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Show nil , L aT- t A' I J i 1 f l X- - 'it S k - Vff yHAT has been one of the W H 1 chief charms of the Holy Y'f Land for Bible students will W y before long be a thing of the past. After centuries, even millenniums, of conservatism In customs and speech, the barrier to enlightenment en-lightenment has been broken down by the Young Turks, and men of enterprise en-terprise have been invited to enter Palestine so long held in bondage by the late sultan and to form it into a modern and progressive country. With the entry of civilization and modern culture the many peculiar customs which have been observed since the days of the patriarchs, and the poetical speech of the natives which re-echo words of the prophets, will soon be banished. For even in the smallest actions of their life the people rehearse Biblical scenes of the days of the patriarchs and speak to each other in the poetical phraseology of the Psalmist and the prophets, quite unconsciously. Perhaps the most interesting figure in Oriental life is the tall, dark Be-douiD, Be-douiD, whose life resembles In every detail that of Abraham of old. Even he, illiterate and ignorant as he Is, a wanderer of the desert, living the most primitive life, embodies his ideas in highly metaphorical language. His jcjcmjf Jfi ejrrjiixtitJi ap black camel's-halr tent is probably of the same shape as that of the patriarchal patri-archal days, and Is made In such a manner as to facilitate its erection and its removal and transportation on the backs of burden-bearing camels. The Bedouin is surrounded in his wanderings by Just as many camels, oxen and other animals as was the wealthy patriarch of early days. Biblical Scenes Rehearsed. In the fields one sees living Illustrations Illus-trations of many of the parables, and In the villages are rehearsed many incidents in-cidents mentioned In the Bible. There is a great variety of homes to be seen in Palestine representing the various stages of the evolution of homes from the abodes in the rocks of the poor peasant or the leper to the modern mod-ern stone house of the wealthy Mohammedan. Mo-hammedan. There are the more picturesque pic-turesque homes made of twigs and branches. These are literally "A shadow sha-dow In the day time from the heat." They are also made of cloth from camel's hair and merely supported by long, rude poles. Then there are the houses of clay. The ovens in these mud-hut villages are also made of clay, one large one serving for the use of the whole village. vil-lage. The Israelites of old used just such ovens. They heated them by fires of dried twigs and grasses. The loaves were placed inside and around them. The houses have flat roofs. These flat earthen roofs are not much protection pro-tection against rainstorms. They soon become soaked and then commences a disagreeable dripping of water through the roof, which continues day and night. In summer the people sleep upon their roofs, and some spend the day there, taking their cooking utensils up. In olden days every city had high, wide walls. It was possible to walk around the city upon them. Today parts of the walls of Jerusalem are wide enough for this. The gates of a city were always closed at sunset. Caravans arriving after dark were obliged to wait outside until morning. Travelers on foot could enter the city by the small door of the gate, which was known in the gospel days by the figurative expression: "The eye of the needle." Christ was referring to this custom of making the camels wait outside the gates until dawn, because of the impossibility of their passing through the smaller door, when he said: "It Is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Though the gates of Jerusalem still stand and a sentinel guards them, they are never closed by day or night. One of the most interesting illustrations illus-trations of scenes of Bible days, perhaps, per-haps, since our Lord took it as symbolic sym-bolic of uprightness in man's dealings with his fellow-men is the dally scene of measuring wheat in the marketplace. market-place. The official measurer is hired by the vender of wheat and he measures meas-ures the quantity before the eyes of the purchaser. He shakes the wooden measure and continues pouring on more wheat until it literally runs over. By this very act he seems to reecho re-echo Christ's words: "Good . measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give unto your bosoms." The men's cloak is still made of camel's hair, like the one which John the Baptist wore. It is sleeveless, but very heavy and warm. It is very easily put on and we can understand why that should have been chosen as an expression of swiftness: "As a shepherd puttest on his outer garment." gar-ment." The women wear plain loose blue gowns, with wide girdles. On their heads they wear stiff caps, to which are attached all the gold and silver coins they possess. A married woman wears all her dowry sewn onto on-to her cap. It is as safe as in the bank. The money is never used unless un-less absolutely necessary. It Is a matter mat-ter of great pride to a woman to have as many of these glittering pieces as possible and to keep the number intact. in-tact. Seeing how zealously the women wom-en guard these precious coins, one can realize better what It meant to the woman in the parable to have lost one of these pieces. It Is still customary in well-to-do homes to recline on couches during the meals, but In the village homes the people sit on the matted floor around the large wooden bowl which contains the cooked rice or beans. The head of the house opens the meal by taking up a handful of the greasy rice and a piece of bread, and rolling it into a ball he places it into the guest's mouth himself. This complimentary compli-mentary act is the sign for all those assembled to literally "dip in the dish," eating with their hands. Work of the Women. When the evening meal is over, the comfortables are taken off the shelves and spread on the matting for the family to sleep on. Beds consist only of comfortables. When the children are all rolled up and asleep the women wom-en In the homes begin the grinding of the wheat for the bread for the next day, while singing plaintive lullabies. This is monotonous work, and was often given to prisoners to do. Samson's Sam-son's enemies set him to grinding when he was their captive. Ezekiel, speaking of utter desolation, used the expression, well understood by the people: "The grinders shall cease and the sound of grinding be low." The women are as busy in the fields as in the houses. There are Ruths gleaning and reaping and winnowing and even plowing by the side of the oxen. To the town the women come bearing the produce of their fields, and they look very picturesque "sitting in the market place," On their heads they carry large baskets and on their shoulders their small sons sit, taking their first lessons in riding. This leaves the women's arms free for the other purposes. Baby girls are carried car-ried in a carpet hammock slung across their mothers' shoulders. There is a figurative prophecy regarding the better bet-ter standing of women In the Orient, in days to come in the proclamation: "Their daughters shall be carried upon up-on their shoulders." . Those better days are now at last breaking, for this is the dawn of freedom free-dom from subjection of women in all Turkey and the Holy Lana. But with her loosened fetters will go also the country's traditional customs, and its quaint," poetical forms of speech, influenced in-fluenced by the influx of civilization. |