The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1875-02-17
Hebrew Ladies' ut their Toilet.
The first thing that, wonl,i h


rob" of Il Hebrew lady would have
been the quantity of dresses. II
this great eyo Of simplicity such
thing would naturally ustonish us
Hebrew women were, indeed, font
of dress, and the luxury amongs
them manifested in the riches an,
variety Of dresses, and the cuantit,
of orna mcnts and jswelry, was 500,
carried to such IN extent that it be
came necessary to protest againet it
There is no doubt that as the inter
course between the Jews and o,be,
nations increased the ladies' felt II,
lone CIR satisfied with tn ,primitivt
simplicity. The fashions OF tn.
clever Egyptians, tho elegant Ph~ni
clans, ani the luxurious Pcrsians,
were soon eagerly sought after anl
reproduced. Even patient Job got
impatient at the dresses, aud all of
us have read that magnificent, bold
dcnunciation of Isaiah, as with With.
ering sarcasm he dcnounccs the
"womcn of the period" Iivi : e for
nothing else but dress aud filtration,
aud having but Que desire, "to see
and to be SEEN" Now, look first at
the under garment Ketonet tuni-
Ca. 1t was worn by mou aud wo.
uen, but of course, women had
things made of the very best mater
al. 1t was made Of wool or lincn,
white or blue, now and then striped
and afterwards-thanks to the
Pecsians-of "a silky u,ateri,l. 1t
was worn on the max ed body, and 4
person wearing it is often described
as naked, which. in the language of
tho min, tecn,h centary, means that
she Was "cn "caiiye."
The Eastern dresses are far very
from being close fits, and the Keto-
net was at first Il luose garment,
without sleeves, reaching down to
the knees. But the Ketonet be.
came gradually tighter. The Per.
slams. who were the daudics Of the
old world, wore them Of oonsihora-
bic length, but not every one could
afford this additional oxp2nse. 1t is
supposed that the poor wore no 9th.
er dress except the K"tonet. The
second article to Dc found in the
garde robe of wealthy people was
the sadijn, translated iiue linen in
our version of the third chapter of
Isaiah. [ suppose that it was worn
over the Ketonet. In the fourteenth
chNpter of the book of Judges the
same Hebrew word is translated diff
fcrently. Thirdly, some ladies wore
second under-garment, long wide
tunica, with or without arms, known
amongst the Greeks and Romans, and
worn also by the Pbm .icians. 1t was
made Of costly material, and richly
nwoven with flowers and figures.
The part around the neck was cover
cd with ornaments, the flowers were
generally of the darkest purple. and
Chc borders wcrc trimmed with gold
and brilliant colors. Next came the
g'rdle to keep up the dress, 50 much
thought Of amongst al the nations
of antiquity, as | need hardly re
mind the readers of Homer. 1t was
made of different materials, accord
ing to the taste, or rather the purse, =,
of the owner. The common girdles
were Of leather and very narrow.
Some were of silk or gold, and or
ramcn' cd with silver buckles thcy
were worn round the loins; women
wo,e them lower npl more loosely
than mcn. Small bottles with scent
were often fastened to the girdlc, nnl
sometimes also an elegant pochet,
in which money or things of value
were kept.
II tc last piece Of clothing T shall
MERTON is the upper garment, Il
long wide m ntlc with Il train tn It
would delight our Western ladies.
Ii seem" to have b,cn originally a
square piece OF cloth, somewhat like
il big shawl. At first it was made
IF c'mcl's hair, afterwards it was
made Of cotton. Those worn in the
summer wero Of light material, like
our muslin, whilst tor those in USE
during the wiuter a thicker material
was generally chosen. The simlah
was u-cfu and ornamental. 1t was
ei'th uS"u az u caFpeC OF hS cover.
ing during tho night. IIenco tho
law OF Moses, when regulated sever.
al things---f'r instance, thav no MKT
uro of cotton and wool should be
used in the making Of materials -
com mandcd that if IL man though
poverty pledged his mantle it should
| be restored to htm after sunset. Tho
simlah was fastened with goIden pins
to The shoulders, whence it fell 10
graceful folds over tho other gar.
ments. Some of the mantlcs must
have been splendid ; as | said before
the garden obc Of lleorew lady was
well filed. In the book Of Judges
tho then living girls are thus de-
scribed by DC borah, ga prey of divers
colors of ncedlework." "lIer clothing
is silk and purple" says l'emuel. The
Ph0uicians excellcd in weaving and
dyeing, and we're we'll noted for their
dark blue and their purple. The
Pcrsians were noted for their silk
There isno doubt that the Hebrew