§. 130. NECKLACES, BRACELETS, ETC.

The dress of the ladies in the east was always expensive, Gen. xxiv. 22, 30, 53; Numb. xxxi. 50; Isaiah, iii. 16-24; Ezek. xvi. 10; et seq. They wear at the present day, as formerly, not only rings and pendants, but necklaces, bracelets, etc. These ornaments were sometimes worn by distinguished men, as a present from the monarch, as may be seen on the Persepolitan figures, Gen. xli. 42; Prov. iii. 3, 22; vi. 21; Cant. i. 11; Dan. v. 7. Necklaces and bracelets were made of silver or gold; sometimes of jewels, or coral,, Numb. xxxi. 50; Exod. xxxv. 22. Three necklaces were commonly worn; one reaching lower than the other. From the one that was suspended to the waist, there was hung a bottle of perfume, filled with amber and musk, called in Isaiah, iii. 20; ne. Half-moons also of silver and gold were suspended in this manner, as may be inferred from the word. With these the Arabians ornamented the necks of their camels, Isaiah, iii. 18; Judg. viii. 21, 26.

§. 131. AMULETS, MİDYİ,

The orientals from the earliest ages have believed in the influence of the stars, in incantations, and other magic arts. To defend themselves against them, they wore amulets, which consisted of precious stones, gems, gold, and sometimes of pieces of parchment, on which was written some inscription. The small gold images of serpents, ?, which the Hebrew women carried in their hands were amulets, which were considered as ornamental, as well as preventives of magical influence, Isaiah, iii. 20; Exod. xiii. 9, 16; Deut. vi. 8; xi. 18.

Mirrors were made of molten brass polished; hence they were called or shining. In Job, xxxvii. 18; the heavens are compared to a molten mirror. The ladies carried their mirrors in their hands. Their chambers were not ornamented with them; but the chamber doors, in later times were made of a polished stone, in which objects might be obscurely seen, 1 Cor. xiii. 12.

4.

§. 133. PURSE AND NAPKIN.

Both sexes

the hand or

A man's girdle answered all the purposes of a purse. The purse of a lady, which was suspended from her girdle, was made of solid metal, sometimes of pure gold, and fashioned like a cone with a border of rich cloth at the top; these purses were called in Hebrew 7, Isaiah, iii. 22; 2 Kings, v. 23. had napkins attached to their girdle, or wore them upon left arm those of the rich and powerful were valuable, and ornamented with embroidery. They were frequently employed as pockets, and were wrapped round the heads of those who had departed from life, Luke xix. 20; John, xi. 44. The apron, so called in Acts, xix. 12; was a napkin placed round the neck, and used as a sudarium.

§. 134. PAINTING AND BRANDING, OR SEALING.

Various kinds of painting have been practised by all nations in all ages. It is our object, however, at the present time, to speak only of that mode of painting, which in the Bible is denominated. The principal material used in giving a dark tint to the eyebrows, is a sort of black lead, which is used throughout all the east as far as India. It is applied to the eyebrows by a silver instrument, and so painted as to give them the appearance of being very long, which is deemed a great ornament, 2 Kings, ix. 30; Jer. iv. 30; Ezek. xxiii. 40. The paint, which is prepared from the ashes of the plant alkanet, and which is used by oriental matrons to communicate a yellow colour to the arms and feet, and a tint of redness to the nails, though very ancient, is not mentioned in the Bible; a mere allusion to it occurs in Jer. ii. 22, under the word . The red paint in use among the Roman matrons, which was spread upon the idols on festival days, is mentioned in the Book of Wisdom, xiii. 14. A custom which prevailed in the east anciently, and which is connected with this subject, has been perpetuated in that region even to the present day; viz. that whoever visited a temple should either devote himself to some god, or brand the image of the temple or the name of the god on his right arm. This custom, as far as concerned the Hebrews, was interdicted in Lev. xix. 28; but the words 'branding,' 'marking,' and 'sealing,' frequently occur with a figurative signification, Gal. vi. 17;

Ephes. i. 13; Rev. vii. 4, 8; xiii. 17, 18; xiv. 1-5; Ezek. ix. 2-11.

§. 135. DRESS AT FESTIVALS AND ON OCCASIONS OF

MOURNING.

The festival dress was very splendid; it was white, and as often as the festival returned, was newly washed and perfumed with myrrh, cassia, and aloes, Gen. xxvii. 27; Psalms, xlv. 8; Cant. iv. 11. It was worn on the festivals of the family, of the state, and of religion; but when the festival was ended it was laid aside. The splendid garments of festivals were denominated Vast expense was bestowed upon them, both as respected their quality and number, 2 Kings, v. 5; Matt. x. 10; James, v. 2. The mourning dress, Hebrew p, or sackcloth, is well known. It was in truth a sack, which was thrown over the person, and extended down to the knees; but which, nevertheless, had holes for the admission of the arms. The materials were a coarse dark cloth of goat's hair, Job, xvi. 15; Jonah, iii. 5.

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NOTE. In the book of Leviticus, xiii. 47-59, the leprosy of garments is fully spoken of. The marks or indications of the existence and nature of this leprosy are also stated with some particularity in the verses referred to. What this plague, as it is termed, was, it is difficult to state with accuracy, since the conjectures, which the learned have hazarded in regard to it, are by no means satisfactory. Without doubt the Hebrews had observed certain destructive effects wrought upon clothing, whether made of wool, cotton, or leather; and not understanding their origin or their nature, they chose to call them from certain resemblances, as much apparent as real, the corroding plague or leprosy,

2. The most probable conjecture with regard to these effects is, that they were merely the depredations of certain small insects, invisible to the naked eye. The Hebrews, without doubt, considered the clothes' leprosy, as they termed it, contagious; and consequently a serious and fearful evil. This opinion was the ground of the rigid laws which are laid down in respect to it in Lev. xiii. 47-59.

CHAPTER IX.

CONCERNING FOOD AND FEASTS.

§. 136. OF FOOD IN GENERAL.

At first men lived upon the fruits of trees, herbs, roots, seeds, and whatever they could find in the vegetable kingdom, that might conduce to the support of life; all which was expressed in Hebrew by the word ?, in the general sense of that word, Gen. i. 29; ii. 16. Afterwards a method was invented to bruise grain, and to reduce it to a mass; to ferment it, bake it, and thus to make bread, which is also expressed by, in the more limited sense of the word. Still later, water, milk, oil, and honey, were mingled with the meal, and bread was made of a richer and more valuable kind. Even so early as the time of Abraham, the art of preparing bread was carried to some degree of perfection. Before the deluge, the flesh of animals was used as food, as may be inferred from the division of animals into clean and unclean, Gen. vii. 2, 8. After the deluge, animals are expressly mentioned as being slain for food, Gen. ix. 3. But flesh is not so palatable and nutritious in warm climates as in others; therefore fruits, bread, olives, and milk, are the customary food.

§. 137. PREPARATION OF FOOD BY FIRE.

Originally food of every kind was eaten without being cooked, either because fire had not been discovered by man, or that its utility in dressing food was unknown. At length fire and its uses were discovered. The first method of obtaining fire was, to elicit sparks by the collision of steel and flint, or by the friction of pieces of wood. This method of obtaining fire was very ancient, as we may learn from the etymology of the word, Isaiah, 1. 11.

§. 138. OF MILLS.

Corn was eaten at first without any preparation; the custom of thus eating it had not gone into total desuetude in the time of

Christ, Matt. xii. 1 ; Levit. ii. 12; Deut. xxiii. 25. After the uses of fire were known, corn was parched. Parching it became so common, that the words,, and, which properly mean parched, mean also corn or meal, 2 Sam. xvii. 28; Lev. ii. 12, 14; Ruth, ii. 14. Some, who found a difficulty in mastication, broke to pieces the kernels of corn with stones or pieces of wood; this suggested the idea of mortars, and eventually of mills. The mortar, 27, we, was used in the time of Moses for bruising corn, also the mill, in, Numb. xi. 8. Fine meal, i. e. corn or grain ground or beaten fine, is spoken of as far back as the time of Abraham, Gen. xviii. 6; hence mills and mortars must have been previously known. The mill common among the Hebrews, differed little from that which is used at this day in Egypt and the east. It consisted of two circular stones, two feet in diameter, and half a foot thick. The lower one was called 'n and n, Deut. xxiv. 6. There was a slight elevation in the centre, and it was fixed in the floor. The upper one was called 27, Judg. ix. 53. It was moveable, and in order to make it fit precisely to the other stone it was slightly hollowed. In the midle of it was a hole, through which the corn to be ground was admitted. The upper stone had a handle attached to it, by which it was moved upon the lower, and the corn and grain were in this way broken. There were sieves attached to the mill, which separated the flour from the bran; the bran was put into the mill again and re-ground. The sieves were made of reeds; those made of horse-hair were a later invention; not earlier than the time of Pliny.

§. 139. GRINDING.

As there were neither public mills nor bakers, except the king's, Gen. xl. 2; Hos. vii. 4-8; each family possessed a mill; hence it was made an infringement of the law, for a person to take another's mill or millstone, as a pledge, Deut. xxiv. 6. At first barley alone was ground; afterwards wheat was generally used, and the use of barley was confined to the poor, although the barley of the warm climate of the east was preferable to ours. On the second day, in warm climates, bread becomes dry and insipid; hence the necessity of baking every day, and hence also the daily grinding at the mills about evening. The sound of the millstones is spoken of by the prophet Jer. xxv. 10. The mill