The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-31

ionu ana supposed 10 lie ckhcuy IN tno nhuoio
Of II. was Bcne Bcrak. a town 70 tho northeast
OF Ashdod. Travelling southwark ono reached
Beth Gubrin. OF Eleuthcropolis, plontfully wa
tered by the dew. and cast Of II Beth Netufah,
famed for It's oil GAIA lay near the sea, With
Its ports at distance Of twenty stadia II had
been once very fourishing city, and was still
rcputod 70 possess one Of the three finest market
| places In the land Ashkeon was mostly inhao-
! tied by heather, who had splendid temple there
but also by some rich, pious and influential Jews
Among the natural products OF that netghbor-
hood may be mentioned grain and onions and
among the manufactures largo wooden handles
! for wells and packing straps There was an
annual fair near Hebron, where Hadrian was
aftorward 70 cause so many captured jews TO
DO sold into slavery: but the most famous mar-
ket was at Botnah. across the Jordan Jaime,
or Jamnia had q strongly Jewish population.
! In the vicinity Of the latter place. many little
towns seem to have sprung up. LYDIA was
the scene Of much that is interesting In jewish
! history. Emmaus about twenty miles from
| Jerusalem. had once a celebrated cattle market
| Travelling eastward ono would arrive at Jcri-
| cho. situated in broad plain shut In by bills
and fruitful amid a desert neighborhood Bethel
| IL we'll known. as also Bcthhoron, with It's mar
| row dcnlcs. where some Roman lcgions had been
| routed in the war under Vespasian.
Galee was fully az populous as Judoa MAJ
arcth was station OF priests 1fberias was
fast growing into Importance Capernaum had
Christian congregation. Crsarea Phippi and
the cities Of the Decapolis situated on both sides
Of the Jordan, are familiar TO readers Of the New
Testament Among the scaports Of Galicc may
be rcckoned Acco. or Ptolemais, a city partly
Jewish and partly heather, and Jcppa, celebrated
| for Its harbor Its markets and It's baths Do
tween these two ports brisk coasting trade
carried on. The finest hnrbor, and that
which commanded most Of the foreign trade.
was that Of tho rich and splendid Cnsarea. II
was however, mostly resorted TO by non. Isrneltes
In the ports harbor dues were commonly levied
Such Of the Jewish townspcople not in
independent circumstances earned their lveli-
hood generally by some trade II was deemed
the duty Of parents to have their children in.
structcd in some light and healthful occupation
only n few crafts were despiscd among these
were those Of wcavers, tanners. pcrfumers, sur.
gcons and barbers The ordinary wants Of a
household in the way Of cookery and dress were
generally supplied by the labors Of its feminine
members Hebrew women knew how 10 spin.
10 weave and TO ply the needle. They were also
famed for their cookery. especially in pastry. Of
which various kinds are described In Jewish
writings. Among the respected craftsmen, We
find nrtifcers in wood and oil kinds Of metal tent
makers, masons. tailors. shoemakers, coach
builders and jewellers all Of whom busy carried
on their trades. although with tools much inferior
to those now in use The potters and glasswork-
crs produced nat and deep plates, cups spoons
tuniblers. bottles and smelling bottles: the
latter werc 10 10 filled with scented oil 1ailors
and copy writer's would go about u prucure work
or do IL in the houses Of their customers Hats
caps. shirts. napkins. towels. nandkerch icfs
wells and many other articles. which ono might
scarcely expect IN fnd in Palestine in the FIRST
century OF our era, seem " have been in common
use. The so-called washers were properly ful.
ers, who first cleaned clothes with water and
then took out the stains by various chemical
agents such as alum, chalk and potash. Dycng
and ornamental work Of various kinds whether
with the brush or the needle or in wood. ivory
stucco OF metal. were also known aud prsctiscd.
II is well known that tho Hebrews divided their
year in lunar months. ot which twelve, or 35I
days hours rs minutes and % seconds cors,
tutcd year The consequent error was corrected
from time To umo by the insertion Of on inter.
GALAXY month. II had been determined az carly
the second century before our era that the
Passover must always b- celebrated after tho
vcrnal equinox. The somewhat vague and un.
satisfactory arrangements Of the jewish calendar
were greatly improved by the mathematical labors
Of various Rabbins especially by thntr Of certain
sages Of llabyonia. The era adopted in the old
Testament IL that which rcckoncd from the
dclivcrancc out OF Egypt After their return from
the Babylonion exile, however, or rather after
III" accession Of the Sclcucid dynasty. the Jews
dated their years according 10 the Sclcucid!c
era, which began 3l2 Is, c. For short time after
the recognition OF the independence Of Simon
the Maccabc, IL wa customary 10 reckon dates
rom tn" year uf the liberation u Palestine For
very long period however. after thc destruction
Of Jerusalem by Titus and. probably. until tho
fifteenth century A d. the Sclcucidic era remained
In common use when II finally gave place a. tho
present mode Of reckoning among the Jews
which dates from the Hypothetical creation NJ the
world. To tansmutn the Jewish year into that
of our Christian era we have TO add To thr latter
1901, always bearing in mind that the common
or civil Jewish year brgins IN the month Of
rishri that Is u say, in autumn. The week was
divided into seven days Of which, however only
tho seventh, the Sabbath, had a namc assigned To
H. the rest bring denoted merely by numerals
The day was computed from sunset 10 sunset
Before the captivity in Babylonia, II was divided
into morning, midday, evening and night but
after their residence In Babylon. the Hebrews
adopted the Chaldcan division Of the day into
twelve hours whose duration varied with the
length Of the day. The longest day In the lati.
tudc VI Palestine consisted Of fourteen hours
and twelve minutes the shortest Of nine hours and
forty eight minutes the difference between the
two being thus more than four hours. On an
average, the first hour OF tho day corrcsponded
nearly to our A. NJ, the clusc OF tho sixth hour
10 our midday while, at the eleventh hour the
daylight part Of the day near its close The night
divided by the Romans into four and by the
Jews into three watches. Later Jews suba!yi!cd
tho hour into 1850 parts and. again, each part
into seventy six moments
II was the general practice to rise with tho sun.
The first duty Of the Hebrews was to perform tho
prescribed devo'iona After that, in tow MS. prob
ably between and 10 o'clock. a breakfast was
taken consisting Of bread and fruit, and some
times Of fish and meat with wine Dinner was
commonly served toward evening. though before
dark, but sometimes in the middle Of the day,
II was preceded by careful Illustrations and the
pronouncing OF separate blessings over the differ.
cHt kinds Of food provided. The guests sat Ground
allow table. Alta later period the rich Jews adopt.
ed the Roman and Greek practice Of reclining
on coucbcs each Of which generally afforded nc
cOmmodation for three persona Az 10 tho co,.