iii. The Sisirum, yayar (MеNAαNOIM), which in our version of 2 Sam. vi. 5. is misrendered cornets, was a rod of iron bent into an oval or oblong shape, or square at two corners and curved at the others, and furnished with a number of moveable rings; so that, when shaken or struck with another rod of iron, it emitted the sound desired.

(2.) Wind Instruments.-Six of these are mentioned in the Scriptures, viz. The organ, the flute and hautboy, dulcimer, horn, and trumpet.

i. The Organ, ay (OGEB), is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament, and its invention is ascribed to Jubal in Gen. iv. 21.; but it cannot have been like our modern organs. It is supposed to have been a kind of flute, at first composed of one or two, but afterwards of about seven pipes, made of reeds of unequal length and thickness, which were joined together. It corresponded most nearly to the uply or pipe of Pan among the Greeks.

ii. iii. The (CHαLIL), and the р (NекеB), which our translators have rendered pipes, are supposed to have been the flute and hautboy.

iv. The D (SUMPUNJAH), or Dulcimer (Dan. iii. 5.), was a wind instrument made of reeds; by the Syrians called Sambonjah, by the Greeks auburn, and by the Italians Zam

pogna.

v. The Horn or Crooked Trumpet was a very ancient instrument, made of the horns of oxen cut off at the smaller

extremity. In progress of time ram's horns were used for the same purpose. It was chiefly used in war.

vi. The form of the straight Trumpet is well known: it was used by the priests (Num. x. 8. 1 Chron. xv. 24.) both on extraordinary occasions (Num. x. 10.), and also in the daily service of the temple. (2 Chron. vii. 6. xxix. 26.) In time of peace, when the people or the rulers were to be convened together, this trumpet was blown softly: but when the camps were to move forward, or the people were to march to war, it was sounded with a deeper note.

(3.) Stringed Instruments.-These were the harp and the psaltery.

i. The Harp, (KINOUR), Seems to have resembled that in modern use: it was the most ancient of all musical instruments. (Gen. iv. 21.) It had ten strings, and was played by David with the hand (1 Sam. xvi. 23.); but Josephus says, that it was played upon or struck with a plectrum.

(Exod. xxxii. 19.) The Amalekites danced after their vic tory at Ziklag (1 Sam. xxx. 16.), and Job makes it part of the character of the prosperous wicked (that is, of those who, placing all their happiness in the enjoyments of sense, forget God and religion), that their children dance. (Job xxi. 11.) The dancing of the profligate Herodias's daughter pleased Herod so highly, that he promised to give her whatever she asked, and accordingly, at her desire, and in compliment to her, he commanded John the Baptist to be beheaded in prison. (Matt. xiv. 6-8.) Most probably it resembled the voluptuous performances of the dancing girls who still exhibit in the East.5

SECTION III.

ON THE LITERATURE AND SCIENCES OF THE HEBREWS.

Schools. On the schools of the prophets in particular.—II. Appellation given to the Jewish doctors or teachers.-III. Their method of teaching.-IV. Studies of the Jews.-1. History.-2. Poetry.-3. Oratory.-4. Ethics.-5. Physics. -6. Arithmetic.-7. Mathematics.-8. Astronomy.-9. Astrology.-10. Surveying.-11. Mechanic Arts.-12. Geography.

1. SCHOOLS have ever been considered among polished nations as the chief support of states: in them are formed the ministers of religion, judges, and magistrates, as well as the people at large: and there are taught religion, laws, history, and all those sciences, the knowledge of which is of the greatest importance to the well-being of nations, and to the comfort of private life. The Jewish writers pretend that from the earliest ages there have been schools; and that, before the Deluge, they were under the direction of the patriarchs: but these notions have long since been deservedly rejected for want of authority.

Effects the most astonishing are attributed in the Scriptures to the Hebrew music, of the nature of which we know but very little. Several examples are recorded, in the sacred history, of the power and charms of music to sweeten the temper, to compose and allay the passions of the mind, to revive the drooping spirits, and to dissipate melancholy. It had this effect on Saul, when David played to him on his harp. (1 Sam. xvi. 16. 23.) And when Elisha was desired by Jehoshaphat to tell him what his success against the king of Moab would be, the prophet required a minstrel to be brought unto him; and when he played, it is said that the hand of the Lord came upon him (2 Kings iii. 15.); not that the gift of prophecy was the natural effect of music, but the meaning is, that music disposed the organs, the humours, and in short the whole mind and spirit of the prophet, to receive these supernatural impressions.

(4.) DANCING was an ordinary concomitant of music among the Jews. Sometimes it was used on a religious account: thus Miriam with her women glorified God (after the deliverance from the Egyptians), in dances as well as songs (Exod. xv. 20.), and David danced after the ark. (2 Sam. vi. 16.) It was a thing common at the Jewish feasts (Judg. xxi. 19. 21.) and in public triumphs (Judg. xi. 34), and at all seasons of mirth and rejoicing. (Psal. xxx. 11. Jer. xxxi. 4. 13. Luke xv. 25.) The idolatrous Jews made

Although the Hebrews confined their pursuits to agriculconclude that they were a nation of ignorant rustics. Of that ture and the management of cattle, yet we have no reason to which most concerns man to know, their religious and moral duties,-they could not be ignorant, since the father of every family was bound to teach the laws of Moses to his children. evidence of the existence of any schools, strictly so called, (Deut. xxxii. 6. Pṣal. lxxvii. 5.) We have, however, no earlier than the time of Samuel: and as the Scriptures do not mention the schools of the prophets, before him who was both a judge and a prophet in Israel, we may venture to asalmost total cessation of the spirit of prophecy under the ministry of Eli, and the degeneracy of the priesthood, first occasioned the institution of these seminaries, for the better education of those who were to succeed in the sacred ministry. From 1 Sam. x. 5. 10. xix. 20. 2 Kings ii. 5. and xxii. 14., it appears that the schools of the prophets were first erected in the cities of the Levites; which for the more convenient instruction of the people were dispersed through the several tribes of Israel. In these places convenient edifices were built for the abode of the prophets and their disciples, who were thence termed the Sons of the Prophets; over whom presided some venerable and divinely-inspired prophet, who is called their father. (2 Kings ii. 12.) Samuel was one, and, perhaps, the first of those fathers (1 Sam. xix. 20.), and Elijah was another (2 Kings ii. 12.), who was succeeded by Elisha in this office. (2 Kings vi. 1.) The sons of the prophets lived together in a society or community (2 Kings iv. 38.); they were instructed in the knowledge of the law, and of the principles of their religion, as well as in the sacred art of psalmody, or (as it is termed in 1 Sam. x. 5. and 1 Chron. xxv. 1. 7.) prophesying with harps, psalteries, and cymbals. At the conclusion of their lectures and religious exercises, they were accustomed to eat together with their masters. Calmet is of opinion that these schools subsisted until the Babylonish captivity and it should seem that the captives resorted to such establishments, to hear the prophets, when there were any, in the places where they resided. Ezekiel relates various conversations which he had with the elders of Israel who came to consult him: the people also assembled about him, apparently for the purpose of hearing

Carne's Letters from the East, p. 165. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr. p. 431 Home's Hist. of the Jews, vol. ii. pp. 339, 310.

a good smell early in the spring (Song of Solomon ii. 13.), as we learn, also, from Isa. xviii. 5. afore the harvest, that is, the barley harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower. It was also usual to erect temporary huts or sheds, made of boughs and reeds, to shelter the servant who was employed to guard the fruit when nearly ripe from birds and other creatures of prey (Isa. i. 11.),' and particularly from the ravages of wild boars (Psal. lxxx. 13.), which to this day are as destructive in Greece, as they anciently were in Palestine. As soon as the vintage was completed, these sheds were either taken down or suffered to perish. From this circumstance Job derives a beautiful simile, to illustrate the short duration of the prosperity of the wicked. (xxvii. 18.) But it appears from Isa. v. 1, 2. Matt. xxi. 33. and Mark xii. 1., that towers were erected for this purpose, as they still are in some parts of Palestine.4

"The vintage followed the wheat harvest and the threshing (Lev. xxvi. 5. Amos ix. 13.), about June or July, when the clusters of the grapes were gathered with a sickle, and put into baskets (Jer. vi. 9.), carried and thrown into the wine-vat, or wine-press, where they were probably first trodden by men and then pressed. (Rev. xiv. 18-20.) It is mentioned, as a mark of the great work and power of the Messiah, I have trodden the figurative wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me. (Isa. lxiii. 3.; see also Rev. xix. 15.) The vintage was a season of great mirth. Of the juice of the squeezed grapes were formed wine and vinegar. The wines of Helbon, near Damascus, and of Lebanon, where the vines had a fine sun, were reckoned most excellent.6 (Ezek. xxvii. 18. Hos. xiv. 7.) The wines of Canaan, being very heady, were commonly mixed with water for common use, as the Italians do theirs; and sometimes they scented them with frankincense, myrrh, calamus, and other spices (Prov. ix. 2. 5. Song of Solomon viii. 2.) they also scented their wine with pomegranates, or made wine of their juice, as we do of the juice of currants, gooseberries, &c. fermented with sugar. Wine is best when old and on the lees, the dregs having sunk to the bottom, (Isa. xxv. 6.) Sweet wine is that which is made from grapes fully ripe. (Isa. xlix. 26.) The Israelites had two kinds of vinegar, the one was a weak wine, which was used for their common drink in the harvest field, &c. (Ruth ii. 14.), as the Spaniards and Italians still do; and it was probably of this that Solomon was to furnish twenty thousand baths to Hiram, for his servants, the hewers that cut timber in Lebanon. (2 Chron. ii. 10.) The other had a sharp acid taste, like ours; and hence Solomon hints, that a sluggard vexes and hurts such as employ him in business; as vinegar is disagreeable to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes (Prov. x. 26.); and as vinegar poured upon nitre spoils its virtue: so he that singeth songs to a heavy heart does but add to its grief. (Prov. xxv. 20.) The poor were allowed to glean grapes, as well as corn and other articles (Lev. xix. 10. Deut. xxiv. 21. Isa. iii. 14. xvii. 6. xxiv. 13. Mic. vii. 1.); and the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim was better than the vintage of Abiezer. (Judg. viii. 2.) The vineyard was not to be pruned and dressed in the Sabbatical year. (Lev. xxv. 3, 4.) The vessels in which the wine was kept were, probably, for the most part, bottles, which were usually made of leather, or goat-skins, firmly sewed and pitched together. The Arabs pull the skin off goats in the same manner that we do from rabbits, and sew up the places where the legs and tail were cut off, leaving one for the neck of the bottle, to pour from; and in such bags, they put up and carry, not

1 Isa. i. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. "There is a small species of cucumber of which the natives of India are very fond..... Large fields of these are sometimes planted; which, when nearly arrived to maturity, require incessant watching to protect them from the attacks of man and beast." Statham's Indian Recollections, p. 90.

2 Hartley's Researches in Greece, pp. 234, 235. 3 Dr. Boothroyd on Job xxvii. 18.

In the route between Jerusalem and the convent of Saint Elias (which is situated about an hour's distance from that city), Mr. Buckinghamn was particularly struck with the appearance of several small and detached square towers in the midst of the vine lands. These, his guide informed him, were used as watch-towers, whence watchmen to this day look out, in order to guard the produce of the lands from depredation. This fact will explain the use and intention of the tower mentioned in Matt. xxi. 33. and Mark xii. 1. Similar towers were seen by Captains Irby and Mangles, as they passed between numerous vineyards, some of which appeared to be antique. Travels in Egypt, &c. p. 342.

At one time the wine of Helbon (which place Strabo terms Chaly bon) was held in such repute, that it was appropriated exclusively to the use of the kings of Persia. Strabon, Geographia, tom. ii. p. 1043. edit. Oxon. Lebanon and its vicinity still produce excellent wine; at least a dozen sorts, all of which are cheap. Carne's Letters from the East, p. 239.

only their liquors, but dry things which are not apt to be broken; by which means they are well preserved from wet, dust, or insects. These would in time crack and wear out. Hence, when the Gibeonites came to Joshua, pretending that they came from a far country, amongst other things they brought wine bottles old and rent, and bound up where they had leaked. (Josh. ix. 4. 13.). Thus, too, it was not expedient to put new wine into old bottles, because the fermentation of it would break or crack the bottles. (Matt. ix. 17.) And thus David complains, that he is become like a bottle in the smoke; that is, a bottle dried, and cracked, and worn out, and unfit for service. (Psal. cxix. 83.) These bottles were probably of various sizes, and sometimes very large; for when Abigail went to meet David and his four hundred men, and took a present to pacify and supply him, two hundred loaves, and five sheep ready dressed, &c. she took only Two bottles of wine (1 Sam. xxv. 18.); a very disproportionate quantity, unless the bottles were large. But the Israelites had bottles likewise made by the potters. (See Isa. xxx. 14. margin, and Jer. xix. 1. 10. xlviii. 12.) We hear also of vessels called barrels. That of the widow, in which her meal was held (1 Kings xvii. 12. 14.) was not, probably, very large; but those four in which the water was brought up from the sea, at the bottom of Mount Carmel, to pour upon Elijah's sacrifice and altar, must have been large. (1 Kings xviii. 33.) We read likewise of other vessels, which the widow of Shunem borrowed of her neighbours, to hold the miraculous supply of oil (2 Kings iv. 2-6.); and of the water-pots, or jars, or jugs, of stone, of considerable size, in which our Lord caused the water to be converted into wine. (John ii. 6.). Grapes, among the Israelites, were likewise dried into raisins. A part of Abigail's present to David was an hundred clusters of raisins (1 Sam. xxv. 18.); and when Ziba met David, his present contained the same quantity. (2 Sam. xvi. 1.; see also 1 Sam. xxx. 12. and I Chron. xii. 40.)" 7

It was a curse pronounced upon the Israelites, that, upon their disobedience, they should plant vineyards and dress them, but they should neither drink of the wine nor eat the grapes, for the worms should eat them. (Deut. xxviii. 39.) It seems that there is a peculiar sort of worms that infest the vines, called by the Latins Volvox and Convolvulus, because it wraps and rolls itself up in the buds, and eats the grapes up, when they advance towards ripeness, as the Roman authors explain it.8

Besides other fruits that were common in Judæa, as dates, figs, cucumbers, pomegranates, they had regular plantations of olives, which were a very ancient and profitable object of horticulture. So early as the time of Noah (Gen. viii. 11.) the branches of the olive tree were, and since that time have been among all nations, the symbol of peace and prosperity. Oil is first mentioned in Gen. xxviii. 18. and Job xxiv. 11.; which proves the great antiquity of the cultivation of this tree. Olives, in Palestine, are of the best growth, and afford the finest oil; whence that country is often extolled in the Scriptures on account of this tree, and especially in opposition to Egypt, which is destitute of good olives. (Num. xviii. 12. Deut. vii. 13. xi. 14. xii. 17. xviii. 4.) The olive delights in a barren, sandy, dry, and mountainous soil; and its multiplied branches (which are very agreeable to the eye as they remain green throughout the winter) have caused it to be represented as the symbol of a numerous progeny,-a

Investigator, No. iv. pp. 307-309.-The pleasing and instructive Essay on the Agriculture of the Israelites (by the Rev. James Pluinptre), in the first, third, and fourth numbers of this journal, contains the fullest account of this interesting subject extant in the English language. 8 Bochart. Hieroz. p. 3. 1. iv. c. 27.

On the cultivation of this valuable article of food in the East, Mr. Jowett has communicated the following interesting particulars. During his voyage to Upper Egypt, in February, 1819, he says, "We observed the people making holes in the sandy soil on the side of the river. Into these holes they put a small quantity of pigeons' dung and feathers, with the seed of melons or cucumbers. The value of this manure is alluded to in 2 Kings vi. 25. The produce of this toil I had an opportunity of seeing, indue season; that is the following month of June. Extensive fields of ripe melons and cucumbers then adorned the sides of the river. They grew in such abundance, that the sailors freely helped themselves. Some guard, however, is placed upon them. Occasionally, but at long and desolate intervals, we may observe a little hut made of reeds, just capable of containing one man; being, in fact, little more than a fence against a north wind. In these I have observed, sometimes, a poor old man, perhaps lame, feebly protecting the property. It exactly illustrates Isaiah 1. 8. And the daughter of Zion is left.... as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. The abundance of these most necessary vegetables brings to mind the murmurs of the Israelites; Num. xi. 5, 6. We remember..... the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; but now our soul is dried away." Jowett's Researches in the Mediterranean, &c. p. 127.

7.), by whose direction the model of the temple and all the curious furniture of it was both designed and finished. From the Syrians the Israelites must have learned much, because, long after the reign of Solomon, there were numerous native artisans employed in carpentry and building (2 Kings xii. 11-13. xxii. 4-6.); and among the captives carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, all the craftsmen and smiths are generally noticed. (2 Kings xxiv. 14.) But besides these, mention is made of particular manufactures, as potters (Jer. xviii. 2-4.), fullers (2 Kings xviii. 17. Isa. vii. 3. Mal. iii. 2. Mark ix. 3.), bakers (Jer. xxxvii. 21. Hos. vii. 4.), and barbers. (Ezek. v. 1.)

xxxi. 19. 27. 34.

II. Egypt in the early age of the world excelled all other nations in a knowledge of the arts. Although the Hebrews during their residence in Egypt applied themselves to the rearing of cattle, yet they could not remain four hundred years in that country without becoming initiated to a considerable degree into that knowledge which the Egyptians possessed. Among other labours imposed upon them, was the building of treasure cities (Exod. i. 11-14.), and, according to Josephus, they were employed in erecting pyramids. Moses, it is true, did not enact any special laws in favour of the arts, nor did he interdict them or lessen them in the estimation of the people; on the contrary, he speaks in the praise of artificers. (Exod. xxxv. 30-35. xxxvi. 1. et seq. xxxviii. 22, 23, &c.) The grand object of Moses, in a temporal point of view, was to promote agriculture, and he thought it best, as was done in other nations, to leave the arts to the ingenuity and industry of the people.

Soon after the death of Joshua, a place was expressly allotted by Joab, of the tribe of Judah, to artificers: for in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, delivered in 1 Chron. iv. 14., we read of a place called the Valley of Craftsmen, and (verse 21. 23.) of a family of workmen of fine linen, and another of potters and when Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar, the enemy carried away all the craftsmen and smiths. (2 Kings xxiv. 14.) But as a proof that their skill in manufactures, and trade therein, could not be very extensive, we find that the prophet Ezekiel (chap. xxvii.), in describing the affluence of the goods which came to Tyre, makes mention of nothing brought thither from Judæa, except wheat, oil, grapes, and balm, which were all the natural products of their ground. It appears that the mistress of the family usually made the clothing for her husband, her children, and herself, and also for sale. (Exod. xxxv. 25. 1 Sam. ii. 19. Prov. xxxi. 18-24. Acts ix. 39.) Employment, consequently, as far as the arts were concerned, was limited chiefly to those who engaged in the more difficult performances; for instance, those who built chariots, hewed stones, sculptured idols or made them of metal, or who made instruments of gold, silver, and brass, and vessels of clay, and the like. (See Judg. xvii. 4. Isa. xxix. 16. xxx. 14. Jer. xxviii. 13.) In the time of Saul, mention is made of smiths, who manufactured implements of agriculture as well as arms; but who were carried off by the Philistines, in order that they might be enabled to keep the Israelites more effectually in subjection. (1 Sam. xiii. 19-22.) Among the Hebrews, artificers were not, as among the Greeks and Romans, servants and slaves, but men of some rank and wealth: and as luxury and riches increased, they became very numerous. (Jer. xxiv. 1. xxix.2. 2Kings xxiv. 14.) Building and architecture, however, did not attain much perfection prior to the reign of the accomplished Solomon. We read, indeed, before the Israelites came into the land of Canaan, that Bezaleel and Aholiab (who were employed in the construction of the tabernacle) excelled in all manner of workmanship (Exod. xxxv. 30-35.), but we are there told, that they had their skill by inspiration from God, and it does not appear that they had any successors; for in the days of Solomon, when the Hebrews were at rest from all their enemies, and were perfectly at liberty to follow out improvements of every kind, yet they had no professed artists that could undertake the work of the temple; so that,

Antiq. lib. ii. c. 9. § 1.

III. During the captivity many Hebrews (most commonly those to whom a barren tract of the soil had been assigned) applied themselves to the arts and to merchandise. Subse quently, when they were scattered abroad among different nations, a knowledge of the arts became so popular, that the Talmudists taught that all parents ought to teach their children some art or handicraft. They indeed mention many learned men of their nation, who practised some kind of manual labour, or, as we should say, followed some trade. Accordingly, we find in the New Testament, that Joseph the husband of Mary was a carpenter, and that he was assisted by no less a personage than our Saviour in his labours. (Matt. xiii. 55. Mark vi. 3.) Simon is mentioned as a tanner in the city of Joppa.2 (Acts ix. 43. x. 32.) Alexander, a learned Jew, was a copper-smith (2 Tim. iv. 14.); Paul and Aquila were tent makers, vol. Not only the Greeks, but the Jews also, esteemed certain trades infamous. At any rate, the Rabbins reckoned the driver of asses and camels, barbers, sailors, shepherds, and inn-keepers, in the same class with robbers. Those Ephesians and Cretans, who were lovers of gain, aux penedes (1 Tim. iii. 8. Tit. i. 7.), were men, as we may learn from ancient writers, who were determined to get money, in however base a manner. In the apostolic age, the more eminent Greek tradesmen were united into a society (Acts xix. 25.)3

IV. ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTS PRACTISED BY THE JEWS.

1. WRITING.-We meet with no notice of this art in the Old Testament before the copy of the law was given by God to Moses, which was written (that is, engraven on two tables of stone by the finger of God (Exod. xxxi. 18.), and this is called the writing of God. (Exod. xxxii. 16.) It is, there. fore, probable that God himself was the first who taught letters to Moses, who communicated the knowledge of them to the Israelites, and they to the other eastern nations. En graving or sculpture seems, therefore, to be the most ancient way of writing, of which we have another very early instance in Exod. xxxix. 30., where we are told that "holiness to the Lord" was written on a golden plate, and worn on the high-priest's head. And we find that the names of the twelve tribes were commanded to be written on twelve rods. (Num. xvii. 2.) To this mode of writing there is an allusion in Ezek. xxxvii. 16.5 In later times the Jews made use of broad rushes or flags for writing on, which grew in great abundance in Egypt, and are noticed by the prophet. Isaiah when foretelling the confusion of that country. (Isa.

2 The trade of a tanner was esteemed by the Jews so contemptible, that all who followed it were required to mention the same before their marriage, under the penalty of the nuptials being void. It is recorded in the Misna, that, after the death of a man whose brother had exercised the trade of a tanner, the wise men of Sidon determined, that the widow of the deceased was permitted to decline intermarrying with that brother. Townsend's Harmony of the New Test vol. ii. p. 103. 3 Jahn's Archæologia Biblica, by Mr. Upham, $$ 80-84. Pareau, Antiq. Hebr pp. 419-423.

We know that the inhabitants of Yemen or the Sonthern Arabia were accustomed, in the remotest ages, to inscribe their laws and wise sayings upon stone. See Meidanii Proverb. Arab. p. 45. (cited in Burder's Orien tal Literature, vol. i. p. 198.) and Dr. A. Clarke's Commentary, on Exod.

xxxii. 15.

Writing on billets or sticks was practised by the Greeks. Plutarch, in his Life of Solon (Vitæ, tom. i. p. 20. ed. Bryan.), and Aulus Gellius (Noct. Att. lib. ii. c. 12.), inform us that the very ancient laws of that philosopher, preserved at Athens, were inscribed on tablets of wood called Arones. In later times a similar mode of writing was practised by the aboriginal Britons, who cut their letters upon sticks, which were most commonly squared, and sometimes forined into three sides; consequently a single stick contained either four or three lines. (See Ezek. xxxvii. i6.) The squares were used for general subjects, and for stanzas of four lines in poetry; the trilateral ones were adapted to triades, and for a peculiar kind of ancient metre, called Triban or triplet, and Englyn Milryr, or the warrior's verse. Several sticks with writing upon them were put together, forming a kind of frame, which was called Peithynen or elucidator; and was so contrived that each stick might be turned for the facility of reading, the