12. Habitations

Habitations

Hut

1. The patriarchal fathers of the Israelites were a tent-dwelling people; and their descendants proceeded at once from tents to houses. We therefore read but little of huts among them; and never as the fixed habitations of any people with whom they were conversant. by huts we understand small dwellings, made of the green or dry branches of trees intertwined, and sometimes plastered with mud. In Scripture they are called booths. Such were made by Jacob to shelter his cattle in the first winter of his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 33:17). In after times we more frequently read of them as being erected in the vineyards and orchards, to shelter the man who guarded the ripened produce (Job 27:18; Isa 1:8; Isa 24:20). It was one of the Mosaical institutions that, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the people should live for a week in booths made of green boughs (Lev 23:42).

2. With tents the Scriptures make us more familiar than with huts. They were invented before the Deluge, and appear from the first to have been associated with the pastoral life, to which a moveable habitation was necessary (Gen 4:20). The practice of the pastoral fathers was to have their tents near wells of water, and, if possible, under some shady tree (Gen 26:4; Jdg 4:5). The first tents were undoubtedly covered with skins, of which there are traces in the Pentateuch (Exo 26:14); but nearly all the tents mentioned in Scripture were, doubtless, of goat’s hair, spun and woven by the women (Exo 35:26; Exo 36:14); such as are now in Western Asia, used by all who dwell in tents; hence their black color (Solomon’s Song of Solomon 1:5).

Tent

Tents of linen were, and are, only used occasionally, for holiday or travelling purposes, by those who do not habitually live in them. The patriarchal tents were probably such as we see now in Arabia, of an oblong shape, and eight or ten feet high in the middle. They vary in size, and have, accordingly, a greater or less number of poles to support them—from three to nine. An encampment is generally arranged circularly, forming an enclosure, within which the cattle are driven at night, and the center of which is occupied by the tent or tents of the Emir or Sheikh. If he is a person of much consequence, he may have three or four tents, for himself, for his wives, for his servants, and for strangers, respectively. The two first are of the most importance, and we know that Abraham’s wife had a separate tent (Genesis 24 :l2). It is more usual, however, for one very large tent to be divided into two or more apartments by curtains, The Holy Tabernacle was framed on this model (Exo 26:31-37).

3. The Israelites may have seen good houses in Egypt; but, on entering Palestine they had to occupy the dwellings which the previous inhabitants had built, and their own were afterwards constructed on the same model. These appear for a long time to have been poor and low, and built either of sun-dried mud, or of unhewn stones; timber for building being scarce in that country; and hence the employment of it in large quantities, as in some of Solomon’s buildings, was a sign of costliness and magnificence. Domestic architecture made considerable progress during the monarchical period. Solomon’s palace, built by the aid of the Phoenicians, must have suggested many improvements (1Ki 7:1-12). Jeremiah (Jer 22:13-14) indicates some magnificence of building he speaks of upper storeys, of spacious apartments, of many windows, of cedar ceilings, and of vermillion painting. By the time of Christ the buildings of the upper classes had become much improved by some attention to the rules of Grecian architecture.

Eastern Palace

Inner Court

It would seem that the mass of the houses in Palestine were such as we now see in Syria and Mesopotamia. They were generally only one storey high, and when they consisted of more, the upper storey was inhabited by the family, the ground-floor being laid out in stores, kitchens, and servants’ rooms and offices. But what such houses wanted in elevation was made up in extent, as they occupied two, three, or four sides of an enclosed court; and in great houses, there were two or three such courts communicating with each other. All the buildings fronted into these quadrangles, and had no front to the street, unless a high wall with the principal entrance, and perhaps a lattice above, may be so called. The enclosed courts had generally a reservoir or fountain in the center, and were often planted with a few trees. A gallery, or verandah, screened the principal front of building, and sometimes two, or all the fronts. This gallery was broad and substantial, and had a balustrade, and the covering was upheld by pillars of wood. Hence the many allusions to columns (Psa 75:3; Pro 9:1; Gal 2:9).

Basement of an Eastern House

Door Hardware

1. Ancient Egyptian Door.
2,3. Door Pins (in lieu of hinges).
4. Key. The roofs of the houses were, and are, flat, and covered with mould or a prepared compost. They were fenced by a parapet or balustrade (Deu 22:8). In fine weather the people resorted much to these roofs, to which there was a stair, to breathe the fresh air, to enjoy a prospect, or to witness any event that occurred in the neighborhood (2Sa 11:2; Isa 22:1; Mat 24:17; Mark 13:15). For the cool air, they slept on the housetop in summer; and to enjoy the air and prospect in the day-time, without inconvenience from the sun, sheds, booths, and tents were sometimes erected there (2Sa 16:22). The Hebrew kings had winter and summer palaces, and in good houses there were sitting-rooms for both seasons. In the one the situation, the exposure, the form, were designed to promote coolness; in the other to preserve warmth (Jdg 3:20; 1Ki 7:2-6; Jer 22:14; Jer 36:22; Amo 3:15).

Door of Private House

4. Doors were double, or folding, and moved on pivots inserted into holes in the threshold below and the lintel above. They were secured by bars (Deu 3:5; Jdg 16:3; Job 38:10), which were of wood; only those to the gates of fortresses and valuable stores being of metal (Isa 45:2). There were also locks, which were merely wooden slides which entered a hole in the door-post, and were there secured by teeth or catches (Solomon’s Song of Solomon 5:4). The street-doors, as well as the gates of towns, among the Jews, were adorned with inscriptions taken from the Law of Moses (Deu 6:9; Deu 11:20.) Interior of Private Room

5. The windows had no glass; they were only latticed, and thus gave free passage to the air and admitted light, while they excluded birds and bats. In winter, the cold was kept out by thin veils over the windows, or by shutters with holes in them sufficient to admit light (1Ki 7:17; Solomon’s Song of Solomon 2:9).

6. No ancient houses had chimneys. The word so translated in Hosea (Hos 13:3) means a hole through which the smoke escaped. This was only in the lower class dwellings, where raw wood was employed for fuel or cooking, and where there was an opening immediately over the hearth, to let out the smoke. In better houses, the rooms were warmed in winter by charcoal in braziers, as is still very generally the practice in Western Asia (Jer 36:22; Mark 14:54; John 18:18).

Bedstead of Palm-sticks

Royal Bed

7. In the East, where the climate allows the people to spend much of their time out of doors, the articles of household furniture and the domestic utensils have always been few and simple: in the sitting-rooms, almost nothing but seats appear. These seats are now low mattresses or couches at the upper end, and sometimes along the sides of the room, with bolsters against the wall to support the back. On these the people sit cross-legged or with their knees bent under them: they sit in the same manner upon the ground, or on rugs and mats. Although it would seem that the Hebrews had these customs, yet not so exclusively as the modern Orientals; as it is clear that they had also raised seats, such as chairs and stools, like their Egyptian neighbors, among whom both modes of sitting prevailed (1Sa 1:9; 1Sa 4:13; 1Sa 4:18; 1Ki 2:19; Pro 9:14; Mat 21:12). The beds consisted of mattresses and quilted coverlets, laid upon the floor at night, and stowed away in a recess by clay. Sheets, blankets, and bedsteads, are not known in the East; but in Persia and Mesopotamia there is a kind of raised frame, or settee of wood, or of palm branches. on which the beds are sometimes placed at night for sleeping on the housetop. The Jews seem to have had something of the same kind (Psa 41:3; Psa 132:3; Amo 4:4). A bed with a tester is mentioned in Judith (Jdt 16:23) which, with other indications, and the frequent mention of rich tapestries hung about and upon a bed for luxuriousness and ornament, seems to prove that such beds as may yet be found in Eastern palaces were not unknown under the Hebrew monarchies. See Est 1:6; Pro 7:16; Eze 23:41.

Grinding Corn

8. As every family ground its own corn, a hand-mill is often named among the domestic utensils. This consisted of two circular stones, placed horizontally one upon another; and the upper being made to revolve upon the lower, reduced to flour the corn which was introduced through a hole in the topmost stone (called the rider). This work was performed by women, and was their first morning labor, which they often cheered by singing (Exo 11:5; Num 11:8; Deu 24:6; Isa 47:2; Mat 24:41; Rev 18:22).

9. The common domestic vessels were of earthenware, or of copper (perhaps tinned), and a few were of leather—such as pots, kettles, leather bottles (made of the whole skins of goats or kids), plates, cups, and pitchers They all seem to have been such as are still used in the East. Lamps, fed with oil of olives, were used for giving light at night. They were of earthenware or metal, according to circumstances; and in the houses of the rich were raised on stands, which are called “candlesticks” in our Bible, and which, judging from that made for the Tabernacle, must sometimes have been costly and elegant, with branches for several lamps (Gen 15:17; Exo 25:31-40; Exo 27:20-21; Zec 4:2; Mat 25:1-9). A lamp was, and is, always kept burning at night, which explains an allusion contained in many passages of Scripture (2Sa 21:17; Job 18:6; Pro 20:20). Candles were not in use, and when the word “candle” occurs in our Bibles it means a lamp.

Egyptian Lamps

10. The towns of Palestine do not appear to have been considerable for size or population; but this was compensated by their great numbers. We are surprised at the number of towns mentioned even so early as the time of Joshua. They, of course, grew larger and more populous as the country became more densely inhabited; but the only cities that we should be disposed to rank with our first-rate towns were Jerusalem, Samaria, and, eventually, Caesarea. We know not the ordinary population of Jerusalem; but, from a calculation founded on the number of lambs slain at the Passover, it would seem that the concourse at that great festival must have amounted to between two and three millions. The houses of Jerusalem, which were of many storeys, were then full of people, and many lodged outside in tents. In the time of Christ, Josephus describes Galilee, in particular, as exceedingly populous: the towns lay near each other, and the population of the least important exceeded fifteen thousand. Towns had high walls in the time of Moses, which seemed very formidable to the Israelites (Num 13:25-33); and afterwards the defenses of towns were greatly improved. Indeed, the gates of towns, which imply walls, are mentioned as early as the time of Abraham (Gen 19:1; Gen 23:10).

Gate of Komeh (Iconium)

Villages, being unwalled, or surrounded only by a hedge, were abandoned in times of war and trouble, and the inhabitants removed into eaves or walled towns (Jdg 5:7). At the gates of towns, most of the public business was transacted(Gen 23:10; Gen 23:18; Deu 21:19; Deu 22:24; Deu 25:7; Ruth 4:1). At the gates also the markets were held, as long as the transactions of the Israelites were almost confined to the sale or interchange of the produce of their fields and flocks (2Ch 18:9; 2Ch 32:6; Neh 8:1; Neh 8:3; 2Ki 7:18; Job 29:7); but afterwards they had, in their large towns, as Josephus testifies, such covered bazaars, or streets of shops, for the sale of manufactured goods, as are now usual in the East. The streets in Eastern towns are always exceedingly narrow, that the shadow of the houses may keep them cool; and the appearance of these streets is dull and uninviting, as the houses do not front the road. The streets are always unpaved; but some streets in Jerusalem, and in the new cities, were paved in the time of the Herods, who had witnessed the benefits of this practice in Rome and Italy. The Jewish towns must have had rather a mean appearance in the distance, from the want of temples and public building (except at Jerusalem), as well as of such elegant minarets and domes as enliven and embellish the towns of the modern East.