resembled those which Dr. Chandler saw used by the women in Asia Minor. "The women," says he, "resort to the fountains by their houses, each with a large two-handled earthen jar on the back, or thrown over the shoulder for water." As he mentions this when speaking of another of their domestic employments, that of washing the clothes of the family, I shall transcribe the passage: "Although the women," says he, "live very retired, this operation is performed in public, at the fountains by the houses, or by river sides, where they have their faces veiled, and commonly in great numbers together." In Europe this operation is considered a menial employment, but it was not so anciently; for Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous, the king of Phæacia, went to those cisterns at a distance from the city, where the damsels were wont to wash their garments, to wash her brother's robes and her own, as preparatory to her marriage."

We read in Jer. ii. 22, of their using nitre, or the natrum of the ancients, which was a fixed alkali, and soap, for these purposes. And in Job ix. 30, snow water, or, as it is in the original, Borith, or Berith, in place of soap, which M. de Goguet imagines to be "the saltwort, a plant very common in Syria, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia. They burn it, he says, says, and pour water upon the ashes. This water becomes impregnated with a very strong lixivial salt, proper for taking stains or impurities out of wool or cloth." Perhaps it meant not one particular plant only, but the salt derived from the ashes of all those vegetables in general, which, by being burnt, produce potash.

But we are not to suppose that domestic cares engaged all their time, for various employments occupied

* Page 21.

b Odyss. vi. 58.

C

Origin of Laws, vol. i, book ii, ch, 2.

the attention of the mistress of the family and her maidens. Thus, working with the needle was another of their female employments. And so early as the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness, we find them employed in ornamenting the hangings of the tabernacle, and the garments of the priests, with devices of blue and purple and scarlet, on a ground of fine white twined" linen. It would appear that the eastern needle-work was very fine, and of great value; for the mother of Sisera is represented as hoping that her son had obtained from the conquered Israelites "a prey of divers colours of needle-work; of divers colours of needle-work on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil." And in Ps. xlv. 14, the king's daughter is said to be brought unto the king in raiment of needle-work. Indeed the same is the frequent employment of the ladies of the East at the present day, for we often read of beautiful specimens of their work. Thus Chardin mentions that they take a pleasure in ornamenting handkerchiefs with a needle, which they either wear themselves, or give in presents to their relations and friends; and Lady Mary W. Montagu, in her Letters, says, that "they still pass much of their time in embroidering veils and robes, surrounded by their maids.”— Spinning was another of their employments, for even so early as the making of the tabernacle, all the women. that were wise hearted did spin with their hands, and brought what they had spun, both of blue, of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen, to assist in the erection of that sacred tent; which shows that they had brought with them from Egypt this and the other arts mentioned in Exodus, in which country, it is probable, they had

a Exod. xxvi. 36. xxviii. 39.
< MS. vol. vi.

Judg. v. 30.

d Vol. ii. p. 44, 45.

d

long flourished. We hear little more of this employment till Solomon's time, who in Prov. xxxi. 19, when describing the good housewife, says, that "she lays her hands to the spindle, and takes hold of the distaff."" It is impossible for us to ascertain exactly the forms of the ancient implements of art, for we have only a few notices given of them in Scripture; but every one who has seen eastern paintings by native artists, must have been struck with their simplicity, and must have felt persuaded, that however much the order of casts in Hindostan hath tended to degrade the moral character of that numerous people, it hath much improved their manufactures, by the subdivision of labour, and the transmission of trades from father to son. In the present case they are simple and suitable, and might not be unlike to those of the ancient Jews.

Weaving was another feminine employment, and, like spinning, it was a very ancient one; for it is mentioned in Exod. xxxv. 35, that God filled some with wisdom to weave the curtains of the tabernacle, and it is often alluded to in other parts of Scripture. In general this art is understood to have been practised by the women, and the following are the arguments which may be adduced: 1st, When Samson was accused by Delilah for concealing from her where his great strength lay, he said, that if she wove the seven locks of his head with the web, he would become like other men; and it is added, that she fastened them with the pin; which intimates that women then wrought at the loom. 2dly, It is well known that among the ancient Greeks, weaving was the employment of the women. Thus Homer describes Helen as seated at her loom; and Penelope's web is even proverbial.

a Exod. xxxv. 25.

c Iliad iii, 125,

VOL. II,

In the third place, It is also

Ff

b Judg. xvi. 13, 14.

Odyss, ii. 94. vi. 52. 306.

known that at present weaving is commonly the employment of the women in the East. Thus Dr. Shaw informs us, that "carpets are made in Barbary and the Levant in great numbers, and of all sizes, but coarser than in Turkey. Their chief manufacture, however, is the making of hykes, or blankets. The women are employed in this work (as Andromache and Penelope were of old,) who do not use the shuttle, but conduct every thread of the woof with their fingers." And in the Indian paintings, which the author of this work hath seen, as descriptive of their casts, trades, customs, &c. by native artists, the women were represented as sitting with a loom before them, and conducting the woof through the threads of the warp in the very manner Dr. Shaw describes.-It was this last circumstance, of their using their fingers in place of a shuttle, which made Mr. Harmer doubt whether the passage in Job was rightly translated, which says, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;" he rather supposing that it should be "My days are swifter than the fingers of a weaver, when passing and repassing rapidly through the threads." The matter itself is of small consequence, şince the meaning in both cases is the same; only I may observe, that although shuttles are not used at present in the East, they were in use in Homer's time, for the xɛxpis, or shuttle was employed by the ancient Greeks. Of all their specimens in the art of weaving, however, their tapestry was the most beautiful. Perhaps the original kind was composed of pieces of cloth of different colours sewed together, so as to imitate figures of men, animals, and vegetables: but the most elegant were wrought in the loom, and reckoned of great value. Thus

b

C

the dissolute woman, in order to captivate unwary youth, is represented as having her bed decked with coverings of tapestry, and the virtuous wife, in the same book, is said to have made herself coverings of the same stuff, evidently showing that productions of that kind were in great request. The modern tapestry was borrowed from the Saracens, who it is likely, received it from ages farther remote; so that, making some allowance for modern improvements, the present tapestry of France and England may not be unlike to that of Judea. I ought to add that tapestry, formed of pieces of cloth, is still made in the East for thus Sir John Chardin tells us, that "tailors, besides their ordinary work, make cushions, veils for doors, and other pieces of furniture of felt, in mosaic work, which represents just what they please;" and this is done so neatly, that a man might suppose the figures were painted, instead of being a kind of inlaid work. Look as close as you will," says he, "the joinings cannot be seen."

SECT. VII.

Jewish Manner of Travelling.

Disposition of their dress: never travelled in the heat of the day but from necessity; saluted no person when in haste; feet washed when they entered a house. Rode on asses, horses, mules, camels, and dromedaries; had no stirrips; used birans and counes; provender for their animals; provisions for themselves; articles of convenience and commerce. Skins for water; every article carried in skins. Distance measured by hours; wells the common resting-places; these often infested by robbers; no inns; khanes, or caravansarais. Caravans; manner of travelling; sometimes very numerous. Kings travelled in state; had the dust allayed with water; harbingers sent before them, and pioneers to level the roads. Customs observed by the modern Jews on a journey.

1. WHEN any of the Jews travelled on foot, they com

a Prov. vii. 16.

Prov. xxxi. 22.

c

Voy. tome ii. p. 85,