violation of it. This mark was the ouμ of the privileges of them, besides the person for whom they were Greeks, and the tessera hospitalis of the Latins. The uμov intended, this circumstance gives a beautiful and natural exwas sometimes an astragal,' probably of lead, which being planation of the following passage in Rev. ii. 17. where it is cut in halves, one half was kept by the host, and the other said, To him that overcometh, will I give a white stone, and in by the person whom he had entertained. On subsequent the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving occasions they or their descendants, by whom the symbol he that receiveth it. In this passage the venerable translators was recognised, gave or received hospitality on comparing of our authorized version, by rendering it a white stone, seem the two tallies. Mr. Dodwell found some half astragals of to have confounded it with the calculus or small globular stone, lead in Greece, which had probably served for this pur- which was commonly used for balloting, and on some other pose. 3 occasions. The original words are a ANCY, which do not The ancient Romans divided a tessera lengthwise, into two specify either the matter or the form, but only the use of it. equal parts, as signs of hospitality, upon each of which one By this allusion, therefore, the promise made to the church of the parties wrote his name, and interchanged it with the at Pergamos seems to be to this purpose:-"To him that other. The production of this, when they travelled, gave a overcometh, will I give a pledge of my affection, which shall mutual claim to the contracting parties and their descendants, constitute him my friend, and entitle him to privileges and for reception and kind treatment at each other's houses, as honours, of which none else can know the value or extent." occasion offered. These tessera were sometimes of stone, And to this sense the following words very well agree, which shaped in the form of an oblong square; and as they were describe this stone or tessera, as having in it a new name carefully and privately kept, so that no one might claim the written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.^

CHAPTER VII.

ON THE OCCUPATIONS, LITERATURE, STUDIES, AND SCIENCES OF THE HEBREWS.

SECTION I.

RURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF THE JEWS.

I. MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE by the Jews.-Various Animals reared by them.—II. Laws of Moses respecting AGRICULTURE.— III. Manures known and used by the Jews.—IV. Their Mode of ploughing, sowing, and reaping.—V. Different Ways of threshing out Corn.-VI. Vineyards, and the Culture of the Vine and Olive.-Gardens.—VII. Allusions in the Scriptures to the rural and domestic Economy of the Jews.

JUDEA was eminently an agricultural country; and all the Mosaic statutes were admirably calculated to encourage agriculture as the chief foundation of national prosperity, and also to preserve the Jews detached from the surrounding idolatrous

nations.

I. After they had acquired possession of the promised land, the Jews applied themselves wholly to agriculture and the tending of cattle, following the example of their ancestors, the patriarchs, who (like the Arabs, Bedouins, Turcomans, and numerous tribes of eastern Asia) were generally husbandmen and shepherds, and whose chief riches consisted in cattle, slaves, and the fruits of the earth. Adam brought up his two sons to husbandry, Cain to the tilling of the ground, and Abel to the feeding of sheep. (Gen. iv. 2.) Jabal was a grazier of cattle, of whom it is said, that he was the father of such as dwell in tents (ver. 20.), that is, he travelled with his cattle from place to place, and for that end invented the use of tents, which he carried with him for shelter. After the Deluge, Noah resumed his agricultural labours, which had been interrupted by that catastrophe. (Gen. ix. 20.) The chief wealth of the patriarchs consisted in cattle. (Gen. xiii. 2. compared with Job i. 3.) Abraham and Lot must have had vast herds of cattle, when they were obliged to separate because the land could not contain them (Gen.

1 The astragal was a bone of the hinder feet of cloven-footed animals. Plin. Nat. Hist. b. xi. cc. 45, 46. Jacobi Nicholai Loensis Miscell. Epiphill. p. 4. c. 19. Samuelis Petiti Miscel. b. 2. c. i. Note on v. 613. Euripid. Medea, Evos TO TEM TIIV συμβολ', οι δράσουσι σ' ου. Mr. Dodwell's Classical Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 519. Plautus, in his play called Penulus (act 5. sc. 2.), represents Hanno, the Carthaginian, as retaining a symbol of hospitality reciprocally with Antidamas of Calydon; but Antidamas being dead, he addresses himself to his son Agorastocles,

and says,

"Si ita est, tesseram Conferre, si vis, hospitalem-eccam attuli."

Agorastocles answers:

"Agedum hoc estende, est par probe, nam habeo domum." To which Hanno :

"O mi hospes, salve multum, nam mihi tuus pater
Pater tuus ergo hospes Antidamas fuit;
Hæc mihi hospitalis tessera cum illo fuit."

Agorastocles proceeds :

"Ergo hic apud me hospitium tibi præbebitur."

"If this be the case, here is the tally of hospitality, which I have brought; compare it if you please.-Show it me; it is indeed the tally to that which I have at home;-My dear host, you are heartily welcome: for your father Antidamas was my host: this was the token of hospitality between him and me; and you shall, therefore, be kindly received in my house." Ibid. p. 520.

xiii. 6.); and strifes between the different villagers and herdsmen of Syria still exist, as well as in the days of those patriarchs.5 Jacob, also, must have had a great number, since he could afford a present to his brother Esau of five hundred and eighty head of cattle. (Gen. xxxii. 13-17.) It was

pp. 229-232. London, 1759. Svo. Dr. T. M. Harris's Dissertation on the

The

• Ward's Dissertations upon several passages of the Sacred Scriptures, Tessera Hospitalis of the Ancient Romans, annexed to his Discourses on (Massachusetts), Anno Lucis 5801. This writer has also given several the Principles, Tendency, and Design of Free-Masonry, Charlestown proofs of the prevalence of a similar practice among the ancient Chris tians, who carried the tessera with them in their travels as an introduction wards, heretics, to enjoy those privileges, counterfeited the tessera. to the friendship and brotherly kindness of their fellow-Christians. AfterChristians then altered the inscription. This was frequently done till the Nicene Council gave their sanction to those marked with the initials of the words IT, Yios, Agion Ilve; which B. Hildebrand calls Tessera Canonica. The impostor Peregrinus, as we learn from Lucian (Op. tom. iii. p. 325. Amst. 1743), feigned himself a Christian, that he might not only be clothed and fed by the Christians, but also be assisted on his travels, and enriched by their generosity; but his artifice was detected and ex posed. The procuring of a tessera (Dr. Harris remarks), as a mark of evangelization, answered all the purposes, and saved all the trouble, of formal written certificates, and introductory letters of recommendation. The danger of its being used by impostors, as in the case of Peregrinus, rendered it necessary to preserve the token with great care, and never to produce it but upon special occasions. Notwithstanding the simplicity of this method, it continued in use until the time of Burchardis, archbishop of Worms, who flourished A. D. 1100, and who mentions it in a visitation charge. (Harris's Sermons, &c. pp. 319, 320.)

Richardson's Travels along the Mediterranean, vol. ii. p. 196.

The following description of the removal of an Arab horde will afford the reader a lively idea of the primitive manners of the patriarchs:-"It was entertaining enough to see the horde of Arabs decamp, as nothing could be more regular. First went the sheep and goat-herds, each with their flocks in divisions, according as the chief of each family directed; then followed the camels and asses, loaded with the tents, furniture, and kitchen utensils; these were followed by the old men, women, boys, and girls, on foot. The children that cannot walk are carried on the backs of the young women, or the boys and girls; and the smallest of the lambs and kids are carried under the arms of the children. To each tent belong many dogs, among which are some greyhounds; some tents have frem ten to fourteen dogs, and from twenty to thirty men, women, and children, belonging to them. The procession is closed by the chief of the tribe, whom they called Emir and Father (emir means prince), mounted on the very best horse, and surrounded by the heads of each family, all on horses, with many servants on foot. Between each family is a division or space of one hundred yards, or more, when they migrate; and such great regularity is observed, that neither camels, asses, sheep, nor dogs, mix, but each keeps to the division to which it belongs without the least trouble. They had been here eight days, and were going four hours' journey to the northwest, to another spring of water. This tribe consisted of about eight hundred and fifty men, women, and children. Their flocks of sheep and goats were about five thousand, besides a great number of camels, horses, and asses. Horses and greyhounds they breed and train up for sale: they neither kill nor sell their ewe lambs. At set times a chapter in the Koran is read by the chief of each family, either in or near each tent, the whole family being gathered round and very attentive." Parson's Travels from Aleppo to Bagdad, pp. 109, 110. London, 1808. 4to.

in sacrifices. The fatted calf (1 Sam. xxviii. 24. Luke xv. 23.) was stall-fed, with a special reference to a particular festival or extraordinary sacrifice.

their great flocks of cattle which made them in those primi- mentioned in Scripture, because they were commonly used tive times put such a price upon wells. These were possessions of inestimable value in a country where it seldom rained, and where there were but few rivers or brooks, and, therefore, it is no wonder that we read of so many contests about them.

In succeeding ages, we find, that the greatest and wealthiest men did not disdain to follow husbandry, however mean that occupation is now accounted.1 Moses, the great lawgiver of the Israelites, was a shepherd. Shamgar was taken from the herd to be a judge in Israel, and Gideon from his threshing-floor (Judg. vi. 11.), as were Jair and Jephthah from the keeping of sheep. When Saul received the news of the danger to which the city of Jabesh-gilead was exposed, he was coming after the herd out of the field, notwithstanding he was a king. (1 Sam. xi. 5.) And king David, from feeding the ewes great with young, was brought to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance (Psal. Ixxviii. 71.); and it should seem, from 2 Sam. xiii. 23., that Absalom was a large sheep-owner. King Uzziah is said to be a lover of husbandry (2 Chron. xxvi. 10.); and some of the prophets were called from that employment to the prophetic dignity, as Elisha was from the plough (1 Kings xix. 19.), and Amos from being a herdsman. But the tending of the flocks was not confined to the men in the primitive ages, rich and noble women were accustomed to keep sheep, and to draw water as well as those of inferior quality. Thus, Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham's brother, carried a pitcher, and drew water (Gen. xxiv. 15. 19.), as the women of Palestine still generally do: Rachel, the daughter of Laban, kept her father's sheep (Gen. xxix. 9.); and Zipporah, with her six sisters, had the care of their father Jethro's flocks, who was a prince, or (which in those times was an honour scarcely inferior) a priest of Midian. (Exod. ii. 16.) Repeated instances occur in Homer of the daughters of princes tending flocks, and performing other menial services.3

2. So useful to the Hebrews were ASSES, that the coveting of them is prohibited in the decalogue, equally with oxen: in the East they attain to a considerable size and beauty. Princes and people of distinction did not think it beneath their dignity to ride on asses (Num. xxii. 21. Judg. i. 4. v. 10. x. 4. 2 Sam. xvi. 2.); when, therefore, Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem on an ass, he was received like a prince or sovereign. (Matt. xxi. 1-9.) The Hebrews were forbidden to draw with an ox and an ass together (Deut. xxii. 10.), probably because one was a clean animal, and, consequently, edible, while the other was declared to be unclean, and, consequently, unfit for food. The habits and speed of wild asses, which anciently were numerous in Arabia Deserta and the neighbouring countries, are described with great force and poetical beauty in Job xxxix. 5-8.

MULES, which animals partake of the horse and ass, were probably unknown in the earlier ages. It is very certain that the Jews did not breed them, because they were forbidden to couple together two creatures of different species. (Lev. xix. 19.) They seem to have been brought to the Jews from other nations; and the use of them was become very common in the time of David, and they formed a considerable part of the royal equipage. (2 Sam. xiii. 29. xviii. 9. 1 Kings i. 33. 38. 44. x. 25. 2 Chron. ix. 24.)

3. HORSES were not used by the Jews for cultivating the soil: indeed, though they abounded in Egypt in the time of Moses (as may be inferred from Exod. ix. 3. xiv. 6, 7. 9. 23-28. xv. 4.), yet we do not find any mention of their being used before the time of David, who reserved only a hundred horses for his mounted life-guard, or perhaps for his chariots, out of one thousand which he captured (2 Sam. viii. 4.), the remainder being houghed, according to the Mosaic injunction. Solomon carried on a trade in Egyptian horses for the benefit of the crown.

4. CAMELS are frequently mentioned in the Scriptures: anciently, they were very numerous in Judea, and throughout the East, where they were reckoned among the most valua ble live stock. The patriarch Job had at first three thousand (Job i. 3.), and, after his restoration to prosperity, six thousand. (xlii. 12.) The camels of the Midianites and Amalekites were without number, as the sand by the sea-side for multitude. (Judg. vii. 12.) So great was the importance attached to the propagation and management of camels, that a particular officer was appointed in the reign of David to superintend their keepers; and as the sacred historian particularly mentions that he was an Ishmaelite, we may presume that he was selected for his office on account of his superior skill in the treatment of these animals. (1 Chron. xxvii. 30.)

1. Among the larger animals kept by the Hebrews or Jews, NEAT CATTLE claim first to be noticed, on account of their great utility. They are termed collectively pa (BⱭKAR), and though they are of so small stature in the East, yet they attain to considerable strength. (Prov. xiv. 4.) The bulls of Bashan were celebrated for their strength. (Psal. xxii. 12.) The castration of bulls, or the males of the ox-tribe, as well as of other male animals, which was common among other nations, was prohibited to the Hebrews. (Lev. xxii. 24, 25.) Oxen were used both for draught and for tillage, as is still the case in the East: they were also employed in treading out the corn, during which they were not to be muzzled (Deut. xxv. 4.); and were driven by means of ox-goads (Judg. iii. 31.), which, if they resembled those used in more recent times in the East, must have been of considerable size. Calves, or the young of the ox-kind, are frequently 1 Honourable as the occupation of a shepherd was among the Hebrews, Two species of camels are mentioned in the Scripture, viz. it was an abomination to the Egyptians (Gen. xlvi. 34.) at the time when 1. the bra (GaмaL) or commor camel, which has two bunches Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. From the fragments of the on its back, that distinguish it from, 2. the 2 (BаKAR), or ancient historian Manetho, preserved in Josephus and Africanus, it appears dromedary, which has only one bunch. The dromedary is that that country had been invaded by a colony of Nomades or Shepherds. descended from Cush, who established themselves there, and had a suc remarkable for its fleetness. Both species are now, as well cession of kings. After many wars between them and the Egyptians, in as anciently, much used for travelling long journeys. The which some of their principal cities were burnt, and great cruelties were camels' furniture, mentioned in Gen. xxxi. 34., is most procommitted, they were compelled to evacuate the country; but not till they had been in possession of it for a period of nine hundred years. This alone bably the large seat or pack-saddle, invariably observed in was sufficient to render shepherds odious to the Egyptians; but they were the East upon the back of camels. When taken off, at the still more obnoxious, because they killed and ate those animals, particu-close of a journey, it would equally afford a place of conceallarly the sheep and the ox, which were accounted most sacred among thein. See Bryant's Analysis of Ancient Mythology, vol. vi. pp. 193-211. ment for the images, and a convenient seat for Rachel. The Svo. edit. Arabs eat both the flesh and milk of camels, which, however, From Hector's address to his horses, it appears that his wife, Androwere forbidden to the Israelites, as being unclean animals. mache, though a princess, did not think it beneath her dignity to feed those animals herself. Iliad. viii. 185–189. (Lev. xi. 4. Deut. xiv. 7.) A coarse cloth is manufactured of camels' hair in the East, which is used for making the coats of shepherds and camel drivers, and also for the cover

See particularly Iliad, lib. vi. 59. 78. Odyss. lib. vi. 57. xii. 131.
The intelligent traveller, Maundrell, in his journey from Jerusalem to
Aleppo, relates, that when he was near Jerusalem, he came to a certain

place, where (says he) "the country people were every where at ploughing of tents. It was, doubtless, this coarse kind which was in the fields, in order to sow cotton: it was observable, that in ploughing, worn by John the Baptist, and which distinguished him from they used goads of an extraordinary size; upon measuring of several, 1 found them to be about eight feet long, and, at the bigger end, six inches those residents in royal palaces, who wore soft raiment. in circumference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp (Matt. iii. 4. xi. 8.) prickle, for driving of the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade, or paddle of iron, strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that encumbers it in working. May we not from hence conjecture, that it was with such a goad as one of these, that Shamgar made that prodigious slaughter related of him? I am confident that whoever should see one of these instruments, would judge it to be a weapon, not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for such an execution: goads of this sort I saw always used hereabouts, and also in Syria; and the reason is, because the same single person both drives the oxen, and also holds and manages the plough; which makes it necessary to use such a goad as is above described, to avoid

the encumbrance of two instruments." Maundrell's Travels, p. 110. In January, 1816, Mr. Buckinghain observed similar goads in use, at Ras-elHn, in the vicinity of the modern town of Sour, which stands on the site of ancient Tyre (Travels in Palestine, p. 57.); and the Rev. Mr. Hartley, in March, 1828, met with the same kind of goads in Greece. (Missionary Register, May, 1800, p. 223.)

5. Among the smaller cattle, GOATS and SHEEP were the most valuable, and were reared in great numbers on account of their flesh and milk; the latter animals were also of great value on account of their wool, which was shorn twice in the year. Sheep-shearing was a season of great festivity. (2 Sam. xiii. 23-27. 1 Sam. xxv. 2, &c.) Jahn enumerates three varieties of sheep, but Dr. Harris specifies only two breeds as being found in Syria; viz. 1. The Bedouin sheep,

Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. ii. pp. 391, 395. In pp. 431-514. there is an elaborate dissertation on the ancient history and uses of horses. For the reason why the Israelitish sovereigns were prohibited from multiplying horses, see p. 43. of the present volume.

Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 232.

which differs little in its appearance from our common breed,
except that the tail is somewhat longer and thicker; and, 2.
A breed which is of more frequent occurrence than the other,
and which is much more valued on account of the extraordi-
nary bulk of its tail, which has been noticed by all travellers.
The ancient Hebrews, like the modern Arabs, were accus-
tomed to give names of endearment to favourite sheep
(2 Sam. xii. 3.); the shepherds also called them generally
by name, and the sheep knowing the shepherd's voice obeyed
the call (John x. 3. 14.), while they disregarded the voice
of strangers. They also appear to have numbered them
(Jer. xxxiii. 13.), as the shepherds count their flocks in
modern Greece, by admitting them one by one into a pen.2
It was the duty of the shepherds to conduct the flocks to
pasture, and to protect them from the attacks of thieves and
wild beasts (John x. 10-12.): for this purpose they were
furnished with a crook (Psal. xxiii. 4.) and with a sling and
stones. David was equipped with his shepherd's staff and
sling when he went forth to encounter the Philistine giant
Goliath. (1 Sam. xvii. 40.) And as it sometimes happened
that the owners of large flocks made very hard bargains with
their shepherds (as Laban did with Jacob, Gen. xxxi.
38-40.), Moses made various enactments in this respect
which are equally characterized by their equity and huma-
nity. In guarding and managing their flocks dogs were of
great use; though these animals, being declared by the law
of Moses to be unclean, were held in great contempt among
the Jews. (1 Sam. xvii. 43. xxiv. 14. 2 Sam. ix. 8. 2 Kings
viii. 13.) They had them, however, in considerable numbers
in their cities, where they were not confined in the houses or
courts, but were forced to seek their food where they could
find it. The Psalmist compares violent men to dogs, that go
about the city by night in quest of food, and growl if they be
not satisfied. (Psal. lix. 6. 14, 15.) Being frequently almost
starved, they devour corpses. (1 Kings xiv. 11. xvi. 4.
xxi. 19.)

When the sheep were pastured in the open country, the shepherds were accustomed to keep watch in turns by night. The shepherds to whom the glad tidings of the Messiah's advent were announced were thus employed. (Luke ii. 8.) The Jews, however, had sheepfolds, which were enclosures without roofs, surrounded by walls, with doors at which the animals entered: here they were confined both at the season of sheepshearing, as well as during the night. (John x. 1. Num. xxxii. 16. 2 Sam. vii. 8. Zeph. ii. 6.) In Palestine flocks anciently were, as they still are, tended, not only by the owner, but also by his sons and daughters, as well as servants. Consequently they were exposed to all the vicissitudes of the seasons, which circumstance explains the observation of Jacob, who, in remonstrating with the mercenary Laban, says that in the day the drought consumed him, and the frost by night, and his sleep departed from his eyes. (Gen. xxxi. 40.)4

of such landmarks (Deut. xix. 14.), and denounced a curse against the person who removed them without authority. (Deut. xxvii. 17.) In giving this law, Moses reminded the Israelites, that it was God who gave them the land; thus insinuating that the landmarks should all in some sense be sacred to the giver. Among the Romans, they actually were held sacred. Indeed, they can be so easily removed, and, consequently, a man be so unobservedly deprived of his property, that it becomes necessary to call in the aid of the fear of God to prevent it; and this Moses, who gave his laws by divine command, did with peculiar propriety.

These regulations having been made in respect to the tenure, encumbrances, &c. of landed property, Joshua divided the whole country which he had occupied, first, among the several tribes, and, secondly, among individual Israelites, running it out with the aid of a measuring line. (Josh. xvii. 5-14. compared with Amos vii. 17. Mic. ii. 5. Psal. lxxviii. 55. and Ezek. xl. 3.) From this circumstance the line is frequently used, by a figure of speech, for the heritage itself. (See instances in Psal. xvi. 6. and Josh. xix. 9. Heb.) The fixing of every one's inheritance in the family to which it had been appropriated in the first division of Canaan was doubtless one great reason, which made the Jews chiefly follow husbandry and improve their estates; for though (as we have seen) an inheritance might have been alienated for a time, yet it always returned in the year of jubilee. Their being prohibited, also, to take any interest from their brethren for the use of money, and the strict injunctions laid upon them by Jehovah, with respect to their dealings and commerce with foreigners, deprived them so much of the ordinary advantages thence arising, that they were in a manner obliged to procure their living from the fruits and produce of the earth, the improvement of which constituted their chief care.

III. Although the Scriptures do not furnish us with any details respecting the state of agriculture in Judea, yet we may collect from various passages many interesting hints that will enable us to form a tolerably correct idea of the high state of its cultivation. From the parable of the vineyard let forth to husbandmen (Matt. xxi. 33, 34.) we learn that rents of land were paid by a part of the produce; a mode of payment formerly practised by the Romans, which anciently obtained in this country,' and which is still practised by the Italians.8

The soil of Palestine is very fruitful, if the dews and vernal and autumnal rains are not withheld: but the Hebrews, notwithstanding the richness of the soil, endeavoured to increase its fertility in various ways. With the use of MANURES, the Jews were unquestionably acquainted. Doves' dung (2 Kings vi. 25.) appears to have been very highly valued by the Jews, as to this day it is by the Persians. Salt, either by itself or mixed in the dunghill in order to promote putrefaction, is specially mentioned as one article of manure (Matt. v. 13. Luke xiv. 34, 35.); and as the river Jordan annually overflowed its banks, the mud deposited when its waters subsided must have served as a valuable irrigation and top-dressing, particularly to the pasture lands. It is probable that, after the waters had thus subsided, seed was sown on the wet soft ground; in allusion to which Solomon says, Cast thy bread (corn or seed) upon the waters: for thou shalt find it again, with increase, after many days. (Eccles. xi. 1.) And Isaiah, promising a time of peace and plenty, says, Blessed are ye that sow besiau all waters, and send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. (Isa. xxxii. 30.)

II. Moses, following the example of the Egyptians, made AGRICULTURE the basis of the state. He accordingly appointed to every citizen a certain quantity of land, and gave him the right of cultivating it himself, and of transmitting it to his heirs. The person who had thus come into possession could not alienate the property for any longer period than until the next jubilee: a regulation which prevented the rich from coming into the possession of large tracts of land, and then leasing them out to the poor, in small parcels;—a practice which anciently prevailed, and exists to this day in the East. The law of Moses further enacted, that the vendor of a piece of land, or his nearest relative, had a right to redeem the land sold, whenever they chose, by paying the amount of profits up to the year of jubilee (Ruth iv. 4. Jer. xxxii. 7 8.); and by a third law the Israelites were required (as was the case among the Egyptians after the time of Joseph, Gen. xlvii. 18-26.) to pay a tax of two-tenths of their income Jahn et Ackermann, Archæol. Bibl. $55. Michaelis's Commentaries, vol. iii. pp. 373, 374. unto God; whose servants they were to consider themselves, 6 See Plin. Epist. lib. ix. Ep. 37. Horat. Epist. lib. i. Ep. 14. 42 and whom they were to obey as their king. (Lev. xxvii. 30, The Boldon Book, a survey of the state of the bishopric of Durham, 31. Deut. xii. 17-19. xiv. 22—29.) The custom of mark-made in 1183, shows what proportion of the rent was paid in cows, sheep, pigs, fowls, eggs, &c., the remainder being made up chiefly by manual ing the boundaries of lands by stones (though it prevailed a labour. long time before Moses, Job xxiv. 2.) was confirmed and See Blunt's Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs in Modern perpetuated by an express law, which prohibited the removal Italy, p. 220. London, 1823, 8vo.

1 The Icelanders to this day call their sheep by name (Dr. Henderson's Travels in Iceland, vol. i. pp. 189, 190.); so also do the modern Greeks. (Hartley's Journal of a Tour in 1828. Missionary Register, May, 1830, p. 223.)

2 Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 238.

Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. pp. 412-416. Jahn et Ackermann, Archæol. Bibl. $5 46-51. Harris's Nat. Hist. of the Bible, at the articles, Asses, Mules, Horses, Camels, Sheep, and Dogs.

Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, vol. i. p. 400. 3d edition.

In Egypt, such vegetable productions as require more moisture than that which is produced by the inundation of the Nile are refreshed by water drawn out of the river, and afterwards deposited in capacious cisterns. When, therefore, their various sorts of pulse, melons, sugar-canes, &c. all of

"The dung of pigeons is the dearest manure that the Persians use; and as they apply it almost entirely for the rearing of melons, it is probable, on that account, that the melons of Ispahan are so much finer than those of other cities. The revenue of a pigeon-house is about a hundred tomauns per annum; and the great value of this dung, which rears a fruit that is indispensable to the existence of the natives during the great heats of summer, will probably throw some light upon that passage in Scripture, where, in the famine of Samaria, the fourth part of a cab of doves' dung was sold for five pieces of silver. 2 Kings vi. 25." Morier's Second Journey through Persia, p. 141. See also Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. i. p. 451.

which are commonly ploughed in rills, require to be re-drawn, frequently by one small cow, at most with two, and freshed, they strike out the plugs which are fixed in the bot- sometimes only by an ass. In Persia, Mr. Morier states tom of the cisterns: whence the water, gushing out, is con- that it is for the most part drawn by one ox only, and not unducted from one rill to another by the gardener, who is always frequently by an ass.' In Egypt they plough with two ready, as occasion requires, to stop and divert the torrent, by oxen. The plough appears to have been furnished with a turning the earth against it by his foot, and at the same time share and coulter, probably not very unlike those which are opening, with his inattock, a new trench to receive it. A now in use. (1 Sam. xiii. 20, 21. Isa. ii. 4. Joel iii. 10. similar mode of irrigating lands obtains in the island of Cy- Mic. iv. 3.) "The plough in use at Nazareth is not moved prus and also in India. This method of imparting moisture upon wheels. The share, which is small, scarcely grazes and nourishment to a land, rarely, if ever, refreshed with rain, the earth; and it has only one handle or shaft, with a small is often alluded to in the Scriptures, where it is made the dis- piece of wood across the top, for the husbandman to guide it, tinguishing quality between Egypt and the land of Canaan. resembling the head of a staff or the handle of a spade. The For the land, says Moses, whither thou goest in to possess it, is man holds this in his right hand, with which he goads the not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out, where thou the oxen. The whole machine is made so extremely light, sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot as a garden of that a person might with facility carry it in his arms. The herbs: but the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of share is covered with a piece of broad iron pointed at the hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven. end, so that it might be converted into a weapon of warfare. (Deut. xi. 10, 11.) This mode of irrigation is alluded to in In all probability, it is to this peculiarity that one of the proPsal. i. 3., where the good man is compared to a fruitful phets refers, when he calls on the nations to relinquish rural tree, planted by the rivers of water (PALGEY-Mayiм), Occupations, and converts their ploughs into instruments of that is, the streams or divisions of the waters, meaning those battle. (Joel iii. 10.) Another of the sacred writers has rewhich are turned on and off as above-mentioned by the culti-versed this recommendation, and applied it to the tranquillity vator. The prophet Jeremiah has imitated, and elegantly with which it is prophesied [that] the church shall be amplified, the passage of the Psalmist above referred to. ultimately blessed in the latter days. (Isa. ii. 4.)"

This gives us the true meaning of the following elegant proverb :

"The heart of the king is like the canals of waters in the hand of Jehovah

Whithersoever it pleaseth him, he inclineth it."

Prov. xxi. 1.

;

The method of managing the ground, and preparing it for the seed, was much the same with the practice of the present times; for Jeremiah speaks of ploughing up the fallow ground (Jer. iv. 3.), and Isaiah of harrowing or breaking up the clods (Isa. xxviii. 24.); but Moses, for wise reasons, doubtless, gave a positive injunction, that they should not sow their fields with mingled seed.

The kind of grain sown by the Jews were fitches, cummin, wheat, barley, and rye. (Isa. xxviii. 25.) The cultivated fields were guarded by watchmen (as they still are in the East,) who sit upon a seat hung in a tree, or in a lodge or watch-tower made of planks, and keep off birds, beasts, and thieves. (Jer. iv. 16, 17. Isa. xxiv. 20.) It was lawful for travellers to pluck ears from the standing corn in another's field, and to eat them; but they were on no account to use a sickle. (Deut. xxii. 25. compared with Matt. xii. 1. Mark ii. 23. and Luke vi. 1.) Their corn fields were infested with version rendered tares; but it is evident that this is a differa worthless kind of weed resembling corn (a), in our

The direction of it is in the hand of Jehovah, as the distri-ent production from our tare or vetch, which is a very useful bution of the water of the reservoir, through the garden by plant. It is supposed to have been the lolium temulentum, a species of darnel growing among corn, to which it bears some resemblance. Bread, which may be made from a mixture of darnel ground with corn, will produce giddiness and sickness; an effect which the straw is known to have upon cattle.

different canals, is at the will of the gardener. Solomon mentions his own works of this kind :

"I made me gardens and paradises;

And I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees,

I made me pools of water,

To water with them the grove flourishing with trees."

Eccles. ii. 5. 9.

IV. In the first ages of the world, men were chiefly employed in digging and throwing up the earth with their own hands; but Noah advanced the art of husbandry (Gen. ix. 20.), and contrived fitter instruments for ploughing than were known before. This patriarch is called a man of the ground, but in our translation, a husbandman, on account of his improvements in agriculture, and his inventions for making the earth more tractable and fruitful. It was a curse upon the earth after the fall, that it should bring forth thorns and thistles: these obstructions were to be removed, which required much labour, and the ground was to be corrected by ploughing. The earliest mention made in the Old Testament of a PLOUGH is in Deut. xxii. 10. where the Israelites are prohibited from ploughing with an ox and an ass together; a plain intimation that it had been customary with the idolatrous nations of the East to do so. In Syria, the plough is still

1 Rae Wilson's Travels, vol. i. p. 185. 3d edition.

⚫ Statham's Indian Recollections, p. 429.

* Dr. Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c. vol. ii. pp. 266, 267.

There were three months between their sowing and their first reaping, and four months to their full harvest: their barley harvest was at the Passover, and their wheat harvest at the Pentecost. The reapers made use of sickles, and according to the present custom they filled their hands with the corn, and those who bound up the sheaves their bosom : there was a person set over the reapers (Ruth ii. 5.) to see that they did their work, that they had provision proper for them, and to pay them their wages; the Chaldees call him Rab, the master, the ruler, or governor of the reapers. Women were employed in reaping as well as the men; and the reapers were usually entertained above the rank of common servants, though in the time of Boaz we find nothing provided for them but bread and parched corn; and their sauce was vinegar (a kind of weak wine), which, doubtless, was very cooling in those hot countries. (Ruth ii. 14.) The poor were allowed the liberty of gleaning, though the landowners were not bound to admit them immediately into the field as soon as the reapers had cut down the corn and bound it up in sheaves, but after it was carried off: they might choose also among the poor, whom they thought most worthy or most necessitous. A sheaf left in the field, even

Dr. A. Clarke on Psal. i. 3. See also Burder's Oriental Literature, though discovered, was not to be taken up, but to be left for

vol. ii. p. 1.

Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. pp. 24, 25. Maundrell (p. 88.) has given a description of the remains, as they are said to be, of these very pools made by Solomon, for the reception and preservation of the waters of a spring, rising at a little distance from them; which will give us a perfect notion of the contrivance and design of such reservoirs. "As for the pools, they are three in number, lying in a row above each other, being

so disposed, that the waters of the uppermost may descend into the second, and those of the second into the third. Their figure is quadrangular; the breadth is the same in all, amounting to about ninety paces: in their length there is some difference between them; the first being one hundred and sixty paces long; the second, two hundred; the third, two hundred and twenty. They are all lined with wall, and plastered, and contain a great depth of water."

VOL. II.

Ꮓ

the poor. (Deut. xxiv. 19.) The conclusion of the harvest,
or carrying home the last load, was with the Jews a season
of joyous festivity, and was celebrated with a harvest feast.
The corn being
(Psal. cxxvi. 6. Isa. ix. 3. xvi. 9, 10.)
pulled, or cut, and carried in wagons or carts (Num. vii.

Dr. Russel's History of Aleppo, vol. i. p. 73.
Morier's First Travels in Persia, p. 60.
Dr. Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 167.

• Rae Wilson's Travels, vol. i. p. 401. 3d edition.

10 In crossing one of the plains of the Turcomans, "we passed," says Mr. Buckingham, "a party of husbandmen gathering in the harvest, the greater portion of the grain being now fully ripe. They pluched up the