Babel, without conviction, that those employed in the work must have derived their knowledge, through the sons of Noah, from the antediluvians. In metallurgy, they had made considerable advances; they wrought in brass and iron (Gen. iv. 22). The art of constructing musical instruments was understood, for Jubal was the father of those who played upon the kinner and the hugab-the

LPART VI. as we shall now proceed to notice more particularly those branches immediately bearing upon the interpretation of the sacred volume.

SECTION I.

WRITINGS AND BOOKS.

lyre and the ancient organ, or pandean pipes (Gen. Origin of Writing-Materials and Forms of Books-Illustra

iv. 21). The antediluvians also possessed the means of communicating their ideas and of recording facts by writing, or hieroglyphics. The story of Lamech and his wives-the oldest specimen of poetry extant-bears all the evidences of having been an existing document which Moses incorporated into his narrative; as do also the genealogies, &c. of the antediluvian patriarchs.* Touching the manufacture of cloth, by weaving, or some such process, Jabal was the first of those who dwelt in tents, and Noah adopted the same kind of dwelling-place (Gen. iv. 20, ix. 21); at the same time we must admit, that these might have

been constructed of the skins of beasts.

3. Soon after the flood, we find numerous references to the advanced state of the arts (see Gen. xviii. 4—6, xxi. 14, xxiv. 22, xxiv. 53, &c.). In the time of Moses, the knowledge of the arts of architecture, metallurgy, cabinet-making, masonry, spinning, embroidery, must have attained to a high degree of perfection. Indeed, the sacred writer expressly states, that the Lord filled certain persons with the spirit of God "in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass; and in the cutting of stones to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work; as also to engrave and embroider” (see Exod. xxxvi. 30-35). Agriculture and pasturage was specially cultivated by the Hebrews, these being the particular pursuits encouraged by the polity to which they became subject. In 1 Chron. iv. 14, valley of craftsmen," or "artisans," are spoken of; and in verse 21 we find "female workers of fine linen;" as in Exod. xxxvi. 25, 26. In 1 Chron. iv. 23, "the potters," or "formers," are spoken of; and from 2 Kings xxiv. 14, we find that "smiths" found occupation in Jerusalem. There are numerous other passages in the historical and prophetical books of the Old and New Testaments, from which it is evident that many of the arts were cultivated and well understood by the Jewish people, especially after their return from Babylon, and under the dominion of the Romans; but a particular reference to them is unnecessary here,

* See Fragments to Calmet, No. 709-711.

a

tions of Scripture Phraseology-Epistolary Letters.

upon

1. The origin of writing is involved in impenetrable obscurity. Some believe it to have been in use amongst the antediluvians, while others suppose it not to have been known until it was required to take down the law delivered Sinai.t We believe that the arguments in supMount port of the former of these hypotheses greatly preponderate; but our limits forbid discussion. We must refer to those writers who have professedly treated on the subject.‡

2. Various materials were anciently used for writing upon. Plates of lead or copper, barks of trees, bricks, stones, and wood, were originally employed for engraving such things upon as men desired to transmit to posterity. Josephus speaks of two columns, one of stone, the other of brick, on which the children of Seth wrote their inventions and astronomical discoveries; and Porphyry mentions pillars preserved in Crete, on which were recorded the ceremonies practised by the Corybantes in their sacrifices. Hesiod's works were at first written on tablets of lead, in the temple of the Muses in Boeotia; God's laws were written on tablets of stone, and Solon's laws on wooden planks. In Job xix. 23, 24, mention is made of writing in a book, engraving on lead, and cutting on a rock. In Ezek. xxxvii. 16, 17, we read of writing upon a stick, a practice much in use among the Greeks and other ancient nations. || Tablets of box and of ivory were common amongst the ancients; when they were of wood only, they were oftentimes coated over with wax, and received the writing with the point of a style or

Siva. They say that those zigzag marks on the skull (called The Hindoos ascribe the invention of writing to Brahma or the sutures), are characters written by the divine hand, descriptive of every man's fate. Thus men, in excuse for their crimes, Sir Walter Scott, in his Life of Napoleon (vol. iv., p. 95), says of say, "It was written on our foreheads; what could we do?" the wounded Turks, after the battle, "Some of them, of higher rank, seemed to exhort the others to submit, like servants of the prophet, to the decree, which, according to their belief, was

written on their foreheads." See Roberts's Oriental Illustrations, p. 109.

+ See Fragments to Calmet, Nos. 134, 709-711; Magee on the Atonement. Illust. 54; Horne's Introd. to Bibliography, vol. i., pp. 72-100; Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, vol. i., chap. 1.

See Townley's Illustrations, vol. i., pp. 28-30.

3. These descriptions will throw light upon several passages of Scripture, which must appear strange to persons unacquainted with the forms of ancient books.

(1) Isaiah says, "The heavens shall be folded up like a book," or scroll, chap. xxxiv. 4. Here is an allusion to the method of rolling up books amongst the ancients, as described above. Thus the heavens should shrink into themselves, and disappear from the eyes of God, when his wrath should be kindled. Zechariah speaks of "a flying roll," twenty cubits long and ten wide; which was probably made of skins connected together; a practice sometimes resorted to, as appears from Josephus, where he speaks of the introduction of the translators of the Septuagint to Ptolemy Phi

only on one side; but that of Ezekiel (chap. ii. 10), was written within and without; i. e., on both sides, to show the abundance of matter contained in it. Of the same kind, probably, was that of John (Rev. v. 1), which as 66 a book" written within and without is unintelligible.§

iron pen; so that what was written might be effaced by the broad end of the style. Afterwards, the leaves of the palm-tree were used, instead of slips of wood; and also the finest and thinnest bark of trees, such as the lime, the ash, the maple, and the elm. Hence the word liber, which signifies the inner bark of a tree, signifies also a book. As these barks were rolled up to be the more conveniently carried about, they were called volumen, “ a volume;" a name also given to rolls of paper, or of parchment. Papyrus, from which comes our word paper, is a description of seed that grows in the hill. Its stem is composed of several layers, which are taken off with a needle, and afterwards spread out upon a table, where so much is moistened as is equal to the size intended for the leaves of papyrus. It subsequently un-ladelphus. These rolls were generally written dergoes another process, and is then fit for use. Varro and Pliny observe that papyrus, as a material for writing upon, was first discovered in Egypt, at the time when Alexander built Alexandria.* The manufacture of parchment was discovered at Pergamus, whence it was called pergamenum. It was also called membrana, because made of the skin with which the members of beasts were covered. Of these leaves of parchment or vellum, books of two descriptions were made; one in the form of rolls, composed of many leaves, sewed or glued together end by end, and written upon one side only. The other description of books were similar to those now in use, and written on both sides of the leaf. The ancients wrote also upon linen. Pliny says that the Parthians, even in his time, wrote upon their clothes; and Livy speaks of certain books made of linen, lintei libri, on which the names of magistrates, with the history of the Roman commonwealth, was written, and which were preserved in the temple of the goddess Moneta. The instrument for writing with was suited to the material upon which the writing was to be done. For harder substances, they used a bodkin or iron style; but when they wrote upon linen or parchment, they used a reed (calamus) formed into a pen, and some colouring substance equivalent to ink; like Isaiah, when he wrote his prophecy, in chap. viii. 1. In Ezek. ix. 2, 3, 11, we read of persons carrying ink-horns at their sides. The same is done at the present day among the Moors in Barbary, and also among the Per

(2) In Isaiah xxx. 8, the Lord says to the prophet, concerning a prediction relative to the Jews, "Now go, write it before them in a table;" and the father of John Baptist (Luke i. 63) called for "a writing table;" both of which passages refer to the tablets of wood or other materials of which we have already spoken. The commentator on Varro, describing one of these tabulæ literariæ, says, "It is of a square oblong form, like those tablets for letters on which children learn to read and write, having on the upper part a round appendix, called the capitulum. One of these tablets will be found hanging up in the engraving given in the next page.

(3) There is an expression in Psalm xl. 7, which has been ingeniously illustrated by the editor of Calmet-" In the volume of the book it is written of me," which is rendered by the LXX. "in the head (cephalis) of the book." Chrysostom has described this cephalis as a wrapper (eilema), and supposes that on it was written a word or words, which imported "about the coming of the Messiah ;" and Aquila uses the word eilema to express the Hebrew word, which we render volume. "On this," Mr. Harmer says, thought is not only clear and distinct, but very energetic; amounting to this, that the sum and

"the

|| Antiquities, b. xii., c. 2. To account for the transpositions that appear to have taken place in some parts of the Pentateuch, Dr. Kennicott ingeniously conjectures that some of the skins on which it was originally written were separated from each other, and afterwards misplaced.

The editor of Calmet has attempted to prove the contrary, but not with success. See Fragments, No. 74.

It is obvious that rolls of linen, silk, or parch-long, and that a bit of paper is fastened round it ment were very liable to the injuries of time, both as to their texture and writing; and they seem, therefore, to have been preserved in chests of wood, or some other durable material. Jeremiah's roll was preserved in an earthen pitcher (chap. xxxii. 14); and with respect to deeds of no great length, but of much importance, they seem to have been engraved on sheets of lead rolled up. For Pliny informs us that "writing on lead (plumbeis voluminibus, rolls of lead) was of high antiquity, following writing on the bark and leaves of trees, and that it was used in recording public transactions." Josephus frequently speaks of decrees of states being written on brass.

(4) Besides books in the form of rolls, we also read in Scripture of letters being sent from one person to another. These were in general in the form of rolls also, and resembling probably those in the East at this day. Thus Niebuhr tells us that "the Arabs roll up their letters, and then flatten them to the breadth of an inch, and paste up the end of them, instead of sealing them. And Hanway tells us that "the Persians make up a letter in the form of a roll, about six inches

Observations, vol. iv., p. 10.

with gum, and sealed with an impression of ink, which resembles our printers' ink, but not so thick." When letters were written to inferiors, they were often sent open, or in the form of an unsealed roll; but when addressed to equals or superiors, they were inclosed in a bag of silk or satin, sealed and addressed. Hence we perceive the insult of Sanballat to Nehemiah, in sending his letter to him by his servant open, Neh. vi. 5. It was just now said that these letters were sealed; we may remark, as an additional circumstance, that the very ancient custom of sealing them (see Gen. xli. 42; Esth. iii. 10-12, viii. 2, 8, 10; Jer. xxii. 24), with a seal or signet set in a ring, is still retained in the East. "In Egypt," says Dr. Pococke, "they make the impression of their name with their seal, generally of cornelian, which they wear on their finger, and which is blacked when they have occasion to seal with it." And Mr. Hanway remarks that the Persian ink". serves not only for writing, but for subscribing with their seal; indeed many of the Persians in high office, he adds, could not write: but in their rings they wear agates, which serve for a seal, on which is frequently engraven their name and some verse of the Koran." Dr. Shaw also says, that "as few or none either of the Arab

Early Origin of Engraving-Signets and their Uses-Sculpture that Terah, the father of Abram, and the first artist

SECTION III.

writing extant, the references to signets, engraved | he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with seals, and their uses in sealing, are frequent. But planes, and he marketh it out with a compass, and after these early times, the references to these maketh it after the figure of a man, according to engraved signets are very few; for it appears that the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the Moses suppressed the use of them in consequence house. . . . He maketh a god, and worshippeth of their connexion with the Sabæan idolatry. Jeze-it: he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down bel appears to have signed her forged letters to the thereto." This is a very curious passage, and it is, elders with one of these (1 Kings xxi. 8); and in so far as we can recollect, the only passage in the the prophet Jeremiah very particular mention is Old Testament in which there is a distinct refermade of another signet, used as an instrument of ence to any thing like the art of sculpture. legality in the purchase of a field (chap. xxxii. "Molten images" are spoken of again in chap. xli. 7, 8, &c.), from which it would appear to have 29, and other places. been the custom of the Hebrew conveyancers in the reign of Zedekiah, to deposit a sealed copy of every deed of transfer of landed property in some public office. But the most important occasion of Hebrew sealing that is any where upon record, is that of the ratification of the new covenant, by "the princes, Levites, and priests," which is particularly detailed by Nehemiah (chap. ix. 38). Sealing is here obviously tantamount to signing, or rather is signing; and it seems pretty clear, from the specification of the names of the signing priests and chiefs, and from other circumstances, that among the Jews the astronomical signets of the patriarchal ages had by this time been superseded by signets bearing the respective names of their proprietors.*

3. Having thus referred to the Scripture allusions to the art of engraving, and intimated the applications of it which those allusions indicate, we must leave our readers to pursue the subject, as they may have the means and the inclination

so to do.

II. Neither sculpture nor painting appear to have made any noticeable progress amongst the Hebrews. The application of these arts to the purposes of idolatrous worship, was a sufficient reason for their discouragement amongst the chosen people of God, who were to be wholly unlike the nations by which they were surrounded, both in their character and their pursuits. Their proneness to idolatry, however, occasionally led to the introduction of "graven images," which were, no doubt, rude pieces of sculpture, fashioned after the various real or imaginary objects to which they were dedicated. From Isa. xliv. 9—18, it seems that there were “artists" regularly and scientifically employed in the manufacture of idols-the smith, the carpenter, and the sculptor: "The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule,

ARCHITECTURE.

Tents-Villages-Houses-Furniture-Ships.

We have already noticed the general intimations that occur in the early Scriptures, especially in those parts relating to the antediluvian world, of the state and progress of architecture in those times. We may now notice more particularly the state of the art, and the manner in which it was applied amongst the Hebrews, after the time of

Moses.

1. THERE is no doubt that the ancient Jews

lived in tents, similar to those now in use in the East. Dr. Shaw describes them as being of an oblong figure, not unlike the bottom of a ship turned upside down. They vary in size according to the number of their occupants, and are divided by a hanging carpet into separate apartments. They are kept firm and steady by bracing, or stretching down their eaves with cords, tied to hooked wooden pins, well pointed, which are driven firmly into the ground. They are covered with hair cloth, for the purpose of keeping out the wet. Some of these tents are very splendid; and hence the pious declaration of the Psalmist, “I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the [splendid] tents of the wicked," Ps. lxxxiv. 10.t

2. The villages of Judæa, which were situated in the plains, were probably built of mud, or clay, as they are to this day in the East. Through these mud walls, it is no uncommon thing for the thieves to dig; and hence the allusion of our Lord, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where thieves break through and steal," Matt. vi. 19, 20. To the destruction of such edifices, occasioned by violent rains, there is an allusion in Matt. vii. 26, 27. See also Ps. lxii. 3, and Isai. xxx. 13. Mr. Roberts says, that in