kymas, from kama, he pitched a tent, because of the shelter they afford; and beet el shaar, houses of hair, from the materials, or webs of goats' hair, of which they are made. They are the same which the ancients called mapalia : "Qualia Maurus amat dispersa mapalia Pastor." To the colour of these tents, the spouse thus alludes: "I am black, but comely, like the tents of Kedar."s The Arabian tents are of an oblong figure, supported, according to their size, some with one pillar, others with two or three, whilst a curtain or carpet, occasionally let down from each of these divisions, turns the whole into so many separate apartments. These tents are kept firm and steady, by bracing, or stretching down their eves with cords, tied to hooked wooden pins, well pointed, which they drive into the ground with a mallet; one of these pins answering to the nail, as the mallet does to the hammer, which Jael used in fastening to the ground the temples of Sisera. In these homely dwellings, the Arabian shepherds and their families, wrapping themselves up in their hykes, repose upon the bare ground, or with only a mat or carpet beneath them, wherever they can find a place unoccupied. Those indeed, who are married, have each of them a portion of the tent to themselves, separated by a curtain; and in remote times, women of distinction had a tent for their own use." Curtains curiously adorned by the women with needle work are suspended over the doors of the tents occupied by their chiefs and princes. This may perhaps account for the superior style in which the bia, vol. i, p. 209; Dr. Richardson's Trav. vol. ii, p. 195; and Buckingham's Trav. vol. ii, p. 52. Sometimes the hair-cloth is striped black and white, and often brown. Judg. iv, 21. S Song i, 5. "Shaw's Trav. vol. i, p. 398, 399. hanging for the door of the tabernacle was finished: "And thou shalt make an hanging for the door of the tent, of blue, and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needle work." It was the habitation of the God and king of Israel. W Besides the mats and coverlids of the common Arab tents, La Roque mentions several domestic utensils, among which, are hair sacks, and trunks, and baskets, covered with skin, in which they packed their kettles or pots, great wooden bowls, hand mills, and pitchers. These are all the articles of household furniture they commonly need, or desire. This account seems to explain, in a clearer manner than commentators have done, the passages where the furniture which the people of Israel used in the wilderness, is described: "Upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood," that is, their wooden bowls," or raiment, or skin," which was used in covering their trunks or baskets," or sack," made of hair-cloth, for any domestic purpose: "whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed. And every earthen vessel, (or pitcher, for holding liquids, and drinking out of) whereinto any of them falls, whatever is in it shall be unclean, and ye shall break it.”v But, although the bowls and dishes of the vulgar Arabs are of wood, those belonging to their chiefs are not unfrequently of copper, neatly tinned. Mr. Harmer supposes, that the vessel in which Jael, the wife of Heber, ▾ Exod. xxvi, 36. Morier's Trav. vol. i, p. 250. * Lev. xi, 32. Voy. dans la Palest. p. 178. Niebuhr's Arabia, vol. i, p. 209. presented the butter-milk to Sisera, which Deborah, in her song, calls a lordly dish, or, literally, a dish of nobles, was of this sort. Her husband certainly was an Arabian emir or chieftain, of great distinction, in whose tents we might expect to find vessels of a superior kind; the working of metals dates its commencement long before her time; and the mere size of the vessel could hardly be the thing intended, for it does not appear that the chieftain of the east drank out of larger vessels than the meanest of his retinue. But it is more probable, that Jael's lordly dish was a large bason of wood, which, even in modern times, is often presented on the table of Arabian emirs, and accords better with that simple mode of living for which the Kenites were so distinguished. It was quite natural to present such a bason of milk to the exhausted fugitive; and besides, we learn from the conduct of Joseph to his brother Benjamin, that a large portion was given as a mark of love and respect; which the wife of Heber certainly pretended to feel for Sisera on that occasion. Z The bottle is another necessary utensil in the tent of an Arabian shepherd. It holds their water and other liquids, and is frequently used as a pitcher. The eastern bottle is made of a goat or kid skin, stripped off, without opening the belly; the apertures made by cutting off the tail and legs are sewed up, and when filled, it is tied about the neck: The Arabs and Persians never go a journey without a small leathern bottle of water hanging by their side like a scrip. These skin bottles preserve their water, milk, and Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 216, 217. a Harmer's Obs. vol. i, p. 219. b Buckingham in his journey from Jerusalem carried a leathern bottle of water suspended from his saddle, and all his party were equipped in the same manner. Trav. vol. ii, p. 51. other liquids, in a fresher state than any other vessels they can use. The people of the east, indeed, put into them every thing they mean to carry to a distance, whether dry or liquid, and very rarely make use of boxes and pots, unless to preserve such things as are liable to be broken. They inclose these leathern bottles in woollen sacks, because their beasts of carriage often fall down under their load, or cast it down on the sandy desert. This method of transporting the necessaries of life has another advantage; the skin bottles preserve them fresher; defend them against the ants, and other insects, which cannot penetrate the skin; and prevent the dust, of which immense quantities are constantly moving about, in the arid regions of Asia, and so fine, that no coffer is impenetrable to it, from reaching them. It is for these reasons, that provisions of every kind are enclosed in vessels made of the skins of these animals. The conjecture therefore, is highly probable, that not only the balm and the honey, which are somewhat liquid, but also the nuts and almonds, which were sent as a present to Joseph from Canaan, were inclosed in little vessels of kid skin, that they might be preserved fresh; and to defend them against injuries, from the restiveness of the camels or asses, or other accidents, the whole were inclosed in woollen sacks. This custom has descended to the present times; for fruits and provisions of every kind are still commonly packed up in skins, by the inhabitants of Syria.a These skin bottles were not confined to the countries of Asia; the roving tribes, which passed the Hellespont soon after the deluge, and settled in Greece and Italy, probably introduced them into these countries. We learn Niebuhr's Arabia, vol. i, p. 209. See also Odyssey, lib. ii, 1. 380. d Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 221, note by Dr. Clarke. from Homer, that they were in common use among the Greeks at the siege of Troy; for, with a view to an accommodation between the hostile armies, the heralds carried through the city the things which were necessary to ratify the compact, two lambs, and exhilarating wine, the fruit of the earth, in a bottle of goat skin: Αρνί δύω και οινον ευφρονα, καρπον αρέρης Ασκω εν αιγείων Il. lib. iii, 1. 246.d At the feast of Bacchus, it was the custom of the Romans to dance upon bottles of goat skin, blown up like bladders, and besmeared with oil, which were placed in the fields for that purpose: 66 atque inter pocula læti Mollibus in pratis unctos saliere per utres." Vir. 2 Geor. 1. 383. To those goat-skin vessels, the Psalmist refers in this complaint: "I am become as a bottle in the smoke." My appearance in the state of my exile, is as different from what it was when I dwelt at court, as are the gold and silver vessels of a palace, from the smoky skin bottle of a poor Arab's tent, where I am now compelled to reside. Not less emphatical is the lamentation of the prophet, that the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, or to vessels fabricated of that precious metal, were considered as no better than earthen pitchers, the work of the potter. The holy Psalmist compares himself to a bottle in the smoke; which is a convertible phrase with a bottle in the tent of an Arab; because, when fires are lighted in it, the smoke instantly fills every part, and greatly incommodes the tenant. Nor will this appear surprising, when it is considered that an Arabian tent has no aperture but the door, from which the smoke can escape. The inspired • Psa. cxix, 83. 4 Odyssey, lib. vi, 1. 77, 78. |