was leban, therefore, which Pococke mistook for buttermilk, with which the Arabs treated him in the Holy land." A similar conclusion may be drawn concerning the butter and milk which the wife of Heber presented to Sisera; they were forced cream or haymak, and leban, or coagulated sour milk diluted with water, which is a common and refreshing beverage in those sultry regions. The art of coagulating milk, and converting it into cheese, was known among the Syrian shepherds, from the remotest times. Instead of runnet, they turn the milk, especially in the summer season, with sour butter-milk, the flowers of the great-headed thistle, or wild artichoke; and, putting the curds afterwards into small baskets made with rushes, or with the dwarf palm, they bind them up close, and press them. These cheeses are rarely above two or three pounds weight; and in shape and size, resemble our penny loaves. Oriental cheeses are sometimes of so very soft a consistence, after they are pressed, and even when they are set upon the table, that they bear a very near resemblance to curds, or to coagulated milk, which forms a very considerable part of eastern diet." But the ten cheeses which David carried to the camp of Saul, seem to have been fully formed, pressed and sufficiently dried, to admit of their being removed from one place to another, without the frames in which they were made. The word (1) harouts, derived from a verb which m Trav. vol. ii, part 2, p. 25. " When Polyphemus had coagulated the half of his milk, he laid it up for use in osier baskets. Odyssey, lib. ix, 1. 246, 247. And when Ulysses examined his cave, he was surprised at the number of these utensils groaning under the weight of cheeses. L. 219.-Varro says some of the cheeses made in Italy were soft, others hard, according to their age. In Palestine they were all soft. De Re Rust. lib. ii, cap. 10. signifies to cut off, frequently signifies a piece or lump of any thing. Thus, in Daniel, it means a ruin, or heap of ruins ;P in the book of Job, a piece of rock or stone;a and in the prophecies of Zechariah, a lump of native gold. Hence, the phrase under consideration literally signifies ten lumps; and the word (2) haheleb, is added to determine what they were, ten lumps of milk, which can mean nothing else than ten cheeses; for what are these but lumps of coagulated milk? Our translators did not, as Harmer says, leave out the last word as unnecessary, but gave the genuine meaning of the whole phrase. This exposition is supported by the Septuagint, in which it is rendered by τςυφαλίδας τε γαλακτος, explained by Hesychius, pieces of the tender cheese or curd. But, neither the original term, nor the exposition of these different authors, determines whether the coagulated milk remained in the basket, or, although still new and fresh, had acquired such consistency as to admit of been carried to so great a distance without the frame. As we know, however, that the eastern cheeses were pressed after they were bound up in the rush mould, it is more probable, they were not in the state of soft curd, but of new cheese. The shepherds of Syria and the east have, from the remotest antiquity, carried on a considerable trade with the circumjacent cities. The people of Aleppo are still supplied with the greater part of their butter, their cheese, and their cattle for slaughter, by the Arabs, Kushwans, or Turcomans, who travel about the country, with their flocks and herds, as did the patriarchs of old. It was undoubtedly by trading with the ancient cities of Canaan in P Dan. ix, 25. * Zech. ix, 3. Russel's Hist. vol. i, p. 165, 388. such articles of provision, that Abraham became so rich in silver and gold. The lucrative commerce which Jacob his grandson carried on with the inhabitants of Shechem, is mentioned by Hamor their prince, and urged as a reason of alliance and union: "These men are peaceable with us; therefore, let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold it is large enough for them."t While the wealth of the country, where they tended their flocks and herds, flowed into the coffers of these shepherd princes, in a steady and copious stream; their simple and frugal manner of living, required but little expense for the support of their numerous households; and their nomadic state, prevented them from contracting alliances, or forming connections of an expensive nature. Hence, in a few years, they amassed large quantities of the precious metals; they multiplied their flocks and their herds, till they covered the face of the country for many miles; they engaged a numerous train of servants from the surrounding towns and villages, and had servants born in their house, of the slaves whom they had purchased, or taken prisoners in war. When Abraham heard that his brother Lot was taken captive by the king of Shinar and his confederates, he armed his trained servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. The truth of the Scripture accounts is verified by the present state of the Arabian chieftains in those very places where Abraham and his descendants formerly wandered. By the unimpeachable testimony of Russel, they are equally rich, and powerful, and independent, as were these renowned patriarchs; they are surrounded with servants and retainers, equally numerous, resolute and faith * Gen. xxxiv, 21. ful; they are in fine, the modern patriarchs of the east." Im Persia and in Turkey, where the country is full of Tur coman shepherds, their chiefs appear with a great train of servants, richly clothed and mounted. Chardin fell in with one of these pastoral chieftains between Parthia and Hyrcania, whose train filled him at once with surprise and alarm. The Turcoman had more than ten led horses, with harness all of solid gold and silver. He was accompanied by many shepherds on horseback, and well armed. They treated the traveller civilly, and answered all the questions his curiosity prompted him to put to them, upon their manner of life. The whole country, for ten leagues, was full of their flocks. An hour after, the chieftain's wives, and those of his principal attendants, passed along in a line: four of them rode in great square baskets, carried two upon a camel, which were not close covered. The rest were on camels, on asses, and on horseback; most of them with their faces unveiled, among whom were some very beautiful women. From this display of pastoral magnificence, which Chardin had an opportunity of contemplating, we are enabled to form a very clear idea of the splendour and elegance in which Abraham and other patriarchs lived; and of the beauty which the sacred historian ascribes to Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel, who had very fair complexions. V These Turcoman shepherds, besides their lucrative trade in the various products of their flocks and herds, engage a little in agriculture. Those in Syria and Palestine do the same; and in Barbary, it is very common. Bedouin Arabs in that country, are divided into tribes, "La Roque Voy. dans la Palest. p. 157. The ▾ Chardin's MS. vol. vi. Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 208, 209, 210. like their brethren in other parts, and live in tents, formed into itinerant villages: these nomadic villagers farm lands from the inhabitants of the towns, sow and cultivate them, paying the rent with the produce; and are said to discover great skill in choosing the most advantageous soils for every season. W We are not informed whether Abraham attempted to raise any part of his supplies in this way; but the successful exertions of his son Isaac, in cultivating the soil, are distinctly stated in the memoir of his life; and it may be supposed, from the richness of his harvests in the fields of Gerar, that he possessed the intelligence for which the Arabian shepherds in Barbary are so celebrated.* It would seem too, from the circumstances of the story, that he rented the lands from the fixed inhabitants; for the king of Gerar, envying his prosperity, compelled him to remove from them to another part of the country, which he would scarcely have ventured to do, had they been unappropriated lands, or his own property. The manner in which the king addressed him, clearly shews that he dreaded his power, as well as envied his success; and that Isaac was not a person to be treated with unceremonious rudeness. "Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we," was the language of a man, conscious of his weakness and inferiority. Had Isaac, therefore, cultivated lands in the neighbourhood of Gerar, to which the people of that city had no just claim, the petty prince of that town, whom Isaac might have crushed when he pleased, had not presumed to disturb his operations. But if the right of cultivating these lands depended upon an agree Shaw's Trav. vol. i, p. 426, &c. Harmer's Observ. vol. i, p. 138-140. * Gen. xxvi, 12. |