightly coloured. Our Lord's charge to His Apostles to take neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes, implied that they were to take nothing not absolutely necessary for travelling, but to depend solely on the hospitality of those to whom they preached, for the labourer is worthy of his hire. The prohibition of shoes, not sandals, is especially directed against anything that might savour of worldly show or luxury. Perhaps the command was suggested by the injunction of the scribes in the Gemara, " Let no man enter into the Mount of the Temple either with his staff in his hand, or with his shoes on his feet, or with money bound up in his linen, or with a purse hanging on his

Journeying in the East 51

back." As though our Lord would teach that your mission is as holy as that of visiting the Temple ; therefore, let no worldly matters intrude.

The Arab of the present day will travel in the desert with yet simpler provision. He will start for a journey of several days with no provision beyond two skin bags slung on his shoulder, the one full of water, the other containing barley meal. When he halts for the night, he gathers a few twigs and roots of the retem ("juniper" of 1 Kings xix. 4) and other desert shrubs, kindles them on a few flat stones with the flint and steel he always carries ; takes a handful of meal from his bag, kneads it with a little water on a flat stone, and rolls it out with his hands into a thin cake. He then brushes aside the hot embers, puts the dough on the heated stones, heaps the hot ashes upon them, and his cake is soon baked. On this simple fare he will cheerfully travel for several days. Thus was Elijah fed when, on his journey to Horeb, the angelic messenger wakened him, and he found the fare of a desert wanderer ready prepared to his hand — a cake baked on the coals (or rather "hot stones"), and a cruse (leathern bottle) of water.

In the account of the miracle of the feeding the four thousand (Mark viii.), we have an illustration

52 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

of the wondrous attractive power of Jesus afforded us, though it is not expressed. They had been with Him three days. Now no Eastern peasant would think of leaving home without having in his wallet two or three loaves, or flat thin cakes of barley bread folded up after the fashion of a napkin, enough for a day's food or perhaps for more. The people had heard where He was, and knew that they could not return to the cities of Gennesaret the same night. They would therefore store in these wallets food sufficient for one day at least. With economy, and those who had a more liberal supply no doubt sharing it with others, they were able to subsist for a second day. But now, on the third day, their stores were utterly exhausted. Yet, still spell-bound, they hung on His words of love and mercy, and all absorbed, they forgot the needs of the body for the time. Even the Apostles, who, accustomed to remain out with their Master, did not usually forget to take bread, had not sufficient left for their own needs ; for the lad, who is mentioned in the other Gospels as carrying the provisions, was evidently in attend- ance on them.

Even now, with much smaller crowds, companies have to scatter for food and shelter. On one occasion we fell in with the caravan of Russian

Journeying in the East 53

pilgrims, about two thousand in number, on their way from keeping Easter at Jerusalem, to visit the holy places of Nazareth. They had encamped the preceding night at Samaria, where provision had been made for them. But on the following day, they had not made the progress they expected, and found themselves towards evening in the Sahel or plain of Arrabeh. Having neither tents nor food with them, they at once dispersed up the hillsides in all directions, seeking supplies in the different villages, where they remained till the morning. Soon after sunrise they mustered at the camp, where the few who had asses with them had halted and kindled fires. In this fashion must the hungry crowds at Bethsaida have dispersed, but for the sympathising intervention of their Divine Teacher.

It was in such a caravan as that just described that Joseph and Mary went with the child Jesus to the feast of the Passover. To visit the place which the Lord had chosen, to set His name there, was the duty of every male Jew at the three great feasts of the year. This command did not extend to women, but, according to the teaching of the rab- binical school of Hillel, women were expected to attend the Temple at the feast of the Passover, though not at the other festivals. From Nazareth to Jerusalem was a journey of four days, as journeys

54 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

are made in the East. But such journeys are thought little of among an agricultural people, whose labour in the fields is interrupted by long periods of rest, between harvest time and ploughing, and between seed time and harvest, during which intervals all the festivals occurred. To the present day such pilgrimages, and far longer ones, are habitually undertaken by Christians and Moslems alike, not as matters of religious duty, but of high religious merit. In the Mohammedan system, we know that pilgrimages, especially those to Mecca, Medina, and Jebe, Arafat, have an important place. But there are many others, less arduous and danger- ous, such as those to Nebi Moussa, near Jordan, and Jebel Haroun (Mount Hor), which are believed to impart the odour of sanctity to the pilgrims. The Christians of the Eastern Churches hold the pilgrimage to Jerusalem at Easter, to the place of our Lord's baptism in the Jordan, to Nazareth and Bethlehem, in no less esteem.

The pilgrim caravans often consist of many hundred members, and they travel exactly as such parties have journeyed since the days of Abraham. Let us take the Greek pilgrimage from Jerusalem to Nazareth, which I have more than once joined for part of the way. The ceremonies and festivities of Eastertide in the Holy City being over, and the

Jotmteying in the East

55

Jordan having been visited and bathed in, Nazareth is the next great halting place. The day and hour of the start are publicly known long before-hand. Early in the morning, before daybreak, all are astir. The women and children collect outside the gate, many with very young children on asses, and a few on camels, and with a few drivers and donkey owners, start off in wild confusion, amidst a babel of tongues. The halting place is of course arranged beforehand. The men sit idly about, or lounge with their pipes for another hour or more, being quite certain of overtaking the family cavalcade in time for the night's encampment. This is always reached about an hour or more before sunset. The women busily occupy themselves in gathering what brushwood they can find for fuel and cooking. Few, if any, possess the luxury of a tent, and the crowd is scattered in groups round the various little fires. At Ain Haramiyeh, " the robbers' spring," name of suspicious omen, is the first halt north of Jerusalem, where a copious fountain waters a long narrow valley. The start next morning is made in the same fashion as on the previous day ; and the men for the most part spend the night apart from the groups of women and children. The boys of debatable age may be seen, some with their fathers, others with the women. There seems to be no strict rule

56 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

and a lad who mistrusted his walking powers would probably prefer the earlier and slower caravan.

We may be very sure than in the unchanging East the fashion of these pilgrimages is exactly what it was two thousand years ago. How easily, then, might a lad of twelve years old be sup- posed by his father to be with the women ; and by his mother to have joined himself to the men ! His absence would not even be suspected by either party, until they met at the camp at night. The next day would be spent in walking back to Jerusalem ; and then, on the morning of the third day, they discover Him sitting in one of the porches of the Court of the Women, where the Rabbis were accustomed to deliver their lectures and exposi- tions, with their pupils all sitting in a circle on the ground round their favourite teachers. So Saul sat at the feet of Gamaliel ; and so have I seen the scholars of the Rabbis sitting round them in the humble lecture-halls of Tiberias, which is now the great educational centre for the Jews of Palestine.

On his journeys, as at home, the Oriental has no practical idea of the value of time. He will press on alone, or when with a single companion, for hours at a time in silence ; but when once arrested by any passing incident, or when he meets an acquaintance or a stranger, he will dawdle away

Journeying m the East

57

the best part of the day. Our Lord's command to His Apostles, "Salute no man by the way," is one, the value of which every Eastern traveller can fully appreciate. There is no discourtesy implied in obedience to the injunction. You may be hurrying to your pre-arranged camping-ground or village, and the sun is rapidly nearing the western horizon. Your dragoman recognises a traveller whom you meet, or, it may be, accosts an entire stranger. The greeting commences by a reciprocal invocation of peace. Both halt. The conversation proceeds in a series of meaningless inquiries after health, welfare of self and kinsfolk. Then it gradually slides into inquiries as to whence each started in the morning, and their destination for the night, with ejaculations of " Allah be praised ! " and the like, after each reply. You impatiently sit on your horse a few yards in advance, but you turn, and see them com- posing themselves to sit down on the wayside, while they interchange all the small gossip of their respective villages, and the various fumours of the bazaars, in which employment ten minutes is- easily wasted, and the sun is setting ere your loitering guide comes up to you again. Often in such a predicament have I recalled this command. The Rabbis forbade a man to salute when he was mourning for the dead ; and in all times of sorrow,

58 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

or which were unsuitable for espousals or marriages, men were to refrain from saluting. Neither were Rabbis or teachers of the law to indulge in saluta- tions, but merely to acknowledge them and pass on From this we gather that our Lord's command means, that the disciples, urgently pressed on their errand, were simply, when accosted with the con- ventional salutations of " Peace be with thee ! " to reply "On thee be peace ! " and to pass on without halting. But when they enter a house, the saluta- tion has a much deeper meaning. It is a message of peace to the family, an offer from a messenger of the Divine One. If so recognised, and not treated as a mere formal courtesy, the bearers of peace will be received, and the Son of peace will be found in that house.

When the risen Saviour overtakes the two disciples going to Emmaus and inquires of them, What communications are these ... as ye walk ? " the incident illustrates their intense ear- nestness ; for to gesticulate and vehemently discuss, as he walks, is not the ordinary habit of the Oriental. Fond as he is of gossip when sitting in the cafc\ patient and imperturbable as he listens to the story- teller by the camp fire, he walks solemnly and silently with his comrade on the road. Energetic discussion, as he journeys, is apart from his

Journeying in the East 59

character, and wholly alien to his ideas of dignity, which he never forgets, unless in the case of a funeral. It is just such a passing touch in the narrative, which illustrates its accuracy, as told by one of the party ; while such an animated conver- sation would naturally justify the passer-by in interposing with his inquiries.

We have described the fashion and incidents of the journey of the ordinary traveller or pilgrim. Very different is the progress of a Royal personage or other great man. Then there are great prepara- tions — messengers, heralds, and labourers are busied long before the prince commences his jour- ney. The road must be prepared. The idea of a highway such as we know and enjoy in Western lands is non-existent in the East ; the phrase cor- responding to our English " Queen's highway," Ed derb sultani, the Sultan's road, is common enough, but it is a mere track. The only roadmakers are the feet of camels and horses, which for generation after generation, treading each one in the footsteps of its predecessors, have worn steps in the most slippery rocks, or beaten a hard path on the sands. The track winds deviously up and down the hills or by the sides of the winter torrents ; every one walking round the same boulder, making a circuit round the same hollow ; no man ever dreaming of

6o Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

cutting, levelling, banking-up, or draining a road. Fences, of course, there are none, and should a rock, or even a clump of thorn bushes, stand in the way, no one has ever cleared one or the other. The utmost that has been done is that in the plains a ditch is frequently cut by the side of the path, which drains the water in winter, while the earth from it has slightly raised the track above the soft surrounding plain. It was not so in Roman times. Those mighty builders engineered and paved their roads, even into the recesses of the Arabian wilder- ness. But these are all abandoned now, and the dislodged and upturned paving stones render it impossible to use the highways along which for centuries the chariots dashed, and the imperial legionary tramped. It is more than probable that the arterial roads were paved, long before the Roman occupation, by Solomon and his successors. It is scarcely possible that chariots should have been in constant use, and have been brought up out of Egypt, unless there were paved roads, very different from the camel tracks of the patriarchs and the moderns, for their employment ; and some of the Roman roads, notably that from Hebron southwards, still show traces of their having been constructed on the top of earlier and rougher pave- ments.

Journeying in the East

61

But it would ill consort with the Oriental idea of a monarch's dignity, that a ruler of men should have to turn aside for any obstacle. Let a Sultan or a Shah propose a royal progress, and then all is changed. Pioneers are hurriedly sent forward along the whole route ; the neighbouring popula- tion is at once impressed and compelled to work without pay. The requisitioned villagers gather out the stones, fill in the dry watercourses, scarp the rocks, cut the sides of the hills, and level and guard the track. No obstacle delays the mon- arch's advance. " Cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones ; lift up a standard for the people." Twice it has been my good fortune to see such preparations. On one occasion the Im- perial heir of Austria was to visit the Pasha of Jerusalem. At that time there was not, as there is now, a carriage road from Jaffa (which is still the only passable track for a wheel conveyance in the country), much less a railway ; and heavy rains had washed the road into a mere rugged water- course. A crowd of labourers and Turkish soldiers were sent forth to level the track with their mat- tocks and shovels, and their officers prancing about on horseback, might be seen pointing to the heaps of detritus as they passed, and calling out, " Gather out the stones." Thus the road was made straight

62 Eastern Ctistoms in Bible Lands

and smooth for the time. But this lasts not long. The first thunderstorm washes all this loose earth away, and the old rocks and watercourses re- appear.

On another occasion, Midhat Pasha, the then Wali of Damascus, was about to make a state pro- gress through his province to Aleppo. A cloud of Bashi-bazouks (irregular cavalry) poured out in advance, a few hours before His Highness was to start on his richly-caparisoned steed, and pro- claimed with trumpet and kettledrum the advent of the great man. His camp equipage accom- panied them, and the tents were pitched and the cooking fire kindled at the appointed spot, long before the shades of evening closed in. Though the road had been thus prepared, a further mounted body-guard immediately preceded him, heralding his approach, and forcing every traveller to stand aside till he had passed. One poor man, with his laden ass, was forced into the ditch. (This was on the plain of Hamath.) The kindly Wali saw the incident, halted, and ordered his people to help the man out. Then looking round, and seeing a Moslem cemetery, with its tall grave-slabs, hard by, he bade them take two long stones, and lay them across the ditch, to prevent the recurrence of such an accident. Some one deferentially interposed

Journeying in the East 63

that they were gravestones, and would thus be put to a secular use. " Man," was the reply, " they cover the bodies of the faithful ; and I am a be- liever, and await the resurrection. Their removal will lighten the labour of the faithful, on whom they lie heavy, when they are bidden to rise ; while here they may save another son of the faithful from falling into the pit."

Thus unchanged are Eastern fashions from the day when Isaiah proclaimed : " The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." We are reminded also of the prophecy, " Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to pre- pare His ways." For a royal personage there are three sets of heralds : the first, on the day before his arrival ; the second, on the morning of the day ; and the third, whom we should call outriders, im- mediately in front. The preaching of repentance by the Baptist is thus compared by the inspired lyrist to the outrunner's torch, casting its light on those that sat in darkness, and rousing them to prepare to receive their Messiah. But the torch disappears when the dayspring arises : so the fore- runner is no more seen when the Heavenly Monarch makes Himself known in all His fulness.

It was mentioned above that the preparing the

64 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

way is all performed by forced and unpaid labour. This system of forced labour is still the curse of most Eastern nations. We read that Solomon gave Jeroboam " charge over all the labour of the house of Joseph " (R.V.), i.e., he had the directions of the forced labour for public works, the " heavy yoke " of which the people so bitterly complained to Rehoboam. To this day for all public works the governor or Pasha can command the unpaid labour of all the fellahin or country folk. Not only is a levie en masse made to clear the roads and fur- bish up the streets for a royal progress, but often the exaction is enforced for works of luxury, as royal palaces, or for works of irrigation, from which the labourers are only a portion of those benefited. The oppression of Israel in Egypt has had its counterpart ever since. Whenever we gaze admir- ingly on the stupendous structures of Egypt, or explore the mounds of Nimroud, we may not for- get the hard bondage and the cruel serfdom which raised these monuments of selfish power and wealth. Even for the building of the Temple, Sol- omon had raised a levy of thirty thousand out of all Israel, when labour was exacted for one month out of every three ; besides one hundred and fifty thousand serfs, labourers, and hewers. We may note that Adoniram, who was Solomon's officer

Journeying in the East 65

over this levy or tribute (1 Kings v. 14), was the first victim of the popular fury on the revolt from Rehoboam.

In Egypt this cruel system of corvee ground down the peasantry up to the time of the English occupation. I have myself seen the whole male population of several villages driven together, at the bayonet's point, to toil for weeks at some barrage or irrigation work, where they received only the barest rations, and their families were left to starve or live as they could meanwhile, with no provision whatever from the Government. Even under French rule, in the militarily governed por- tion of Algeria, the system has only been abolished within the last few years ; and while travelling in the Algerian Sahara, under the sanction of the French Government, I found that all the camels and Arab guides provided for me were under the corvee, and that payment was of free grace, and too often omitted. We have an interesting evidence of the antiquity of this (to the rulers very convenient) practice in an inscription in the pass of Abilene, well known to travellers from Damascus to the Cedars. There is a magnificently engineered aque- duct, and a chariot road parallel to it, hewn in the side of the cliff till it reaches the site of the ancient city ; and at the end is a long Latin inscription on

5

66 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the face of the rock, laudatory of the Roman Em- peror, and of the Prefect under whose beneficent auspices this work of public utility was accom- plished. But below is added in differently shaped letters, and evidently by another hand, Impensis Abilenetorum," At the cost of the people of Abil- ene." Moreover, on examination it is seen that this significant addendum has been carefully filled in with cement, and no doubt was concealed for the time, to be preserved for future ages.

IV

EASTERN DWELLINGS AND EASTERN FEASTS

6

IV

EASTERN DWELLINGS AND EASTERN

HE ordinary house of the peasant and of the

family just above the peasant class has already been described. But all houses of the better class, though constructed on the same plan, have two stories. The upper storey is called beit- seify, or summer house ; the ground floor is beit- shetawy^ or winter house. The upper, open to the verandah, is much cooler than the lower. Fire- places or stoves are unknown. But in the winter house, instead of a fireplace, there is a shallow depression in the middle of the room in which is placed a large earthenware vessel filled with lighted charcoal. As soon as the fumes have been dissi- pated, a board is placed over the glowing embers, and a carpet spread over it, by which the heat is retained for hours. Wood is often used instead of charcoal. It was by such a fire as this that Jehoia- kim sat in the winter house when he burnt the roll of Jeremiah (Jer. xxxvi. 23).

In all great houses the watchman is an im-

FEASTS

jo Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

portant personage. In the East, which knows not the happy and secure municipal arrangements of Western lands, every man must be his own policeman. The State punishes, but leaves the prevention and detection of theft and robbery to the individual interested. Not only in the watch- towers of the vineyards, but in the houses and villages, the watchman is needful. It is only in walled cities, where there is a garrison, that the security of the place rests in the hands of the authorities. And so it was of old. The unchanged arrangements of the houses explain the watchman's duties. In the castle of the great man there was a tower over the gateway, and on the roof of this he kept a look-out during the day. Such was the watchman of the palace of Jezreel, who recognised the charioteering of Jehu as he drove furiously up the plain of Esdraelon. But the private house had no such tower, nor was there any look-out post. Not one of the rooms has a window on the outside. In the better class of houses there is frequently a second inner square or yard, a patio as the Spaniards would call it, and in both courts the upper storey has a balcony projecting all round the area, by which to pass from chamber to chamber. The only window looking outwards is a grille over the doorway, sometimes projecting in a sort of bay

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 71

and closely latticed, by which the ladies may peep unseen up and down the street. Such is the lattice from which the mother of Sisera is imagined to look, and through which Jezebel ironically greeted Jehu, little wotting of the faithless chamberlains behind her, ever ready to worship the rising sun.

Below this solitary casement and within the gate- way is the porter's lodge. As the door is always kept fastened, he must ever be on the alert, for there could be no greater indignity than for the master or any visitor to be kept waiting after they have knocked. The porter on the watch at once demands the name before he opens ; and, as in the parable of the Ten Virgins, he refuses to open at all to unwelcome guests. In ordinary houses of more moderate size there is no porter's lodge within the gateway, and the servant has some distance to traverse before reaching the gate. Thus in Acts xii. Rhoda could at once, when she had crossed the yard, recognise Peter's voice in reply to her question ; but some short time would elapse before she could recross the. court and mount to the upper chamber where the disciples were assembled, and return again to open the gate. The minute touches and expressions of the whole of Acts xii. are full of significance, showing that the account must have been furnished by an eye-witness.

72 Easter 7t Customs in Bible Lands

Where there is a porter, as the family usually sleep upstairs, and in summer on the flat roof, the access to which is generally by the flight of steps outside only, the safety of the inside depends on the vigilance of the porter, who is the only member of the household on the area. The Eastern thief does not attempt a surprise by the door j he digs through the wall of the house behind — a compara- tively easy task where the walls are, as (s usually the case, built of stone and clay instead of cement, and his tool is a mattock, a sort of hoe a/id pickaxe combined. I have frequently, when travelling in Mesopotamia and Northern Syria in summer, slept on the housetop with the family who had offered me hospitality. Where there was a porter we were literally locked out for the night, and had to summon him to admit us for our ablutions in the morning ; but often in humbler families the master of the house carefully locked the door below, and then followed us up the steps to the roof of the empty house. The Christian watchman has a two-fold duty : first, to guard the door of his heart against intruders and to be ever ready to recog- nise and obey his Master's voice ; and secondly, to be alert against surprises, lest the thief break in and temptation assault him on the unguarded or unexpected side.

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 73

When our Saviour tells His disciples, " In My Father's house are many mansions " — i.e., abiding- places or resting-places — He suggests the illustra- tion either of a palace or a caravanserai. The word is applied elsewhere to chambers in either of these, and also to the resting-places on great roads — simple sheds with seats, which it is considered a work of merit to maintain in all Eastern countries, from Turkey to China and Japan. Round the area of the temple at Jerusalem were vast numbers of chambers, for the accommodation, not only of the priests and Levites attending in their courses, and of the prophets and prophetesses who wished to be in continual attendance on the worship of Jehovah ; but also for any others who from time to time re- sorted to the sanctuary. And so within the gates of the palaces of Eastern monarchs were many quadrangles, each containing series of chambers for the use, not only of retainers, but of visitors and strangers. The thoughts of the disciples are by our Lord's illustration lifted from the limited ac- commodation of the earthly temple to the inex- haustible provision for rest and repose in the heavenly temple, in which, even when all shall have entered in, " yet there is room."

Sometimes a guest-chamber was built on the roof. It was such a chamber that the lady of

74 Eastern Ctistoms in Bible Lands

Shunem proposed to her husband to make for the convenience of the prophet " on the wall M (2 Kings iv. 8), Le.y accessible from the outside by the steps on the wall, so that the visitor's movements might be free and unnoticed when he wished for privacy Such guest-chambers are very general now in the towns, especially in Jerusalem and Nablous. It was perhaps in such a one that the new Teacher received Nicodemus by night. We may infer from John xix. 27 that the beloved disciple had a home in Jerusalem, however humble it may have been, up one of the narrow winding streets of the Holy City. It would certainly, like every other city dwelling, where ground space was limited, have its guest-chamber on the roof — a large room, lightly constructed, and not occupying the whole area. The guest-chamber could thus be reached, like the prophet's at Shunem, by the outer steps, without attracting the observation of the inmates of the dwelling below. Here, in that simply furnished spacious room, with only the oil lamp suspended in the centre and a few mats and one or two pil- lows on the floor, the great Teacher sat. The wind on that spring night — for it was the Pass- over time — sweeping fitfully down the narrow streets would be plainly heard on that roof, and supply at once the illustration, "The wind

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Eeasts 75

bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof."

I take it that the " large upper room furnished " (Luke xxii. 12) was an apartment of this kind. The disciples do not accost the man, but simply follow him to the house ; and then they inquire for the " guest-chamber " — to fcardXvfia, the resting- place — where their Master and they might eat the Passover. The owner, evidently himself a disciple, shows them, not the ordinary Karakv/jbay or resting- place, of an Eastern house — an open hall or rather shed, opening into the courtyard, for which alone they asked — but the large upper room of the house, as described above, furnished, i.e. prepared, for the guests at the supper by couches or mattresses spread round the low table and covered with damask or tapestry work, as we may see in the best Moslem houses in Damascus at the present day, on which the company reclined when eating. This upper chamber, or alijah as it is called, has the advantage of being accessible without passing through the house. We must bear in mind that, though the Passover itself was by the original in- stitution to be eaten standing, this rule was not held to apply to the supper. According to the Talmud, slaves ate their meals standing ; and this reclining was to indicate how Israel had passed

76 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

from bondage into freedom. The very poorest, therefore must partake of the supper recumbent on a couch, to indicate safety, rest, and liberty.

We have another use of the housetop — viz., for privacy and retirement — mentioned in Acts x. 9. Peter had retired at noon, one of the stated times of prayer (Dan. vi. 10). The flat roof was sur- rounded by a parapet, which shielded the visitor from observation from the street. In the case of the house at Jaffa pointed out as Simon's, and which is very possibly on the true site, any person on the roof is shut out from view, excepting from some similar housetops higher up, and has before him only a wide prospect seawards.

It has been mentioned that there are no win- dows in the poorer class of houses. This is inci- dentally illustrated in our Lord's parable of the lost piece of money, when, after appealing to the men by the parable of the Lost Sheep, He turns to the women of the crowds, and brings His teaching home to their experience. They knew well what it was, in the dark recesses of their Galilean cot- tage, to lose one of the silver pieces, the treasured heirlooms which they strung on their head-dresses ; for the allusion here is not to money carried in a purse, but to the coins which formed the semadi worn by every Nazareth matron to this day. The

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 77

semadi is formed of silver coins pierced through the centre, and strung on a pad on each side of the head, the larger coins at the bottom and the smaller at the top, meeting, if the wearer be rich enough, on the forehead. These treasures are the exclusive property of the woman. Father, brother, or husband has no power over them, and they descend from mother to daughter. How poor that woman must be who had only ten such pieces, every traveller in Galilee will know full well. How keenly would she feel the loss of even one coin from her scanty head-dress, and how carefully would she search her house for the missing trea- sure ! And need, too, has she to light a candle ; for in a Galilean cottage, if there be an inner chamber, it receives scarcely a ray of light from the door, the only aperture for ventilation or light. In this inner chamber, or where it is wanting, on a raised dai's at the back of the living room, are kept all the stores of the household — sacks of corn, jars of wine, heaps of olives, and, moreover, the mat- tocks, yokes, ploughs, and other implements of husbandry — and without a candle her search would be futile. When the treasure was found, how would the happy owner tell her tale of anxiety and evoke the congratulations of her neighbours as they gathered at the fountain, the evening rendez-

78 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

vous of the women of an Eastern village ! In seizing on these incidents of daily life among the poor, our Lord would show to them at once how He who came, as the poorest of the poor, to seek and to save the lost, welcomed the meanest, and could sympathise in the anxieties of the humblest.

A clear conception of the arrangements of a great house or palace, such as has been described a few pages back, will enable us without difficulty to follow the movements of St. Peter on the night of the Passion. Our Saviour was led, after His examination before Annas, to the high-priest's house. This house stood on the northern slope of Mount Moriah, and would consist, first, of the or- dinary courtyard, with cloisters round it, and at the further end a door opening into the inner court, round which would be chambers twTo stories high, the lower chiefly offices, and the rooms of the attendants ; while above, reached by a wide stair- case, were the reception or audience-halls of the high-priest. There could be no difficulty in any one entering the outer court, which is scarcely looked upon as part of the house ; but the porter or, as it happened to be in this case, the porteress, sat between the two courts, to the inner of which only those who had business there would be ad- mitted. St. John, being personally known, had

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 79

gone in along with the official posse ; but, until passed in through the intervention of his brother- disciple, St. Peter had had to remain in the outer court. In the centre of the inner court, open of course to the sky, in the cold March night (for at Jerusalem, 1,750 feet above the sea, the spring nights are bitterly cold, notwithstanding the low latitude), the attendants had piled up a charcoal fire in one of those shallow braziers which form part of the furniture of every Eastern house. The Greek word avXrj, rendered " hall " and " palace " in A. V., is better translated " court "—i.e., " court- yard "—in R.V.

From Eastern dwellings we pass naturally to Eastern feasts and entertainments. There are Scriptural allusions to feasts of many kinds : the royal feast of an Assyrian or Persian king, the feast of a wealthy man to his neighbours, of a father on the marriage of a son, the feast to the welcome though unexpected stranger ; to the simple feast of the desert sheikh — to say nothing of religious festivals, Mosaic or heathen, treated of elsewhere. To begin with regal entertainments. The lavish profusion and variety of Solomon's table (1 Kings iv. 22, 23) gives some idea of what must have been the expenditure of the yet more ostentatious feasting in the palaces of the Baby-

8o Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

lonians and Persians, so frequently alluded to in Daniel, Esther, and Nehemiah, and of which ancient writers give us accounts. In a quaint old Latin book by a Dutch traveller, Engelbert Kcempfer, I lately met with a description of a dinner of the Shah of Persia two hundred and fifty years ago. The dining pavilion was erected in his gardens, open at the sides. At the further end were two hundred musicians. The Shah sat alone on an elevated platform at the upper end, surrounded by his guards at a respectful distance. The whole of the ground was covered with gorgeous carpets. There were neither chairs nor tables, and the guests sat in semicircles, so that all should face the sovereign. The first semicircle comprised only the highest dignitaries and foreign ministers. The Shah's courtiers occupied the second rank, and so on, till the hindmost places were filled by the youths in training for the public service. The dishes were brought in, and after the sovereign was served, they were passed on through the long rows until six hundred attendants had feasted, all sitting on the carpets ; and at each fresh dish they prostrated themselves before their lord. It is in- teresting when we turn to the Scriptural instance of Daniel and his three youthful companions in the court of Babylon, to observe that the same author

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 81

writing on the modern court of Persia, adds that no one about the court was allowed to buy any food, or eat anything but what came from the Shah's stores, as to do so would be to signify that his hospitality was scanty. We can easily see that if the arrangements at the court of Nebuchad- nezzar were like the later Persian fashion, to eat the food offered publicly to an idol and then passed on, would have been a direct act of idol homage.

Not less public, though on a smaller scale, are the feasts given by private individuals of wealth, whether in celebration of any public or local oc- currence, or of any domestic event. A feast such as that instanced by our Lord, "A certain man made a great supper," would be very familiar to His hearers, and is really a public, and not a social and private, gathering. It is rarely given, except- ing on some special occasion, such as a marriage or the birth of a son, or at the conclusion of the harvest or the vintage. It is quite distinct from the entertainment of strangers or friends, when a kid or a lamb suffices for the feast, and the host waits on his guests, as Abraham did when he re- ceived the angels at Mamre. On the greater occa- sion, when a calf or a bullock is to be slain, the number of the guests is very large, since the whole of the food must be consumed on the day when

6

82 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the animal is killed ; the Orientals never attempt- ing to keep any flesh overnight. Preparations are made some days in advance, and the coming feast is announced to the whole neighbourhood. The Arab or the Syrian to-day strictly observes the Mosaic injunction, " Thou shalt not . . . shut thine hand from thy poor brother,'' and takes care to feed the hungry. In the invitations no distinc- tion of social rank is regarded ; but very marked distinctions are made in the relative position of the guests when they arrive, and the placing of them in their proper places is one of the most important duties of the host. The intended guests having been apprized some days before of the coming feast, servants are again sent, on the morning of the day, to remind those who have been invited ; and the omission of this second summons would be a grievous breach of etiquette, equivalent to a can- celling of the previous more general notification. To refuse the second summons would be an insult which is equivalent among the Arab tribes to a declaration of war.

I may give an illustration of this feeling. I had been travelling under an escort of the Adwan, and arriving at the frontier of their territory, had to pass to the Beni Sakk'r, a tribe with which I was already, from previous visits, on very friendly

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 83

terms. A portion of their tribe was encamped near the boundary line. The Adwan declined to cross, but sent me alone to their old rivals, with whom they were at the time on terms which may be called an armed neutrality. They sent with me a sheep, which I was told was for my own use only. The sheikh of the Beni Sakk'r, when he saw it, quietly observed, " I shall kill this sheep, and bid the Adwan feast with us to-night. If they do not come, they wish for war ; and they shall soon have it." A messenger was accordingly despatched at once, and a second at nightfall. Happily peaceful counsels prevailed, and the old foes feasted together in my honour.

At a great feast, such, e.g., as a wedding, nothing could be more dishonouring than that the place of entertainment should not be filled. Hence in our Lord's parable the summons was sent out into the streets and lanes of the city, and then into the highways and hedges to those who, having no settled home, wanderers and outcasts, could not previously have received an invitation. These would, of course, be provided on entering with an upper garment or white cloak, which would conceal their rags, and enable them to present themselves without humiliation. The provision of an upper garment for each guest is not extinct, but is now

84 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

rarely practised. I once only have met with an instance, and that was at a Jewish wedding-feast in Hebron, where the father of the bridegroom, a wealthy man, supplied a cloak to each guest as he passed the threshold. We accepted one, to conceal the peculiarity of our European costume, but the better-dressed friends simply expressed their thanks and passed on.

The kind of feast which best illustrates the imagery of the Virgin in the Magnificat, " He hath filled the hungry with good things," is that which is made by a Moslem on his return from the pil- grimage to Mecca. It partakes somewhat of the nature of a thank-offering, and is especially in- tended for the poor. All the sons of the faithful are summoned. I once saw such a feast given by a Bedawy sheikh many years ago in the interior of Tunis. A herald arrived at the camp of the tribe by which we had pitched our tents, a day in ad- vance, to announce his master's approach. The women at once began to make provision by pre- paring couscous, a sort of wheaten porridge ; and they seemed to be at work all night. The next morning messages of invitation were sent to all the neighbouring camps. Kids and lambs were slaughtered and roasted, or rather baked, in pits with hot ashes covered with a turf ; milk was

Eastern Dwellings and Eastern Feasts 85

brought in, honey, and fruits, chiefly dates ; and more kids were boiled, and their soup poured over the piles of couscous in large, shallow wooden bowls. Before sunset all the guests had arrived. The hadj\ or " holy man " — for such he was considered to be, after completing his journey to the birth- place and to the tomb of Mohammed — sat on a carpet in front of his tent, and each visitor did obei- sance, some even kissing his cloak. The cripples, the blind, and the infirm were then led in, and set in the place of honour, followed by the others. They sat in small circles round the great bowls of food, which they despatched with their fingers, really gorging themselves ; and when they could eat no more, were supplied with handfuls of dates and fresh cheese to carry away. We, being un- believers, of course were not admitted, but a kid was sent to our tent afterwards. In an ordinary entertainment the place of honour would be re- served for the most distinguished ; the dishes would be passed on from them to those of lower rank, then to the retainers near the door, and finally to the beggars outside the tent, who would throw the bones and refuse to the dogs sitting patiently beyond them.

The teaching of the rabbis respecting hospitality is thus set forth in the Talmud : " Let thy house

86 Easter 7i Customs in Bible Lands

be wide open. How so ? This is to teach that a man's house should be wide open towards the south and the east and the west and the north, even as Job made four doors to his house, in order that the poor might not have the trouble of going round it. If one came from the north, he entered straight in ; if one came from the south, he did likewise, and so from the other quarters. It was for this reason that Job had four doors made to his house. And let the poor be members of thy household, that they may talk of what they ate and drank in thy house, as the poor spake of the house of Job. When that great afflic- tion came upon him, he said before the Holy One, c Have I eaten my morsel by myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof ? ' For all that, the Holy One said unto Job, ' Job, thou hast not half come up to the standard of Abraham ; thou sittest and waitest within thy house till the stran- gers come to thee, but Abraham sat in his tent door, and looked out, and caused the strangers to turn in'" {A both d* Rabbi Nathan, chap. vii.). This passage is a good illustration of the method of rabbinical commentators, and of the fanciful word-splitting teaching by which they made the word of God of none effect through their tradition.

V

MARRIAGE AND BURIAL CUSTOMS

87

V

MARRIAGE AND BURIAL CUSTOMS. MONG all Oriental peoples marriages have

^ always been occasions of much ceremony, as well as of unbounded feasting. But, excepting among Christians, there is no trace of any religious ceremonial in connection with them. The Talmud gives very minute directions as to the observances at a wedding among the ancient Jews. The bride was to be in the first place conducted from her father's house to that of her future husband by her virgin friends or bridesmaids, as we see in the parable of the Ten Virgins. She was to be veiled, but her hair was to hang loose, and her head to be uncovered, in token that she was not yet in the power of a husband. Every one who happened to meet the procession, even though a royal person- age, was to give place to it. Before her was to be carried a cup of wine, and corn was to be scattered among the children on the way, as a token of fruitfulness. The attendant virgins were to dance

go Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

and sing as they escorted the bride, their refrain being, " She needs no paint, no henna, no plaiting of the hair, nor any such thing, for she is of herself most beautiful." When she reached the threshold of the bridegroom, a crown was placed on the heads of each, reminding us of the custom still retained by the bride at Norwegian weddings. Then came the feast, which was continued every evening for seven days, the sexes being entertained apart. Two stewards called shosbenim were ap- pointed, the one for the bride, the other for the bridegroom. " The master of the feast," spoken of in the marriage at Cana of Galilee, was probably one of these. Marriages were forbidden to be celebrated at the feasts of the Passover, of Weeks, and of Tabernacles, because, says the Talmud, " there are great rejoicings at nuptials, and they must not intermingle one joy with another " — i.e., sacred gladness with secular merriment. We see the character and amusements of the seven days' feast in the account of Samson's wedding (Judges xiv.).

A traveller in India thus describes an incident at a Hindoo marriage, which illustrates the wide- spread similarity of Eastern customs : " All the persons employed now lighted their lamps, and ran with them in their hands, to fill up their stations in the procession. Some of them had lost their

Marriage and Btcrial Customs 91

lights, and were unprepared ; but it was then too late to seek them, and the cavalcade moved for- ward." The ceremonies of marriage among the ancient Greeks, though not among the Romans, were very similar to those of the Jews : the same torchlight procession of the bride and her maids to the bridegroom's house, and the same general feasting of the sexes apart for seven days. But, contrary to the Jewish practice, the Greeks always inaugurated the marriage by solemn sacrifices and invocation of their gods.

The Moslem marriage customs do not differ materially from those of the ancient Jews. Mar- riage among them is regarded solely as a business matter. A love match, or even one originated by the parties themselves, is very rare. But such instances do occur. One came under my own observation. My friend Sheikh Zadam, of the Beni Sakk'r, twenty years ago the most renowned warrior in the region south of Damascus, received a message from the daughter of the Sheikh of the Adwan, whom he had often worsted, that, though she knew he already had three wTives, she would be glad to be the fourth wife of so noble a man. The offer was promptly accepted. But when the lady's brother requested that he in return might marry Zadam's sister, he re-

92 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

ceived the haughty reply that, though a Beni Sakk'r might ennoble an Adwan, an Adwan should not degrade a Beni Sakk'r. An Arab father re- gards his daughters much as he would his sheep or cattle, selling them for a greater or less price, according to his rank and fortune and their beauty. Even now a daughter can speak of her father as Leah and Rachel did of Laban : " Are we not counted of him strangers ? for he hath sold us and hath quite devoured also our money " (Gen. xxxi. 1 5). The dower paid to the father by the bride- groom usually varies among ordinary people, just above the fellahin, from ^"15 to £2% of our money; and, of course, more if the bridegroom's father be rich. There are also heiresses and widows who have property in their own right. These cannot be divorced unless the husband refund to them the full sum they brought him.

Betrothal invariably precedes actual marriage, sometimes by several years, as children of tender age are not unfrequently affianced in order to cement or strengthen an alliance between two families. The arrangement is for the advantage of the bride's father, who expects annually to re- ceive presents from the family of the bridegroom. There is a betrothal feast given to all friends on both sides, on a scale almost as liberal as the

Marriage and Burial Customs 93

wedding festivities. The Christians add to the betrothal ceremonies a gift carried in a large handkerchief or shawl by the bridegroom and his friends, containing twenty piastres, several bottles of brandy, dried fruit, coffee, sugar and tobacco, as a legal token that the affianced husband of the bride now undertakes the duty of maintaining her. Also every Easter he must send her a sheep, with some coins round its neck, and a handkerchief in which four candles are wrapped. Gifts are also sent by the Mohammedans to their betrothed at their great festivals. Hence the father of a be- trothed girl is often in no hurry to part with her, as he meanwhile has the additional profit of her labour. When the time arrives for the completion of the marriage, the religious ceremonial among the Christians resembles our own, only that it takes place at night, the bridegroom and his party going first to the church, and there waiting to re- ceive the bride's procession, as has been already described. After the nuptial blessing by the priest, and the singing of hymns, the processions re-form, and march by torchlight to the bridegroom's house, the male portion leading the way. Among all religious sects, the feast lasts for seven days, and each guest is expected to contribute a few piastres towards the expenses.

94 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

I have been several times a guest at a Moslem wedding, though I never saw the bride. The guests sit on the floor of the room or hall, which is quite open on one side to the courtyard. One large shallow wooden bowl is brought in after another, round which the visitors squat in separate groups. Of course there is here no wine or brandy, but coffee. As soon as the dishes are cleared, the attendants go round with a towel on one arm, and pour a little water on the hands of each visitor, and hand him the towel. Then while pipes are lighted, the entertainment, which lasts far into the night, is supplied by the professional story-tellers, who recount exaggerated visions 01 Arabian Nights' tales, or sonorously drone forth staves of Arabic poetry.

Burial customs in the East have changed as little as marriage customs. Every incident or allusion in Holy Scripture may be illustrated by what we see to-day. Interments always take place at latest on the evening of the day of death, and frequently at night, if the deceased have lived till after sunset. There are, and can be, no elaborate preparations. The corpse is dressed in such clothes as were worn in life, and stretched on a bier, with a cloth thrown over it. The breath has scarcely left the body when the professional

Marriage and Burial Customs 95

mourners appear. These are the old women and gossips of the village or neighbourhood, who seem to be always in waiting, and need no summons. Of this class were the mourners who were weeping and bewailing the daughter of Jairus, when our Lord at once put them all out, i.e., all except the nearest relations and His attendant disciples, all the hired mourners who had been raising the wail, alalai, and bewailing, i.e., literally, " beating their breasts on account of her," and who to this day weep, howl, beat their breast, and tear the hair, according to contract. Our Lord could not toler- ate these simulated agonies, which are as repug- nant to holy solemn feeling, as an ostentatious pompous funeral among ourselves.

The traditions of the scribes required in every case these adjuncts, which have come down to our own times. Thus the Talmud enjoins, "The hus- band is bound to bury his dead wife, and to make lamentations and mourning for her, according to the custom of all countries. And also the very poorest among the Israelites will not allow her less than tv/o pipes and one mourning woman ; but if he be rich, let all things be done according to his quality." The Jews divided this professional mourning into two kinds : the animoth, which was an incessant wail till the body was carried out on the evening of the

g6 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

day of death ; and the ebloth> or ordinary mourn- ing, which lasted at intervals, with regular visits to the grave, for thirty days. (Thus Mary went to the grave of Lazarus to weep there.) While the body lay in the house, none of the family might eat or drink there, and they were to omit the prayers and all other observances of the law. All these superstitious regulations our Lord repudiates in the case of Jairus's daughter ; and when He commands to give her meat, He sets the seal to the change from the house of mourning to the house of health.

In the case of Ananias, we read that the young men " wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him." "Wound him up" is better tran- slated in R.V. u wrapped him round " ; i.e., they unfastened his girdle, and then taking the loose under-garment and the wide cloak which was worn above it, used them as a winding-sheet in which to cover the corpse from head to foot. It must be remembered that the Jews had not then, any more than the modern Oriental, tight-fitting clothes like ours, but shirt, cassock, and cloak were all loose, and only held together by the girdle round the waist. Ordinarily, in preparing for burial, the women, whose special duty it was, would provide a cere-cloth, and before wrapping the body in it sprinkle spices in the folds, as in the case of our

Marriage and Burial Customs 97

Lord's burial, to check decomposition in some slight degree. They then dressed the deceased in his best outer garments, and laid him on the bier — a simple, flat board, borne on two or three staves, by which the bearers carried it to the tomb. In the earliest pdriod of the Jewish nation, it was the custom, as also among the Greeks, for the nearest relatives of the deceased to have what was held to be the privilege of performing the last office of closing the eyes, laying out and washing the corpse, clothing it with the best robes worn in life, and then bearing it to the tomb ; but in later times these offices were performed by a band of young and able men attached to each synagogue, who held themselves in readiness to perform any menial duties required about the place, as the arrangement of the furniture, the cleaning of the building, and the like, among which the burial of the dead was included. These were called " the servants of the synagogue " ; and their services, being connected with religious worship, were held honourable. A similar organisation exists in many Roman Catho- lic countries in Europe, though confined simply to the performing of burial rites. It is looked upon as an honourable function, though, as belonging to a secret society, its members are not known, and when thus employed wear masks or veils to pre-

7

98 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

vent recognition. Some commentators have sug- gested that the young men who carried Ananias to his burial belonged to an order of sub-deacons in the Jerusalem Church ; but it can scarcely be supposed that the infant community had by this time arrived at such a pitch of organisation. It is enough that the younger and capable members present undertook the duty that would naturally fall to them.

The mode of conducting a burial has not changed among either Jews or Mohammedans. I have frequently been present at funerals of both. There is no religious service, nor does there appear to have been any of old. The male friends and neighbours precede the corpse, which is clad in the holiday apparel of former life, and if a Moslem, with the turban placed at the head of the bier, as a soldier's sword is carried on the coffin among ourselves without further covering. The bier is carried, not on the shoulders, but about a foot from the ground, by handles. Among the Maronites and other Christians, I have seen the bier borne aloft on the upstretched and reversed palms of a crowd of bearers, who rapidly relieve one another in quick succession. We were told that this was to symbolise Christ's triumph over death. There is no ceremony or funeral service at the grave, but

Marriage and Burial Customs 99

a loud and deafening din of wailing. The Moham- medans yell forth incessantly the first verse of the Koran. The sombre clothing, the sign of mourn- ing in the West, is unknown. But the whole popu- lation attends. Generally I have seen the women preceding the bier, led by the professional mourn- ing women. They fling up their arms, tear their hair, with the wildest gesticulations of grief, and shriek forth the name of the deceased, with lamen- tation that God has taken him. There is indeed " a tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly." Behind the bier follow the men and boys in a con- fused crowd, often taking up the refrain of the women in front. After the body has been laid in the grave, the wailing is renewed for a short time, and then all disperse. All creeds now bury in graves like ours, but very shallow. The body is let down, the bier withdrawn, and over the grave is always heaped a pile of large stones to protect it from the hyaenas and jackals, which, in spite of these precautions, frequently burrow and feed on the bodies.

There are distinct Moslem, Jewish, and Christian cemeteries ; but I am not aware of any trace, except among the Druse nobility, of the family or private sepulchre. As we know, all among the ancient Israelites who possessed any land,

ioo Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

or who could afford it, had their own family tombs, hewn out of the soft rock in the hillside, each sepulchre containing many kokim, i.e., loculi or niches, in one of which the body was placed. Many generations of a family could thus be placed in one of these tombs, which are found in countless numbers throughout the country. The family might have lost their estate, but never their ances- tral tomb ; for in selling land no Jew could dispose of the burying-place, to the use of which his de- scendants were entitled for all time. A similar law has always prevailed in China, where it is held to be a capital offence to disturb a tomb, however ancient. As Chinese graves have for centuries been dropped down anywhere over the whole country, this law has proved, especially in the north, an insurmountable plea against the con- struction of railways.

For weeks, even for months, the women, not the men, regularly visit the tomb and weep over it, the professional mourners being also paid for this service by the rich. All these customs have come down unchanged from Bible times. The ceme- teries, too, are often unchanged. Thus at Nain the approach to the place is from the north-east, the Tiberias road, by which our Lord would travel ; and on this road, a little distance from what once

Marriage and Burial Customs 101

were walls, is the burying-place still used by the Moslems, with a few whitened sepulchres, and many oblong piles of stones, marking the humbler graves. This, from the situation, must have been the ancient cemetery ; and there is no trace of any other. One touching incident of a visit to Nain I would mention here. Just outside the ruins of the wall is an ancient fountain or well, to which the water is conducted by a conduit from the hills, and to which we descended by a few steps. While we were examining it, there was an Arab girl standing by, who had just been filling her pitcher. We asked her for a drink. Unlike the woman of Sa- maria, she set down her tall water jar, and readily gave it. On our offering her a small present, she declined it. Tears filled her eyes, and she said she did not give it for money, she would take no backshish, but she gave it to the strangers for the memory of her mother, who had lately died and been buried over there (pointing to the cemetery), for charity, and for the love of God. In vain we pressed it. Who could not but feel a touch of sympathy? The poor single-hearted girl kissed our hands, and we passed on.

Besides the heaping of stones on ordinary graves for protection, cairns are often used to mark a sepulchre, but with varying significations, A heap

102 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

of stones is invariably found at the point where the pilgrim first catches a glimpse of some hal- lowed spot. On the road from Engedi to Petra, on the crest where the first view of Mount Hor is obtained, is a conspicuous cairn. Each journeyer reverently places a stone, kneels with his forehead to the ground, and thanks Mohammed that he has cast eyes on the tomb of Haroun (Aaron). A second class of cairn marks the sepulchre of some great or holy man. This is distinguished by an upright staff on the top of the heap, to which are often attached certain offerings, in the shape of pieces of cloth or white rags, emblematic of mourn- ing. The third class of cairn is very different in its signification. We read that when Absalom fled from the battle-field of Mahanaim, and was igno- miniously slain by Joab, his body was flung into a pit hard by in the distant forest of Gilead, and they " laid a very great heap of stones upon him." The victorious soldiery heaped stones, with every mark of contumely, upon his carcase. Every passer-by would pick up a stone and add it to the cairn, accompanying the act with a curse on the son who had lifted up his spear against his father. The custom remains to the present day. Every track in the wilder parts of the country is marked by occasional cairns, to which every Arab as he

Marriage and Burial Customs 103

passes contributes, and as he hurls his stone, curses the memory of the murderer. There is no staff or fragment of rag here. The pile tells where some robber or criminal has met his end. The heap is not high, but very wide. There is one such re- markable cairn south-east of Rabbath Ammon, to mark with opprobrium the memory of a parricide of the Adwan tribe, tradition says not how long ago. There still stands in the vale of Kedron, just below the Temple area, a sumptuous tomb hewn out of the rock, and well known to all visitors to Jerusalem as Absalom's tomb. The Jews believe that it is the monument built in the king's vale by Absalom in his lifetime for his own sepulchre. By its architecture we know that it is many centuries later than his time, and, from the Ionic pilasters round its base, cannot be earlier than the Syro- Greek period. But the Jews hold the tradition, and stones are piled against its side, cast by each passing Israelite as he invokes a curse on the rebellious son.

Though there is little in the burial customs of Jew or Moslem to accentuate the belief in the resurrection of the body, yet that faith is held most strongly and definitely by both. We see it equally in the Jews of old. In the Jewish Prayer- book among the eighteen benedictions, which, we

104 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

have every reason to believe, were in use long be- fore the time of our Lord, is the following : " Thou, O Lord, art mighty for ever ; Thou quickenest the dead : Thou art strong to save ; Thou sustainest the living by Thy mercy : Thou quickenest the dead by Thy great compassion ; Thou makest good Thy faithfulness to them that sleep in the dust ; Thou art faithful to quicken the dead. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who quickenest the dead." Such benedictions show how strongly the belief in a future life and a resurrection to come was impressed on the Jewish mind, even though it may not occupy a prominent place in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The faith of the Moslems in a resurrection and a future life, which shall be a continuation of our present existence, however debased and corrupted in its definitions — carnalised, if we may so say — can only have been derived from the teaching of the Jews in Arabia ; for no such conception can be found in the earlier and degraded idolatries of that country. Mohammed's knowledge of Christianity seems to have come through a Jewish medium. In the creeds of the more civilised nations of the East, the doctrine of the immor- tality of the soul was universally and instinc- tively accepted. Belief in the resurrection of the

Marriage and Burial Customs 105

body can in most cases, if not in all, be directly traced to revelation. Nor must we confuse the simple teaching of the resurrection of the body and its reunion with the soul, as looked for by the pious Jews, with the vague and mystical idea of the future life in the body as held by the Egyp- tians. These embalmed and preserved their dead, not so much that they might be ready at the resurrection to receive the disembodied spirit, but because they believed that every man had two spiritual existences, one of which went to the world of spirits, and the other wandered homeless on earth, unless it had the body or an imitation of it — a sculptured likeness of the deceased, of which we find countless examples in the Egyptian tombs — in which to take refuge. It is true they believed that the dead would hereafter live again in the body, but this was only to be after ages spent in other transmigrations. Equally strange to the purer faith of the Zoroastrians was the idea of the quickening of the body.

VI

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL LIFE

I07

VI

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL LIFE 1EW phases of everyday life have afforded

psalmist, prophet, and our blessed Lord Himself richer illustrations of spiritual things than the pastoral life of the open country of Palestine. From the incidents of a shepherd's calling is de- rived some of the most picturesque imagery of David's psalms. The calling of a lonely shepherd- boy might not at first sight appear to be that most adapted to educate the warrior and future ruler of men, though it might evoke the poetic genius. Yet it proved to be God's school to fit the youth for his high destiny. Very different is the shep- herd's life in the East from the prosaic task of the sheep-farmer of Western lands.

Bethlehem stands on the shoulder of a hill which descends abruptly into a rich, unfenced, even plain, stretching eastwards. In that plain each villager has his plot, indicated by the well-known stones placed here and there — the neighbour's landmark.

109

no Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

Beyond this tillage land, where Boaz had his reapers, and where Ruth the Moabitess gleaned, a walk of two miles brings us to the pasture land on the hilly fringe of the wilderness of Judaea, where David valiantly watched his father's sheep, and where, a thousand years later, the shepherds of Bethlehem received the angelic message of the Messiah's birth. The wide, flat valley soon breaks out into white stony slopes on either side. After the cornfields end, the whole is treated as common land, where the flocks of the villagers pasture to- gether. It is called a wilderness ; but by wilderness is meant, not a desert, but the grassy downs and shrub-clad hillsides which are to be found, in a state of nature, not far from every village. Wher- ever the land ceases to be fitted for corn cultiva- tion the common land of the village begins, and extends to the common of the next little com- munity, carefully delimited also by landmarks, or " marches," as they used to be called in England. The " neighbour's landmark " applies not only to these, but also to the corn-patches which, unlike the gardens and vineyards, are for the most part unfenced, but are always marked out by stones set up at the corners and various intervals, indicating the boundaries of each private property ; for the arable land, unlike the pasture, is never held in

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 1 1 1

common. A shepherd's life here is well calculated to bring out courage and self-reliance. Not only wild animals, but marauders from the East, have to be guarded against. The Bedawee of to-day is the exact counterpart of the Amalekite and the Edomite of the time of David. The hillsides on either side the valley break out into various little nullahs or wadys, which form a puzzling labyrinth for the stranger, and a convenient lurking-place for the wolf, the jackal, and the thief. In the days ot David, the hills, now so bare, were largely covered with forest, the evidence of which still remains in the decayed roots among the cliffs, and from the cover of which the bear would steal out to attack the flocks ; while the lion, extinct since the date of the Crusades, lurked in the open, among the rocks.

We can only fully grasp the force of the meta- phors of Psalm xxiii. when we think of the deep solitudes in which the Eastern shepherd feeds his flocks. We drive them ; we make them do the shepherd's bidding by the command of his dog ; we leave them securely in the field by night. In the East the dogs protect, but never drive the flocks ; there the shepherd goes before them, and they follow him, come to his call, and crowd round him for safety if danger threatens. Then there is perpetual danger from sudden torrents, from

1 1 2 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

wolves, and robbers ; there are but rare and scanty streams, and the flocks often suffer from parching thirst. The shepherd never leaves them. When night approaches, they follow him to some safe fold, to some cave in the hillside. Surrounded by his vigilant dogs, the guardian, " keeping watch over his flock by night," makes his bed in front of the cave, which is shallow, and protected by a rude stone wall, with a narrow entrance. The shepherds' sleeping-place — used sometimes by a single guard, but more generally by a party of from three to six, or eight — is formed by an oblong circle of stones. This remains from year to year ; and inside is a pile of twigs and brushwood, to protect the tenants from damp, on the top of which is spread straw or rushes for warmth. Here they lie, surrounded by their dogs. These watch- ful guardians are ever on the alert, and wake the echoes of the night as they detect the prowling wolf, or hear the howling of the jackals on their search for some hapless stray sheep. In front of such a cave the shepherds were keeping watch when the heavenly host accosted them, and roused them to leave their charge for a time, that they might be the first to do homage to the infant Saviour. The habits of the shepherds of Bethlehem are still un- changed— a sturdy, resolute set of men ; and we

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 113

may see to-day their humble dollars, and the stone circles in front of many a hillside cave.

Besides this cave-fold, there is another kind used in the more level country, alluded to in our Lord's parable of the lost sheep, — an open en- closure, with a wall of sufficient height to prevent the wolves and jackals from clearing it, and sur- mounted with branches of thorny shrubs piled up for further security. One such fold serves for a considerable district. As the sun descends, the shepherds may be seen converging from all quarters towards the fold, each followed by his charge in two separate parallel columns : the sheep, ringstraked, speckled, and white, in one, the black goats in another. The flocks are carefully told and counted as they stream in, when the door is fastened, and guarded all night by the porter, or keeper of the fold.

More dangerous than the wild animals is the thief, the wild Bedawee, who esteems sheep-lifting an honourable calling, and who, if his camp is within accessible distance, is always on the watch to plunder the peace-loving fellaheen^ or country- men. The shepherds are astir with the morning dawn. The first voice that is recognised evokes a universal bleating. Each calls in turn, and his own sheep stream forth and welcome him, looking

8

ii4 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

up in his face with their plaintive bleat. Rarely, except in the case of some adventurous kid, is there any confusion. The shepherd calls each member of his flock very rapidly ; for all have their names, often given from some flower or fruit, and know them, or at least distinguish their own keeper's voice. When he has satisfied himself that none are missing, he starts forth, always armed with a long stick, and his sheep and goats follow him in file, the dogs bringing up the rear. All are eager to get to their pasture, and seldom linger by the way. If they do, a sharp cry from the shepherd speedily recalls them. On him they depend for their pasture, and this is continually changing ; for the hillsides and uncultivated plains, common lands belonging to the village, are shared by all, so that no one can retain the best pasturage day after day. The shepherd looks out on the hillside for the scanty patches of green herbage, and calls up the flock to graze on them. I once watched a shepherd playing with his flock. He pretended to run away ; the sheep pursued and surrounded him. Then to climb to the rocks ; the goats ran after him ; — and finally all the flock formed a circle, gambolling round him. " Thou leddest Thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron." But " a stranger will they not follow."

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 115

Let any passing traveller try, as I have often done, to imitate the shepherd's voice. At once the sheep will pause, toss up their heads, and then scamper off to huddle close to their guardian, so completely do they realize their dependence on him. He has even now sometimes to use his weapons in defence of his flock. A band of marauding Bedaween will still, on occasion, pounce on an isolated flock ; but as the sheep can- not be made to travel fast, a courageous man may often summon his neighbours and rescue the booty. But the more frequent danger is from the wolf, at least in South Judaea ; for, unlike the jackal, it will not hesitate to attack the flock by day.

I remember once meeting in the southern wilder- ness a shepherd-boy weeping bitterly, as his little flock of half a dozen followed him. Asked his trouble, he told us that a wolf had just sprung on a lamb and carried it off, for he was not strong enough to drive him away. " Ah," said our drago- man, anxious to improve the occasion, " you should have been brave, like David ; for just here he killed a lion and a bear, and he was only a boy ; but then, David was a Christian ! " The shepherd in the East is generally the owner, or the son of the owner, of the flock ; or, if it be the property of some rich man or village sheikh, he is paid, not by day's

1 1 6 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

wages, but by a fixed proportion of the produce — i.e., of the lambs, the wool, and the cheese. Like Jacob when he served with Laban, he has his share of the flock, though I have never heard of the pay- ment being arranged so that he should claim all the speckled or spotted. If the former, he would certainly now have the larger share, for the greater part of the flocks are speckled or pied. The " hireling " is the man who happens to be hired for fixed wages, merely for the day, and has no further interest in the flock, nor cares to risk his skin in its defence against thief or wolf.

In the phrase " He leadeth me beside the still waters," I take the reference to be, not to the waters themselves, but to the flocks resting quiet and undisturbed for a while round the well, after their midday draught. Though sheep with us rarely drink, yet in those hot and dry climates they require to be watered as regularly as cattle or horses. Not only does the shepherd lead his flock to water ; he carries the young lambs which are too tender to keep up with the rest. I have often seen a shepherd carrying a lamb under each arm, and two or three more in the hood of his cibeih or cloak. If the abundant imagery of Scripture, taken from pastoral life, contains so many allusions foreign to what we see in the tending of flocks in

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 117

our own country, how much more difficult must the allusions be to those who know nothing of flocks ! I felt this last year when, addressing through an interpreter a large congregation of native Christians one Sunday in Ceylon, I un- fortunately chose the subject of the Good Shepherd. My interpreter told me afterwards that not one of my hearers had ever seen a sheep, or knew what it was. " How then," I asked, " did you explain what I said ? " " Oh," he replied, " I turned it into a buffalo that had lost its calf, and went into a jungle to find it."

With all his care, the shepherd may easily lose a sheep. As soon as the flocks, which have left their fold at daybreak, reach their pasture ground, they generally separate, the goats hurrying up the hillsides to browse in long lines on the shrubby herbage ; the sheep moving in a parallel line lower down, and nibbling at the finer grasses. The shepherd posts himself on some rock or mound, where he may keep the whole in view, and from time to time moves forward, calling on the flocks to follow him, which they always do with alacrity. But at such a juncture some adventurous animal may have strayed out of hearing, and thus, be- wildered at finding itself alone, may wander far- ther and farther from its companions, helpless

1 1 8 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

and defenceless. When evening approaches, the shepherd reckons up his flock as they pass before him into the fold, and at once detects his loss, and retraces his steps till he haply finds the wanderer.

The shepherd's life seems a somewhat monoton- ous one, for summer and winter make little difference in his daily cares. His great time of festivity is the sheep-shearing, to this day the real harvest-time of the Arab, and his pastoral neigh- bours,— the wool-harvest. Despising agriculture as beneath the consideration of a freeman (or shall we say — a freebooter ?), his cornfields, if he have any, — and in Moab he has many, — are left to the fellaheen or villagers to cultivate for him. But in the Negeb, or south hill country of Judah, there can never have been much tillage, while it is still unrivalled as pasture land. It was the wilderness of Carmel of Judah. In the early spring, as the custom still is, the flocks and herds were driven from the neighbourhood of the village into the southern uplands, where the Bedaween camps may still be seen any day ; and the shepherds of Nabal soon claimed the protection, as neighbours, of the band of outlaws and freebooters under David, who made their headquarters in this dis- trict. With the natural chivalry of Arabs to their

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 1 1 9

friends, David's men were " a wall to them both by night and day," and " not a hoof was missing." At the beginning of summer, when forage began to fail, the sheep with their young lambs returned to the village, sheep-shearing commenced, and as soon as it was over a general feasting and revelry was kept up for several days. The Arab tribes still make sheep-shearing the great festival of the year. Lambs and kids are slain and roasted night after night, and soured milk, leben, and new cheese are supplied without stint, not only to the labourers, but to all the neighbours and to any passing strangers. To this substantial food, liquor much stronger than coffee is often added, in spite of the Moslem prohibition of intoxicants ; for the Arabs, unlike the townsmen, are not rigid in this matter, so long as the potation is not the fruit of the grape. Happily such sad results as followed Nabal's carouse rarely occur. Moham- medanism, though it has blunted the moral sense, and struck at the root of domestic purity, has preserved its votaries from that drunkenness which is the curse of Christendom.

The relationship between Arab tribes and the settled inhabitants in regard to their flocks and herds was once illustrated to me in a very agree- able way, when I had to do with a veritable

120 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

Nabal and a Bedawee David. Travelling in Moab in the month of February, our whole party were taken prisoners by the chief of Kerak (Kir- Moab), and confined by him in the famous cru- sading castle. We were on our way to visit a powerful tribe, the Beni Sakk'r, whose sheikh was an old friend of mine, with whom I had travelled in previous years. Having heard of our detention, he suddenly one day appeared most unexpectedly with only two mounted companions, and an- nounced his intention of leaving with us next morning. Our captor demurred, and told him he must have a ransom. The sheikh, with a calmness unlike David, quietly observed, "You men of Kerak have hundreds of camels with their young, and thousands of sheep with their lambs, out on our plains. The Beni Sakk'r have been a wall to them all these months, and now you ask ran- som for my brothers ! Nay, my friends ; but if we return not within two days, your camels and goats will travel farther, even to our camp, and I shall weep for the losses of you, my friends, but my people will not make them good." I scarcely need to add that the argument was found unanswerable, and that we set off the next morning.

Passing from pastoral life to agricultural, there are, as in the days of old, three principal in-

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 121

gatherings of the fruits of the earth — the corn harvest, the vintage, and olive gathering. These fall successively at different periods of the year. Three kinds of grain are cultivated — wheat, barley, and spelt ; the second being the most largely grown, especially on the poorer and drier soils. Maize is also planted, but in small quantities. This is, of course, a modern introduction. Spelt (Hebrew, cussemetk), translated "rye "in A.V., is very like wheat, but with a coarse sheath and long beard. It is hardier and has a heavier yield than wheat. It is still cultivated, but not largely. Rye and oats are more northern cereals, not raised in Palestine, where a greater breadth of barley than of any other grain is grown.

The seedtime depends much on the date of the " former " or winter rains. If these are early, the ground is at once scratched with the shallow, wooden plough, which has come down without change or improvement from the earliest times, as may be seen by the representations of it on the Egyptian monuments, identical with the present implements. It consists simply of a flat-bottomed wooden share, pointed at the end, without any earth-board. To the hinder extremity of the share is fastened a long pole sloping forwards, to the other end of which is attached the yoke, a cross-

122 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

bar which rests on the shoulders of the oxen which draw it, with two wooden collars into which their necks are thrust. Another shorter staff, inserted in the share in front of the socket of the pole, but sloping backwards, serves as a handle to guide the plough. Oxen are still used almost exclusively for ploughing, asses rarely, and horses never. This implement merely scratches the soil. After it has passed over it, the seed is thrown in by hand from a basket, and covered in by a rude brush harrow. The seedtime is sometimes as early as the begin- ning of November ; but when the rains are late, I have known the barley to be sown about Christmas- time. The wheat is sown immediately afterwards, but there is an interval of three weeks or a month between the two harvests.

Both harvests are epochs in the agricultural calendar of the country, and frequently alluded to in Scripture. The barley harvest was about the time of the Passover. Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem " in the beginning of barley harvest." In the plague of hail the barley was smitten, but the wheat and spelt escaped, " for they were not grown up" (Exod. ix. 31, 32). The barley harvest may be said to be generally in April, but in the Jor- dan valley in March, and under Hermon as late as May. I have eaten bread at Jericho at the end

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 123

of March made from the crop of the year sown in December. Barley is not only the universal food of horses and asses, and sometimes also of draught oxen, but it forms the staple of the bread of the very poorest, though those who can afford it mix it with wheaten meal. In the remoter parts of the country we frequently could get nothing but barley cakes, and found this food much inferior in nutritive qualities to wheat. We can see in Scripture in what low esteem barley bread was held by the jealousy offering being of barley meal, whereas in all other cases it was wheaten. So in Ezekiel the bread of defilement was barley : and " handful of barley "is spoken contemptuously. The proud Arab to-day calls the Syrian fellah, the tiller of the soil, " a barley cake " ; reminding us of the dream of the Midianite in Judges vii. 13, 14, when he dreamt that a cake of barley-bread — i.e.y a mere Israelite husbandman — fell into the camp and overturned a tent.

The wheat harvest is generally a month later than the barley, and is over before the end of May. Thirtyfold the seed is considered a good return, as well it may be, where the rotation of crops and the application of manure are entirely neglected. Our Lord, in the parable of the sower, speaks of a yield of a hundredfold in good ground. And under

124 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

favourable circumstances this would be no exces- sive produce. The variety known as mummy wheat, described in Pharaoh's dream, though still cultivated in Egypt, I have never seen in Palestine.

When Samuel withdraws from his office to make way for the king whom God had permitted Israel to have, he invokes a phenomenon which was accepted at once as an evidence of the sanction of Jehovah to His prophet's last words of warning. The sign is a thunderstorm in the midst of wheat harvest. In our northern and more variable cli- mate a thunderstorm in harvest would certainly be no prodigy ; in England it is the very season of thunderstorms. Not so on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. From April to October rain very rarely falls, and the season of thunderstorms is from December to February. Throughout the summer the sky is cloudless. This is owing to the uniformity of the wind. It is only the west winds that bring clouds, and these winds usually prevail from October to April. The east wind, which comes from the desert, hot, dry, and parching, seldom lasts long. During summer the winds generally blow up or down the valleys and the coasts either from the north or the south, — more generally the latter, — and are never charged with moisture. But a sudden breeze from the west

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 125

brings up the clouds ; and these, when they meet the heated atmosphere over the parched soil, soon become surcharged with electricity, and burst into a thunderstorm. During four summer seasons in Syria, I once only encountered such a shower ; and this was under Lebanon, when the wind, sud- denly shifting from north to south, brought up for an hour the moisture from the Mediterranean, and dispersed it over the land with a few thunder- claps.

The wheat is reaped with a sickle, shaped much like those in universal use among ourselves a generation back, and is generally threshed at once, the heads being struck off the straw by the sickle on to the threshing-floor. This floor is generally common to the whole village, the surface of the rock being levelled, or, failing this, an artificial floor of mortar is laid down. The grain is sepa- rated from the chaff either by cattle treading it as they are driven round and round the floor, or by a heavy wooden wheel or roller, or thirdly, by a flail. It was this last method which Gideon was using when called by the angel to lead his people against Midian. See also Isa. xxviii. 37. After the threshing comes the winnowing, which is per- formed as of old, in a most inartistic fashion. So soon as the straw has been removed, the corn is

126 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

tossed into the air by shovels, when the light breeze, which is needful for this operation, carries off the chaff as the wheat falls back. In the absence of wind a great flapper or " fan " is em- ployed. " Whose fan is in His hand." The grain is thus tossed several times, and finally passed through a sieve. The refuse of the sieve is still, like the gleanings of the field, the perquisite of the poor. Therefore Amos reproaches the avarice of those who " sell the refuse of the wheat."

When winnowed and sifted, the wheat is now universally stored in silos or underground pits, hollow chambers, about eight feet deep, carefully cemented on the inside, so as to be impervious to damp, and with a circular opening or mouth, about fifteen inches in diameter, just large enough to admit the passage of a man, which is boarded over, and then, if needful for concealment, covered with earth or turf. In such receptacles the corn will re- main sound for several years. These silos abound in all parts of the country, and are probably, in some cases certainly, the identical storehouses used by the Jews, who first constructed them. They are frequently close to an old winepress, where has been the homestead of some Israelite farmer. That many are of that age is certain from the fact that there are many in the southern wilderness of

Pastoral and Agricultural Life 127

Judaea, where no corn is grown, in places which have been desolate ruins for centuries. Such store- houses are alluded to by Jeremiah (chap. xli. 8) : " Slay us not : for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey." Owing to the insecure state of the country, these storehouses are generally made under the most retired portion of the dwelling-house, the women's apartments. This custom is alluded to in 2 Sam. iv. 6 : " They came thither into the midst of the house, as though they would have fetched wheat." And so again : " They came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court ; whither they went down. And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon" (chap. xvii. 18, 19); where " the well " is is probably the dry well, or store- house under the woman's chamber. In the Arab douars, or permanent villages, the silos for the barley are in the village square : for wheat and other more valuable commodities, under the wattled chamber.

The hand-mill for grinding the corn is precisely the same as that used in ancient Egypt and Israel, the lower stone slightly convex, the upper, with a hole in the centre, through which the corn is poured, concave, generally made of black lava.

128 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

A handle was inserted near the rim of the upper millstone, worked by two women sitting face to face, and each holding the handle, working it after the fashion of two men at a cross cut saw. Ancient broken millstones are frequently found among the debris of old cities. The corn was ground as required for baking. Larger mills were worked by asses. The hand-mill is still employed and worked by the women in the remote parts of the country, and by the Bedaween ; but in Western Palestine water - mills are now commonly used, having been introduced probably by the Saracens or the Crusaders. We know historically that they were largely used by the latter. With this single exception, there is not one detail of the operations of agriculture, from the ploughing to the grinding of the corn, in which there has been the least change or advance since the days of Joshua.

VII

AGRICULTURAL LIFE (CONTINUED)

I 29

9

VII

AGRICULTURAL LIFE {CONTINUED) VISIT to the plain of Gennesaret is a vivid

* ^ commentary on the parable of the sower. We arrived there, on one occasion, just at the begin- ning of the year. It is only about three miles in ex- tent, enclosed north and south by ranges of steep hills and westward by a mighty basaltic dyke, once a stream of molten rock, which has poured down and encroached on the plain. The whole is strewn with huge black blocks and stones of smaller size, which have become detached, and, either through earthquakes or other causes, have been scattered over the surface of the lower ground. The plain is, and probably always was, unfenced ; and at this time, freshly ploughed in its whole extent, it was simply one level dark-brown expanse, with no tree to relieve the monotony, which was broken only by narrow lines of green oleanders, overshadowing the three rivulets which intersect it. Footpaths, fresh trodden on the ploughed fallow, scored it in

132 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

all directions. The ploughing and the rude brush- harrowing being completed, the sower was begin- ning to sow. He had literally come forth to sow ; for he came from the village of Irbid, several miles off, on the hills to the south. His basket of seed slung under his left arm, with steady measured pace he marched up and down his portion of the open field, jerking his handful of corn before him at each step. Two narrow paths intersected his corn-patch. These necessarily received their share of seed, where it did not long remain ; for a few jackdaws and some little flocks of larks and buntings followed the sower, and speedily swept the pathways clean. The seed on the rich light soil was soon brushed in by a lad, with a bunch of twigs used as a rake. But much of this must come to nought. We spoke above of the rocks and stones with which the plain is strewn. Most of these boulders have sunk into the black earth, but only far enough to be covered with a sprink- ling of soil by the harrow. At present all the surface is moist, and the seed will germinate, soon to be burned up by the scorching sun, like grass on the housetop. Every here and there we may see small stalks protruding. They are the stumps of the most noxious weed of Gennesaret, a sort of astragalus {Astragalus christianus)> with its roots

Agricultural Life

133

penetrating, as we found by experiment, several feet deep, and which the fellaheen are too indolent to dig up and extirpate, contenting themselves with chopping down the year's growth with their mattocks. Close alongside of these boulders and rock clumps are patches of the richest soil the earth produces, consisting of decomposed basalt from the stones which strew the surface. In good seasons, when there has been abundant " latter rain/5 a hundredfold is not an unusual crop in this fertile nook. We were here witnessing, even to its minutest details, the scene that was before the eyes of our Lord and His hearers as He sat in the bows of a fishing-boat drawn up close to shore in front of the plain.

I have returned in early spring to find the black winter mantle of Gennesaret transformed into a brilliant green carpet, spangled with flowers of every hue, scarlet and pink predominating : anemone, ranunculus, iris, ipomea, and gladiolus. Here and there were brown burned patches, where on the rock was no depth of earth, and still more frequently the tough young shoots of the astragalus thorn, casting their long pinnate leaves over the tender blade of young corn, which they soon will strangle. The oleanders, in long sinuous lines by the shore and the little streams ( the " willows by

134 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

the watercourses "), were simply clad in a mantle of pink, and in the early morning were resonant with the music of song-birds, while the call-notes of quail and francolin echoed from every corn- patch. It was a lovely picture of the lavish beauty of nature, and of the bounty of nature's God. Again, I have returned in the end of May, when the reapers were beginning to ply the sickle. The shallow rock-patches were hardly observable ; the prickly weeds and giant thistles had asserted their claim to nearly one-third of the surface, but the crop elsewhere was rich and abundant, and may well have yielded its hundredfold.

It is not in Gennesaret alone that thorns are the enemies of the husbandman. Thorns and prickly plants abound in the dry climate of rocky Palestine. No less than eighteen Hebrew words are used in the Old Testament to express different kinds of thorns, briars, and thistles, many of which cannot be satisfactorily identified. One may see the women in the plain of Jezreel in summer gathering the thistles and spiny acanthus, and binding them in great bundles for fuel for their ovens. This use of thorns is alluded to in Eccles. vii. 6 : "As the crackling of thorns under a pot." But there are woody thorns, notably the zukkum, and the nubk tree, of the twigs of which tradition

Agricultural Life

would plait our Saviour's crown of thorns, which are far too hard and sharp to be so gathered, and which cannot be handled with impunity. To such thorns David compares sons of Belial, i.e., men of nought, who shall be "as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands ; but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear ; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place " (2 Sam. xxiii. 6, 7). So powerful and sharp are their recurved and hooked spines that the husbandman who has sown a patch of corn in the open prairie needs no other fence than the boughs of these bushes lopped off and strewn in a line round the crop " with iron and the staff of a spear," or, as we should say, with a long fork. Though the rude hedge is not more than three feet high, it is quite impervious, and no animal, not even a camel, will think of forcing such a defence. But these thorns are of no further use, precious as fuel is in those treeless lands; and when the crop has been reaped, the fence must be cleared away, that the cattle may browse on the herbage which takes its place. The husbandman pushes the thorns together with his mattock, and kindles them on the spot.

Next in importance to the harvest was the vintage, for though the culture of the vine has

1 36 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

shrunk to insignificance in most parts of Palestine, owing to the prohibition of the use of wine by the Mussulmans, we have abundant evidence of its former extended cultivation, in the winepresses and the stone ridges which are found in all parts of the land, even w7here the vine is now unknown. Where there is a considerable Jewish or Christian population, as about Hebron, in Benjamin, or under Hermon and Lebanon, it is still cultivated exten- sively, and wine manufactured exactly as of old.

Our Lord's parable of the vineyard let out to husbandmen is full of minute touches beautifully illustrative of the vinicultural methods of the East, methods which remain unchanged to this day. Four operations are spoken of in the formation of a vineyard : planting, hedging it, making a wine- press, and building a tower. Care and labour are bestowed on planting, such as are expended on no other crop. The vine is not cultivated on rich plains or in the lowlands, but invariably on the hillsides, and generally with a southern aspect. The vine loves rocks and stones, and in the rich soil mingled with these, it extends its roots to a great depth and distance for moisture. Conse- quently the land must be thoroughly cleansed, all brushwood and other roots carefully extirpated, for the vine brooks no competitor in the soil.

Agricultural Life 137

Another part of the preparatory operation is mentioned by Isaiah in the parallel parable (chap v.). He " gathered out the stones thereof." The hillsides are always thickly strewn with loose stones, which in that climate are of the greatest use in preserving the moisture from evaporation under the sun's rays. But the larger stones in every vineyard are always gathered and heaped in long ridges at regular intervals, so as to give at a distance the appearance of long parallel stone walls, which have crumbled through neglect. In the neighbourhood of Rasheya and Hasbeya, under Hermon, these stone ridges may be seen, covered in the season with vines. When the vine- yards have perished and the land has lain desolate for centuries, these ridges remain, attesting its ancient fertility.

Nowhere is this more striking than in the deserted Negeb, or south country, near Kadesh- barnea, where the vine has long ceased to exist. It is especially interesting to find the proof of its ancient culture here, because it is very near the camp of Israel when they halted so long at Kadesh-barnea, and its neighbourhood explains the facility with which the spies could have carried for so short a distance the specimen bunch of the grapes of Eshcol, probably grown on these very

138 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

hills. I have found on the eastern downs of Moab similar rows, extending for miles, and still bearing the name of " the way of the vineyards " among the Arabs of the district, who have never seen a vine in their lives. The use of these ridges, over which the boughs are trailed, is to keep the bunches of grapes from the damp ground when ripening, and to aid the ripening process by the reflected heat from the stones.

The next process in preparing a vineyard is, " He set a hedge about it." With the exception of the gardens close to the villages, the vineyards are the only enclosed plots, the cornfields and oliveyards being always open, and the former, save when surrounded by cut thorns on the plains, only protected from trespass by the vigilance of the herdsmen.

Next, he "digged a winefat," or, as Isaiah ex- presses it, " hewed " ; for the winefat, or winepress, was always in the vineyard itself, as the ripe grapes would not without loss bear carriage to any distance. So numerous are these winepresses, that in the course of one day's exploration on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel I discovered eleven of them. They are very simple in struc- ture, but unless destroyed by man's hand, will remain while the world stands, A flat or gently

Agricultural Life

139

sloping rock is selected. At the upper end, a trough is cut into the rock about three feet deep at the lower part, and four and a half by three and a half feet in length and breadth. Out of the same rock, and parallel to this trough, is cut out below it a shallower vat, about a foot in thickness of the native rock being left between the two. This segment of rock is perforated by two or three holes bored close to the bottom of the upper vat, so that when the grapes were pressed in the upper the juice streamed into the lower vat, from which it was drawrn off through another hole.

The last operation is the building of a tower. This was not done invariably. In many of the smaller vineyards, and especially when near the village, the owner was content with " a booth that the keeper maketh" — a sort of wickerwork erec- tion of boughs, with an upper storey, where the keeper could sit and guard the ripening crops from intruders, whether human or other, and es- pecially from the jackals at night, " the little foxes that spoil the vines." This erection only lasted for the season, and perished in the winter. Such are still in use, and I have often seen the ragged remains of such shelters among the hills of Ben- jamin. But in many cases we may still find the ruins of the solidly built tower which commanded

140 Eastern Cttstoms in Bible Lauds

a view of the whole enclosure, and was probably the permanent residence of the keeper through the summer and autumn.

Our Lord more than once refers to the pruning of the vine. This is an important part of vini- culture. No plant requires such severe pruning. We may see this in the vineyards of France and Germany. Every year the whole of the young wood is cut back to the stump ; and a vineyard in spring shows nothing but a number of shapeless, gnarled, and distorted stocks, which are often, as we are assured, three hundred years old, for the possible age of the vine has never been ascer- tained, and the best wine is considered to be pro- duced from the most ancient plants. The same system is, in its general outline, pursued in the East, only that the main trunk is allowed generally to grow to the length of six or eight feet, and then the branches are trained laterally, or else, as on Hermon to-day, and in ancient times in what is now desolate Eshcol, the boughs are trailed on long ridges of stones, to keep the fruit from the damp earth. Even when the vines are trellised, as they often are on houses or in gardens in Lebanon, each leader is unsparingly stripped of every twig or shoot before the spring comes round. The cut- tings are then thrown to the goats, who greedily

Agricultural Life

nibble off the bark, and they are then collected in the vineyard and burned. No better use can be made of the vine- wood ; it is absolutely worthless (Ezek. xv.). It is soft and yielding. " Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work, or \$ill men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon ? " " Is it meet for any work?" It will not even make a tent-peg.

The vitality of the vine, its power of throwing out vigorous branches after every pruning for sue cessive centuries without any renewing of the plant, is the fact that gives point to the prophecy of Isaiah, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." The chapters are here unfortunately divided, and we shall lose the force of the expres- sion unless we read it along with the preceding paragraphs. The prophet has just been speaking of the fall of the mighty trees of Lebanon. These trees, which symbolise Assyria, are to be cut down. They are cedars, the grandest of all the daughters of the forest. But the cedar, when once cut down, never springs up again. It belongs to the coniferce, the cone-bearing family, including all the pines and firs ; and none of these (with the exception of one or two species, as the Canary Island pine, unknown in Europe or Asia) are capable of send-

142 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

ing up shoots when once they have been hewn down to the ground. Hence " to cut down like a cedar " signifies to destroy without hope of resur- rection. The illustration was familiar to the an- cients, for Herodotus tells the story that Croesus, King of Lydia, threatened the men of Lampsacus that he would destroy them like a pine tree unless they released Miltiades ; and that the threat per- plexed them till they were reminded that a pine once cut down never springs up again.

No plants can offer a greater contrast in appear- ance and treatment than the cedar and the vine — the vine, low and inconspicuous, unlike the towering cedar, scarcely lifting itself above the ground, de- pendent upon external support to rise at all. But its whole value depends upon its being systemati- cally cut back, "pruned that it may bear more fruit." It throws out vigorous branches for successive cen- turies without any renewing of the plant. Thus from the vine plant of Jesse, now by captivity cut down to the very root, a branch shall spring. The word is not that usually translated " branch," but has a special force, meaning a brilliant or shining bough, as though to imply that it surpasses all others in beauty, while the passage is more exactly rendered in R.V., "A branch out of his roots shall bear fruit." However low the house of

Agricultural Life 143

David may have fallen, it shall spring up again in the Messiah, while the mighty Assyrian, great as the cedar, shall perish utterly.

The mode in which tenancy is regulated in the case of vineyards is alluded to in our Lord's parable of the husbandmen and the vineyard. There were, and still are, three modes of dealing with land. According to one of these, arisutk, the tenants are supplied with the seed, and also with money to pay the labourers employed at the times of planting and ingathering, while they re- ceive a certain portion of the produce, generally a third in the case of corn, a fourth in that of vineyards and other permanent crops. If a new vineyard were so let out, the husbandman paid nothing for the first four years — i.e., until the vines came into full bearing. The second mode is that the tenant, as with us, pays a fixed money rent. But this is an unusual arrangement, except in the case of gardens. The third, and the most ordinary system in the East to this day, is that the tenant agrees to give the landowner a fixed proportion, generally one-half of the produce, whether the harvest be good or bad. In such cases the owner only provides fences, wine and oil presses, and what we should term " fixtures " on the estate. It is to this kind of lease that the parable of the

144 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

husbandmen refers when in due time the lord sent his servants to receive of the fruits of the vineyard.

This kind of tenancy, where the farmer pays in kind, and not in money, still prevails in many parts of Europe. It is the ordinary mode in France, and is there called the metayer system, as the produce is divided equally between landowner and cultivator. The system existed in England for about sixty years at the end of the fourteenth century, and in the case of tithes up to fifty years agone. The Romans were in the habit of restoring the lands of conquered nations on condition 01 receiving half the produce ; and all the Crown lands of the Turks in Palestine and Syria — and these include a large portion of the country — are farmed on the same system. When the husband- men propose to kill the heir, they are represented as relying upon the custom of the East : " The inheritance shall be ours." If an owner is not to be found, and the occupier pays the taxes to Government for six years, the latter is looked on as the proprietor. The owner in this case was in a far country ; he had sent servant after servant, and had not avenged their cruel treatment. The husbandmen had hoped in time to secure a title to the vineyard, but the appearance of the legal heir made them fear for their tenure. By killing him

Agricultural Life 145

as his father seemed unlikely to appear, the vine- yard would become absolutely their own.

The vintage was the second, or, if we consider the gathering of the summer fruits and vegetables, which followed the wheat harvest after an interval of a month, to be entitled to be reckoned as one of the ingatherings, the third harvest-time of the year. It has now lost its ancient importance, but the process may still be seen wherever the vine is cultivated. The vintage commences in the warmer valleys in September, and in the north it is not finished till the end of October. As the sowing of the corn in favourable seasons begins in November, the force of the utterance of Amos predicting the time of plenty is explained, " The ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed " (chap. ix. 13). The bunches of grapes are carefully carried by women to the wine- press and thrown in. The juice which, pressed out by the simple weight of the grapes, oozes first into the lower vat, is collected first, and produces the richest and best wine, " the sweet wine," as the " drop port " is reserved in the vintage of Portugal, and is highly esteemed. The treading is effected both by men and women standing barefooted in the vats and leaping as they hold each other's hands, accompanying their action with popular

10

146 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

catches or rather shouts. Of course in leaping upon the grapes their clothes are splashed with the juice (Gen. xlix. 11). The reason for thus pressing out the wine is that anything harder than the bare human foot might crush the skin and even the stones of the grapes, and the skin and bruised seeds would give a bitter and astringent flavour, and destroy the value of the wine. The fermentation begins in the vats, and then the liquor is poured into goatskin bottles, still exclusively used for this purpose, and, finally, when the fer- mentation is almost complete, sealed up with pitch in new skins.

With the gathering of the olives, which imme- diately follows the vintage, the cycle of the agri- cultural operations of the year is completed. The olive is one of the most important items in the food of the people. While the expressed oil takes the place of butter with us, as well as of candles, the slightly salted ripe olives, which will keep fresh for months, form along with bread the staple diet of the poorer classes. "A land of oil olive and honey" was prominent among the blessings of the land of promise. And still the olive tree is abundant ; it is the one characteristic tree of the country. The most extensive olive groves are on the Phoenician and Philistian plains, and especially

Agricultural Life 147

to the north of Gaza. They stud all the valleys from Benjamin to the plain of Jezreel (Esdraelon). The vale of Shechem is one noble olive grove. They form the riches of Bethlehem, and cover the lower slopes of the valleys round Hebron. The olive is certainly not to our eyes a picturesque tree ; but to the Oriental the coolness of its pale blue foliage, its evergreen freshness, spread like a silver sea along the slopes of the hills, speak of peace and plenty, food and gladness. The trunk, too, gnarled and wrinkled, often hollow and scathed, yet yielding abundant crops in the ex- tremest old age, and renewing itself from the inside, suggests the idea of perpetual youth.

The most celebrated olive trees are those, well known to all travellers, in the garden of Gethsemane. Though centuries old, they cannot possibly be the same trees which existed in the time of our Lord, as Titus, during the siege of Jerusalem, destroyed every vestige of a tree on Olivet. Still they may well be the lineal descendants of the then existing trees, and may have seen Crusader and Saracen. The olive, like the yew, has the power of renewing its youth by forming new wood within its hollow and decayed trunk, growing, as it were, from the circumference to the centre. When we speak of the garden of Gethsemane, we must not picture an

148 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

Eastern garden as neatly laid out with paths and flower-beds. It is simply an enclosed plot with olive, fig, and other fruit trees, affording shade, the first requisite of a garden according to Oriental ideas, with fragrant shrubs, and perhaps a few patches of iris and narcissus (the rose of Sharon). But there will always be a secluded and shaded corner, sheltered generally by trellis-work, with a seat for rest and quiet meditation.

The gathering of the olives is a very simple operation, the boys and women climbing into the trees, and beating and shaking the branches. " Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree" (Isa. xvii. 6). " When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again ; it shall be for the fatherless, for the stranger, and for the widow " (Deut. xxiv. 20). The Mos- lems strictly follow the Jewish law in this, and after the owners have left the tree, the gleaners are entitled to follow ; and the poorest contrive by industry to gather enough to supply them relish for their bread, or even oil for their winter lamp. One oilfat or olive press at the entrance of a village suffices for all. The oil presses, with their gutters, troughs, and cisterns, were often cut out of the solid rock, and many still remain by the deserted ruins of the old cities of Judah, attesting the

Agricultural Life

149

ancient fertility and population of the region. The press is simply a circular stone trough, in which the fruit is placed, and the oil expressed by a massive stone wheel, worked by a wooden screw and vice ; and the produce of oil is enormous. A single tree will yield ten to fifteen gallons. The olive-yards are not fenced, and the property is generally not in the soil, but in the trees, each having its own owner, and single trees being bought and sold. So many olive trees is a com- mon dower for a daughter.

The fig, though the most abundant of fruits, is not usually cultivated as a sole or principal crop, but is planted in all the corners of vineyards and in any irregular piece of ground. Being highly prized for its shade, it is often planted by the corner of a house. "To sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree " gave the fullest idea of peace and security. There is no protec- tion against the rays of an Eastern sun more complete than the dense foliage of the fig tree. It is indigenous, and found in every part of the coun- try. Isaiah (chap, xxviii. 4) says of the drunkards of Ephraim that they " shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer," or more accurately in R.V., " as the first ripe fig before the summer, which when he that looketh upon it seeth,

150 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

while it is yet in his hand, he eateth it up," i.e. which is easily seen and is at once gathered and eaten by the passer-by. The illustration is taken from a peculiarity in the fig tree which I have ob- served in warm climates. In very hot and shel- tered regions, as by the shores of the Dead Sea, the fig is an evergreen. But it is not so in most districts of the Holy Land ; and wrhen it is decidu- ous, the fruit buds push out before the leaves. Moreover, there is great individual variation in the time at which the fig trees put forth their fruit and leaves, some beginning to show foliage in April, others not till May or later ; but those trees which come last into leaf often have a few small figs ripe before the leaf has opened, known as the June figs. They drop from the branch by a touch, and are considered a delicacy, though really much in- ferior to the main crop. The "glorious beauty" of the drunkards of Ephraim should vanish, the prophet implies, as completely as the early ripe figs disappear when gathered by the passing wayfarer.

Thus this passage casts an explanatory side- light on the incident of our Lord cursing the barren fig tree. He saw a fig tree in the way — which was therefore common to all comers, — and found nothing thereon but leaves only. This hap- pened about the end of March or the beginning of

Agricultural Life

April — a time of year when it would be most un- usual for a fig tree on Mount Olivet to be in leaf, although I have seen such occasionally in the neighbourhood ; but as the tree exhibited its pre- cocity by having leaves so early, it certainly might be expected to have fruit, for the fruit generally appears before the leaves. The traveller had a right to expect that the tree which had abnormally early leaves would also have abnormally early fruit. The lesson in this case was that those who professed to be first should be last ; for they had only the rustling leaves of a religious profession, the ostentatious display of the law, and vain ex- uberance of words, without the fruit of good works.

VIII

EASTERN COSTUME

VIII

EASTERN COSTUME HERE is no reason to believe that the fashion

J- of dress in the East has in any way changed since Biblical times, the representations on monu- ments exactly corresponding to the raiment in present use. Where there are differences in the ordinary and plebeian costumes — e.g., of Egypt and Chaldsea — we shall find a parallel difference in the modern dress. In Palestine, the universal and in- dispensable garments were two : first, the chetoneth, wrhence the Greek %nw, the inner vest or shirt, rather unfortunately rendered in our version coat." This was a long, loose garment, generally without sleeves, and reaching to the knees or ankles. It was retained at night, and any one having no other clothing is spoken of as naked. Over this during the day was worn the meHl> rendered " cloak " in our version, answering to our coat, which had loose sleeves, and was longer than the shirt. No one appeared abroad or outside his

156 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

house without his meHl^ which was only thrown off when engaged in hard manual labour, as by fisher- men. This was usually, especially when travelling, fastened round the waist by a girdle, the folds of which were used as pockets for carrying small articles. It was, and is, sometimes woven in one piece, and is doubtless the vesture mentioned in the history of the Passion of our blessed Lord on which the soldiers cast lots, as it could not be divided without destroying its value. The meHl was always used at night as a blanket, thrown over the sleeper ; hence the command in the law of Moses that the (outer) garment taken in pledge was to be restored to the owner in the evening, for he did not require it while working in the day, but needed it as a covering at night. When our Lord says, "If any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat " (%£7w), " let him have thy cloak " (ifjLaTiov) " also " — though the words are reversed in the parallel passage in St. Luke — He refers, not to private wrong or assault, but to op- pression inflicted under legal forms. The rabbis explained that the reason of Moses's injunction was because on the fringe or border of this outer garment was worked the blue stripe which was to put them in mind of the law. But they allowed the other clothing of the debtor to be taken. Our

Eastern Costume 157

Lord's teaching, on the contrary, was that they should submit to legal oppression, even if it ex- ceeded the limits of the rabbinical gloss, and included the outer as well as the inner garment. Christ mentions this among other particulars of the law of retaliation, as being most markedly in contrast with the Gospel law of humility, patience, and self-denial.

Over the ordinary clothing a large cloth cloak called beged was often worn, and answered to the modern aUeih used by all travellers. There was, lastly, the woollen or linen wrapper, which formed the head-dress or turban, translated " hat " in Daniel, where the three in the fire are spoken of as bound in their hats. The articles of clothing worn by the sacred Victim at the Crucifixion were probably five : the inner vest, coat, girdle, turban, and cloak, for the second of which the four soldiers drew lots, while each of the four secured another article besides.

Referring to the expression in Daniel, " their coats, their hosen, and their hats," the exact articles of dress signified by these names have long perplexed commentators, for the words are not Hebrew, but Assyrian. But modern research has thrown clear light on the meaning of the terms. Herodotus describes the Babylonians as

158 Eastern Custo7ns in Bible Lands

wearing a long under- garment or shirt of linen, which reached to the feet. Over this they wore a woollen gown or tunic, shorter than the other, and a short hood or cape over their head and shoulders. This description is exactly borne out by the sculptures on the monuments, while the inscrip- tions themselves have restored to us the Assyrian or Zend words. " Coats " are the long under-gar- ment ; " hosen " is the cape that was thrown over the head and shoulders for protection from the sun, and bound round the head with a fillet, exactly as to this day the Bedawee or Syrian wears the kefieh of silken or woollen stuff and fastens it round his head with a camel's-hair cord.

It will have been seen that the Oriental dress, whether it be the under or the outer garments, is always loose ; i.e.y no part of the dress fits closely to the body. Hence a girdle is always worn, though, when at rest or not employed in active work, it is loosened, and hangs slackly on the person. The Syrians are very fond of bright colours in their girdles ; and we may constantly see a man, when he prepares to walk or to load his camel, rapidly untwine the long red band of many folds from his waist, and then, after gather- ing up his tunic, wind the girdle tightly round it, or very frequently wind himself into the girdle,

Eastern Costume

*59

while his companion holds one end of it tightly- stretched. The metaphor, though not the fashion, of the dress, has come to ourselves from the East, as when we speak of any one girding himself to a task. The girdle, as mentioned above, is often used as a depository for small articles, as papers, etc., in its folds. But for more bulky articles, inasmuch as the Oriental loose dress has no pockets, the under- garment is often pulled up so that its folds fall over the girdle, and these loose folds are used as a depository for bread, figs, corn, fruit, and the like. Thus the expression, " taking a serpent into the bosom," means placing it in the dress as a man would carry his food.

The quality of garments varies as widely in the East as among ourselves. In Biblical times cotton, though in use from the earliest period in India, does not appear to have been known except in Persia. It is mentioned once in Esther (chap. i. 6), where our versions render carpas by " green," but rightly in the margin " cotton." The Hebrew name has been incorporated both in Greek and Latin as icapTracros, carbasus, cotton. We have no proof that cotton was known in Egypt before Alexander's conquests. It has not been found in the swathings of the early mummies, though frequent enough in later times. Now it is largely

i6o Eastern Ctistoms in Bible Lands

cultivated in Palestine. It is doubtful if silk, now one of the most important products of the Lebanon, were known before the Greek period, though Solomon most probably imported the manufactured article. The word meshi, rendered " silk " in our version in Kzekiel (xvi. 10, 13), is questioned, but as it appears to mean " drawn out,'' it may fairly be so rendered. As " Sinim " (Isa. xlix. 12) is almost certainly China, from which country caravans from the earliest ages traded as far as the west of the Caspian, there is no improb- ability in silken goods having been known among the scarcest and most precious fabrics. But, with these rare exceptions, wool, camel's hair, and linen were the sole textile materials.

The proverbial expression for sumptuousness of apparel was " purple and fine linen." At the present day, the wealthy among the Jews, as among the Mohammedans, wear for an outer garment a long cloak with sleeves and an under- cassock of fine linen or silk, bound with a silken girdle. The "purple" means the outer garment of cloth dyed with Tyrian purple, or, as we should term it, " crimsdn " or perhaps " scarlet," for it is difficult precisely to identify the hue. What is called a "purple robe" by St. John is termed " scarlet " by St. Matthew. We know that the

Eastern Costume 161

most valued " purple " dye was obtained at Tyre from a shell-fish {Murex trunculus) found in great abundance on the Syrian coasts. The art of ex- tracting this dye is now lost, but the colour would probably be a deep purplish red. Each animal yielded only a minute drop of this colouring matter. To this day large heaps of these crushed shells are to be seen all round Tyre. One of the bastions of the Roman fortifications has actually been built on one of these kitchen middens, if we may so call them. Wool dyed with this prepara- tion fetched an enormous price, and the cloth woven from it was used as the insignia of royalty or high rank among all the nations of antiquity, and a purple or crimson garment is still in the East a royal gift. But the same word is applied to the dye obtained from the cochineal insect, which is still cultivated in Syria for the sake of the colouring matter procured from the dried body of the female insect, the name of which in Arabic is kirmiz or kermez^ from which our word " crimson " is derived. As is well known, cochineal is of a rich crimson colour ; and therefore it is probable that the purple of the ancients was really what we term crimson.

" Fine linen " — byssus — was the finest product of Egyptian flax, bleached to a dazzling whiteness,

ii

1 62 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

and was so costly that we read of its being sold for its weight in gold. It was gradually superseded by the introduction of silk, which, however, it equalled in softness. Of this material was made the long inner garment or shirt of the most wealthy and luxurious. The shirt of the richer Arab sheikhs of the present day I have often noticed in North Arabia to be of rich striped silk.

In the parable, " the best robe " is brought out for the returning prodigal, literally " the first robe," the long, loose, and wide upper garment mentioned above, often embroidered, which was worn by the Jews of rank, and in which the Pharisees loved to show themselves, like the long fur-trimmed cloak which the Polish Jews in Palestine still wear on the Sabbath Day and on great festivals only. A still more emphatic sign of the prodigal's restora- tion from a state of degradation was the investing him with the shoes and the ring. Shoes were worn only by freemen, never by slaves. The giving of the ring was an emblem of restoring him not only to freedom, but to dignity and power. The ring, which in the East is always also a signet or seal, is only worn by men of position or property. It is the symbol of social rank, equivalent to armorial bearings in European countries.

Eastern Costume 163

The gift of changes of raiment remains to this day an ordinary form of gifts of honour. The royal gifts of shawls of Cashmere are well known among ourselves. The Persian merchant provides a robe for the guest he entertains, though this is left behind when the feast is over, like the wedding garment in the parable. I was once at a great Jewish feast at Orfa, in Mesopotamia, wherie in an anteroom was a great pile of light cloaks,, one of which was handed to each guest on entering, and was delivered again to the servant on our departure. Xenophon repeatedly mentions the custom of giving changes of raiment among the Persians ; and it is even spoken of by Homer.

Besides the robes of ordinary wear and of fes- tive occasions, special vestments from the earliest times have been associated with religious worship. Samuel, " the asked of God," a Levite by birth, was to be a loan to the Lord for His holy taber- nacle through his whole life. In token thereof, young as he was, he wore the linen ephod, the simple white linen garment of the priesthood. His is the only recorded instance of the ephod being worn by one not a priest. But it is very probable that others employed about the sanctuary wore it, just as, in imitation of Samuel, the white surplice has ever been worn both in the Eastern and West-

164 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

ern Churches of Europe by the boys of the choir. I have seen a similar white shawl-like garment on the shoulders of the boys who assist in the chants in the mosques of Gaza and Damascus, though I know not if this be a general custom. It may have been, however, that the white ephod was worn as typical of the especial purity and holiness required in a Nazarite. But whatever the reason of the ephod, the white garment of Samuel, yearly renewed by a mother's love, aptly typified the white-souled and pure devotion of that long life, the career which began with, and may be shortly epitomised by, the words, " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.,,

These vestments were not confined to the wor- ship of Jehovah. We read that Jehu, when he would put down Baal worship, " said to him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal." This vestry can hardly have been attached to the temple, for there would be kept only the vestments for the officiating priests. It rather means the robe-chamber of the royal palace, where, after a custom that still exists in the East, vast quantities of changes of raiment, simple white cloaks, were stored for the use of those whom the king might delight to honour.

This being a very special festival, Jehu, to mark

Eastern Costume 165

his zeal in Baal's cause, opens the royal wardrobes to the worshippers. His subsequent precaution in making rigorous search that no worshippers of Jehovah should unobserved have gained admission was exactly in accord with the strong feeling among all the ancients that the presence of an unbeliever was a profanation of the sacred rites. Among the Greeks the uninitiated intruder into the mysteries of Eleusis was punished with death. To the present day the Mohammedans visit with instant death any Jew or Christian who may be discovered in the holy places of Mecca or Medina ; and we know how very hazardous it was until quite recently for a Christian to visit the mosque of Omar at Jerusalem, and how it is still impos- sible to obtain admittance to the sacred enclosure round the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. Every Jew now, when in the synagogue at worship wears the talitk, a broad white scarf, with blue borders, drawn over his head and falling on his shoulders, always praying with his head covered.

Very different from the costumes we have been illustrating was the dress of the wild Midianite of the desert, the Gileadite, or the dervish of the present day — the dervish, for the wandering der- vish of to-day is only a caricature of the great, lonely prophet. Elijah — i.e., "Jehovah is my

1 66 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

God " — " the grandest and most romantic charac- ter that Israel ever produced," unheard of before, suddenly starts up in front of Ahab, delivers his short and stern warning. In a moment he has vanished. All the characteristics of the man are in keeping with his birth and early training — a Gileadite. For Gilead, then as now, was a land of nomads. Wild, rough men, half shepherds, half cattle-lifters, they bore to the luxurious and refined Israelite neighbours of Tyre and Sidon pretty much the same relation that the High- landers of a century and a half ago bore to the inhabitants of the Scottish lowlands. The pro- phet's dress proclaimed the mountaineer of the Arabian border, exactly the same as is worn to- day ; the under-garment bound with a broad leather belt, and over it a loose, coarse cloak of sheepskin, with the wool outside, its dark-brown folds floating in the wind as he hurriedly strode along, with head bare and long black locks covering his neck ; for he was a Nazarite. The Moslem prophet-dervish, as different from the mollah or dervish of the towns as Elijah from a Levite of Jerusalem, exactly copies this dress and habit. He has no settled home ; no man knows his route. I have known one startle an Arab party at a feast by his sudden apparition, ejaculating some verses of the Koran, warning his

Eastern Costume 167

listeners against the Giaours, and calling on them to fight for deen (" the faith "), and then stalk forth from the awe-stricken company to seek shelter and food from the humblest and poorest, who receive his visit as the highest of honours.

The spreading of their cloaks on the road, so that not even the animal on which a king rode might touch the ground, is an Oriental custom which still survives, and is strictly confined to royal personages or to the very holiest of holy men. We all remember the story of Sir Walter Raleigh spreading his cloak on the ground for Queen Elizabeth to step on. I once saw the brother of the Shah of Persia so received in a Mesopotamian town by his brother's subjects. On another occasion, just before the outbreak which led to the English occupation of Egypt, I saw Arabi Pasha thus honoured as he was riding through the streets of Cairo. Umbrage was taken at this, as shadowing his intention to grasp supreme power ; but he allayed suspicion by remarking that the honour was done him while escorting the holy carpet on its way to Mecca, and therefore had only a religious, and not a political, signifi- cance. Thus, though peaceful and humble, the last entry of our Lord into Jerusalem was in the eyes of all a royal progress.

1 68 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

Among other peculiarities of dress which have come down for many ages is the wearing of curious patchwork cloaks, or aVeihs, such as was Joseph's coat of many colours. It is not a mark of social distinction, but, if we may so say, of individual vanity. The garment is the ordinary sleeved cloak, but on the back are stitched patches of the bright- est coloured cloth, red, blue, and yellow, generally in some bold pattern. It is particularly affected by boys and young men, and is probably, as in Joseph's case, the testimony of parental affection, and perhaps stitched by a mother's hands. Such was the coat " of divers colours of needlework " with which Sisera's mother fondly invested her son in her imagination returning victorious with his trophy. A somewhat similar fashion still exists in Japan, where the gentry of the old school em- broider their armorial bearings on the back of their coats ; and the poorer classes often cover their whole back with blue and white devices stitched on to their blouses. This embroidery work is alluded to in the description of the excellent wife in Proverbs : " She maketh herself coverings of tapestry " (chap. xxxi. 22).

But there are very scant allusions in Holy Writ to what we call needlework as distinct from em- broidery. Of course the loose garments of either

Eastern Costume 169

sex afforded very little scope for the sartorial art. Spinning and weaving rather than sewing were the feminine occupations. And at the present day the making up of garments for men and women alike, is the work not of the housewife, but of men. The first direct mention of what we should look on as especially woman's work is in the case of Dorcas, full of good works. It is worthy of note that on this, the first, occasion on which we have any account of a Christian woman, we find her to have been actively employed in good works for others, making coats and garments for the poor, and ap- parently at the head of a society of widows and others who co-operated with her in her works of love. The practical result of Christianity is thus early manifested. This ideal of the Christian life was not Jewish, for we may search the Talmud in vain for a like illustration of female virtue. The piety of the women of Lydda is indeed there re- corded, but it consisted in the regularity and rapidity with which they would attend the temple services and then return home. The highest model of female perfection among the Jews of that period was to be found in strict attention to domestic duties and temple services, in supplying the wants of the husband and children, and in the case of childless widows in continued acts of devotion. It

170 Eastern Customs in Bible Lands

remained for the Gospel to open out, without any express command or rules, a new field for the ser- vice of women in all those noble and self-denying works of love in which they can be fellow-workers with Jesus.

In jewellery and feminine ornamentation, the fashion has passed unchanged down the course of forty centuries and more. The earrings, the neck- laces, the bracelets, the armlets, the rings, the anklets, that we read of in the Old Testament or see depicted on the frescoes of Egypt and the sculptures of Assyria, are the same in shape, pattern, and design as the decorations of the Eastern lady of to-day. Many of these ancient pieces of jewellery are to be seen in our museums, and some of the most fashionable types worn in our drawing-rooms, especially in the case of brace- lets, are exact copies of Egyptian or Assyrian an- tiques. The anklet seems to have been rather an Egyptian than