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 UNIVERSITY OF 
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 School of Library 
 Scienc e 
 
This BOOK may be kept out TWO WEEKS 
 ONLY, and is subject to a fine of FIVE 
 CENTS a day thereafter. It was taken out 
 on the day indicated below: 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
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SORXPTUBE 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS: 
 
 EXPLANATORY OK 
 
 Kumerotts &tvtu> 
 
 AND OF 
 VARIOUS CUSTOMS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. 
 
 WITH 
 
 TWENTY-EIGHT CUTS. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 NO. 148 CHESNUT STREET. 
 
 1827. 
 

 A 
 
SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 ON THE METHOD OF PLOUGHING IN THE 
 EAST. 
 
 The machines used by the eastern nations 
 for ploughing, are constructed upon the same 
 general principle, though with considerable 
 variation. The whole power of these instru- 
 ments, however, seems only adapted for what 
 an English farmer would call scratching, ra- 
 ther than ploughing the earth. It is evident 
 from the annexed sketch of the eastern plough 
 while at work, that it can only operate upon 
 the surface of the ground; and is not like the 
 English machine, intended to turn up fresh 
 earth, and subject it to the influences of the 
 atmosphere. The plough-share of the latter, 
 is a mass of iron of great strength and magni- 
 tude. Our swords are of a length and form 
 a2 
 
ON THE METHOD O? 
 
 so ill adapted to be converted into English 
 plough-shares, and applied to peaceful pur- 
 poses, that we do not feel the full force of the 
 delightful idea conveyed in the prophet's pre- 
 diction, "they shall beat their swords into 
 plough-shares, " until we observe the plough- 
 share employed by the oriental nations. It is 
 a broad but not a large piece of iron, which 
 tips the end of the shaft; and the swords of 
 the ancient warriors were short and thick, so 
 that a very little trouble indeed would convert 
 them into plough-shares. 
 
 The oxen at plough will naturally remind 
 the reader of several passages of Scripture, 
 wherein this labour is referred to as perform- 
 ed by oxen: so we read in the 1 Kings xix. 
 ver. 19, that Elisha " was ploughing with 
 twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with 
 the twelfth. " This great number of oxen sug- 
 gests the idea of great riches in their owner; 
 and as they appear to have been the property 
 of Elisha himself, or at least of his family, 
 they lead us to suppose that lie would not have 
 quitted so much wealth, nor have offered a 
 yoke of his oxen as a farewell feast, to his peo- 
 
PLOUGHING IN THE EAST. 7 
 
 pie, as related in the two last verses of the 
 chapter above quoted, previously to his de- 
 parture to follow after Elijah, had he not been 
 conscious of a divine power influencing his 
 mind and directing his actions. 
 
 Ploughing in the East was not always per- 
 formed at once going over the land; the first 
 time it was done chiefly for the purpose of 
 preparing it; after this the seed was sown, 
 and a second ploughing answered the purpose 
 of our harrowing, by covering the seeds pre- 
 viously committed to the ground. It was in 
 short harrowing and ploughing combined in 
 one operation. That the first ploughing was 
 a work requiring attention, seems to be im- 
 plied in the form of the phrase in Isaiah, xxviii. 
 24. " Doth the ploughman plough all day to 
 sow?" literally, does he all day plough plough? 
 The repetition of the last word signifying that 
 second and lighter ploughing, which takes 
 place after the seed is sown, and reduces to 
 dust, those clods which could only be broken 
 by the first operation. 
 
 In Genesis xlv. ver. 6, Joseplv says to his 
 brethren " and yet there are five years in the 
 
8 PLOUGHING IN THE EAST. 
 
 which there shall neither be earing nor har* 
 vest;" here the youthful reader is in danger of 
 confounding the sense in which the word ear- 
 ing was used, by the pious translators of our 
 English Bible, and the modern meaning of 
 the term. It was formerly employed by a 
 figure of speech, to express cultivation of any 
 kind, but is now literally restricted to the 
 gathering of ripe ears of corn, and if taken in 
 this sense, would mean the same thing as har- 
 vest, which certainly was never intended by 
 the wise and learned translators above men- 
 tioned. They intended to express that Jo- 
 seph said there shall be neither ploughing 
 nor harvest. The same interpretation must 
 be given to 1 Sam. viii. 12, where Samuel 
 told the Israelites that the king whom they so 
 much desired, would take their sons and set 
 them to ear his ground, and to reap his har- 
 vest, that is to cultivate or plough his ground. 
 Again in Exod. xxxiv, 91, "in earing time," 
 that is, in ploughing time, " and in harvest 
 thou shalt rest." In Deut. xxi. 4, " a rough 
 valley which is neither eared nor sown," or 
 neither ploughed nor sown. 
 
PLOUGHING IN THE EAST. 9 
 
 Our blessed Lord says, Luke ix. verse 62, 
 " No man having put his hand to the plough 
 and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
 God." The ancient ploughs were so light 
 that if the ploughman did not pay the greatest 
 attention, and lean upon, and as it were, load 
 it with the weight of his body, it would glide 
 over the ground without making any furrows, 
 and, of course, leave no impression behind. 
 This beautiful allusion of the Redeemer, may 
 not only be applied to the ministers of his gos- 
 pel, but to all the members of his church on 
 earth, and even to those who pursue things 
 which are merely temporal. Without a fixed 
 attention on the part of those who hear as well 
 as those who preach, on the part of the ingen- 
 uous youth seeking after religious instruction 
 and useful knowledge, as well as on the part 
 of those who endeavour to assist him in the 
 search, no trace can be left in the memory, 
 and no impression remain upon the mind. 
 Those who have been eminently pious or 
 learned, and especially those who have united 
 both these excellences, have invariably been 
 remarkable for attentive, serious, and thought- 
 
10 PLOUGHING IN THE EAST. 
 
 ful habits. They have not only put their 
 hands to the plough in religion and science, 
 but pressed upon it with the whole weight of 
 their undistracted attention, never looking 
 back. 
 
 In addition to the ploughman at his labour, 
 our sketch presents a view of part of a culti- 
 vated field, the corn of which is nearly ripe: 
 near this corn is a kind of stage, of more than 
 one story in heigh + , whereon sits a man to 
 guard the corn from depredators of every 
 kind, and especially from the birds. 
 
12 
 
 Egyptian Wheat. 
 
THE EGYPTIAN WHEAT. IS 
 
 THE EGYPTIAN WHEAT. 
 
 In reading the delightful history of Joseph, 
 so interestingly detailed by the inspired wri- 
 ter, those who think, while they rea<d, may 
 probably have supposed, that the wheat men- 
 tioned, Gen. xli. 5, in Pharaoh's dream, and 
 which is said to have had seven ears full and 
 good upon a single stalk, had no existence in 
 nature, but was merely such a symbol as it 
 pleased God to employ to forewarn the Egyp- 
 tian king, of the coining years of plenty which 
 were appointed to precede those of famine. 
 This, however, was not the case, for there is 
 a species of wheat still growing in Egypt, 
 which actually bears seven ears upon a single 
 stalk; and of this wheat this is an accurate 
 sketch. The ear from which the original 
 drawing was taken, not being grown in its 
 native soil, had degenerated from its proper 
 fulness, although, as our readers will see, it 
 had spread enough to determine that it bore 
 
14 THE EGYPTIAN WHEAT. 
 
 seven ears of corn, and to demonstrate, that 
 when full it must present a most expressive 
 emblem of the greatest plenty. Those part* 
 of this specimen which were perfect, are 
 strongly shaded on the cut, while the rest are 
 lighter. This wheat differs from our own, by 
 having a solid stem, or at least a stem full of 
 pith, in order to yield sufficient nourish- 
 ment, and afford proper support to so great a 
 weight as the ears which it bears, and which 
 demand a proportionate quantity of nutritive 
 juices: whereas the stem of our own wheat 
 is a mere hollow straw. Our pious young 
 friends will, no doubt, at once remark, that 
 the exact agreement of this very peculiar kind 
 of wheat, with that mentioned in the sacred 
 volume, and of which Moses wrote more than 
 3500 years ago, found too in the very land 
 where he was born, and so long sojourned, 
 and growing to perfection no where else, is 
 a most impressive natural evidence of the 
 minute accuracy of the Bible. It has been 
 cultivated by some of our ablest agricultu- 
 ralists, who find that it produces more than 
 any other kind of wheat, but though the grain 
 
THE EGYPTIAN WHEAT. 15 
 
 is fine of its sort, it does not suit our mar- 
 kets, principally because, as already intima- 
 ted, it soon degenerates here, as our country 
 is not the soil and climate for which Provi- 
 dence has adapted it; for it is a well known 
 agricultural maxim, that every plant thrives 
 best, and will only bear to perfection in its 
 native country, or in such other climates as 
 most resemble that from which it was first 
 obtained. 
 
16 
 
 K 
 
17 
 
 ON THE MANNER OF THRESHING IN THE 
 EAST. 
 
 To introduce the information furnished by 
 this sketch, we shall first notice the threshing 
 floor; which is a level, smooth area, enclosed 
 by mud-brick walls, having a proper opening 
 for entrance, and on one side of it the barn or 
 garner, the door of which is seen in the wall. 
 The area enclosed by these walls is either pre- 
 pared, according to the account of Dr. Shaw, 
 or naturally smooth, hard, and bound, so as 
 to be fit for using without preparation. The 
 figures at the lower corner of the plate, repre- 
 sent the wain, car, cart, drag, or threshing 
 instrument, so called by different translators 
 of the Sacred Scriptures. In the left hand 
 figure, it is supposed to be set upright on one 
 of its sides, and appears to consist of a strong 
 square frame, well secured with iron pins to 
 keep it tight and steady: within this are three 
 rollers, whose pins at each end are inserted 
 into the frame, and pass through it; on each 
 of these rollers are circular iron cutters, with 
 b2 
 
18 THRESHING IN THE EAST* 
 
 sharp edges, the track of which lies between 
 that of the other cutters which compose the 
 instrument, and it is these cutters that are 
 furnished with teeth, which aite alluded to in 
 the forty-first chapter and fifteenth verse of 
 the prophet Isaiah. 
 
 The right hand figure is an elevation, or 
 side view of the same instrument, which shows 
 that the external square frame turns upward 
 in front, that it may more readily pass over 
 the straw that lies before it. The pins which 
 mark the insertion of the rollers are also seen: 
 and from this frame rises a seat, or kind of 
 chair, for the convenience of the driver. The 
 yoke is represented in connexion with the 
 left hand figure, to which it joins by rings 
 and a hook which allow of free motion: and 
 the other end, which is t|$pe by the oxen, is 
 equally constructed for securing the same ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 *The principal subject of this draught, shows 
 the manner of using; this machine, and pre- 
 sents, what it proposes to illustrate, in a more 
 lively manner to the eye than it is possible for 
 the best written account to describe. 
 
THRESHING IN THE EAST. 19 
 
 Beyond the circle of corn strewed for 
 threshing, a man is engaged in winnowing a 
 quantity of corn, which is already threshed by 
 throwing it up against the wind, which blows 
 away the chatt', but leaves the grains of corn ; 
 the weight of which ensures their falling 
 down. Observe the form of the fan used by 
 this figure: it resembles a small shovel, with 
 a long handle; unlike any kind of corn fan, 
 or winnowing machine, used in England: the 
 representation of it, therefore, is well adapted 
 to correct whatever erroneous conceptions of 
 the instrument, the reader might heretofore 
 have entertained. 
 
 The number of passages in Scripture which 
 may be explained or illustrated by means of 
 these delineations, is too great to be enume- 
 rated here; and the youthful reader will find 
 it a delightful task to search his Bible for 
 and compare them with this account. We 
 shall, however, refer him to the seventh verse 
 of the fifteenth chapter of Jeremiah, and espe- 
 cially to the twelfth verse of the third chap- 
 ter of St. Matthew, where the process of win- 
 nowing with the fan is alluded to. 
 
20 THRESHING IK THE EAST. 
 
 We remark in conclusion, that we here set 
 the import of the phrase ' thou shalt not muz- 
 zle the ox when he treadeth out the corn," as 
 applied by the apostle to ministers — that is, 
 " it is not fit that he who contributes to pre- 
 pare food for others should be denied a suita- 
 ble portion of sustenance for himself." And 
 it is a remarkable fact, that among all the na- 
 tions of the East, the oxen which tread out 
 the corn never were, and to this day are not 
 muzzled, although they always were and still 
 are muzzled when employed in any other 
 kind of labour. 
 
 - 
 
Eastern Method of Watering the Land, 
 
EASTERN METHOD OF WATERING THE 
 LAND. 
 
 The annexed is a representation of the. Per 
 aian Wheel, given upon the authority of Dr. 
 Shaw, in order to elucidate several passages 
 of Scripture. While one division of the buck- 
 ets descends empty, the rotation of the wheel 
 brings the other up full of water. The ma- 
 chinery worked by cattle, is easily understood. 
 Engines and contrivances of this kind, are 
 placed all along the banks of the river Nile, 
 from the sea to the cataracts; their respective 
 situations being higher, and consequently, the 
 difficulty of raising water greater, the farther 
 we advance up that river. 
 
 This method of conveying moisture, and 
 nourishment to a land that is rarely refreshed 
 with rain, is often alluded to in the Holy 
 Scriptures, where also it is made the distin- 
 guishing quality betwixt Egypt and the Pro- 
 mised Land, or Canaan. " The land," says 
 Moses to the children of Israel, Deut. xi. 10, 
 11 — " whither thou goest in to possess it, is 
 not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came 
 
24 EASTERN METHOD 07 
 
 out; where thou sowedst thy seed, and water- 
 edst it with thy foot, like as a garden of herbs: 
 — But the land whither ye go to possess it, is 
 a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh wa- 
 ter of the rain of heaven. " 
 
 The meaning of the remarkable expression 
 " wateredst it with thy foot," we shall endea- 
 vour to explain in our next subject; but for 
 the present, shall confine ourselves to the Per- 
 sian Wheel here depicted. 
 
 The simile used by Balaam, Numb. xxiv. 7, 
 — " He (meaning Israel) shall pour the water 
 out of his buckets," refers to this agricultural 
 custom, as do the words of the prophet Isaiah 
 xl. 15,— "Behold, the nations areas a drop 
 of a bucket. " 
 
 The original word in the 3d verse of the 
 cxli. Psalm, which our translators have ren- 
 dered door, " Set a watch, O Lord, before my 
 mouth, keep the door of my lips," appears to 
 have been mistaken for the drop of my lips, 
 in allusion, like the passage just quoted from 
 the prophet Isaiah, to the dropping from the 
 buckets of the machines, employed in watering 
 lands. Job xxix. 22, — 6ays, "My speech 
 
WATERING THE LAND. 25 
 
 dropped upon them. " And the allusion of the 
 Psalmist, implies that not only his set speeches, 
 his open and admitted discourse, required 
 to be guarded, but also his accidental remarks, 
 his by-words, his hints, and the smallest par- 
 ticles of speech which dropped from his lips. 
 Whoever pays attention to what passes in 
 his own heart, and in the world, will find am- 
 ple reason to pray God for a watch and a strict 
 watch too, over the door of his lips. Job 
 xxxviii. 37,— compares the clouds to the 
 buckets in the wheels of the machine, which 
 do not discharge their contents till they arrive 
 at the top of the wheel, where they are gradu- 
 ally laid along, and their mouths inclined 
 downwards. By the words, * ; Who can num- 
 ber the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay 
 the bottles of heaven," Job certainly alludes 
 to such buckets which come up full, but are 
 emptied only at the proper time, neither soon- 
 er nor later; but when wisdom and power 
 combine to lay them along; and this in the 
 instance of the clouds, as he beautifully inti- 
 mates, requires Divine appointment and su- 
 perintendence. 
 
«S 
 
%7 
 
 CHINESE METHOD OF WATERING THE LAND. 
 
 This machine consists of a box, divided 
 into two parts, the under part wholly enclo- 
 sed; one end of this box is laid on the lower 
 water, the other end is raised to a proper level; 
 a number of boards adapted to the size of this 
 enclosure, are drawn up it by the power of the 
 wheel, and with these boards the water rises 
 also: for it cannot flow out on the side, nor 
 at the top, nor at the bottom, since these are 
 enclosed; neither can it flow out behind, since 
 there the rising board stops it: it must there- 
 fore rise before the board which impels it, till 
 it arrives at the orifice for its discharge into 
 the upper level. 
 
 When the board has thus discharged its 
 lading, it is continued in its course over the 
 wheel, is carried back again, down the upper 
 groove of the box, and, when arrived at the 
 lower water, is ready to resume its former ap- 
 plication, of closing the lower division of the 
 
2# CHINESE METHOD OF 
 
 box, and forcing the water it finds there to 
 ascend. 
 
 A succession of these boards maintains a 
 constant stream, and thus furnishes water 
 from the lower grounds to the higher, even 
 enough to assist in the cultivation of rice, 
 which is always when young, overflowed with 
 water. We ought to observe, that Moses, in 
 Deuteronomy xi. 10. (see the preceding arti- 
 cle) is speaking of an extensive cultivation, 
 such as of corn lands ; for he evidently dis- 
 tinguishes it from a garden, or plantation, by 
 making such cultivation the object of his com- 
 parison; where thou sowedst thy seed and 
 wateredst it with thy foot; like as a garden 
 of herbs, that is, in the same manner. 
 
 This ingenious mode of watering has been 
 resorted to in Palestine, and also in Egypt; 
 indeed, from certain passages in Philo, an an- 
 cient Greek writer, who flourished at Alexan- 
 dria in the first century, it appears there is 
 strong reason to conclude that the Chinese 
 borrowed this invention from the Egyptians: 
 for Philo describes a machine lor watering 
 lands so stronglv resembling this, which was - 
 
WATERING THE LAND. 29 
 
 taken from Sir George Staunton's account of 
 Lord Macartney's Embassy to China, that it 
 appears to be the very same. This, together 
 with the similarity which long subsisted be- 
 tween the Egyptians and Chinese seems to 
 suggest that they either were formerly one 
 people, or, being immediately derived from 
 one common stock, had naturally communi- 
 cated their manners, customs, principles, 
 knowledge, and inventions to each other. 
 
 02 
 
so 
 
SI 
 
 ARABS RAISING WATER FROM THE NILE. 
 
 In Egypt, the rice grounds are inundated 
 from the time of sowing nearly to harvest: the 
 seed is commonly cast upon the water, a prac- 
 tice twice alluded to in Scripture. Balaam, 
 prophesying of Israel, Numbers xxiv. 7, says 
 "His seed shall be in many waters;" and 
 Solomon, when speaking of acts of charity, in 
 his beautiful exhortations, Eccl. xi. 1, "Cast 
 thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find 
 it after many days," finely intimates, that as 
 he who commits the seed to the waters, which 
 is the mode of sowing in that country, always 
 reaps, after a certain interval, the abundant 
 recompense of his labour, so they that regard 
 the sufferings of the distressed, and cast their 
 bread upon the waters, by feeding the hungry, 
 or clothing the naked, shall in no wise lose 
 their reward, but find it after many days. 
 This custom completely elucidates the mean- 
 ing of the preacher, which has been greatly 
 mistaken by many, who suppose that his al- 
 
S2 ARABS RAISING WATER 
 
 lusion was to bread cast into the rivers, or 
 upon the waters of the ocean: it is obvious 
 this could seldom, if ever, be found again, for 
 substances of that kind would soon sink or be 
 disposed of by birds or fishes. 
 
 In order to cover the lands with the water 
 upon which they cast their seed, various me- 
 thods are employed by the Egyptians. To 
 raise the waters of the Nile into the high 
 ground near the river, they use buckets fas- 
 tened to a wheel, something like those used to 
 some of our deep wells; but where the land is 
 not much elevated above the surface of the 
 river, they employ the simple and probably 
 very ancient contrivance of lifting it in a bas- 
 ket apparently lined with close matting, or 
 leather. This is the mode represented: two 
 men holding the basket between them, by a 
 cord in each hand, fastened to the edge of it, 
 lower it into the Nile, and then swing it be- 
 tween them, until it acquires a velocity suf- 
 ficient to enable them to throw the water over 
 a bank, into a canal near the river. The re- 
 gular continuance of their motion, gives them 
 at a distance, the appearance of automaton 
 
FROM THE NILE. 33 
 
 figures, rather than of living beings. They 
 work with only a coarse sort of cotton shirt 
 girded round their loins, and sometimes en- 
 tirely naked, exposed to the sun's most power- 
 ful rays during the whole day, repeating one 
 of the Arabian songs; for they seem to have 
 a peculiar air adapted to every kind of labour. 
 
34 
 
 Section 
 
 Gv,br 
 Chamber. 
 
 Inner 
 Chamber. 
 
 ■'■ ABEA ■ 
 
 M OR 1! " 
 
 a OPEN COURT mi 
 
 
 R2ffCa| 
 
 Houses of the East, 
 
35 
 
 ON THE HOUSES OF THE EAST. 
 
 The annexed sketch represents the inter- 
 nal elevation, ground plan, and section of the 
 terrace, of one of the houses of the east, which, 
 like those of the cities upon the coast of Bar- 
 bary, are known to have been built in nearly 
 the same form for many ages. They are re- 
 markable for enclosed courts and spacious 
 chambers, so that a single house often accom- 
 modates several families; as when parents in- 
 dulge their married children with a share of 
 their habitation; or when several persons con- 
 tribute towards the rent, to this our Lord 
 seems to allude, where he says, " in my fa- 
 ther's house are many mansions." Hence it 
 is that the cities of the Levant, though they 
 generally occupy less ground than those of 
 Europe, are so exceedingly crowded and po- 
 pulous, that many persons fall victims to the 
 plague, and other contagious maladies. 
 
 The streets of these cities, the better to 
 shade them from the sun, are usually narrow, 
 with sometimes a range of shops on each side. 
 The door of the porch, and one latticed win- 
 dow, or balcony, only, open into the street, all 
 the rest of the windows, as above, look into the 
 court This external balcony is seldom used, 
 
36 ON THE HOUSES 
 
 except during public festivals — at one of these, 
 probably, Jezebel showed herself to Jehu, 2 
 Kings ix. 30, when " she painted her face, 
 tired her head, and looked out at a window." 
 
 The court is usually surrounded with galle- 
 ries, not unlike those which may be remarked 
 in old inns. Into these galleries the spacious 
 chambers of each floor open, having no com- 
 munication with each other but what the gal- 
 leries afford. The stairs sometimes begin in 
 the porch (see the ground plan) and are after- 
 wards continued through some one corner of 
 each gallery to the top of the house, upon 
 which they terminate in a door$ but they are 
 generally carried up on the outside of the 
 house: This may elucidate the injunction, 
 Matt. xxiv. 17, "Let him which is upon the 
 house top not come down to take any thing 
 out of his house," for he might directly de- 
 scend the stairs, and pass into the street, with- 
 out entering into any apartment of the house; 
 or could escape to the city gates by passing 
 along the house tops, as we shall presently 
 proceed to show. 
 
 The house top which is invariably flat and 
 covered with a strong plaster of terrace, or 
 cement, is on that account often called, Tht 
 
OF THE EAST. $7 
 
 Terrace, It is generally enclosed by two 
 walls, the highest towards the street; the 
 other, which is always breast high, in scrip- 
 ture called the battlements, Deut. xxii. 8, an- 
 swering to our parapet, overhangs the court. 
 Balustrades and lattice work are sometimes 
 used in its stead; and upon such a slight sup- 
 port, Ahaziah, 2 Kings i. 2, might be thought- 
 lessly leaning when he fell down into the 
 court. Upon these terraces or house tops, the 
 inhabitants dry linen and flax, Josh. ii. 6, and 
 as a late traveller has observed, figs and rai- 
 sins. Here also the families assemble to en- 
 joy the cool refreshing breezes of the even- 
 ing; and converse with one another; to which 
 those words of our Lord, Matthew x. 27, and 
 Luke xii. 3, refer: " what ye hear in the ear, 
 that preach ye upon the house tops." " And 
 that which ye have spoken in the ear in clo- 
 sets, shall be proclaimed upon the house 
 tops:" on the terrace they frequently offer up 
 their devotions; here Peter prayed, Acts x. 9, 
 and afterwards M fell into a trance. " In the 
 feast of tabernacles, booths were erected, 
 Neh. viii. 16, upon the roofs, along which, (as 
 we have already hinted) when the cities are 
 built upon level ground, there is a passage 
 
58 ON THE HOUSES 
 
 from the city gate at one end of the place, to 
 a similar gate at the other, without any ne- 
 cessary communication with the street. The 
 inhabitants sometimes sleep upon the roof. 
 Here also the idolatrous kings and people of 
 Judah, (see Jeremiah xix. 13, and xxxii. 29.) 
 worshipped " the Host of Heaven," and "of- 
 fered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink- 
 offerings unto other gods." 
 
 Sometimes a small room is built over the 
 porch and set apart for strangers; or for oc- 
 casional privacy and retirement; such seems 
 to have been the little chamber built by the 
 Shunamite for Elisha, 2 Kings iv. 10, and the 
 summer chamber of Eglon, through which 
 Ehud escaped, Judges iii. 23, 24, after he had 
 killed the Moabitish king,— and the chamber 
 over the gate where David retired to weep 
 for Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii. 33, from the roof 
 of which Ms watchman, verse 24, described 
 the man running alone: such also might be 
 the chamber where Tabitha was laid after 
 death, Acts ix. 37, and particularly that in 
 the third loft, (or gallery) from the window 
 of which Eutychus fell down, Acts, xx. 9. 
 
 The eastern mode of building, helps us to 
 account for the particular structure of the 
 
OF THE EAST. .89 
 
 house of Dagon, Judges xvi. 25, and the great 
 number that were slain when Samson pulled 
 down the pillars, by which the galleries and 
 part of the roof were supported. In the Dey 
 of Algiers' palace, which is a structure en- 
 closing an open court, like that we-have here 
 depicted, such entertainments as the lords of 
 the Philistines gave in the house of Dagon, are 
 frequently given; at which times the galleries 
 and roof are crowded with spectators pressing 
 upon each other to look down into the court, 
 where persons are placed, like Samson, " to 
 make them sport:" and hence the destruction 
 that ensued when he pulled the pillars from 
 beneath the Philistines, which must have pre- 
 cipitated them headlong into the court. 
 
 We shall now request the attention of our 
 readers to the open court itself, to inform them 
 that as the heat is excessive in those coun- 
 tries, a curtain or awning is spread over it 
 from battlement to battlement, to exclude the 
 rays of the sun, and is, therefore, called the 
 court veil, or curtain. To this David beauti- 
 fully alludes, Psalm civ. 2, " who stretchest 
 out the heavens like a curtain." This court 
 is strewed with mats and carpets for the re- 
 ception of large companies, which are seldom 
 
40 ON THE HOUSES OF THE EAST. 
 
 admitted into any apartment of the house it- 
 self. This strengthens many other obvious 
 reasons for concluding that our blessed Re- 
 deemer and his apostles, frequently taught in 
 these open areas, or courts; and that at least 
 he was preaching in one of them at the heal- 
 ing of the paralytic : so that the uncovering 
 and breaking up of the roof, Mark ii. 4, and 
 letting the paralytic down through the tiling, 
 as it has been translated, in conformity with 
 our ideas of houses, means nothing more than 
 the removing or taking up of the curtain, 
 court veil, or awning, and letting the sick per- 
 son down upon his bed into the court beneath. 
 It is probable, therefore, that those words, 
 Luke v. 19, "into the midst," refer to the 
 centre of such a court, area, or quadrangle. It 
 appears from the same verse, that the bearers 
 could not directly approach our Lord " for the 
 press," but if the paralytic could not be car- 
 ried wp the stairs through the crowd, he might 
 easily be taken to the house top from the ad- 
 joining terraces, and from thence be let down 
 over the battlements, " into the midst (of the 
 court) before Jesus." 
 
42 
 
43 
 
 ANCIENT ATTITUDE AT TABLE. 
 
 The reclining attitude here represented, as 
 having been anciently used at table, appears 
 to us to be extremely inconvenient, and yet 
 we have abundant evidence that it actually 
 was adopted by both Greeks and Romans, and 
 we also find it often alluded to by the four 
 evangelists. 
 
 The reader is desired to notice first, the 
 construction of the table, which consists of 
 three tables, so set together as to form but one. 
 Secondly, around these tables are placed no 
 seats, but as it were couches or beds, one to 
 each table; each of these beds being united to 
 surround the three tables; at the end of each 
 was a foot-stool for the conveniency of mount- 
 ing up to it; these beds were formed of mat- 
 tresses stuffed, and were supported upon 
 frames of wood, which were often highly or- 
 namented. Thirdly, observe the attitude of 
 the guests, each reclines on his left elbow, and 
 therefore chiefly uses his right hand, that only 
 
44 ANCIENT ATTITUDE AT TABLE. 
 
 being free for use: observe also, that the feet 
 of the person reclining being towards the ex- 
 ternal edge of the bed, they were much more 
 readily reached by any body passing, than any 
 other part of the person so reclining. The 
 way for the service of the tables appears left 
 open in the front, the table being enclosed at 
 one end, and it is worthy of remark, that when 
 the tables were withdrawn, the couches might 
 remain. 
 
 For want of proper discrimination and des- 
 cription, in respect to the attitude at table, 
 several passages of the gospel are not merely 
 injured as to their true sense, but appear to be 
 absolute nonsense; in the thirty-seventh and 
 thirty-eighth verses of the seventh chapter of 
 St. Luke, « a woman in the city, which was a 
 sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat 
 in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster 
 box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind 
 him weeping; and began to wash his feet with 
 tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her 
 head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them 
 with the ointment." Now, when a person sits 
 at meat, according to those ideas, which natu- 
 
ANCIENT ATTITUDE AT TABLE. 45 
 
 rally suggest themselves to an English reader 
 of the passage, his feet, beside being on the 
 floor under the table, are before him and not 
 behind him; and the impossibility of a person 
 standing at his feet behind him, standing too, 
 to kiss his feet and to wipe them, is glaring. 
 However, by inspecting our print, the narra- 
 tion becomes intelligible, for the feet of a re- 
 cumbent person being outermost, must of 
 course, be easily accessible to any person stand- 
 ing behind them. The same observations apply 
 to the second and third verses of the twelfth 
 chapter of St. John, " Lazarus was one who 
 sat, that is reclined at table with Jesus, and 
 Mary anointed the feet of Jesus. " 
 
 Assisted by these ideas, we may better un- 
 derstand the history of our Lord's washing 
 his disciples' feet, John xiii. verse 5; "he pour- 
 eth water into a basin, and going round the 
 beds whereon the disciples reclined, he began 
 to wash the disciples' feet, which lay on the 
 external edge of the couch, and to wipe them 
 with the towel where with he was girded;" 
 again at the twelfth verse, " after he had taken 
 his garments and was reclined again, he said, 
 
46 ANCIENT ATTITUDE AT TABLE. 
 
 &c." It would perhaps be overstraining our 
 remarks, to apply them to any of those slighter 
 incidents recorded in sacred history, which 
 we therefore leave as an exercise for our young 
 readers 5 but it is, nevertheless, proper to no- 
 tice, how justly the beloved disciple John 
 might be said " to lie in Jesus' bosom" at the 
 supper table, since this will clearly appear by 
 inspecting the position of the guests in our 
 plate. 
 
48 
 
 Mode of Sitting in the East 
 
49 
 
 ON THE MODE OF SITTING IN THE EAST. 
 
 In the last account we endeavoured to illu&v 
 trate the ancient mode of sitting at table; and 
 to complete the subject, we here present our 
 readers with a sketch and description of the 
 common mode of sitting in the east. 
 
 The expression sitting in our translation of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, is applied to different 
 attitudes; and we here propose to show what 
 that kind of sitting is, which ordinarily pre- 
 vails among oriental nations. 
 
 The place for sitting is a kind of raised set- 
 tle, bench, or elevated floor, about two feet 
 high, running along one or more sides of a 
 roOm, extending about three feet from the 
 wall, and covered with a carpet or scarlet 
 cloth. This raised floor is called the Duan 
 or Divan. The cushions, which are set up- 
 right along the wall, reach in that position to 
 the arms of the person sitting, as in the pre- 
 c eding representation. They are ornamented 
 with flowers, embroidery, or brocade; and 
 are made of such sizes as can be conveniently 
 removed; hence one cushion will not serve the 
 whole side of a room: eo that several are 
 joined together for that purpose. 
 
50 ON THE MODE OF 
 
 The figure here represented, occupies the 
 corner, which is the place of honour in the 
 east, probably, because the best adapted for 
 ease in leaning, by the opportunity it presents 
 of reclining upon two cushions at once. The 
 attitude of the person sitting, is usually by 
 crossing the legs, and folding them under the 
 body: sometimes varying the posture by fold- 
 ing one leg only, or principally, and sitting 
 upon the heel of it, leaning upon the cushion 
 behind. The celebrated traveller Niebuhr 
 says, " As the floors are spread with carpets, 
 and cushions are laid round the walls, one 
 cannot sit down without inconvenience on 
 the ground ; and the use of chairs is unknown 
 in the east. 
 
 "The Arabians practice several different 
 modes of sitting. When they wish to be very 
 much at their ease, they cross their legs under 
 the body. I found, indeed, by experience, that 
 this mode of sitting is the most commodious 
 for people who wear long clothes and wide 
 lower garments without any confining liga- 
 tures, and appears to afford better rest after 
 fatigue, than our posture of sitting upon chairs. 
 In the presence of superiors, (see 1 Chron. 
 
SITTING IN THE EAST. . 51 
 
 xvii. 16, where David is said to have * sat be- 
 fore the Lord,') an Arab sits with his two 
 knees touching each other, with the weight of 
 his body resting upon his heels: and as in this 
 position a person occupies less room than in 
 any other, this is their usual posture at table: 
 I often tried it$ but found it so extremely un- 
 easy, that I could never acquire the habit." 
 
 As it is our particular wish to illustrate, as 
 far as we are able, those scripture phrases which 
 relate to customs that are unusual to our young 
 readers, and which they cannot, therefore, pro- 
 perly understand, we shall now observe how 
 easily the cushion and carpet which form this 
 kind of seat are carried, so that even in a tent 
 it may be instantly prepared. It appears that 
 the cushion is not sat upon but against, so that 
 to prepare a seat, as mentioned in the seventh 
 verse of the twenty-ninth chapter of Job, may 
 be well understood of laying a carpet and 
 placing a cushion upon it. And it explains 
 also the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of St. 
 John, where ** Jesus being weary with his 
 journey, sat thus on the wellj" that is, he 
 leaned accordingly like a weary person 
 against the side of the well. 
 
B% . SITTING IN THE EAST. 
 
 Perhaps the youthful reader never yet has 
 understood the true attitude assumed by the 
 dying Jacob, when the sons of Joseph were 
 brought to receive his blessing; "he strength- 
 ened himself, and sat upon the bed" — the duan; 
 and, after blessing his grandsons — " gathered 
 up his feet," not into the bed, but drew them 
 upon the duan. This also explains the atti- 
 tude of Ahaz, (1 Kings xxi. 4,) "He laid 
 him down upon his bed and turned away his 
 face." Also, how Hezekiah (2 Kings xx. 2,) 
 "turned his face to the wall and prayed." 
 Also, how Haman, (Esther vii. 8,) not only 
 "stood up to make request for his life," but 
 was fallen on the bed — the duan — whereon 
 Esther was." Finally, the above explanation 
 completely illustrates the nature of Saul's or- 
 der to bring up David to him on the bed, that 
 he might kill him, 1 Sam. xix. 15. 
 
 Further citations cannot here be introduced: 
 but lie that follows up this interesting subject 
 for himself, will reap great satisfaction in the 
 light which it tends to throw upon many other 
 parts of the Sacred Scriptures. 
 
54 
 
 View of Bethlehem. 
 
55 
 
 VIEW OF BETHLEHEM. 
 
 Bethlehem, or the House of Bread, so 
 often mentioned in the Word of God, is prin- 
 cipally remarkable for the nativity of our 
 Blessed Lord, Matt. ii. 5, 6, John vii. 42; it 
 is six miles south from Jerusalem. The town 
 covers the summit of a long and lofty hill, on 
 the southern side of a deep and extensive val- 
 ley, in which valley the celebrated traveller, 
 Dr. E. D. Clark, believes he found that re- 
 markable well, for the water of which David 
 longed, when he said, 1 Chron. xi. 17, "Oh! 
 that one would give me drink of the water of 
 the well of Bethlehem that is at the gate." 
 
 The well appears to retain its original re- 
 nown, and many an expatriated Bethlehemite 
 has since made it the theme of his longing and 
 regret. To the left, on the neighbouring hill, 
 a monastery, resembling a vast fortress, co- 
 vers the spot which is shown as the cave of 
 the Nativity. It is remarkable, that as the 
 
56 VIEW OF BETHLEHEM. 
 
 vanquisher of Goliath was a native of Bethle- 
 hem, so Elhanan, who slew the brother of that 
 Philistine, was likewise a Bethlehemite. 
 
 Near Bethlehem, Rachel was buried, Gen. 
 xlviii. 7, and lbzan, one of the Judges of Is- 
 rael, Judges xii. 10, — Naomi and her two 
 sons, Ruth i. 1, and David the great king of 
 Israel, were all natives of this place, which 
 was, therefore, of considerable note, before it 
 became so universally celebrated for the in- 
 carnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
58 
 
 Eastern Bottles, 
 
59 
 
 ON THE EASTERN BOTTLES. 
 
 This is a representation of the bottles men- 
 tioned in the word of God; which among the 
 ancient Jews, were made of goats' or wild 
 beasts' skins, with thehair on the inside, well 
 sewed and pitched together; an aperture in 
 one of the animal's paws serving for the mouth 
 of the vessel. Bottles of this kind are still 
 used for carrying water through the deserts 
 of Arabia and other countries, where springs 
 and streams are scarce, and have been in com- 
 mon use both in ancient and modern times. 
 
 The vessels, however, which are called bot- 
 tles in our translation of the old Testament, 
 are signified by different terms in the original, 
 and were of various and different materials. 
 Thus in Gen. xxi. 14, the " bottles" of water 
 tiiven by Abraham to Hagar, is in the original 
 called, Chemeth, which denotes an earthen 
 pitcher, although Sir John Chardin supposes 
 it to have been a leathern vessel : and from 
 Habakkuk ii. 15, it appears that the Hebrews 
 
60 EASTERN BOTTLES. 
 
 were accustomed to drink out of these che- 
 meths. The bottle of wine which Samuel's 
 mother brought to Eli, (1 Sam. i. 24,) is call- 
 ed nubel, and was probably an earthen jar or 
 jug. The same word is also used in 1 Sam. 
 x. 3, and 2 Sam. xvi. 1; but the term trans- 
 lated earthen bottles in Jer, xix. 1, is bakbek. 
 A very different word *is used in Judges iv. 
 19, to signify the vessel out of which Jael gave 
 milk to Sisera; \t is called naud; which hav- 
 ing some reference to moist or oozing, was 
 probably made of goat skin, or the skin of 
 some animal; and being constantly kept full 
 of milk, was preserved in a pliant state. The 
 same word is also used to denote the bottle in 
 which Jesse sent wine by David to Saul, 1 
 Sam. xvi. 20. Naud signifies also the bottle 
 into which the Psalmist (Psalm lvi. 8.) de- 
 sires that his tears might be collected, and 
 that to which he compares himself, Psalm 
 cxix. 83; he says, "I am become like a bot- 
 tle in the smoke," that is, like a bottle kept 
 in the tents of the Arabs, blackened with 
 smoke. To the meanness of such a drinking 
 as a goat's skin bottle, as well as to the 
 
EASTERN BOTTLES. (ft 
 
 blackness contracted in the Arab tent, the 
 Psalmist probably refers, and it was a most 
 natural image for him to use: driven from 
 among the vessels of silver and gold in the 
 palace of Israel, to live as the Arabs did, and 
 consequently to be obliged frequently to drink 
 out of a smoked leathern bottle. The word 
 used by Job, chap, xxxii. 19, is abuth, the 
 plural of aub, which signifies, in general, to 
 swell or distend, and properly expresses a 
 skin bottle, which would be apt to swell by 
 pouring liquor into it; and would be distend- 
 ed, and burst at last, if it had no vent, and 
 the liquor happened to be in a state of fer- 
 mentation. — From which we perceive the pro- 
 priety of putting new wine into new bottles, 
 according to the appropriate allusion in Matt. 
 ix. 17. Mark ii. 22. Luke v. 37, 38, which 
 being moist and strong, would resist the fer- 
 mentation and preserve the wine; whereas 
 old bottles of this kind, being more dry and 
 brittle, would be in danger of bursting, and 
 were best adapted to receive old wine which 
 had ceased to ferment. The sacred historian, 
 Joshua ix. 4, not only supposes these bottles 
 
EASTERN BOTTLES. 
 
 to be frequently rent, when grown old and 
 much used, but to admit of being repaired. 
 They are mentioned by Homer, Virgil, Sal- 
 lust, and Horace; nor have they escaped the 
 observation of modern travellers. The Arabs, 
 says Sir John Chardin,and all those who lead 
 a wandering life, keep their water, milk, and 
 other liquors in these bottles, which will pre- 
 serve their contents fresher than any other 
 kind of vessel. They are made, he says, of 
 goat skins; when the animal is killed, they 
 cut off its feet and its head, and so draw off 
 the skin without opening the belly. The 
 places where the legs and tail were cut off, 
 are afterwards sewn up, and when it is filled, 
 they tie it about the neck. These nations, 
 and the country people of Persia, never go a 
 journey without a small leathern bottle of 
 water, hanging by their side like a scrip. The 
 great leathern bottles are made of the skin of 
 a she goat, and the small ones that serve to 
 hold water on the road, of a kid skin. The 
 same traveller says, that the Persians find lea- 
 them bottles useful in keeping water fresh, 
 especially if they take care to moisten them, 
 
EASTERN BOTTLES. 63 
 
 when travelling, wherever they can find wa- 
 ter; the evaporation serving to keep the wa- 
 ter cool. He adds, that the disagreeable taste 
 of the leather is taken off, by causing it to 
 imbibe rose water, when it is new, and be- 
 fore it is applied to use. The Persians are 
 said formerly to have perfumed these leathern 
 vessels with mastic or with incense. From 
 him also we learn, that they put into these 
 goat skin and kid skin vessels, every thing 
 which they have to carry to any distance, whe- 
 ther dry goods or liquids, which are thus pre- 
 served from insects and dust, besides being 
 kept very fresh ; and therefore butter, honey, 
 cheese, and similar articles are enclosed in 
 vessels made of the skins of these animals. 
 
 The presents which Jacob's sons carried to 
 their brother Joseph, Gen. xliii. 11, particu- 
 larly the balm and honey, were, therefore, pro- 
 bably forwarded in little vessels made of kid 
 skins: to which mode of transporting provi- 
 sions, Homer somewhere refers. 
 
 The bottles made of skin, resemble the 
 " Girba" described by Mr. Bruce in his tra- 
 vels through Abyssinia, vol. iv. p. 334. — 
 
64 EASTERN BOTTLES. 
 
 "This," he says, "is an ox's skin square, 
 and the edges sewed together very artificially 
 by a double seam, which does not let out water, 
 much resembling that upon the best English 
 cricket balls. An opening is left at the top, 
 like the bung of a cask: around this hole the 
 skin is gathered to the size of a large hand- 
 ful, which is tied round with whipcord when 
 the vessel is filled. These girbas contain 
 about sixty gallons each, and two of them are 
 the load of a camel. They are all besmeared 
 on the outside with grease, as well to hinder 
 the water from oozing through, as to prevent 
 its being evaporated by the action of the sun 
 upon the skin, which, in fact, happened to us 
 twice, so as to put us in imminent danger of 
 perishing with thirst" 
 
66 
 
 Ancient Books and Scrolls. 
 
67 
 
 ON THE FORMS OF ANCIENT BOOKS AND 
 SCROLLS, 
 
 Particularly tlwse mentioned in the Scriptures. 
 
 We here present our youthful readers with 
 the form of an ancient book, as held with both 
 hands by a young man, who is supposed to be 
 reading it with great earnestness. It is pro- 
 bably meant for some serious treatise. The 
 form of the page, and the direction of the 
 separating column are distinctly marked, and 
 clearly show that it was read down the narrow 
 way of the roll, one end of the book being 
 rolled inward, and the other outward. It is 
 evident that these books might be very small, 
 so that when the prophet Ezekiel and St. John 
 were directed to eat a book, it was by no means 
 a folio that was presented to them, for that 
 mentioned in the Revelations is expressly call- 
 ed a little booh, and might be much less than 
 the one here represented. Books are often, 
 but not always, spoken of as rolls in Scrip- 
 ture, The action of unrolling and rolling up 
 
68 OF THE FORMS OF 
 
 again a book, is evidently attributed to our 
 Lord in the fourth chapter of St. Luke, where 
 it is said, at the seventeenth verse: "and when 
 he had opened the book, he found the place 
 where it was written,*' or literally, and un- 
 rolling the hook he found the passage, from 
 whence it should seem that he might not open 
 it at that very passage, but might have un- 
 rolled the book till he came to that part of 
 Isaiah's prophecy, there quoted. This is con- 
 firmed by what is afterwards said at the 
 twentieth verse: "And he closed the book, 
 and he gave it to the minister;" or, so rolling 
 up the booh he gave it to the servant of the 
 Synagogue. 
 
 Several sorts of materials were anciently 
 used in making books: plates of lead and cop- 
 per, the barks of trees, bricks, stone, and even 
 wood, were the first materials employed to 
 engrave those things upon, which men desired 
 to transmit to posterity. Josephus the Jewish 
 historian, speaks of two columns, one of brick, 
 on which the children of Seth wrote, or en- 
 graved their inventions and astronomical dis- 
 coveries. Porphyry mentions some pillars 
 
ANCIENT BOOKS AND SCROLLS. 69 
 
 preserved in Crete, on which the sacrifices %f 
 the Corybantes were recorded. Hesiod's works 
 were originally written upon tables of lead; 
 the laws of Solon upon wooden planks; and 
 the Ten Commandments delivered to Moses, 
 upon stone. 
 
 Tables of boxwood and ivory were common 
 among the ancients; and their wooden tablets 
 were frequently covered with wax, that they 
 might easily write, and if they pleased, after- 
 wards erase what they had written. The 
 leaves of the palm-tree were afterwards used 
 instead of wooden tablets, together with the 
 finest and thinest part of the bark of trees, 
 such as the lime, the ash, the maple, and the 
 elm; and as these barks were rolled up in or- 
 der to be removed with greater ease, the rolls 
 were called volumina, or volumes, a name 
 afterwards generally applied to rolls of paper 
 or parchment. 
 
 The other two figures represent an ancient 
 inkstand and pen. The inkstand consists of 
 two parts, one for red, and the other for black 
 ink, one of which is shut, and the other open 
 
70 ON THE FORMS OF 
 
 The pen is a reed of considerable length and 
 magnitude. Whether the bands round it are 
 merely joints of the reed, or something added 
 to strengthen it, is not certain, but probably 
 the latter, and the reader should be informed, 
 that these representations are copied from 
 some ancient pictures dug out of the ruins of 
 Herculaneum, a once famous city of Italy, 
 which was destroyed by an eruption of Mount 
 Vesuvius, A. D. 79. 
 
 We cannot close this brief illustration with- 
 out calling the attention of our young friends 
 to an important fact. The books of the an- 
 cients were, of course, all manuscript, and 
 were therefore scarce and dear. The current 
 of knowledge was consequently confined to a 
 very narrow channel, and until the invention 
 of printing, in the latter end of the fifteenth 
 century, books could only be procured by a 
 few wealthy persons; a Bible could scarcely 
 be obtained for less than thirty pounds sterling; 
 but, since that providential invention, books 
 have gradually become more plentiful, and 
 consequently cheaper, until at length the Sa- 
 
ANCIENT BOOKS AND SCROLLS. 71 
 
 cred Scriptures may be obtained for a very 
 small sum, and useful information of every 
 kind at a moderate expense. 
 
 How then ought we to prize the inestimable 
 advantages we enjoy; how sedulously improve 
 our opportunities of becoming wise unto salva- 
 tion, and performing our respective duties in 
 the present life? Reader, be diligent in busi- 
 ness, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, since 
 for all these things, he will bring thee into 
 judgment 
 
72 
 
73 
 
 ON THE TENTS MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE, 
 
 The Patriarchs lived in temporary dwell- 
 ings of various kinds. These dwellings were 
 slightly constructed for temporary residence, 
 so as to be put up and taken down with great 
 despatch. Such were their tents of various 
 forms and sizes. Some of them were large 
 and commodious; others small and inconve- 
 nient; some mean and some magnificent. 
 
 That tents were set apart for the different 
 sexes, appears from Gen. xxiv. 67, where it is 
 said Isaac brought Rebecca into his mother 
 Sarah's tent; and from Gen. xxxi. 33, where 
 we learn that Laban went into Jacob's, 
 Leah's, and into the in aid-servant's tent. 
 
 A tent may be made more capacious by 
 raising and further opening or extending it; 
 and strengthened by driving the stakes deeper 
 into the ground. Hence Isaiah, liv. 2, says 
 " Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them 
 stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; 
 spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen 
 
74 TENTS MENTIONED 
 
 thy stakes. " One of these stakes, nails, or 
 tent-pins Jael drove through Sisera's temples 
 until she fixed it in the earth, Judges iv. 21. A 
 wooden pin could scarcely have been hard 
 enough for this cruel purpose, or for penetrat- 
 ing hard earth, gravel, &c. and hence there 
 is little doubt that these stakes were of brass, 
 or of iron. 
 
 The dream of the Midianite, who thought 
 he saw a loaf of barley bread overturn a tent, 
 either tends to prove that they were very 
 slightly held by their cords and pins, or that 
 the loaf which overturned it, was impelled by 
 an irresistible force, see Judges vii. 13. — He- 
 zekiah, in Isaiah xxxviii. 12, exclaims, " Mine 
 age is departed, and is removed from me as a 
 shepherd's tent. " This strongly intimates the 
 wandering lives they led, and the shortness of 
 their stay in any place. 
 
 Tents are to this day used in travelling 
 through the deserts of Asia, see the view of 
 Mount Tabor, page 91. They vary in their 
 colours; for the coverings were sometimes 
 formed of rams' or goats' skins, and of goats' 
 hair, and were sometimes quite black, as are 
 
IN SCRIPTURE. 75 
 
 those of the Arabians, to which thn Spouse, 
 Cant. i. 5, alludes, where she says, " I am 
 black as the tents of Kedar; that is, Arabia. 
 Such, in all probability, was the tent spread by 
 Jacob, Gen. xxxiii. 18 — 19, in the field he 
 bought of Shechem's father. 
 
 The words " every man to his tents, Is- 
 rael," (see 2 Samuel xx. 1, and 1 Kings xii. 
 16,) were invitations to the Israelites to leave 
 their cities, and take the field in war. It was 
 the ancient way of summoning the people to 
 arms, and hence we plainly see that at that 
 time, tents had ceased to be the only kind of 
 dwelling in use, though Acts xviii. 3, shows 
 that down to the time of the apostles, tents, 
 at least that portable sort suitable for travel- 
 lers, were still used. 
 
 There is strong reason to suppose that the 
 occupation, at which Paul and Aquila wrought, 
 means either tent-making literally, as we have 
 translated it; or something similar to the trade 
 of a house carpenter among us, which would 
 very probably also include the business of 
 tent-making among the nations of the east. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah xiii. 20, seems to lay 
 
76 TENTS MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE. 
 
 great stress on one token of the total ruin of 
 Babylon, by saying, " neither shall the Ara- 
 bian pitch tent there ; neither shall shepherd 
 dwell there:" as if he had exclaimed, not even 
 a solitary shepherd, a wandering Arab, the 
 transitory resident of an hour! The same in- 
 spired writer, xl. 22, says, " he stretched out 
 the Heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them 
 out as a tent to dwell in." This idea strik- 
 ingly applies to a circular tent like that here 
 presented to our readers. It is equally ex- 
 panded all round. It can be opened or folded 
 up, spread out, or rolled together like a 
 scroll; and in this state, " spanned by the 
 hand." Isaiah xlviii. IS. 
 
 The shaking of the pillars or supporters of 
 a tent, is alluded to by Job xxvi. 11, where 
 he speaks of the trembling of the pillars of 
 Heaven at the reproof of the Almighty. This 
 explanation may serve also to illustrate many 
 similar figures that were never intended to be 
 literally understood. 
 
78 
 
79 
 
 MOUNT TABOR, 
 
 AS SEEN FROM 
 
 THE GREAT PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. 
 
 The celebrated traveller from whose works 
 we have taken this view of Mount Tabor, was 
 prevented from visiting it by the fear of being 
 plundered by the Arab banditti, who at that 
 time particularly infested the great plain of 
 Esdraelon, upon one side of which, Mount 
 Tabor stands. It is entirely detached from 
 any other mountain, and appears of a conical 
 form, strongly resembling an island environed 
 by the sea. The top consists of a spacious 
 and well cultivated level surface, inhabited by 
 numerous Arab families, who subsist by pil- 
 lage and robbery, and are the terror of the 
 surrounding countrv. 
 
 This singular eminence is often mentioned 
 in Holy Writ. Upon it the Midianitish kings 
 slew the brethren of Gideon, by whom those 
 kings were afterwards slain: Judges viii. 18 
 
80 MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 — 21. David, (see Psalm lxxxix. 12) speaks 
 of Mount Tabor in such terms as intimate that 
 it was a remarkable station in his day, and 
 the same idea is further confirmed by the pro- 
 phet Jeremiah, xlvi. 18; and by Hosea, v. 1, 
 who accuses the priests, king, and people of 
 Israel of being like a net spread upon Mount 
 Tabor; where nets were employed to ensnare 
 such birds as were fit for the table, which were 
 found in great numbers in this delightful part 
 of the Holy Land. 
 
 On the great plain of Esdraelon, the most 
 fertile part of all the land of Canaan, the tribe 
 of Issachar rejoiced in their tents: Deut. xxxiii. 
 1 8. Here the second of Samuel's three pre- 
 dictions was verified by Saul : 1 Samuel x. 3. 
 In the first ages of Jewish history, as well as 
 during the Roman Empire, and in the Cru- 
 sades, Holy Wars or Wars of the Cross, as they 
 were impiously called; which were carried on 
 by the monarchs of Europe many hundred 
 years ago, under pretence of recovering the 
 Holy Land from the Turks or Saracens; and 
 even in still later times, it has been the scene 
 of many a memorable contest. Here it was 
 
MOUNT TABOfU 81 
 
 that Barak descending with his ten thousand 
 from Mount Tabor, Judges iv. 6 — 13, discom- 
 fited Sisera and "all his chariots, even nine 
 hundred chariots of iron, and all the people 
 that were with him," when " all the host of 
 Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword, and 
 there was not a man left:" Judges iv. 13, 15, 
 16. Here also it was that Josiah, king of Judah, 
 fought in disguise against Necho king of Egypt 
 and fell by the arrows of his antagonist; 2 
 Chron. xxxv. 20 — 25, when so great were the 
 lamentations for his death, that the mourning 
 for Josiah became an ordinance in Israel. The 
 great mourning in Jerusalem, foretold by Ze- 
 chariah, xii. 11, is said to be as the lamenta- 
 tion in the plain of Esdraelon; or, according 
 to the language of the prophet, " as the mourn- 
 ing of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megid- 
 don. " Warriors belonging to almost every 
 country under heaven, have pitched their 
 tents upon the great plain of Esdraelon, and 
 beheld the various banners of their nations 
 wet with the dews of Tabor and of Hermon. 
 Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian, 
 often mentions this very remarkable part of 
 
83 MOUNT TABOR, 
 
 the Holy Land, and always under the appel- 
 lation of the great plain. It has been a chosen 
 place for encampment in every contest car- 
 ried on in this country, from the days of 
 Nebuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, in the 
 history of whose war with Arphaxad, it is 
 mentioned as the great plain of Esdrelom, see 
 Apocrypha, Judith i. 8, down to the disastrous 
 march of the French army from Egypt into 
 Syria. 
 
 Like every other part of the Holy Land, this 
 great plain and celebrated mountain afford in- 
 disputable evidence of the truth of the Bible, 
 for they still retain every mark of identity, 
 and are possessed by various unbelieving Gen- 
 tile nations: while the Jews who once inherit- 
 ed them, are scattered all over the habitable 
 globe, according to those awful predictions 
 of their own prophets, with which the Sacred 
 Scriptures abound. 
 
84 
 
 The Caravansera. 
 
 
85 
 
 THE CARAVANSERA. 
 
 Eastern inns, or Caravanseraa, which is 
 their Asiatic name, are of different kinds. 
 Some are small buildings, placed generally 
 by the side of a fountain, at proper distances 
 on the public roads, to afford refreshments 
 and a temporary shelter from the rain, or dur- 
 ing the night. Such probably, was that men- 
 tioned, Gen. xlii. 27, and xliii. 21, where one 
 of Jacob's sons, on their return from Egypt, 
 stopped to give provender to his ass, and 
 there discovered Joseph's cup in his sack. 
 And the same kind of way-side inn is proba- 
 bly intended in Luke x. 34, to which the good 
 Samaritan conveyed the poor object of his pi- 
 ous compassion. 
 
 Other caravanseras especially those in 
 towns, like that above represented, are usu- 
 ally large square buildings, with a court in the 
 middle of them, encompassed with galleries, 
 and having arches, or chambers, all round, 
 where travellers rest themselves, or make 
 
86 THE CARAVANSERA. 
 
 their lodging as well as they can. To this 
 kind the evangelist, Luke ii. 7, apparently re- 
 fers, where he records that — " there was no 
 room for Joseph and Mary in the inn," that 
 is, that every chamber was pre-occupied. 
 These chambers are generally let at a high 
 rate by the keeper of the caravansera, although 
 they contain no furniture whatever, and this 
 (circumstance alone will go far to show what 
 poor accommodation those places must have 
 afforded to the mother of our blessed Lord, 
 and in what degrading circumstances the 
 Prince of Life and Glory descended to appear 
 among men. It has long been customary in 
 the east, for travellers to carry their own 
 bedding, kitchen utensils, &c. and the custom 
 probably prevailed as far back as the incarna- 
 tion of our blessed Saviour; but as all the 
 chambers were then engaged, Joseph and 
 Mary were obliged to accept of shelter in that 
 part of the building allotted to the beasts, so 
 that, in the words of the inspired writer — 
 " She brought forth her first born son and 
 laid him in a manger." So low did the Re- 
 deemer stoop to manifest his love to us, and 
 
THE OARAVANSERA. 87 
 
 to effect the grand purpose of man's redemp- 
 tion. An elegant writer has truly said, 
 " that pride is not made for man, "for surely, 
 if every human being were to consider the 
 cause of this amazing abasement on the part 
 of him, who is God over all, blessed for ever, 
 it would not only eradicate every particle of 
 pride, but humble him in the dust during the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
88 
 
THE TABERNACLE IN THE WILDERNESS, 
 
 The preceding is a general view of the 
 Court of the Tabernacle, and of the situation 
 of the various utensils it contained — see 
 Exod. xxv. We observe first of all the pil- 
 lars marking an enclosure. These pillars 
 were seven feet and a half high, the enclosure 
 they formed was about 150 feet long, and 75 
 feet broad. In the centre of the front appears 
 a kind of entrance, formed by hanging tapes- 
 try which could be drawn up occasionally, 
 like the entrance curtain to a tent. The in- 
 tervals between the other pillars are closed 
 by a strong kind of net-work, as some render 
 the original word, which in our translation, 
 Exod. xxvi. 1, is called fme-twined linen, but 
 this was so loosely twined or combined, that 
 what was transacted in the Court was visible 
 in a considerable degree, though veiled, to the 
 people without. Advancing to the centre of 
 the Court, we find first the altar of burnt-of- 
 ferings, Exod. xxvii. l,and next the laver for 
 
90 THE TABERNACLE 
 
 the ablutions, Exod. xxx. 17, 18, and thirdly, 
 the tabernacle itself, or a kind of tent, to the 
 honour of which, as the residence of glory and 
 holiness, the whole service is referred. On 
 the right hand of the Court are the pillars, 
 blocks, &c. necessary to secure and slaughter 
 the victims brought to be offered on the altar. 
 We intend hereafter to call the attention 
 of our readers more particularly to the Taber- 
 nacle itself, and having introduced the above 
 sketch, to give them a general idea of its ex- 
 ternal appearance, we shall conclude by call- 
 ing to their minds the intention of Almighty 
 God in commanding the Israelites to bring so 
 many different kinds of offerings in order to 
 build the Tabernacle, and prepare the various 
 utensils necessary for the service thereof — 
 see Exod. xxvi. and xxvii. 
 
 66 God," says Dr. Clarke, " requires that 
 they (the Israelites) should build him a tent, 
 suited in some sort to his dignity and emi- 
 nence: because he was to act as their king, 
 and to dwell among themj and they were to 
 consider themselves as his subjects, and in this 
 character to bring him presents, which was 
 
IN THE WILDERNESS. 91 
 
 considered to be the duty of every subject ap- 
 pearing before his prince," — see Exod. xxiii. 
 15, the last clause of which verse refers to the 
 universal practice of eastern nations in bring- 
 ing presents as a token of submission and fi- 
 delity to their governors, in the words, a and 
 none shall appear before me empty." 
 
9* 
 
98 
 
 THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 In the preceding a general view of the Ta- 
 bernacle, and of the surrounding court, with 
 the various implements of the Mosaic rites and 
 ceremonies, is introduced. The present sub- 
 ject is the Tabernacle itself. It was about 
 fifty-five feet long, eighteen feet wide, and 
 eighteen feet high, being divided into two 
 parts. ( The first part was palled the Holy 
 Place, which was about thirty-seven feet long 
 by eighteen wide. In this part were placed 
 the table of shew-bread, the golden candle- 
 stick, and the golden altar of incense. The 
 second part was called the Holiest of Holies; 
 this was eighteen feet long and as many broad, 
 and contained the ark of the covenant. The 
 second part, called the Sanctuary, or Holiest 
 of Holies, was divided from the holy place by 
 a curtain or veil, of very rich cloth, which 
 hung on four pillars of shittim Wood overlaid 
 with plates of gold, their bases being of brass. 
 On the west, north, and south sides, the 
 Tabernacle was enclosed by boards or planks 
 
94 THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 of the same wood as the pillars, oVerlaid with 
 plates of gold, having also bases of brass. 
 These boards were eight in number on the 
 west side, but twenty on the north and south 
 sides. They were all about eighteen feet 
 high, and two feet and a half wide, and were 
 let into each other by two tenons above and 
 below. As the whole of the Tabernacle was 
 moveable, and might be taken down, these 
 boards were carried by two bases, wherein 
 were two mortice holes, by which they were 
 joined together. To support them, each had 
 five golden rings at convenient distances; 
 through which were passed five poles of 
 shittim wood, covered with plates of gold, 
 which supported the whole. 
 
 The Tabernacle had no window, but was 
 covered by several curtains, which the sketch 
 represents the workmen about to fix in their 
 proper places. The curtain first on the inside 
 was of a hyacinth colour, striped with purple, 
 scarlet, and crimson. Over this were other 
 curtains or coverings of goat's hair, which 
 defended the rich curtain before described 
 from the sun and the rain. There wa9 no cur- 
 
THE TABERNACLE. 95 
 
 tain in front, but only on the sides, and be- 
 hind? so that at the entrance of the Taber- 
 nacle, the first rich curtain afore-mentioned 
 might be seen, which enclosed the whole front. 
 Over these coverings of goat's hair were two 
 others: one of sheep skins dyed red, the other 
 of sheep skins dyed azure blue. 
 
 The priests entered the Holy place every 
 morning to offer incense, and to put out the 
 lamps; and went in every evening to re-light 
 them. The High Priests alone could enter 
 into the Holiest of Holies; and even he, only 
 once a year, upon the great day of atonement; 
 except in extraordinary cases, in order to con- 
 sult the Lord: but he never entered without 
 the deepest reverence and due preparation. 
 
 The entrance of the Tabernacle looked east, 
 the sanctuary west, and the two sides north and 
 south. This tent was, as it were, the dwelling 
 of the God of Israel, who was considered as 
 residing in the midst of the camp. Round 
 about it were encamped the twelve tribes: 
 Judah, Zebulon, and Issachar, on the east; 
 Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, to the 
 west: Dan, Asher, and Napthali to the north; 
 
9C THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 and Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, to the south. 
 The tribe of Levi being entirely employed in 
 % the sacred offices of the priesthood, were 
 placed all round nearer the Tabernacle; Moses 
 and Aaron on the east, the family of Gershom, 
 west, that of Merari north, and that of Kohath 
 south. 
 
 The Tabernacle, or Tent of the Covenant, 
 must always be distinguished from the Taber- 
 nacle or Tent of the Congregation, wherein 
 the people of Israel assembled to transact 
 their ordinary temporal affairs. The former 
 is also called the Tabernacle of the Testimo- 
 ny, and the Tabernacle of the Lord. It was 
 constructed by Moses, from the pattern shown 
 to him by God himself in Mount Sinai, and 
 was first set up and consecrated at the foot of 
 that celebrated mountain, on the first day of 
 the second year after the Israelites were de- 
 livered from their Egyptian oppressors, about 
 2514 years after the creation of the world, and 
 1490 years before the incarnation of that 
 Great High Priest, our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, to whom and to whose coming these 
 rites and ceremonies expressly referred. 
 
THE TABERNACLE. 97" 
 
 This Tabernacle was the place of prayer, 
 and of the public service of God, Lev. xvii. 
 3 — 6, Matt. xxi. 13. It signified the church, 
 which is the habitation of God through the 
 Spirit, 2 Cor. vi. 16. Eph. ii. 19—22. Rev. 
 xxi. 2, 3, and was a visible sign of God's 
 presence and protection, Lev. xxvi. 11, 12. 
 Ezek. xxxvii. 27, 28. 1 Kings vi. 12, 13; 
 and of his leading them to his heavenly glory: 
 for as the high priest entered into the taber- 
 nacle, and through the veil into the most Holy 
 Place, where God dwelt; so Christ entered 
 into the Holy of Holies, and we also enter 
 through the veil, that is to say his flesh. Thus 
 the sanctuary is to be applied as a type to the 
 person of Jesus Christ, John ii. 19 — 21. Heb. 
 viii. 2. ix. 11, 12; also to every Christian, 1 
 Cor. vi. 19: and to the church of God, 1 Tim. 
 iii. 15. Heb. iii. 6. Heb. x. 21; hence it was 
 because of the very extensive signification of 
 this building, that the different things belong- 
 ing to it, are so particularly set down by 
 Moses, and so variously applied by the pro- 
 phets and by the apostles. As the dwelling 
 of the Almighty in this Tabernacle was the 
 J 
 
98 THE TABERNACLE. 
 
 highest proof of his grace and mercj towards 
 the Israelites, so it signified Christ's dwelling 
 by faith in the hearts of believers, by which 
 they receive the highest proof of their recon 
 ciliation to God, and of his love and favour 
 to them. 
 
 It is extremely remarkable that the hea- 
 thens borrowed their best things from divine 
 revelation. A striking instance here presents 
 itself. In the idolatrous temples of Greece 
 and Rome, there were a Holy and a Most Holy 
 Place, corresponding to, and evidently copied 
 from those of the Tabernacle in the Wilder- 
 ness, and of the Temple at Jerusalem. They 
 even had portable temples, to imitate the 
 moveable Tabernacle, as the shrines of Diana, 
 mentioned, Acts xix. 24, were something of 
 this kind. 
 
100 
 
101 
 
 THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 The Ark of the Covenant, wherein the ta- 
 bles of stone containing the Ten Command- 
 ments were deposited by Moses, Exod. 
 xxxvii. 1, after he had received them from 
 the hand of God himself, was made of shittim 
 wood, covered with plates of gold. Upon the 
 top of it all round the edge, was a beautiful 
 gold rim, or crown, as above represented, 
 bordering the mercy seat upon which the 
 cherubim appear. It had also four rings of 
 gold, two on each side, in which the staves or 
 poles, used to carry it, were placed. In the 
 Ark, also, Aaron's rod that budded, Numb, 
 xvii. 8, and the pot of the manna, Exodus xvi. 
 S3, 34, were laid up to be preserved as me- 
 morials of the omnipotence and goodness of 
 God. After the passage of Jordan by the Is- 
 raelites, headed by the Levites bearing the 
 Ark, Numb. x. 33, Josh. iii. 15, 16, the Ark 
 continued some time at Gilgal, whence it was 
 removed to Shiloh, 1 Sam. iv. 3, 11, from 
 i 2 
 
102 THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 thence the Israelites carried it into battle, 
 where it fell into the hands of the Philistines. 
 In Saul's reign, the Philistines having sent it 
 back, it was placed at Kirjath-jearim, 1 Sam. 
 vii. 1, whence David conveyed it to the house 
 of Obededom, 2 Samuel vi. 10, and afterwards 
 to his palace, called the city of David, on 
 Mount Zion, 2 Samuel vi. 12. 
 
 From the palace of his father, Solomon re- 
 moved it to the place called the Holiest of Ho- 
 lies, prepared expressly for it in the gorgeous 
 temple which he built, wherein it remained 
 till the kings of Judah giving themselves up 
 to idolatry and wickedness, the priests were 
 obliged to remove the ark to preserve it from 
 profanation. It was brought back to the sanc- 
 tuary by the command of good king Josiah, 2 
 Chron. xxxv. 3, and remained there till Ma- 
 nasseh took it away, soon after which Jeru- 
 salem fell into the hands of the Babylonians, 
 from which period there is no certain account 
 concerning it, though some think it was car- 
 ried with other spoils to Babylon, but never 
 returned, as both Jews and Christians agree 
 
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT* 103 
 
 that there was no Ark of the Covenant in the 
 second temple. 
 
 As the Ark was a sacred chest, or coffer, 
 the little chests or cistse of the heathens, 
 wherein they locked up their most sacred 
 things for religious uses, appear to have been 
 imitations of the Ark of the Covenant; though 
 some, for what good reason does not distinctly 
 appear, think they refer to Noah's Ark. Else- 
 where we have treated at some length con- 
 cerning the cherubim, which are beautifully 
 represented in the above elegant sketch, where 
 the kneeling posture appears more appropriate 
 and reverential than that of standing, as in 
 the design already before our readers. 
 
104 
 
 The Brazen Laver, 
 
105 
 
 THE BRAZEN LAYER, 
 
 In our general view of the Tabernacle in 
 the Wilderness with the surrounding Court, 
 the reader will observe, that nearly in the 
 middle of the Court stands a small sketch of 
 the Brazen Laver, a further representation of 
 which, upon a larger scale, is here given from 
 the most approved authorities. We wish to 
 impress the fact, that as there are very few, 
 if any, paintings or sculptured representations 
 now in being, which furnish the exact form of 
 the sacred utensils employed in the Levitical 
 Rites, or from which accurate plans of the Ta- 
 bernacle or of Solomon's Temple could be ob- 
 tained, learned and pious men have endea- 
 voured to supply the deficiency by drawing 
 from the descriptions which llie Bible con- 
 tains. These descriptions are found in those 
 parts where Moses relates the instructions 
 which he received from God to prepare the 
 Tabernacle, and every thing belonging there- 
 to, according to the pattern shown to him in 
 
106 BRAZEN LAVER. 
 
 the Mount, for which see the six last chapter* 
 of the book of Exodus. On this account it is 
 not surprising that different persons under- 
 stand these ancient scriptural descriptions 
 differently; for though the descriptions are 
 plain and explicit as to the use of the things 
 described, they admit of variations in the form 
 of the different utensils. Thus the Brazen 
 Laver, though universally admitted to have 
 been placed in the centre of the Court of the 
 Tabernacle, opposite to the door of the Sanc- 
 tuary, and to have consisted of a large brass 
 reservoir or basin of water which was drawn 
 out of it by cocks, for washing the hands and 
 feet of the officiating priests, and also for 
 cleansing the entrails and legs of the sacri- 
 fices; is by some persons supposed to have 
 resembled the above representation. In Ex- 
 odus xxxviii. 8, we learn that the foot of the 
 Brazen Laver, was formed out of the looking 
 glasses of the women that assembled at the 
 door of the Tabernacle, which those pious fe- 
 males had offered for the service of the sanc- 
 tuary, in the same way that we are told that 
 (Exodus xxxv. 29,) "every man and woman 
 whose heart made them willing,*' brought a 
 
BRAZEN LAYER. 1Q7 
 
 willing offering unto the Lord. Our readers 
 should be here informed, that glass, if not en- 
 tirely a modern invention, has been generally 
 employed for domestic purposes only since a 
 comparatively recent period: the brass mir- 
 rors, therefore, here spoken of, like those of 
 iron, tin, and silver, used by the Romans, 
 Grecians, and other Pagan nations, were po- 
 lished plates of those different metals, and by 
 no means inadequate for every necessary pur- 
 pose, though certainly not equal to the mo- 
 dern looking-glasses, properly so called. In 
 tins instance there appears a remarkable coin- 
 cidence between sacred and profane history, 
 which is worthy of observation, but the most 
 important inferences to be drawn from the 
 Mosaical account are, the direct relation 
 which the particulars of that account bear to 
 the doctrine of redemption, and the Gospel 
 of truth and grace, which came by Jesus 
 Christ; and the singular and unanimous wil- 
 lingness here shown, even by the hard-hearted 
 and stiff-necked Jews to sacrifice every thing, 
 however pleasing or valuable, for the service 
 and honour of God. 
 
108 
 
109 
 THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. 
 
 Altars are undoubtedly as ancient as sa- 
 crifices, which were instituted after the fall of 
 man, to signify that it was only through the 
 sacrificial atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that he could receive the pardon of his sins, 
 and be restored to the spiritual image and fa- 
 vour of his divine Creator. The earliest altars 
 of which we find any express testimony, are 
 those of Noah and Abraham — Gen. viii. 20, 
 xii. 7, xxii. 9, though the offerings which Cain 
 and Abel brought, Gen. iv. 3, 4, necessarily 
 imply something of the kind to have been 
 known in their day. These patriarchal altars 
 were formed of rude materials. They were 
 easily built, and therefore in general tempora- 
 ryj hence we find the altar which Jacob set up 
 at Bethel, was merely the stone on which he 
 rested, Gen. xxviii. 18, 22, such also was 
 Gideon's altar, Judges vi. 24, and from Exodus 
 xx. 24, it appears that the first altar which 
 Moses erected by the command of God was 
 made of earth. The Jews often gave the name 
 "altars" to a kind of tables raised in the 
 country or fields, on which sacrifices were 
 
 K 
 
110 ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. 
 
 offered to God; thus we often read that in 
 various places an altar was built unto the Lord. 
 Under the Mosaical dispensation, the prin- 
 cipal altars of the Jews were the altar of in- 
 cense, the table or altar of shew-bread, which 
 we have elsewhere described, and the altar of 
 burnt offering here depicted. This altar was 
 placed towards the east end of the Court of 
 the Tabernacle, and at such a convenient dis- 
 tance from it, that the smoke of the fire which 
 was constantly burning on the altar, might 
 not sully the costly furniture of the Taberna- 
 cle, It was about eight feet square, and five 
 feet and a half high. It was made of shittim 
 wood plated with brass, and had four brass 
 rings, through which were put two bars, by 
 which it was carried on the shoulders of the 
 priests. The four horns, one at each of the 
 four corners are supposed to have served for 
 the steadying the altar when carried, and for 
 tying the victims, according to the allusion of 
 David, Psalm cxviii. 27; but it is not said, 
 whether they were straight or curved. The 
 fire of this altar was kept upon a square grate, 
 suspended by rings at the corners, and possi- 
 
ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. Ill 
 
 blj by chains m the cavity of the altar. The 
 fire was considered as sacred, having first de- 
 scended upon it from heaven, Lev. ix*. 24; ft 
 was therefore never suffered to go out, Lev. 
 vi. 13. From hence, probably, the Chaldeans 
 and Persians borrowed their notion of the 
 sacred fire, which they preserved with religious 
 care and attention; a custom which afterwards 
 passed from them to the Greeks and Romans. 
 This altar was beaten down and destroyed 
 by the Babylonians at the burning of the tem- 
 ple, but it was replaced, Ezra iii. 3, on the re- 
 turn of the Jews from captivity. It then form- 
 ed a large pile of unhewn stone, forty-eight 
 feet square at the bottom, and gradually di- 
 minishing to the top or hearth, which was a 
 square of thirty-six feet, and a foot and half 
 high. This part was made of solid brass, and 
 from it the whole was called the brazen altar: 
 for it cannot be imagined that it was all made 
 of that metal. The Kibbesh, or ascent up to 
 the altar, as seen above, was by a gentle rising 
 of forty-eight feet long, and twenty-four broad, 
 and led to the upper benching-in, which bor- 
 dered the hearth on the top of the altar. 
 
112 ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. 
 
 The heathens, among whom we may almost 
 invariably trace the corrupted remains of Di- 
 vine Institutions, at first made altars of turf; 
 and afterwards of stone, marble, wood, and 
 even of horn, as that of Apollo in Delos. Be- 
 fore temples were in use, their altars were 
 erected in groves, in high places, and on the 
 tops of mountains. To this the words of Moses, 
 Lev. xxvi. 30, and the denunciations of the 
 prophets allude — Ezek. vi. 3, Hos. x. 8. The 
 deluded worshippers of wood and stone, or of 
 imaginary, and even infernal idols, generally 
 inscribed upon each altar the name or attri- 
 bute of the idol to whom it was dedicated. — 
 Hence the altar, mentioned Acts xvii. 23, 
 found by the Apostle Paul at Athens, was 
 inscribed to "the unknown God." 
 
 The heathen altars were of various kinds, 
 and were dedicated to false gods, heroes, vir- 
 tues, vices, diseases, reptiles; in short to every 
 thing except the one true and ever blessed God. 
 These altars were portable or stationary, pub- 
 lic and private, and were also of different 
 figures, as round, square, or triangular. They 
 were universally turned towards the east, and 
 
ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING. 115 
 
 generally ornamented with sculpture and bas- 
 relief, in addition to the inscriptions to the 
 idols for whose worship they were built, and 
 whose distinguishing symbols generally con- 
 stituted their chief ornaments. They had horns 
 like those of the Jews, to which the victims 
 were fastened, and the criminals who fled for 
 refuge to the altar laid hold of these horns, 
 by which the ancient pagans used to swear in 
 forming alliances, or confirming treaties of 
 peace. 
 
 Altar is sometimes, but improperly used 
 among Christians for a square table, placed 
 on the eastern side of the church, where it is 
 raised a little above the floor, and set apart 
 for the celebration of the Eucharist. Its form 
 does not in the least resemble the patriarchal 
 or Jewish altars which are the undoubted ori- 
 ginals of all others; and as the Eucharist was 
 instituted by our Blessed Lord at supper, and 
 upon a table, in the form of which all modern 
 altars are made, it is more significantly called 
 the Communion Table. 
 
114 
 
 The Mar of Incense. 
 
115 
 
 THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. 
 
 This was a small table of shittim wood, 
 covered with plates of gold, and hence, Exod. 
 xl. 5, called the Altar of Gold, of one cubit in 
 length, one in width, and another in height; 
 it had a little golden border or crown all round 
 it, and a horn at each of the four corners, like 
 those of the altar of Burnt-Offering, but it is 
 not known whether they were straight or curv- 
 ed. This Altar was placed before the vail in 
 the Holy Place, Exod. xxx. 6. Every morn- 
 ing and evening the Priest in waiting for that 
 week, and appointed by lot for this office, of- 
 fered incense of a particular composition upon 
 this Altar, and to perform this duty entered 
 with a smoking censer, filled with fire taken 
 from the Altar of Burnt-Offerings, into the 
 Holy Place where this Altar was placed, over 
 against the Shew Bread Table, and retired as 
 soon as he had placed the censers on the altar. 
 
 " Where so many sacrifices were offered,*' 
 says Dr. Clarke, " it was essentially neces- 
 k 2 
 
116 THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. 
 
 saiy to have some pleasing perfume, to coun- 
 teract the disagreeable smells that must have 
 arisen, from the slaughter of so many animals, 
 the sprinkling of so much blood, and the burn- 
 ing of so much flesh, " &c. No blood was ever 
 sprinkled on this altar, except on the day of 
 general expiation, which happened only once 
 in the year, Exod. xxx. 10, but the perfume 
 was necessary in every part of the Tabernacle 
 and its environs; it is described in the 34th, 
 35th, and 36th verses of the above chapter. 
 
 The stacte is supposed to be the same with 
 what was afterwards called the Balm of Jeri- 
 cho: it is a gum which spontaneously flows 
 from the tree producing myrrh. The onycha 
 consisted of the external crust of a shell fish, 
 which still forms the basis of East Indian per- 
 fumes. The galbcmitm was the gummy resi- 
 nous juice produced by the plant called the 
 African ferula, or bubon gummifera, out of 
 which, when any part wf it is broken, there 
 issues a little thin milk, of a cream colour. 
 The frankincense is supposed to derive its 
 name from franc, free,- because of its liberal 
 or ready distribution of its odours. It is a 
 
THE ALTAR OF INCENSE. 117 
 
 dry resinous substance, in pieces or drops of 
 a pale yellowish or white colour, a strong 
 smell, and a bitter acrid taste; the tree which 
 produces it is not well known. 
 
 The Israelites were most strictly prohibited 
 on the most awful penalties, from making any 
 anointing oil or perfume, similar to those 
 above described. He that should compound 
 such, or apply any of this to any common pur- 
 pose, even to smell to, Exodus xxx. 38, 
 should be cut oft', that is, excommunicated 
 from his people, and so lose all right, title, 
 and interest in the promises of God, and the 
 redemption of Israel. 
 
118 
 
 The Horns of the Altai 
 
119 
 
 ON THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR. 
 
 When presenting our readers with the most 
 approved sketches of the various altars used 
 in the Mosaic Rites, we stated that the exact 
 form of the Horns of the Altar had not been 
 satisfactorily ascertained ; the above represen- 
 tation will, however, throw some further light 
 upon the subject. This drawing was taken 
 from an ancient Egyptian picture, which had 
 been preserved by being buried in the ruins of 
 Herculaneum, a city that was overflowed and 
 buried by the lava of Mount Vesuvius, in the 
 year of our Lord 79, and has become famous 
 within the last century, by the number of cu- 
 rious relics of antiquity that have been dug 
 out of its ruins. 
 
 This altar has at each of its four corners a 
 rising, which continues square to about half 
 its height, but from thence is gradually sloped 
 off to an edge or point,* and those risings are 
 undoubtedly what were called the horns of the 
 Altar, and probably show their true figure. 
 The reader is desired to compare them with 
 
120 THE CHERUBIM COVERING 
 
 those of the Altars of Burnt-Offering, and of 
 Incense, bearing in mind that often repeated 
 observation, that many of the heathen nations 
 copied the religious rites, and of course the 
 utensils employed in those rites of the Jews. 
 This sufficiently accounts for the introduc- 
 tion of this Altar into an Egyptian painting, 
 especially as we find that an occasional inter- 
 course might have subsisted between the Is- 
 raelites and the Egyptians, 1 Sam. xxx. 13, 
 after the departure of the former from the 
 country of the latter, and that Solomon him- 
 self at length took the King of Egypt's daugh- 
 ter to wife, 1 Kings iii. 1. 
 
 ON THE CHERUBIM COVERING THE MERCY 
 SEAT. 
 
 The wisest and most learned men who have 
 turned their attention to Moses's account of 
 the cherubim covering the mercy-seat, as well 
 as to the prophet Ezekiel's description of those 
 emblematical creatures, do not concur in their 
 delineations, which proves that there is but 
 
121 
 
122 ON THE CHERUBIM 
 
 little positively known concerning them; we 
 have, therefore, introduced the above represen- 
 tation of the cherubim standing upon the mer- 
 cy-seat of the ark, and covering it with their 
 wings, Exodus xxv. 20, 21, merely to furnish 
 our young readers with a general idea upon 
 this interesting but difficult subject. 
 
 The Cherubim are supposed to have been 
 emblematical representations of the Eternal 
 Power and Godhead of the Almighty; they 
 were employed in guarding the entrance to 
 Paradise, and keeping the way (or road) of the 
 tree of life, Gen. iii. 24. There can be no 
 doubt of their having been variously com- 
 pounded from different animals, Ezekiel x. 14, 
 but the difficulty oF properly combining the 
 component parts, has induced the author to 
 whom we are indebted for the above sketch, 
 to delineate them simply in the form of angels. 
 
 The mercy-stat, or propitiatory, upon which 
 the cherubim stood, was properly the lid or 
 covering of that vessel, so well known by the 
 name of the ark* and ark of the covenant. On 
 snd before this the high-priest was to sprinkle 
 the blood of the expiatory sacrifice on the great 
 
COVERING THE MERCY-SEAT. 123 
 
 day of atonement; and it was in this place that 
 God promised to meet the people, Exodus xxv. 
 22, for there he dwelt, and there was the sym- 
 bol of the Divine presence. At each end of 
 this propitiatory was a cherub, and between 
 those two cherubim this glory was manifested, 
 hence in Scripture it is so often said, that he 
 dwelleth between the cherubim. In this place 
 God chose to give the most especial manifes- 
 tations of himself; here the divine glory was 
 to be seen; and here Moses was to come in 
 order to consult Jehovah, relative to the man- 
 agement of the people. 
 
 The apostle Peter, 1 Epist. i. 1 2, beautiful- 
 ly alludes to the position of the cherubim whose 
 wings overshadowed the mercy-seat, with 
 "their faces one to another towards," or look- 
 ing down upon, "the mercy-seat," where he 
 says, " which things the angels desire to look 
 into," for angels themselves are unable to 
 comprehend the merciful dealings of God with 
 the perverse and rebellious children of men, 
 who too generally neglect and despise that 
 covenant of grace, which deeply interests even 
 the glorified angels of the ever-blessed God. 
 
124 
 
 The Harp. 
 
1S5 
 
 THE HARP. 
 
 The antiquity of this musical instrument, 
 so often mentioned in scripture, is eyident 
 from the very early notice there taken of it in 
 Gen. iv. 21. It seems to have been the very 
 first instrument for music that was invented, 
 and was called the pleasant harp by the an- 
 cient Hebrews, who employed it not only in 
 their devotions, but in their public feasts. 
 The harp is most frequently mentioned in the 
 Psalms of David, who is always painted play- 
 ing upon this instrument, to the sound of 
 which both himself and the Levites danced — 
 Ps. cl. 3, 4. From this last circumstance, it 
 appears that the ancient harp was not so large 
 as the modern instrument of that name, but 
 small and portable, like the annexed repre- 
 sentation. The authority for this sketch is 
 unusually good: it was originally taken from 
 a medal of Simon Maccabeus, so famous in the 
 wars of the Jews — Maccab. xiii. I. On this 
 account there is strong reason to suppose that 
 it accurately represents the kind ofiharp upon 
 
186 THE HARP. 
 
 which the Royal Psalmist played; for it ap- 
 pears very probable that Simon Maccabeus 
 would prefer a representation of that used by 
 the great king of Israel, for perpetuation upon 
 his medals: and it is not likely that the form 
 and minutest circumstances relating to 
 David's harp, could have been forgotten, at 
 any period of the Jewish History. 
 
 The harp was a favourite among the Britons 
 and other northern nations: so that by law the 
 ability to play upon it, distinguished the free- 
 man from the slave. There is much diversity 
 in the structure of modern harps, which have 
 been greatly improved during the last century. 
 They are, however, very different from the an- 
 cient instrument, not only in size but in the 
 number of their strings, which are upwards of 
 a hundred. In playing, it is held between the 
 feet, and struck with the finger and thumb of 
 both hands. It produces music much like that 
 of the spinnet; and is more free from unavoid- 
 able imperfections than the lute, an instrument 
 resembling a violin, but played like the guitar, 
 by the right hand without a bow. 
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